News from the Administration

8th Grade Nebulas

Captain Jason George Rogers Clark-Humphries- American Studies

     Hello my fellow frontiersmen and women.  President Jefferson has bestowed a great honor upon me and my companion and fellow captain, Merewether Lewis.  It has been a year and a half since we started our Lewis and Humphries expedition and to be blunt, it has not been easy.

     On our first leg of the journey Sergeant Williams and Corporal Gonzalez, or as the Cheyenne like to call her, “Belches Like a Bear”, were showing off their spear throwing skills while trying to catch fish on the Missouri River.  Instead of spearing a fish, they speared Private Ridenhour.  Lets just say that I will not have to get on Private Ridenhour for sitting down on the job any time soon.

     In our last camp, the natives challenged us to a competition.  They called it “Fear Olfactory”.  The objective was to pass each stage on my way to win the grand prize of 50 bearskins.  I was going strong until the last round.  In this round, we had to eat 5 pounds of fresh Grizzly Bear intestine.  I was going head to head against Chief Billy Goat.  Chief Billy Goat went first.  Man he truly lived up to his name.  That dude can eat anything.  He finished off his pile in about 1 minute and 31 seconds.  Then it was my turn, but I was down for the challenge.  I was about 3 pounds into it when I had a flashback of what Private Ridenhour cooked the previous night for dinner.  That was all it took.  The next thing I know I started doing what the Paiute like to call “wood-chucking”.  Man I sure do hope that I get the chance to redeem myself on our way back.  Well, I really must be going now.  I think that we will finally break through the mountains today.  I’ll update you more on our journeys later on.

Yours truly,
Captain Jason George Rogers Clark-Humphries

Ms. “Wacky Professor” Gersdorf- Science

     Once again it is time to update you on what’s going on in my room.  The little scientists are learning about heat and temperature because of their upcoming test.  Ask your student how to change Celsius to Fahrenheit, or to teach you how to figure out the calories in the foods you eat, because they should be able to tell you.  After their test, they will be able to switch their seats around and begin the unit on bridge building.  I will provide the materials, and they will provide me with another option for getting across the Mississippi River this upcoming summer.  The year is going well with accidents down to 1.3 per week.  If you have any questions for me please do not hesitate to call.

Mr. “Sub-Total” Proctor- Mathematics

     Algebraic Thinking continues with equation solving and then will start Grouping in the Coordinate Plane.  It is important that the students stay current with the class.  Algebra has finished up on Linear Equations and Their Graphs and will start Systems of Equations and Inequalities.  We can continue to have our “Openers” (Focus Lesson) every day.  Please check your student’s planner daily to see if they are current with assignments.  Once again, if you have any questions or concerns about your child please feel free to call me at 9-6, 7+2, 10-9, 4+2, 7-4, 1+4, 6-6.

Mr. “Pulitzer Prize” Butikofer- Language Arts

In Language Arts we have been reading “The Inn of Lost Time” and “Rip Van Winkle”, two stories about the importance of time.  The story of  “R.I.P.” Tells of a man who goes to sleep in 1770 and wakes up in 1790.  As he is resting in peace, the American Revolution takes place, an event that the students recently discussed in American Studies.  We are currently reading the story of “Harriet Tubman”: Conductor on the Underground Railroad”.  In DOL we have been studying the proper use of pronouns and apostrophes.  Our next writing assignment will be a business letter.

Golden Bears

7^th GRADE GREEN GIANTS

“Heads above the rest”

3^rd QUARTER NEWS:

 Important dates for 3^rd quarter: Spring break is March 22 through March 26.  Midterms for 3^rd quarter will be sent home the week of Feb. 23.  Please be sure to sign the mid-term and return to your child’s AP teacher.  As always, if you have any questions or concerns about your child’s midterm, please feel free to contact our team.  And finally, 3^rd quarter ends March 19^th.  You can expect report cards within a week after the end of the quarter. 

  In order to help with the missing work situation, several of the team teachers (Science, Math, Language Arts, French) have been sending home missing assignment/grade reports every Monday.  The reports should be stapled or stamped into your child’s planner.  Please sign and have your child return these reports.  Your support in helping the students get all of their assignments turned in is very important to us.  In other news, congratulations to this years Geography Bee participants:  Megan Middleton, Nicole Woodson, Constance Riggins, Sara Millard, David Curtis, Zach Rohlf, Tom Howard, Raylin Hofeldt, Allison Redman, and Sarah Mascher.  Congratulations and good work!!     

