Dear Families,

During the week of May 8-12, we celebrate our teachers and staff with the help the Corbett Grade School PTA. Our teachers and support staff play a critical part in the success of our students academically, socially, and emotionally. They inspire, encourage, and guide our students to become curious learners, problem solvers, and independent thinkers. Please take a moment this month to let your child's teacher or one of our amazing staff members know how much their commitment and dedication means to you and your family. This can be an email, a kind note, or offering to help our Corbett PTA during the week by volunteering or donating items.

Beginning next school year, students in grade six will be joining our school community. We will be adding two grade six classrooms to our building. Please join me at the Corbett PTA Meeting on Thursday, May 11, at 6:30pm at Peline's Restaurant to learn more about the upcoming changes. You are also welcome to contact me directly at mdawkins@corbett.k12.or.us to answer any of your questions.

In this newsletter:

• Grade 6 Joins Corbett Grade School
• Reading Instruction Part 3
• Young Audiences - Arts for Learning
• Volunteer Opportunities
• Corbett PTA May Meeting
• Lost and Found Link to Photos
• Important Events and Dates

Happy Spring!

Michelle Dawkins

Corbett Grade School Principal

Next year, Corbett Grade School will expand from K-5 to K-6! This change means that we will add two grade six classrooms to our building. We have lots to plan in the next few months and will share more information as soon as possible.

What we know right now:

• All main campus grade six students will remain in the grade school
• Main campus middle school will change to a 7/8 model
• CAPS will remain K-2, 3-5, and 6-8 classrooms
• Families wishing to transfer to CAPS should contact the grade school office and will need to complete an intra-district transfer form

Skilled readers are able to:

• Interact with text
• Have goals for reading
• Evaluate text for important ideas
• Note structure of text before reading
• Make predictions
• Construct, revise, and question as they read
• Monitor their understanding as they read
• Read different kinds of text differently

Developing our students into lifelong READERS is the ultimate goal. This goal requires direct, explicit instruction in the foundational skills, reading practice to increase fluency, and discussions or writing about reading to develop better comprehension.

Things to work on as a reader:

• Have a purpose for reading
• Understand and remember the events in a story and the order they happen
• Keep track of all of the characters in a story and understand how they change
• Think about big life lessons that the story teaches
• Be curious about words and what they mean
• Talk with other about books
• Contribute well to conversations about books
• Write about reading
• Take notes, annotate, and write to think about my reading

What can you do to help your child become a skilled reader?

Schedule a time for your family to turn off the electronics and the television to spend time reading. Visit your local library or book store to find books the are high interest and engaging to read. Find a book series that captures your child's attention. Speak positively about reading and the joy that it brings!

During the month of April, our 2/3 and 4/5 classrooms hosted visiting artist from Arts for Learning - Young Audiences.

Shuhe Hawkins brought the art of mask making and story telling to our 2/3 students. Each class made animal masks and then used them to tell a story. It was a lot of fun and they will be using some of what they learned to recreate parts of the Columbia River Gorge.

Our 4/5 students welcomed Alex Addy to experience African Drumming. Mr. Addy provided an introduction to the drumming of Ghana, West Africa. Students learn the specific techniques in order to get different sounds from the drums. Each student learns how to create a solo and how to work together as a member of an ensemble. The students will learn about polyrhythms and how to create them.

Please visit the links above to sign up for desserts or waffles. Have another idea on how to celebrate our educational staff or want to volunteer? Contact our Corbett PTA at corbettcardinalspta@gmail.com .

Please look at the photos of our March and April Lost and Found! If you see an item that belongs to your student please contact their teacher or our grade school office (cevans@corbett.k12.or.us) to let them know the number of the item and a brief description. Items not claimed by June 3, 2023 will be donated.