It has been a great week at Fisher! Boosterthon has kicked off and all the students and teachers are excited about the Fun Run next Wednesday, Oct. 6.

Please make sure to join us tomorrow (Friday) at 7:15 for Walk to School. We would love to see parents and students walking to school and wearing green to support the environment.

To continue with my reading theme, I wanted to share with you a few reading strategies that I borrowed from another Frisco principal.

Do You Know What Your Child Is Thinking About Their Reading?

Reading is the construction of meaning. Your child’s comprehension is the most important aspect of reading. Many times a child will bring home a book that is seemingly too easy for them because they are able to read each word accurately. This is called word call. To fully develop good readers, we can’t stop there! The conversations and questioning you have with your
child after they read is often the most important part!

There are different types of questions. There are questions that ask them to recall details from the story. Those are explicit questions. The most difficult questions are those that cannot be answered straight from the text. These are implicit questions. After reading a story, it’s important to ask both types of questions to see if your child truly comprehends what they have read.

Here are some question stems to get you started!
Ask questions about the characters, setting, problem, and solution.
“What did the story make you think about?”
“How would you have felt if you were ______?”
Choose an unfamiliar vocabulary word and ask, “Can you tell me what that word means based on the story?”
With any content word ask, “What words in the story help you know what that word means?”
“What happened before/after ______?”
“What is the story mainly about?”
“Why do you think the author gave this story that title?”
“How do you know this story is make-believe/factual?”
“How would you have solved the problem?”
“How could _____ have reacted differently?”

Here are a few hints from our Fisher first grade team:

Invite your child to read with you every day.
• Discuss new words. For example, "This big house is called a palace. Who do you think lives in a palace?"
• Stop and ask about the pictures and about what is happening in the story.
• Read from a variety of children's books, including fairy tales, song books, poems, and information books.

Conversations with your child about their reading can be the most exciting part! Try it tonight to learn what your child is thinking about their reading!

What a fun week it has been with Book Fair and College Week activities! The excitement both of these events generated was contagious throughout the building. We even saw parents at carpool sporting college shirts and camo in support of College Week, and we can't count the number of "loved ones" who visited the Book Fair! Your help and support is greatly appreciated!

In support of our Book Fair theme, Here's to Our Heroes, we do want to thank you for being a hero every day in your child's life. We could not do the fabulous things we do here at Fisher without you!

Don't forget tomorrow is the last day of Book Fair so plan to visit by 2:00 if you need to make a Book Fair purchase.

Another reminder, come visit the Fisher chili team and sample the Best Chili Under the Big Top at the Frisco Education Foundation's annual Chili Challenge tomorrow night (Friday, Sept. 24)starting at 5:00 at Pizza Hut Park.

Upcoming events:
Fall Picture Day Thursday, Sept. 30

I shared the following information in our PTA newsletter, but also wanted to post it here.

Since reading is such an integral part of every student’s education, we as educators promote reading not only here at school but also at home by requiring students to read twenty minutes each night.

One of our wonderful third grade teachers, Linda Moscovic, shared this great story with me which talks about the importance of reading twenty minutes each night.

Why Can’t I Skip My Twenty Minutes of Reading?

Let’s figure it out---- mathematically!

Student A reads 20 minutes 5 nights of every week.

Student B reads only 4 minutes a night….or not at all!

Step 1: Multiply minutes a night x 5 times each week.Student A reads 20 minutes x 5 times a week = 100 minutes/week.

Student B reads 4 minutes x 5 times a week = 20 minutes/week.

Step 2: Multiply minutes a week x 4 weeks each month.Student A reads 400 minutes a month.

Student B reads 80 minutes a month.

Step 3: Multiply minutes a month x 9 months/school year.Student A reads 3600 minutes in a school year.

Student B reads 720 minutes in a school year.

Student A practices reading the equivalent of ten whole school days a year.

Student B gets the equivalent of only two school days of reading practice.

By the end of 6th grade if Student A and Student B maintain these same reading habits, Student A will have read the equivalent of 60 whole school days.

Student B will have read the equivalent of only 12 school days.

One would expect the gap of information retained will have widened considerably and so, undoubtedly, will school performance.

How do you think Student B will feel about him/herself as a student?

Some questions to ponder:
Which student would you expect to read better?

Which student would you expect to know more?

Which student would you expect to write better?

Which student would you expect to have a better vocabulary?

Which student would you expect to be more successful in school?

