Learning Coach Trainings

February 27-March 1st: 9th grade infosessions during class time at OVS will be rescheduled at a later date.

Special 2-part series on Reading and Building Skills

Wednesday March 7th 2-2:45pm: What good readers do to comprehend what they are reading

Wednesday March 21st 2-2:45pm: Metacognition in Reading

Math Club Mondays: Math Club returns on Monday February 26th. Learning Coach Training will be on Online Math Resources. Unable to come and view live? Check out the Skype Broadcast and view as it is happening.

Other Important dates

First Fridays- March 2nd: Come meet with the middle school team to discuss any questions or concerns you may have. The session will be Live on Skype Broadcast.

Friday March 23rd: Family Game Night
Cost: $10 per family (if eating pizza dinner)
5:30-6pm- Pizza Dinner
6-7:30pm- Learning HQ will provide games for families to play! Join us for a fun family night! Games will be available for purchase during the event. RSVP Cards available at the front desk.

Friday April 20th: Storm Chasers Game
Save the Date! More Info Coming Soon

Thank you for those of you who attended Parent/Student/Teacher conferences last week. We had a 78% rate of attendance for conferences for our K-9 students and families. We hope that your conference with your teacher(s) provided you with some valuable insight on your student's growth, strengths, and areas of concern. Additionally, we hope you were able to share additional information about your student's interests, learning styles, and preferences so we can better engage your student at home and while they are at our learning center. If you were unable to attend conferences with your teacher and would still like to do so, please contact your student's teacher to set up a time to meet.

Last week, we held some coffee chats in the LC lounge, in order to gather some insight and thoughts on the learning coach experience. We are always seeking your input on how we can support you and your students. Thank you for those who have already completed our LC training survey, as this information has been useful for us to know how we can better meet your needs.

One of the takeaways from the coffee chats and the LC survey is that learning coaches would like to have trainings held in a variety of different formats. Online, face to face, live broadcasts, and online tutorials were recommended as options to help LCs engage in learning. In response to that feedback, we have investigated using Skype Broadcast during our Math Club on February 12th. You can watch the recording in the below youtube video (Please note, I'm not a trained videographer!).

Our hopes with Skype Broadcast is that LCs can click on the link when they are at home and join us LIVE during a session. LCs at home can ask questions and engage with presenters and participants. We will then post the recording to our NEW Youtube channel, for LCs to watch at their convenience. We cannot emphasize enough that your engagement and connection with our teachers, training, and community will support your student learning. We hope that Skype Broadcast will breakdown some barriers to LCs attending trainings, and adds another level of support and community to your experience.

Please join us in person or online (on Skype Broadcast using the links in the "mark your calendar" section above) at our next LC trainings during math clubs on Monday, Feb 26, and for the First Friday event with the middle school team on Friday, March 2nd. Please let us know what you think!

Thanks!

Wendy

What happens in the minds of good readers? How do we ensure that students are truly understanding what they read with a high level of understanding? We invite Learning Coaches to join Ms. Nommensen for a 2-part series that delves into metacognition in reading. On Wednesday, March 7, 2:00-2:45, we will be focusing on what good readers do before, during, and after reading to comprehend text at a high level. On Wednesday, March 21, 2:00-2:45, we will discuss metacognition in reading, encouraging our children to think about their thinking.

There will be an opportunity to view the training at home LIVE through Skype Broadcast. Check back in the newsletter next week for the link to attend from home!

Check out this fantastic article from Vanderbilt that discusses what metacognition is and how to apply the learning to all age groups.

1. Create art that truly commemorates and celebrates Black History. You may use any materials you want: canvas, pencil, paint, charcoal, crayon, marker, etc.
2. Write your name, your grade, your Teacher’s name and your school’s name on the back of your art.
   
3. Turn in your art and the permission form into your Homeroom, Art, or Social Studies Teacher or Love Jazz Art Center at 2510 N 24th Street, Omaha NE by 28 February 2018.
4. Only one submission per student. Art must be original and students own work.
   
5. Art must arrive at Love’s Jazz and Arts Center, 2510 N. 24th Street, Omaha Nebraska, by 7 March 2018. Center hours are: Tuesday-Friday, 11am-5pm & Saturday, 11am-3pm.
6. Permission slips can be picked up at the front desk.
   

Coming up in K-5 Art:

• All 3rd Quarter art should be turned in to Mrs. Barry by Friday, March 2nd

Next week: We will be reviewing concepts of print during our literature circle groups this week. Students will be able to locate the cover, spine, page, and chapters in a book. Number sense will continue to be our math focus. All students will work with addition and subtraction.

