Our preschool teachers, Ms. Elyse and Ms. Fio, put out a weekly "newsletter" for parents. Curious what Lit Lab is up to? Check out the highlights from this week! 

Students practice their adaptive nest-building and searching skills by alternately hiding eggs (as Maiasauras) and hunting for them (as Oviraptors). This is a fun way to help cement tough vocabulary words. 
 
Project Specifics:

• Ideal Age/Grade Level: Kindergarten
• Project Type: Movement Based
• Targeted Literacy Skill:  Reading & Listening 
• Basis: Non-Fiction/Fact Based ☒ 

Additional Information:

• Date: 2/24/2016
• Creator: Kate Roberts (Americorps Intern)
• Program: Enrichment
• Theme: Dinosaurs
• Estimated Cost: $ -Cheap
• Academic Level: Mostly Just Fun

Materials Needed:  Plastic Easter eggs, Dinosaur Babies by  Lucille Recht Penner, sight words on paper strips (is, see, have, this, do, down, me, sit, look, my, what, I, here...) 

Procedure:
Step 1: Read Dinosaur Babies or a similar book aloud. Discuss the strategies Maiasauras use to build their nests and keep them safe. Go over sight words in the reading together. 
Step 2: Split the group into two. One group will be the Maiasauras-- give them 2-3 minutes to hide 20 plastic Easter eggs. They must hide at least two together (in a nest) to keep warm.
Step 3: The other group will be the Oviraptors. They will get 2-3 minutes to find all the eggs they can.
Step 4: Switch groups and repeat.
Step 5: See how many eggs each group has collected. Invite each group to open their eggs, one at a time. Inside each egg there will be a sight word on a piece of paper. See if the group can decode what the word is on each slip of paper. There will be some duplicates, so this should be fairly easy for them. 
Step 6 (optional): If you'd like, write a group story together using the sight words you've found. 

Note: It will be helpful to use books from the reading you use.
We used: is, that, its, has, but, we, have, or, no, the, their.

Programs won’t end, Literacy Center says
By Frances Moody | Posted: Wednesday, February 24, 2016 4:30 am
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Wyoming Legislature LogoThe Teton Literacy Center stands to lose one third of its funding due to state budget cuts, but Laura Soltau said the loss of money will not shut down the organization.

“We knew we wanted to diversify funding, even before the proposed cuts,” said Soltau, the center’s executive director. “This is just encouraging us to move a little faster.”
The organization will look to grants and donations from individuals to make up for the $200,000 it is prepared to lose annually.

Soltau said its long-term plan includes building relationships with federal and individual organizations to get grants.

The center already receives an annual grant from the 21st Century Community Learning Centers, a program that supports organizations that provide academic opportunities for children when they are not in school.

“We’ve had a large amount of government contracts that we’ve secured over the past three years,” Soltau said, “and have a big chunk of money coming from that.”

The center also works to maintain support from organizations it partners with, such as the Jackson Hole Children’s Museum, Teton County School District No. 1 and Central Wyoming College.

While Soltau feels confident that the center’s programming will be around for quite some time, she was surprised when she found out lawmakers are still in favor of eliminating funding for Wyoming literacy programs.

She said the center was aware that funding cuts would take place within the next three years, but now she expects them to take effect by this coming July.

James Rose, the executive director for the Wyoming Community College Commission, the agency that oversees the state’s family literacy programs, agrees with Soltau.
“At this point the prospects for continued state funding are not promising,” Rose said. “Depending on the final outcome of the budget and the governor’s recommendations, we will plan and adjust accordingly.”

Members of the state House and Senate have voted against several proposed budget amendments that would have restored funding for family literacy programs. For instance, Rep. Andy Schwartz, D-Jackson, tried but failed last week to put $3.24 million for literacy program funding back into the budget.

Soltau said support from representatives such at Schwartz is much appreciated. Just knowing that Jackson lawmakers see the value of the Literacy Center is important, she said.
Rep. Ruth Ann Petroff, R-Jackson, said the Literacy Center has accomplished a lot.

“To just pick a program that’s been very successful and cut it, that really stood out to me as not being a responsible choice,” Petroff said.

One of eight centers that might lose funding, the Teton Literacy Center runs three programs. Its literacy lab, a kindergarten-readiness program for 4-year-olds, is the program the cuts will affect the most.
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“The goal is to provide education to kids who don’t have access to preschool,” Soltau said.
The organization also offers tutoring for kids who struggle with reading, after-school clubs, and child care support for adults who wish to learn English as a second language or obtain a GED.
Soltau said it costs $650,000 each year to keep all of the center’s programs going.

This folktale has been adapted from a traditional Tanzanian tale. 

Long ago, in the Tanzanian rain forest, the rainy season was stronger than ever. The river had overflown, and floods overtook the land. The animals all ran in fear, climbing high up into the hills. The floods happened so quickly that many of the animals drowned. Luckily, the monkeys were smart and able to climb high into the treetops. As the sat in the trees, they looked down to the flooded land below. In the water, fish were swimming around and gracefully jumping in and out of the water, as if they were the only ones enjoying the terrible flood.