The following students have been recognized by our team for their positive work habits and behaviors and have been chosen by our team as “Students of the Week” for the past quarter:

BACK: (L to R)  Brandon G, Sara M, Alison P,  Olivia J, Kyle B, David C, Trae M, Armani B, Richard S, Stephen S, Zach R 2nd ROW: (L to R)  Hong P, Chelsie S, Lindsey O, Gina D, Mariah A, Alicia C, Kyle L, Isis B,  Brandee J, Joey S 3rd ROW: (L to R)  Allison R, Jennafer A, Sabrina D, Missy C, Megan M, Anthony S, Ha N, Robin E, Jay J, Mandy E

*** Congratulations!  Keep up the great work! ***

Mr. Sinksen Mr. Keenan Miss. Tarara Miss. Ehrecke Ms. Nicholson Ms. Awkerman Ms. Reeder

sinksena@davenportschools.org keenans@davenportschools.org tararai@davenportschools.org ehreckeca@davenportschools.org nicholsonk@davenportschools.org awkermand@davenportschools.org reeders@davenportschools.org

*REMINDER* - Students should be bringing their planners and all necessary supplies with them to each class.  This includes pencils, pens, and paper.  Students also need to bring a Silent Reading book to AP with them every Tuesday and Thursday.  Please check with your child on a regular basis to make sure they have these basic supplies and replenish as necessary.

Please remember to check your child’s planner daily for assignments and homework. Planners are ten percent of your child’s grade; make sure to sign them every week!

TAG at Wood Intermediate

INVENT IOWA! Participants from Wood this year are:  Matt Burmeister & Darian Peer, Hilary Tanner & Emily Hill, and Cassie Schulz and Kathy Jessen.  These six students have been working on their invention since November of 2003.  On Saturday, April 3^rd, they will compete with middle school students from our area.  This Invention Convention will be held at the Bettendorf Family Museum from 12.30 until 3.30pm.

NATIONAL HISTORY DAY
Would any of you reading this newsletter be able to:

• research a topic of interest over three or four months, and
• intertwine it with the theme of Exchange, Explore or Encounter, and
• write a 500 word paper explaining how you gathered your information,  and,
• complete either a documentary film, an exhibit board, a performance, (yes, in front of people!) or a 1500 word paper, and,
• wrap it all up with an annotated bibliography using no less than 50 primary and secondary resources?????
• These Wood students have taken on that challenge:  Matt Burmeister, Brian Shorter, Jordan Lohr, Holly Graap, Koree Allinger, Kayleigh Orcutt, Robin Evans, Tyler Wentworth, Emily Hill, Hilary Tanner, Nicole Randall, Allison Redman, Megan Middleton, Thomas Howard, Cassie Schulz, Kathy Jessen, Samantha Deney, Kyle Barton and Melvin Gray.

The regional competition is the first Saturday in April at St. Ambrose University, in Davenport.

BOOK TALK AT THE HOOVER PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY
By the time you receive this, a few Wood girls will have enjoyed reading “Ghost Girl”, by Delia Ray, AND, attending a session with the author to discuss the book and to talk about writing.  They are:  Nicole Woodson, Sara Millard, Chelsea Kingsley, Brittany Staack, Christina Valle, Morgan VanGetson,  Katie Learn and Kathy Jessen. `           

OTHER NEWS…
A few of the Collaborations include

• A 7^th grade group of students will be working with Junior Great Books, starting in February.

• the older TAG students will tackle Shakespeare before the end of 8^th grade.

• Working with a few teachers introducing Readers’ Theatre in their classes.

Wood Library Media Center         Hours: 8:00 AM-4:00 PM

http://webopac.davenportschools.org/webopac/main?siteid=wooimc

Black History Month:  Books and posters are displayed in the Library Media Center (LMC) about Black history and famous black people. 

eLockers:  Students have been using their eLockers.  This has enabled them to logon to any school computer and save their work in a personal folder.  Also, it has allowed teachers to check a student’s eLocker and offer advise or check their work.  Students can be reminded that some staff are putting assignments in their eDesks. 

Forget Floppies, USB Drives are Here:

A USB drive (also known as flash drives, or pen drives) is a device which plugs directly into a computer via the USB port and acts like a little hard drive (or a big floppy drive).  It is solid state circuitry which replaces the need for floppy disks.  Currently 64Mg of storage on one of these devices costs only $20 and holds about the same amount of data as 46 floppy disks.  The device measures 3"X3/4"X3/8"l.  These are available to students and teachers through the office now.  These are a great alternative for the very fallible floppy disks.  These make a great way to backup your documents too!  Much of the content being created is too large for floppy disks and this causes problems for the students wishing to take work to and from school and between classes.  Check it out.  The correct program to download the program for the USB drives is: http://www.supertalentflash.com/download/STF_O_USB20.ziphttp://www.supertalent.com

Grand Excursion:  Students are being invited to read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain.   Students in Mrs. Mishra’s 8^th grade language arts class are reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain.   The library has a display of books about the Mississippi River and trunk of goodies that can complement the curriculum and learning about the early settlers struggles to explore these Unites States through the railroads and the riverboats.  This title as well as upcoming activities are planned to coincide with the June 2004 Grand Excursion of boats from the Quad Cities Area north to the Twin Cities of Minnesota that  takes place locally June 25-27, 2004.  Look of more information in this newsletter and through local area media agencies.

