Blackhawk Bulletin
November 16, 2015
November 17th - Thanksgiving Holiday Meal
This year, third grade parents are invited and we are combining this with a Read to Achieve workshop from 10-11 AM. It would be great if staff could try to carpool on this day to leave plenty of parking for visitors.
Assistants will still provide supervision in the lunchroom. Please refrain from turning off the lights for silent time since parents will want to speak with their children during the special lunch. Please make special note of the items regarding some classes being asked to take their trays back to their classrooms if needed. See the lunch times below:
10:25 - Crayton
10:30 - Peters
10:35 - Brookshire (Thomas)
10:40 - Griffin (Henderson)
10:45 - Hamilton
10:50 - Yopp
*Depending on the numbers of seats needed for 3rd grade, the last few 2nd grade classes may need to take their trays back to the classroom.
11:00 - Bettilyon
11:10 - Szymanski
11:20 - Morton
11:30 - Hamlin
11:40 - Wilson
11:50 - Hyatt
12:00 - Lanning
12:05 - Webb
12:10 - Fields
12:15 - Ingle
12:20 - Shelton
*Depending on the numbers of seats needed for 3rd grade, the first few 4th grade classes may need to take their trays back to the classroom.
School-Wide PLC Data Discussions - December 1 and 2
Longer discussion time
- 2nd grade - 8:45 - 9:45
- 3rd grade - 9:45 - 10:45
- 4th grade - 11:00 - 12:00
- Title 1 is planning a 30 minute fluency activity that assistants will complete with students. This will be followed by a 30 minute SSR session. Teachers do not need to plan for this hour but teachers do need to determine which assistant will be in which classrooms. Coverage will be provided by Title 1 and Instructional assistants.
- PM sessions will stay the same (40 minutes)
- Day 1 AM - Very At Risk
- Day 1 PM - At Risk
- Day 2 AM - Watch/On Grade Level
- Day 3 PM - Above Grade Level
What should teachers be prepared to discuss?
- Progress monitoring data
- Use of the RAP and RACE strategy during written responses (Have they mastered the concept? If not, what parts are they having trouble with?)
- Identify any decoding concerns (Does the student know short vowel sounds? long vowel sounds? medial vowels sounds? etc.
- What is the child's fluency rate? What is holding the child back - punctuation, decoding, skipping lines, etc?
What will other people do while we are discussing a student?
- mClass
- fcrr.org (Florida Center for Reading Research)
- http://www.interventioncentral.org
Everyone should also bring your copy of the Continuum since this is what you should be using while planning guided reading lessons. This will allow people to quickly review what skills the students at each reading level should be demonstrating so you can identify how to move them to the next level.
We will focus on reading but if time allows, we could discuss some math needs as well.
Lighthouse Team Plans for Habit Instruction and Action Teams
- Lighthouse thought it would be motivating to play music as students enter the school in the morning. We tried outside but you couldn't hear the music. We will continue to play music in the lobby. The person on lobby duty should get the radio from behind the desk in the office and then return it after their duty is over. The CD has some songs that are louder than others so the volume will need to be adjusted as needed. Several students have already commented on how much they like the music in the mornings.
- The pacing of Habit instruction that was developed over the summer is almost over. At the last meeting, this was revisited. Here is the update:
November 23 - November 24 - Sharpen the Saw
November 30 - December 4 - Sharpen the Saw (continued)
December 7 - 18 - Find Your Voice
Then start 2 week rotation again in order to review and complete different activities.
January 4 - 15 - Be Proactive
January 20 - 29 - Begin with the End in Mind
February 1 - 11 - Put First Things First
February 15 - 26 - Think Win-Win
February 29 - March 11 - Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood
March 14 - 24 - Synergize
April 4 - 15 - Sharpen the Saw
- We have developed Leader in Me Action Teams in order to get some help with planning and decision making for our school. This is an opportunity for people who are not on the Lighthouse Team to be involved in the decision making process because everyone's opinions matter and are valued. We will make poster in that will hang in the main office for you to sign up for a team that you are passionate about. If you do not want to sign up, you do not have to but this is your chance to be involved with the direction our school is heading. Team chairs will schedule meetings and plan agendas. The current action teams are:
Leadership Day April 2016
PBIS / Matrix / Discipline Revision
Student Data Notebooks
Building/Physical Environment
Teams will be limited to 6-8 team members so if you have a passion about one of these areas, make sure to sign up quickly!
Upcoming Events
- November 16 - 3rd Grade Field Trip
- November 17 - Thanksgiving Holiday Meal. Third grade parents are invited to attend. We will have a Read to Achieve Parent Meeting from 10-11 before lunch. An altered lunch schedule will be used to accommodate parents and special guests.
- November 18 - Principals Meeting
- November 18 and 19 - 2nd Grade Field Trip (1/2 one day and 1/2 the next). No Leaders Achieve Groups for 2nd Grade. ESL will serve the ESL children who are not on the trip no matter what 'level'.
- November 19th - Title 1 Assistants will be at a training. We WILL still have Leaders Achieve. Title 1 Assistants will leave an independent activity for their groups to complete.
- November 19 - Thankful for Christie - Blue Jean Day - donate at least $1 and wear jeans.
- November 20 - FREE BLUE JEAN DAY - just because I appreciate you all!
- November 23 and 24 - Thankful for Christie - Blue Jean Day - donate at least $1 and wear jeans.
- November 24 - Day 22 of the 2nd Nine Weeks. We will send home midterms on Thursday, December 3rd.
- November 24 - Principals Meeting
- November 30 - Tammy English and Pam Shelton at a workshop (all day)
- December 1 and 2 - School-Wide PLC Data Discussions in the PLC room.
- December 3 - Midterms go home
- December 3 - Dress Rehearsal for 2nd grade program at 1:00 PM.
- December 3 - 2nd grade program at 6:30 PM
- December 4 - Early Release Day and PTO provided Holiday Lunch for staff at 1:00 PM. Please bring a $10 'white elephant' gift if you wish to participate in a gift exchange.
- December 8 - Leader in Me Parent Night facilitated by Michael Armstrong at 6:00 PM. Staff members do not need to attend, however, we DO need some people for childcare. Please let me know if you are available to help!
- December 16 - Staff gathering at Margaret Tierney's home from 3:30-6 PM. Please bring your favorite appetizer to share! I hope we have a lot of people take advantage of this opportunity to be together. Some of our staff members commented about how little they knew about one another recently - so here is your chance!
- December 17 - NBMS Band Tour at 1:30 in the Gym