One of the monkeys saw these fish and pointed to his friend. 
     "Look down below, my friend, look at those poor, helpless creatures. They are going to drown. Do you see how they're struggling in the flood waters?"
     "I do!" said the other monkey.
     "What a shame! I bet they got stuck because they have no legs. How can we help them?"
     "I don't know, but we must do something. Let's go down to the edge of the flood waters, where the water is not deep enough to sweep us up. I think we can help them get out."

So the monkeys did just that. They began catching each of the fish, but not without difficulty. One by one, they picked them up out of the water and put them carefully on the dry, hilly land. After a while, there was a pile of fish lying on the grass, not moving.

     "Do you see? Those animals were so tired from struggling in the water, but now they are just resting and relaxing. If it had not been for us, my friend, all these poor animals without legs would have drowned," one of the monkeys said. 
     "They were trying to escape from us because they didn't understand our good intentions to help them. But when they wake up after their naps, they will be very grateful that we saved them!" 

Next Steps:

• Discuss the moral of the story. Were the monkeys being helpful? Why were their good intentions not so good after all? How would you explain your ideas to the monkeys?
• Paint an African sunset and write about your favorite African animals. (Download our pre-made template below.)
• Read the folktale from the template below together, filling in the blank spaces with words that make sense for the story. (Outside Sources: Story adapted from “How the Elephant Got His Trunk” by Rudyard Kipling and “The Twenty Ten Theme”, Wordpress, Retrieved from https://originalribenababy.wordpress.com/2013/08/02/why-the-elephant-has-a-trunk-and-why-the-crocodile-gave-up/) 

TLC Moves Forward
Teton Literacy Center board, staff, children and families remain positive despite the statewide funding cuts for Family Literacy Programs.   The center will continue to provide free services to the families in our community.

Teton Literacy Center is a family literacy center with enrichment, tutoring, parent and early childhood components.  For over 20 years TLC has focused on building a center that provides comprehensive services for preschool through high school aged children and their families.  TLC is unique in providing the only free afterschool, summer, tutoring, and family resources in our county.  Programs allow all families, regardless of income level, to improve their literacy skills in a safe, family-friendly environment.  Programs include Tutoring/Intervention, Family Literacy, and Enrichment. 

“This is an unfortunate bump in the road, but we are not going to let it get us down. We were aware these funding cuts could arrive over the next 3 years. However, they arrived sooner than anticipated, but we are prepared to move forward. We have been working to create long term strategic plans that will enable us to diversify our funding and strengthen our programs,” stated Laura Soltau, Executive Director. Legislators held to their decision to defund Wyoming Family Literacy Programs across the state which will decrease TLC’s income by 35% starting July 1, 2016.

The need for TLC services continues to grow in our community and the center is determined to continue providing high quality educational opportunities for children and their families. “We served 555 students during the 2014-15 fiscal year,” added Soltau.  “The demand for free services continues to increase with 25,040 service hours delivered to children in 2014-15 compared to 4,755 in 2010-11.” Through collaborative efforts with partnering organizations and loyal community support, the center will continue to provide current programs.

Thank you for your support!

Involve your child in Parent-Teacher conferences week!  Some schools around the country have actually moved away from simply 'Parent-Teacher' conferences and now call them Parent-Student-Teacher conferences, with the recognition that the child is at the center of all of it.  Getting your child's buy-in, giving them a sense of ownership around their school learning, celebrating their successes, and getting their feedback- it pays off to involve your child in the conferences process!

For middle and high school students that means if your conferences are in the gym at school, have your son or daughter attend conferences with you and join you as you  walk around and visit teachers. For younger students, even if you want to have your conference without your child in attendance, you can still involve them through reflection, either as discussion or writing or both.  Consider integrating one of the approaches below into conferences week this year. Or make up your own approach that fits with your family.

• Before conferences ask your child to reflect with you: what are they doing well in school?  Where do they want to improve?  What is the best part of school for them?  The worst?
• Make predictions about their report cards before you both see them.  What will their teacher(s) say?  Why?  Compare with their actual report card together.
• What makes them happy at school?  Sad?  Excited? 

If you come up with other creative and useful ways to involve your child, let us know!  We are always looking for new ideas.  As always, we are excited to work with you and the other families in the area to help your child enjoy lifelong learning.

The following tips have been adapted from the Harvard Family Research Project. "Parent Teacher Conference Tip Sheets for Principals, Teachers, and Parents" (2010), Harvard Family Research Project, retrieved from this site. 

Checklist:

• Review your child’s work, grades, and progress reports that have been sent home.
• Talk with your child about how his or her perceived progress and confidence in school.
• Talk with others—family, after school staff, tutors, coaches, etc.—about what your child does well at, and what they need help with.
• Make a list of questions to ask the teacher during the conference.
• Think about how you would like to be more involved in your child’s learning so that you can brainstorm with the teacher. 

“BE HEARD”: An acronym from Harvard to remember during conference times. 
Best intentions assumed
Emphasis on learning

Home to school collaboration
Examples and evidence
Active listening
Respect for all
Dedication to follow-up