Read-A-Thon:  March 2, 2004, Wood students will be celebrating Dr. Seuss’s Birthday with a Read Across American Read-a-thon.  Organizers, Ms. Georgia Clayton and Mrs. Kelly Dunn-Schulz, encouraged each student to gather pledges for the amount of time they would be reading.  The Read-a-thon will take place in the Wood Intermediate School LMC, with students reading all day long.   Many staff members will participate in the Read-a-thon.  The students will be raising pledges to be given a shelter for library books. 

Winter Sports:  The LMC is tracking the winter sports through the athletic schedule.  Books on volleyball, basketball, skiing, skating, snowboarding, and wrestling are displayed.

World Book Online Reference Collection:  World Book Encyclopedia is a  great resource provided to students and teachers by Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency.  World Book Online has been licensed by the Iowa Area Education Agencies (AEAs) for all K-12 teachers and students in Iowa. It is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from any computer connected to the Internet. World Book has always been a favorite encyclopedia for students, and has been rated the best online encyclopedia by School Library Journal.    

The resources in World Book Online include much more than you would find in the printed version of World Book. There are text articles, audio files with word pronunciations, audio examples of music and speeches, downloadable photos/illustrations, video clips, 360-degree views, maps, tables, related articles and study aids. The advantage of the online version of the encyclopedia is that it is continuously updated with current and accurate information. 

To access World Book Online go to the Iowa AEA Online website at http://www.iowaaeaonline.org  Teachers and students were given a user name of 1611605 and password of aea09. If you need assistance, contact us in the LMC.

Wood Intermediate
is proud to present

“SHINE:

A Talent Showcase”
May 14^th, 2004
6:30 PM

Auditions to be held after school, March 17^th & 19^th. 
See Mrs.  Dunn-Schulz for more information.

Guidance Newsletter

Though the past months have been cold and foreboding outside; inside our school building we have been a buzz with activities.

Registration for next year has been completed for our 8^th grade students.  This process concluded on Feb 17^th, when the North Counselors spent the day with our 8^th graders checking individual student schedules, answering questions about coursework and talking to the students about the high school experience.  A huge thank you to Mrs. Scott and Mr. Humphries who helped to coordinate this effort within their classrooms.

Preparing our 6^th and 7^th grade students for the following academic year is also underway.  They will be asked to update their address, phone numbers and general demographic information, so that we have accurate data on all Wood students.  This enables Wood to mail current school events to families as well as knowing exactly where a parent can be reached in the event of an emergency.  They will also be making elective decisions for next years academic schedule.  Please look for that information to come home for your review during the last two weeks in February.

We look forward to sharing ITBS results with you sometime after spring break. As you know, as a result of previous newsletter and coverage in the newspaper, it is important for all of us to see improvement at Wood.  We also know it is essential that we look at each individuals student score report.  Our hope is that all children will experience having made improvement since our last testing effort in 10/02.

All 6th grade students will take the Degrees of Reading Power beginning March 9^th through March 12th.  This is a required assessment at the district level, which measures the student’s reading comprehension.  The goal is for all students to meet the benchmark score of 56 before they exit the intermediate school experience.  That means current 7^th and 8^th grade students may also be required to take the assessment again.  Please encourage your children to do the very best they can with the DRP.

The mid-quarter will have passed by the time the Newsletter goes out. Please continue to give your children your encouragement and support for their best effort with all of their classes.  Your continued support with their schoolwork is valuable and appreciated.  Until next time. 

The Counselor Corner
Ann McNamara and Judy Kendall

ITAG MEETING

Iowa Talented and Gifted Association
Davenport Chapter

ITAG is an organization of parents/guardians, educators,
and lay people who are interested in the gifted child.

Meeting:  Second Tuesday of the month from 7 - 8:30 p.m.
Adams Library/Media Center (3029 N. Division St. - across
from Williams Intermediate School)

Next meeting is Tuesday, March 9, 2004.

Topic: "Social and Emotional Needs of Gifted at School and Home" presented by Jay Swords, TAG FAcilitator at West High School

Childcare is available, but you must register in advance.  Please
call Janet Gillhouse at 324-8424 or email Gildesigns@aolo.com

 

Kathy Learn, Program Coordinator
335-5024 or learnk@davenportschools.org

 

Wood Yearbooks

Are still on sale!!!

$18.00 Get yours now!

March 2004 Calendar