Here is some general information about Edison Elementary School. For more information, you can visit our website which is printed on the cover.

    Attendance：

    Please contact the office at 480－472－5282 if your child is going to be absent.

    Renaissance Reading：

    The Accelerated Reader (AR) Program is a computerized reading enrichment program that combines great children's literature with computer skills. As an individualized reading program, it is designed to motivate students to read more and to read good literature. Students of different abilities can use this program. It is not a competitive program but one that improves any student's reading ability.

    Here is how it works. Students select books in their reading range from our Accelerated Reader Selection and read it at their own pace. Once the student has completed the book, he/she is ready to take an AR quiz. Each quiz consists of 5, 10, or 20 multiple choice comprehensive questions about the book.

    After taking the quiz, the computer shows the student how many questions he/she answered correctly, shows the correct answers for missed questions, and praises the students' efforts with an on­screen personalized message. Passing the quiz assures the teacher and the parent that the child actually read and understood the book. Each student tests independently—reading the quiz questions himself/herself.

    The computer keeps track of reading points, books, and average test scores, as well as other data. A student may test on a book only once and should, therefore, have thoroughly read and understood the contents before taking the quiz. Each student is responsible for reading the screen to be sure the quiz, by title and author, is the correct one he/she wishes to take.

    Students are recognized for their accomplishments with praise from the teachers and special recognition at the classroom level when individual and/or classroom goals are met.

    PTO：We have an active Parent Teacher Organization. They have monthly meetings, check the calendar for the meeting times and places.

Dear Rose,

    My brother is often in a bad mood, which makes me in a bad mood. What should I do?

Jenny,

    It can be hard to be around someone who is in a bad mood. Since you can't change another person's mood, try to focus on what you can control: your own mood and reaction.

    You might find it easier to stay in a good mood if you leave your brother alone when he feels grumpy (脾气暴躁的). The next time he is in a bad mood, go to a quiet place in your house. Read, exercise, draw, listen to music — do something that makes you feel happy.

    Your parents might have some good suggestions for you, too.

Dear Rose,

   I play soccer, but sometimes I play badly. How can I do better? Jarom,

    To be good at anything, determination and practice are important. Listen closely to your coach, watch other players, then practice, practice, practice! Professional athletes continue to practice their sports each day, knowing that if they start to get lazy, they won't keep or develop their skills.

    In addition to practicing with teammates, you can work on drills on your own.

    Learning more about the sport may help too. Your coach can likely direct you to some good resources on skills development.

Dear Rose,

    I was moved up a grade a few years ago. Now, almost everyone in my previous grade asks me why. It wouldn't be a problem, except some boys ask over and over just to be annoying. What do I do?

Allison (by email)

    If you're sure that they are trying to be annoying, you might respond with something humorous. For example, you could say something like "They told me that the lunch lines would be shorter." Use the situation to turn annoying questions into something to laugh about.

    The national environmental watchdog has declared that boosting efforts to cut air pollution in northern China, especially winter smog from the burning of coal, is a mission for this year.

    Burning coal for winter heating has been listed as one of the primary causes of air pollution, Chen Jining, minister of environmental protection, said on Monday at the annual meeting on environmental protection in Beijing.“As much as 60 percent of smog content is caused by coal burning in the starting phase of each smog”, said Fang Li, an official with Beijing's Environmental Protection Bureau. Therefore, Beijing has declared that it will wipe out coal use in its most rural areas by 2020.

    To start with, Beijing will replace coal-fired heating stoves with those powered by electricity or gas in 400 villages this year, before taking the campaign to the districts of Chaoyang, Haidian, Fengtai and Shijingshan by 2017,said Guo Zihua, a municipal rural development official. Beijing's downtown districts of Dongcheng and Xicheng eliminated coal burning last year, officials said.

    The capital and other places in northern China experienced several smog alerts in November and December, when peak readings were many times higher than the national safety level. Obviously, the situation is deteriorating, and will become a norm. So the government came up with a “smog subsidy (津贴)” for those who work outdoors, and 95 percent of the respondents to a survey support it.

    The Trade Union in Zhengzhou City surveyed subscribers to its official WeChat account and found that 88 percent of nearly 400 respondents said priority should be given to outdoor workers on smoggy days But 9 percent said air pollution affects everyone so it would be unfair to only address the concerns of people who work outdoors.

    Over half of the respondents think the extra subsidy, if applied, could come in the form of protective tools or cash. Twenty-two percent said money is the easiest way. To finance the proposed subsidy, 53 percent think the government and companies should jointly pay the bill, while 44 percent said central and regional governments should be responsible.

    Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago in 1954 to a Mexican American family. As the only girl in a family of seven children, she often felt like she had "seven fathers," because her six brothers, as well as her father, tried to control her. Feeling shy and unimportant, she retreated (躲避) into books. Despite her love of reading, she did not do well in elementary school because she was too shy to participate.

    In high school, with the encouragement of one particular teacher, Cisneros improved her grades and worked for the school literary magazine. Her father encouraged her to go to college because he thought it would be a good way for her to find a husband. Cisneros did attend college, but instead of searching for a husband, she found a teacher who helped her join the famous graduate writing program at the University of Iowa. At the university's Writers' Workshop, however, she felt lonely－a Mexican American from a poor neighborhood among students from wealthy families. The feeling of being so different helped Cisneros find her "creative voice".

    "It was not until this moment when I considered myself truly different that my writing acquired a voice. I knew I was a Mexican woman, but I didn't think it had anything to do with why I felt so much imbalance in my life, but it had everything to do with it! That's when I decided I would write about something my classmates couldn't write about."

    Cisneros published her first work, The House on Mango Street, when she was twenty-nine. The book talks about a young Mexican American girl growing up in a Spanish-speaking area in Chicago, much like the neighborhoods in which Cisneros lived as a child. The book won an award in 1985 and has been used in classes from high school to graduate school level. Since then, Cisneros has published several books of poetry, a children's book, and a short-story collection.

    The hemlock(铁杉) trees along the Wappinger Creek, New York, look healthy. However, scientist Gary Lovett says the white balls which provide protection for the bugs are created by a tiny insect. It's hard to believe the tiny bug could kill a tree. However, trees can end up with millions and millions of the pests. When there are that many, it ends up killing the tree.

    The bug from East Asia is slowly killing trees across the USA. The trouble-making bug is just one of many invasive(入侵的) pests that have slipped into the United States. They can hurt other living things in their new home.

    Many invasive pests arrive on wooden pallets(运货板) piled inside shipping containers. They support and separate goods, and keep them from sliding around. Invasive pests often tunnel into the pallets. How can we stop pests from riding on pallets? Lovett says new rules are needed. The companies that make pallets don't want more rules. Congress has added an amendment(修正案) in the 2018 Farm Bill to try and prevent this problem. However, Lovett is not hopeful it will make much of a difference. Pallets are checked by inspectors. Many are sprayed with bug-killing pesticide. "I believe in the system," said Brent McClendon, president of The National Wooden Pallet and Container Association. He also said shipping containers are checked very carefully.

    Still, each year 13 million containers are shipped to the U. S. Each is full of wooden pallets. Lovett says: "Inspectors can't possibly check everything. All it takes are a few bad pallets; we should get rid of wooden pallets." He believes pallets should be made of plastic or eco-composite wood. Eco-composite wood is a mix of wood fiber and plastic. Insects cannot hide into it. One problem is that these choices cost more. They may be worth the extra money, though. Invasive pests cost the U.S. $5 billion a year. Trees don't just die in forests. They also die in cities and our yards. Then, they need to be replaced. That costs money, too.

    Norah had a cottage on a cliff above a big bay. In winter it could be very nasty because of strong winds and sea spray. In fact, when a gale was blowing, Norah and her husband got used to sleeping in a small room downstairs, because their bedroom upstairs, which faced the gales, had a very big window, and they were afraid that an extra violent gust might break it and blow pieces of broken glass over them.

    Also, the salt spray from the sea put an end to many of the colourful plants Norah planted in her garden. She tried putting up a fence to protect them, but the wind just hit it, went up over the top and then down the other side, so in the end she filled the garden with trees and bushes that liked salt.

    But most of the summer Norah enjoyed her cottage and garden very much. At weekends she could sit our of doors in the sun, looking at the beautiful view, with interesting ships and boats passing by, and she could very easily cycle down to the sea for a swim.

    Now, Norah and her husband had plenty of friends and relations. In the summer lots of them used to come to enjoy the beautiful place, and in the end it really became quite annoying for Norah and her husband. When they were at home, they found friends and relations arriving, expecting to be given unlimited drinks and meals, and to sit in the sun for hours, talking as if Norah and her husband had nothing else to do but entertain and listen to them.

    This went on for several years. Norah did not wish to appear rude by refusing to let her friends and relations in, but on the other hand, she was getting tired every summer.

    Then one day Norah was complaining about this to her hairdresser while she was doing her hair. "You're disturbed by too many uninvited guests, are you?" said the hairdresser. "Why don't you try my way of escaping?"

    "What's that?" asked Norah.

    "Well," the hairdresser answered, "when the bell rings, I put on my coat and take my shopping bag. If it's someone I don't want to see, I say innocently, 'I'm sorry, but I've got to go out.' But..."