Elementary Essentials
April 7, 2023
ELA
Vocabulary Surge--Attention 4th & 5th Grade Teachers
In response to teacher feedback about the modifications to Vocabulary Surge, your MTSS team has developed a more user-friendly version for students and teachers! The basic structure has not changed, but the layout has—and there are answers in the teacher manual. Please visit with your MTSS Literacy Support Specialist to preview the materials.
Beginning June 2023, the materials we used this year will be removed from the ELA website and replaced with Version 2.0. These new materials are available for order on DSF now. Please follow these directions when ordering:
- Go to Digital StoreFront "DSF" (www.olatheschools.org/dsf). Log in using the beginning of your email and your district password. Once logged in, you should see your name in the upper right corner.
- On the left side of the website, under Online Catalog, click Curriculum. Scroll to the bottom and click Vocabulary Surge. Add the quantity to the items needed and add to cart.
- Items will stay in your cart until you complete the checkout process.
- NOTE: If it's for the next school year’s budget, order with an August 1st due date. We can print and send quickly, but we can't complete the job in DSF until the beginning of June to go on next year’s budget. If the due date is for May or earlier, it will be charged to this year’s school budget.
- You will need to enter an account number to complete the checkout process. If you do not know your account number, please ask the bookkeeper/secretary at your building.
- You will know the order is complete when you see an order number.
Handwriting—Updates for K-5
Coming soon! A handwriting team of teachers, OTs and MTSS literacy support specialists has been meeting to reboot our elementary handwriting program. 95% core instruction provides Zaner-Bloser manuscript stroke talk in Kindergarten. Kindergarten-2nd grade should also use the Zaner-Bloser manuscript stroke talk and practice. 3rd grade will teach Zaner-Bloser cursive and 4th-5th grades will review and practice cursive.
To assist with this, the team has decided the following:
- Kindergarten will continue to use the 95% core workbooks and Letter ID intervention practice pages.
- 1st grade will receive manuscript printed sheets that are ordered by stroke. These will most likely be sent out before the end of this year.
- 2nd grade will just continue to practice manuscript on daily work.
- 3rd grade is already being sent cursive practice pages for use in the fall. Store these in a safe place!
- 3rd-5th grades will have additional practice pages available on Digital Store Front in the fall for ordering if needed.
More details will come in future communication.
Handwriting--Attention 3rd Grade Teachers
The print shop is in the process of printing and sending HANDWRITING materials for GRADE 3 with name, school, and contents (Cursive Handwriting Alphabet and Worksheets, Quantity 25) for FALL 2023-2024. Each staff member from the 3rd grade team will receive one package comparable to the size of a ream of paper (650 sheets to be exact). Not a large number of boxes to store.
Please keep in a safe place until that time. We realize that there could be some shifting of positions, i.e. grade level, etc., so as long as one team member is aware of where the materials are being stored, it should be fine. Please note: We are working from a district generated roster of 3rd grade staff, so if you receive materials in error please let me know. Any questions? Feel free to contact the ELA Department. Thanks for all you do!
PASI for 2023-2024 School Year
Please do not order PASI forms for 2023-2024, as there will be changes to the form in order to reduce the amount of time it takes to deliver the assessment. Details about the changes coming in future communication.
This week we continue our spotlight on familiar, tried-and-true reading strategies that have a high impact on reading comprehension, according to What Works Clearinghouse. These strategies are applicable to all grade levels K-5.
ELA Spotlight
PART 3: Guide students through focused, high-quality discussion on the meaning of text. (SL.1)
Teachers should lead students through focused, high-quality discussions in order to help them develop a deeper understanding of what they read. These discussions among students or between students and the teacher go beyond simply asking and answering questions that are surface-level to a more thoughtful exploration of the text. Students can then learn to argue for or against points raised in the discussion and draw inferences or conclusions about the text.
Supporting comprehension through discussion might include:
Structuring the discussion to complement the text, the instructional purpose, and the reader’s ability and grade level. Student Discussion Strategies
Developing discussion questions that require students to think deeply about text.
Sample questions:
- Why did ____?
- What do you think ____?
- If you were the author ____?
- What does ___ remind you of and why?
When preparing questions think about the best time to present each question to students – before, during, or after reading.
Asking follow-up questions to encourage and facilitate discussion.
Sample questions:
- What makes you say that?
- What happened in the book that makes you think that?
- Can you explain what you meant when you said ___?
- Do you agree with what ___ said? Why or why not?
- How does what you said connect with what ___already said?
- Let’s see if what we read provides us with any information that can resolve ___and ___ disagreement.
- What does the author say about that?
Ideally, initial questions and follow-up questions should resemble a collaborative discussion instead of a teacher ask – student answer conversation. Possible engagement strategies to use:
Teaching students lead structured small-group discussions.
Possible engagement strategies to use:
Round Robin
Simultaneous Roundtable
- Talk Moves Poster – Primary
- Talk Moves Poster2 with Bookmarks - Primary
- Talk Moves Bookmarks Intermediate
- Talk Moves Bookmark Intermediate SPANISH version
- Talk Moves Playbook Checklist
MATH
Curriculum Feedback
As we continue to strengthen our core instruction, we would like to get feedback from teachers regarding areas in which supplemental resources would be beneficial. If you have feedback, please consider filling out the survey.
SCIENCE
Garmin Educators Summit – Elementary Educators
Garmin is inviting educators to their annual Educators Summit at Garmin on June 13, 8:00 am – 12:30 pm, to get you excited about teaching STEM! It includes thought-provoking sessions on upcoming trends in STEM, opportunities in the tech industry and cutting-edge technologies led by those on the front lines of engineering and product design.
When you sign up for the event, they will also email you information on how to apply for a Garmin Educator grant. Winners will be announced at the Summit.
Space is limited. Please RSVP by Tuesday, May 30. Please register here: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/forms/EduSummit/
SOCIAL STUDIES
Did you know that the spiraling population in Olathe as a result of the “baby boom” necessitated the construction of a new elementary school named Westview Elementary in 1954 and also Ridgeview Elementary in 1956? Or that the stretch of I-35 from Kansas City to Ottawa, passing through Olathe, was completed in 1959? What about the Olathe Community Hospital, which opened in 1953, at the southeast corner of Santa Fe and Cooper, delivered 411 babies in 1956?
Our round 3 contest winners knew these answers and won a social studies t-shirt or a teacher tumbler! Congrats to our round 3 winners: Vicki Johnson (WV-ELL), Amber Gasper (MP-3), Steve Peterik (RR-Art) & Todd Gruber (HN-1)!!
Check out the newsletter for round 4 of our contest, which is about Olathe history in the 1970s-1980s. Our contests are getting progressively more challenging! Don't miss out on learning information about our need for helping to create updated Celebrate Freedom Week lessons and MORE!
ELL
ELL Strategy Spotlight
See the following learning APPs that students may benefit from using at school and at home for early reading skills.