P.E.A.R.L.

Additional Zoom Class

It was wonderful to see how many of you signed up for a second-semester Zoom class last week. A few classes reached capacity and several others only have a few spots left. 

Starting Monday, at 8:00 am, students may register for an additional class. The registration will be inactive over the weekend and open back up on Monday. If you try to register before 8:00 am, you will get a message that the class is full. If you receive this message after 8:00 am on Monday, please email mnajar@qsd48.org to be added to the waiting list. 

Here is a link to the catalog. We are updating it frequently to reflect classes that have reached capacity. Classes that are full are highlighted in pink. If you would like to join the waiting list for a class, please email Mary (mnajar@qsd48.org). 

Next week (12/15) will be open registration. At that time, students can sign up for 3+ classes.

As you plan for second semester, don’t forget about Washington Wayfinders, an asynchronous, story-driven Washington State History course for 7th–8th graders. Guided by two fictional mentors, Willa and Leo, students complete weekly missions that blend content exploration, hands-on projects, and reflective writing.

This 16-week, standards-aligned course follows a simple rhythm: one week of content learning, followed by one week of Project Based Learning (PBL). Along the way, students choose PBL projects that help them connect history to identity, place, and community.

You can read more and view the curriculum on The Curriculum Place, and email Nicole Collins at nlcollins@qsd48.org with questions or to register.

Weekly Digital Citizenship: Becoming a Digital Citizen

Being a digital citizen means using technology safely, kindly, and responsibly. Everyone can make a personal pledge. Wrap Up and Personal Pledge: Becoming a Digital Citizen is the final lesson in our PEARL digital citizenship series.

December Health: Stress and Coping Skills

Everyone feels stress sometimes — when we’re worried, busy, or dealing with change. Stress is the body’s way of saying, “This is hard!” A little stress can help us focus, but too much can make us tired, cranky, or even sick. Learning healthy coping skills helps us calm our bodies and minds.This is our health lesson for December. It can be found in our PEARL Health series. 

Skill Builders

If your child is using Lexia, it's important to share in their learning via the leveled Skill Builders. Simply print the Skill Builder for the level they are currently working through on the digital program and spend a few minutes a day or 20 minutes/week to do the same types of activities with paper and pencil. This will help you to see victories and challenges and will allow your child to share their learning with you directly.

Lexia Writing Tools

We've all recently shared writing samples with our Pearl Teachers and you may be having discussions about ways to support your student in writing.  

Our Lexia program provides us with some really neat writing tools in the form of prompts with basic rubrics for students to consider as they write and for parent teachers to use in evaluating student writing for further instruction.  Please check out this great resource!  They are as good for struggling writers as they are for advanced writers.  

The Core5 pack is for younger students who are able to write sentences or paragraphs.

The Power Up pack is for 6th graders and up.

Lexia Tips and Tricks

Now that we've completed our first CBMs of the school year, it's a great time to help your child analyze their own reading fluency. Use this Fluency Checklist or this Fluency Rubric to talk about the aspects of fluent reading with your children at any age. You can also access all of the Fluency passages for more regular practice on our Lexia Resources Doc.

Fluency Packs for Weekly Practice

Anyone can access all of the Fluency passages on our Lexia Resources Doc. Learn more about Lexia at our Parent Training Schedule.

Lexia Close Reads

What are Lexia Close Reads? Available to anyone in Pearl, Close Reads are created for upper-elementary students.  Lexia Close Reads provide opportunities for critical reading and analysis with a variety of real-world text types and engaging topics. The full-color student readers are organized in sets and can be used to develop fluency and comprehension while promoting higher-order thinking, collaboration, and discussion.

Lexia Close Reads Overview

Lexia Close Reads Packs - scroll to the end of each pack for Teacher's Guide.

Dyslexic Advantage Book Study

Who: Any PEARL parent, teacher or caregiver

When: Mondays from noon -1, once each month, Oct. 20, Nov. 10, Dec. 15, Jan 12, Feb. 9, March 16, April 13, May 18.

How: Read the book on your own at home, think about discussion questions and prompts provided, join for facilitated group Zoom discussion of strategies in 7 monthly sessions.

Do: Sign up using This Form & check out a copy of The Dyslexic Advantage from the Pearl Library. Or order your own if you’d like to be able to write in your copy and keep it.

PEARL Connections offers parents a space to connect, collaborate, and learn together while students take part in activities. Join teachers and other families to share resources, discuss curriculum, and explore school topics in a supportive community setting.

Please email efrantz@qsd48.org if you have any questions about these events.

Port Townsend/Quilcene/Tri-Area/Port Ludlow/Brinnon

December 4th, 2pm

HJ Carrol Park

9884 WA-19, Chimacum, WA 98325

Sign up here

Shelton/Tumwater/Lacey/Olympia

November 7th, 2pm

Tumwater Historical Park

802 Deschutes Way SW, Tumwater, WA 98501

SBAC Test Prep

For the last couple weeks we've been discussing learning standards and statewide assessment, so we wanted to share the link to the practice test. Feel free to go in and explore. This is VERY similar to what students will be taking come spring. Here are step by step directions for navigating the practice test. There is no limit to how many times you go through it. 

Washington Practice Test Portal

Learning Standards

Learning standards are an important part of your child’s education. They outline what students should know and be able to do at each grade level. In Washington State, these standards are organized around four main learning goals:

1. Communication: Students learn to read with understanding, write clearly, and express themselves effectively in different ways and settings.

2. Core Knowledge: Students build a strong foundation in math, science, social studies, the arts, health and fitness, and more.

3. Critical Thinking: Students practice thinking creatively and logically, using what they’ve learned to solve problems and make thoughtful decisions.

4. Life and Career Skills: Students explore how effort, performance, and choices connect to future educational and career opportunities.

With these goals in mind, the standards provide the stepping stones that guide learning each year.

Resources

One of the main purposes of the SBAC assessment is to measure students’ depth of knowledge, not just surface-level understanding. In other words, can students move beyond basic comprehension to use higher-order thinking skills—such as considering why an author made certain choices, identifying deeper meanings, and analyzing how a text is organized? These are valuable skills for both test preparation and overall learning.

Below are a few resource options to help your student strengthen these skills. Most links will take you to the publisher’s website, but all of these materials can also be found on Amazon by grade level.

Recommended ELA Resources:

Evan-Moor Workbooks (Paired Reading Texts)

Evan-Moor (Text-Based Writing: Non-Fiction)

Carson-Dellosa Workbooks (Evidence-Based Reading)

Washington Test Prep SBAC Practice Books

Families are allowed to submit Purchase Order Requests in December for 2nd semester purchases. Christina works over the break and will process them.

Did you know…In terms of our PEARL field trips, we appreciate all the ideas for input. Our team works hard each year to plan interactive and educational field trips. These are planned pretty far in advance, so ideas you submit might show up next year or in future years. 

Here are some facts about our field trips: 

• PEARL-funded field trips need to be attended by a certificated teacher. 
• All Field trips must be substantially similar to those available in Quilcene’s on-campus school. 
• We try to plan for field trips across the state to accommodate all families.