Be sure to join us online for ELA lessons on Monday, February 26th.

Week in Review:
We had some great discussions about sentences in class. We talked about making sentences more interesting by using contractions. Each class wrote in their Writer’s Notebooks using contractions. We are also in the process of creating a class Contraction Book. During Math, we continued to discuss shapes and vocabulary by taking a Kahoot Quiz.

Looking Ahead:
In Lit Circles, we are wrapping up several of the books. We will be starting a book project in the next 2 weeks. There will not be homework once they finish their book. All work on the project will be completed in class.

Thank you to those who attended online lessons on Friday. There are ELA online lessons on Monday. Please remember to go to the OneNote to complete the exit ticket after the lesson.

WE WON!!! We won the box tops challenge and now we get to where our pajamas to school!! Make sure you remember to where them to school this week to show off how cool we all are!

In Writing, students brought home an organizer to compare and contrast a character and themselves. 5th graders can use this for Unit 8 in composition. 4th graders can use it for something in composition or frame it. It’s totally up to you!

Literature Circles are close to being done and we will soon start our multimedia presentations. Students should start thinking about what kind of presentation they want to do. They can choose from different kinds of multimedia. The door is open to what they want to do and how they want to show understanding of the book. I will have a rubric and a set of guidelines out soon so they know what they need to do!

We are all caught up with each other with Hands On Equations and just finished lesson 5. Because Hands on Equations is so hands-on, it’s important for students to be here. If they miss a day, please consider bringing them to ISL on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday so we can go through the lesson and they are not behind. During the On-Line lessons on Fridays, I am going over what they need in order to pass the assessments inside K12. 5th grade is nearly ready to take the assessment for Algebra. 4th grade will need a bit more instruction on Coordinate Planes. I’d say both groups should be ready to assess around March 9.

The State test is coming up soon. Please look for more information on that as we are trying a different testing schedule.

Week in Review:
Students learned varied concepts from their K12 curriculum.

• Fundamentals: Use critical thinking and logic to solve a problem.
  
• PreAlgebra: Calculate square roots and solve equations involving square roots.
  
• Algebra: Identify and label lines formed at the intersection of lines.
  
• Algebra 1: Order and write rational numbers in multiple representations.
  
• Geometry: Identify and calculate tangents, secants, arcs, and chords.
  

Looking Ahead:
In class we will work on varied math concepts from their curriculum involving real-world math.

• Fundamentals: Use critical thinking and logic to solve a problem. (Lesson 8.07 – Points on Coordinate Plane)
  
• PreAlgebra: Calculate square roots and solve equations involving square roots. (Lesson 9.01 – Permutations and Combinations)
  
• Algebra: Identify and label lines formed at the intersection of lines. (Lesson 8.05 - Triangles)
  
• Algebra 1: Order and write rational numbers in multiple representations. (Module 3: Polynomials)
  
• Geometry: Identify and calculate tangents, secants, arcs, and chords. (Module 3: Circles)
  

Resources:

• Fundamentals: Splash Math explains the coordinate plane, plotting points, and quadrant system.
  
• PreAlgebra: Math is Fun has models, sample problems, explanations on permutations and combinations.
  
• Algebra: Wyzant explains the angles of a triangle and has practice problems with modeling.
  
• Algebra 1: Math Is Fun - Discusses operating and simplifying polynomials. Offers sample problems with solutions and vocabulary related to the topic.
  
• Geometry: Math Warehouse - Discusses circles in depth including arcs, chords, tangents, secants, and many others. Includes examples and diagrams.
  

Weekly Online Math Lessons:
Each week I am teaching the current math lesson, per the pacing guide, for each subject online via ClassConnect. These sessions are mandatory and students will learn the concept through interaction with the teacher. Upon completion, students will take their check-up and be complete with that lesson. Recordings are available within the Content area after each session has completed.

• Fundamentals: (Monday @ 9:30) Using points to solve problems (8.08).
  
• PreAlgebra: (Friday @ 9:30) Module 7 check-up.
  
• Algebra: (Monday @ 10:15) Area of a scaled figure (8.08).
  
• Algebra 1: (Friday @ 10:15) Overview of polynomials (3.01).
  
• Algebra 2: (Monday @ 11:45) Varied topics.
  
• Geometry: (Friday @ 11:00) Chords and arcs (3.06).
  

Parents will get an email response following your submission. One of our staff members will email parents back to provide assistance, so be sure to check your email after sending your concern.