Hello! Thank you for hosting a blood drive – your support helps us save lives! Someone needs blood every three seconds – just think of the impact you’re making in the lives of people across Wisconsin.  This email serves to confirm your upcoming blood drive details as follows: DIXON ELEMENTARY 08/08/2019 03:00 PM - 07:00 PM 2400 PILGRIM SQUARE DRIVE BROOKFIELD, WI 53005 Your blood drive goal is to get 25 blood procedures. Every day, Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin needs to see at least 800 donors to meet the demands of our hospitals. The key to success is to fill all appointment slots! You can begin to recruit and schedule appointments by utilizing this Drive Link URL: https://donor.bcw.edu/donor/schedules/drive_schedule/197356 TIP:  The #1 recruitment tactic is to make a personal ask! Thank you for your commitment to Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin – you’re making a connection that could save lives! Please confirm your blood drive details and notify your Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin Account Representative for support of your upcoming blood drive. We welcome your feedback. Take care, Tara Blaesing and Nikki Chalsma, Regional Managers of Donor Recruitment Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin serves more than 50 hospitals across Wisconsin. It’s our mission to ensure hospitals are supplied with enough blood to meet patient need. And we are in great need of A negative blood! Schedule Donation Patient Stories Giving for Life © 2019 Versiti, Inc. All rights reserved. A 501c3 nonprofit organization. 638 North 18th Street Milwaukee, WI 53233

 

Summer Reading 2019

Dear Dixon Families,

 

It is our goal at Dixon to help every student become a skilled reader who develops a life-long love of reading.  Throughout the school year, we do everything possible to accomplish this goal by providing explicit instruction, high-interest reading materials, time to read, and time for students to talk about their reading with others.  We also know your support of your child's reading at home has an incredible impact and we thank you for that commitment!

 

Research shows, however, that children can experience "summer reading loss" over the months when school is not in session.  Studies have shown that some children can experience up to a 3-month loss in reading level. One study of first, second, and third graders in a middle-class neighborhood found that nearly 45% of the students declined in decoding skills and 25% of the students declined in fluency over the summer.

 

We want to ensure that this does not happen to our students at Dixon!   We know that many families have the best intentions, but our busy lives take over and before we know it, the summer has come to an end.  Therefore, we have created different resources, programs and book lists to help keep our students engaged in reading throughout the summer.

 

We all know the summer will pass quickly.  Setting goals and establishing the habit of keeping track of our reading can help each child maintain the skills and habits that he/she has worked so hard to develop over the school year.  We hope you will join us in this effort to help your child continue to grow as a reader over the summer!

 

Most Sincerely,

 

The Entire Staff of Dixon Elementary

 

 

 

 

What will you read?  

When will you read?

With whom will you read?  

 

Here are some ideas...

• Read __ times a week

• Read before bedtime, when you get up, or after breakfast __ times a week

• Participate in the public library program or a book club with some friends

• Attend a summer school reading class or read with a tutor __ times per week

• Have a neighborhood book swap or swap books at a Little Free Library

• Research a topic such as a vacation spot, a hobby, an  animal, or any topic

• Read __ books in a series or read __ books by your favorite author

• Check out new books every week from the library and read them

 

Summer  Literacy Tips

 

• Create a summer routine.  One of the biggest things I discuss with those at home is to find a routine for summer reading and not leaving it to chance.  Is is that everybody reads before getting out of bed? Is it the last thing that happens at the end of the day? Create a drop-everything-and-read time and then abide by your own decisions and join in with your own books, because we know that children who see adults read, read more themselves

• Embrace audio books.  We do a lot of driving in the summer as we visit family, so audiobooks from the local library are a constant companion.  They cut down on our kids arguing, creates conversation, and become a part of our summer memories. You can even download audio books and e-books  from the Public Library's website or from our Elmbrook resource, SORA!  

• Have your own to-be-read list.  Go book shopping with your kids and create a list of books you all hope to read this summer.  Browse the displays at the library or at bookstores, look up the bestseller lists to see what is hot in literature right now.  Countdown the days together for that sequel or amazing new book to be released. Build excitement for the act of reading together.

• Visit places where books are present.  Build visits into the library, bookstores or even friends' houses where there are books visible into your summer plans.  Seeing books within reach often entices reading and there is something about the promise of a brand-new crisp book that cannot help but be excited.  And browse online as well.

• Make it social.  One of the biggest joys of summer is hanging out with people, so why not add books to it?  Perhaps every Sunday night is declared "Books and milkshakes" at your house? Perhaps you create book picnics or host a book club yourself.  Perhaps you engage in a friendly competition with each other to see who will finish their book first, no cheating. Reading can be a social event, don't force it to be solitary all of the time.

• Embrace real choice.  So your child wants to read the same book all summer?  Ok. So your child wants to read super easy books all summer?  Ok. So your child wants to read only one type of book all summer?  Ok. Summers are for great reading experiences, for having fun with your reading, for keeping the joy of reading alive.  We can work on challenging texts later.

• Be invested and interested.  Ask genuine questions about their reading experiences.  Share your own. Embrace your reading slumps together and do something about them together.  Ask questions about what they plan on reading, whether they like the book or not, or what made them pick that book.  Keep it light but keep it constant.

• Keep it joyful.  We often lose readers over the summer because it is seen as a chore, so keep it light, keep it fun.  Don't assign journal prompts or summaries to go with it. Don't make it homework, but instead revel in the joyful experience that reading a great book can be.

 

 

 

 

 Resources for Summer Reading

 

• Access the district SORA to get access to books digitally for free! Use "Dixon" to log in.

• This is a really fun article that lists different family summer adventures and how to connect them with reading.  A MUST READ!

Access the International Literacy Association's Children's  and Teachers' Book Choices for the best books to consider checking out at the library or purchasing.

• This site lists tips and links to help you keep your kids reading over the summer.

• Sign up for Camp Wonderopolis, the online summer-learning destination that's full of fun, interactive STEM and literacy-building topics for kids and their families.

• Head to Start with a Book for ideas for fun and meaningful interactions around books and things of kid interest

Summer Reading Programs

• Brookfield and Elm Grove Public Library Summer Reading Program  Find out all the great events that are happening just around the corner!

• Teachers and librarians can register kids for the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge so they can earn digital rewards for summer reading.

• When kids participate in the Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program, they earn a free book after reading 8 books.

 

Summer Reading Book Lists by Age/Grade

• Scholastic Summer Reading booklist for ages 0-Young Adult

• Barnes and Noble booklists

• Summer book lists from Reading Rockets for ages 0-12

Summer Reading from Brightly

 

The Dixon library will be open during the summer every Wednesday from 4:00-5:00 p.m., beginning June 12 and running through August 21.  Please note that all students are welcome to check books out as long as their accounts are cleared of outstanding fines and overdue books before Friday, June 7th.  If you have questions about the status of your child's library account, please contact Stephanie Foley, Dixon Library Assistant, at 262-993-9624.  Thank you!  

Dixon's PTO works with 1stDaySchoolSupplies to prepackage next year's school supplies for families.  If you're interested in placing an order, please go to Dixon's School Store Link below.  Your child's school box will be delivered to Dixon School in August. 

School Store Link

This is a reminder that your ability to volunteer at Elmbrook School District will come to an end on 6/30/2019. If you plan to volunteer after that date, please take this time to complete Elmbrook Schools volunteer applications by going to our website and filling out all three steps.

https://www.elmbrookschools.org/departments/human-resources/how-to-volunteer-in-elmbrook