W E E K
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El Semanario
Edison Language Academy – Together Through Two Languages (310) 828-0335 www.edison.smmusd.org
FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK:
ANNOUNCEMENTS GOLDEN TICKETS – One of the ways that we promote positive behaviors that support the school community is to award Golden Tickets. Students deposit tickets in a large jar in the library. When students fill the jar, we have a schoolwide celebration. We’ve been working toward a crazy hair and hat day, but we’re not quite there yet. Our new target date is Friday, 2/23. KINDNESS AND JUSTICE CHALLENGE GALLERY WALK – Edison students culminated their month-long participation in the MLK Kindness and Justice Challenge by creating a gallery displaying the goals they set, the brightly colored paper chains they made linking the kind and just acts they carried out during the Challenge and displays of class and grade level outreach projects. Some of the outreach projects included: writing to local firefighters to thank them for their service, learning more about the needs of the homeless in Santa Monica starting a sock drive for them, writing cards to hospitalized children and taking a collection for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, sending Valentines Cards and treats to the children in one of the Corazon de Vida orphanages in Baja California. Some projects were designed to benefit our school community, including establishing a Kindness and Justice Garden for all to enjoy, a project sharing how Dr. King’s I Have a Dream Speech speaks to dreams and concerns we have today, and a Mix It Up at Lunch project. Well done Edison! The gallery will be in the cafeteria until Valentine’s Day. ASSESSMENTS CONTINUE – All 5th grade students in the district are continuing to take the California Fitgram. All English Learners are taking the ELPAC exam to measure English Language Development. Upper grade teachers and students are getting ready to take the Interim Assessment Blocks to prepare for state testing. Book Swap –If your child is bored with the books he/she has read over and over, please come to the bookshelf outside of the library. Leave a book… take a book.
EXPLORING AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH AND LUNAR NEW YEAR One of the key parts of dual immersion programs is educating children to be global citizens -- with a solid identity about their own culture AND a respectful appreciation for the histories and cultures of others. In December, our SMMUSD Board of Education adopted the Social Justice Standards developed by Teaching Tolerance which Edison has been using for a while. This District-wide adoption gives us a common language and structure to guide this important work. The standards are divided into four domains—Identity, Diversity, Justice, and Action --and represent a continuum of engagement in anti-bias, multicultural and social justice education. The standards call us to “examine diversity in social, cultural, political and historical contexts rather than in ways that are superficial or oversimplified.” So, the literature we read all year long is intentionally diverse. We look at how multiple communities were affected by historical events and learn to look at things from different points of view. We learn about the accomplishments of a variety of trailblazers – men and women, gay and straight, and people of various ethnic and cultural groups, etc. However, we also take advantage of the various “history months” to highlight or extend teaching about diverse groups. And, we try to learn about and acknowledge the major holidays celebrated by members of our community. While much of this work happens on a day-to-day basis in the classrooms, we have several things going on in the next few weeks that are designed not only for students, but also for the parent community. For instance: Wednesday, February 14, as part of African American History Month, the PTA Community Integration Team is hosting a heritage table honoring families with African American heritage. If you would like to contribute or visit the tables, please stop by between 8:00 – 9:00 am near the Virginia Avenue entrance. Friday, February 16, we will have a special “cafecito” and display table teaching about Lunar New Year which begins that day and runs through March 2. If your family celebrates the Lunar New Year and you’d like to share some traditions or artifacts, please bring something for display or to share (food or tea). Toward the end of the month, watch for a gallery of classroom research and art projects on display in the cafeteria focusing African American trailblazers in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM). This gallery of projects allows us to share on-going work beyond individual classrooms. Students learn from each other and enjoy seeing the work done by other grades. We hope this will also give parents a window into some of the work going on in the classrooms this month.
February 14 ELAC Meeting 8:30-9:30 am
February 19 Presidents’ Day No classes
February 21 PTA Association Meeting 8:30 am