Wow! What a busy Friday at Fisher! Our Good Morning Fisher assembly was a lot of fun. We started with a visit from Wakeland High cheerleaders who talked about their upcoming cheer clinic. Then, 5th graders in Mr. Muramoto's and Mrs. Hale's class sang about the 50 states and their capitals. Kathy Walter, one of this year's Book Fair chairs, transformed into a flying book and shared her excitement about Book Fair next week. Mrs. Garwacki dressed as a college graduate and encouraged students to participate in College Week next week. The Fisher Chili Team reminded everyone to purchase presale tickets for FISD Chili Challenge to help Fisher win as the school that sells the most tickets, and to attend the event to taste the Best Chili Under the Big Top!

I was able to take a brief tour of the Book Fair this morning and let me just say, PTA has done a excellent job transforming our library into a Here's to Our Heroes zone. A lot of hard work has gone into decorations and events planned for next week. Remember, the Book Fair dates are Sept. 20-24. During the week, you will see many heroes on our campus during morning carpool. Monday, the Frisco Fire Department will be here, and Tuesday you will see the Frisco Police Department. We hope to have other visitors throughout the week. Plan to Honk Your Horn for Heroes on Friday as you come through the morning carpool as Fisher staff heroes will be out greeting students and parents as you come through the line.

Constitution Week is Sept. 17-23. As I walked through classrooms this morning, students were already working on learning activities related to Constitution Week such as learning what the words to the Bill of Rights mean and what it means to be a U.S. citizen. I saw group and individual projects where students did individual drawings of what the words to the Bill of Rights mean to them and others who worked together to identify rules they think are important for not only the classroom, but Fisher Elementary.

Next week is also College Week so encourage your child to dress the part. Monday's theme is College is Cool, wear something to represent your favorite college. Tuesday is Hat's Off to Education, wear hats. Wednesday is Mission Accomplished-Focus on Education, wear something camouflage. Thursday is Your Future is Bright, wear sunglasses. Friday is Commit Not to Quit/Wakeland Day, wear blue and orange or your orange Fisher t-shirt. Mrs. Garwacki has done a great job of talking with students about continuing their education and goal setting this month in her guidance lessons so we look forward to students carrying through with their goal setting next week for College Week.

To wrap up College Week, on Sept. 24 at 2:15, we will watch President Obama's back to school speech. Please remember to let your child's teacher know if you DO NOT want your child to watch the video.

Don't forget to mark your calendars for the FISD Chili Challenge on Friday, Sept. 24. Fisher will have a chili team so bring your family and friends to visit and have a bowl of delicious chili from The Best Chili Under the Big Top.

Thank you for sharing your children with us. It is such a joy to visit with students as they come through the front doors each morning and then to see them throughout the day in their classrooms or at lunch. Your children have such great stories to share, and their smiles and excitement just warm my heart.

I am proud to be principal of Fisher Elementary!

It is hard to believe that we are already into our second week of September. As principal, it feels great to walk the building and see students and teachers firmly settled into their routines and actively involved in learning. On my stroll this morning, third grade was getting started on a math BA, second grade classes were wrapping up calendar time, one Kinder class was practicing letter formation, a first grade class was receiving a College Week lesson from Mrs. Garwacki, a fourth grade class was learning about sound words, and a fifth grade was taking an Istation assessment. It truly is amazing to see all the different learning activities that take place each day.

I received an email a few days ago stating Fisher has once again been selected as a TBEC Honor Roll school. Fisher has now received this award three years in a row so we are all very excited! The TBEC Honor Roll recognizes schools that have demonstrated three years of consistent, high performance in all subjects compared to other schools serving similar student populations. It is the most prestigious award for sustained, academic excellence in Texas. TBEC Honor Roll schools have the highest percentage of students performing at the state’s most rigorous standard -commended- in every subject. I know we will continue to sustain and grow in achieving academic excellence.

Fisher Elementary was awarded another honor this summer, our Exemplary rating. Not only was Fisher awarded this honor, Frisco ISD made history when we became the largest district to obtain an EXEMPLARY rating without using special provisions the state provides to help districts bump up an additional rating level. Frisco ISD is the place to be and so is Fisher Elementary!

A few reminders:
**Please remember to drive slowly through the carpool lane.
**Please allow your child to enter the school building each morning unescorted which helps to foster independence and growth in your child. If you need to enter the building, please sign in at the front office.
**Please remember the no cell phone ordinance in active school zones. This includes morning and afternoon carpool lanes.
**Tardies start at 8:00 a.m. Students are picked up from their morning waiting areas at 7:50 so please be sure your child arrives at school on time and is in his/her classroom by 8:00.
**You are invited to attend Good Morning Fisher which is held each Friday morning at 8:05. Please remember to leave all strolls parked outside the building.