PKMS Update 12.16.19
A Close Look At How We Did & Will Do Our Work
Good Day, PKMS Family.
The Last Week of School in 2019!
We continue to be appreciative of your engaging learning environments, dedication, planning, collaboration, assessment of students, focus, and hard work.
This week we have Spirit Week and our Grade-Level Talent Shows - More info to follow
This week’s quote speaks to our Social Emotional Learning Theme of Community: "Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much” – Helen Keller
As has become a part of the PKMS culture, please allow these words to inspire you as you design and redesign lessons, tasks, and questions, and reflect on practice.
Remember, to SMILE (Show My Infectious Lovable Energy) as it is the first thing students, families, and colleagues see.
Let's Keep These Thoughts in Mind:
- Laugh a little. Laugh a little more.
- Gladden the heart of a child.
- Always operate from a honest place.
- Give a soft answer
Smart Interactive Board Demonstration - Monday, Dec. 16 - Media Lab - 9AM - 10:30AM
Spirit Week, Talent Shows, Pep Rally
Tuesday- Dress Like a Celebrity Day
Wednesday - Jersey/Sports Day - District is asking that we wear your College Colors (or sweater or hoodie)
Thursday - Throwback Thursday
Friday - Pajama/Ugly Sweater Day & Talent Shows
Talent Shows will be 9AM - Grade 6, 10AM Grade 7, 11AM Grade 8
Student government has requested a Pep Rally on Friday, Dec. 20th Periods 7 & 8 - They are working with our PE Coaches on structure and activity
Staff Talent Act:
1960: Hey Jude
1970: Staying Alive
1980: Another One Bites the Dust (or Eye of the Tiger)
1990: Macarena
2000: Yeah (usher & Lil,John)
2010: Uptown Funk
Turning Up The Heat!
Thank you to Jose and his family for opening their lovely home again to host our PKMS Holiday Gathering
Thank you to the District Performance Arts Department with specific thanks to Norah Carney, Carolee Finney, and Mitchell Guido for this year's Winter Concert - Our students showcased such immense talent - hats off to these practitioners
Thank you to Ashley Aucar for organizing Friday's Grade 6 trip to the Tarrytown Music Hall - Thank you to Grade 6 colleagues and other staff for chaperoning and assisting - Thank you, Ms. Simon for supporting the program
Thank you to Dr. Sobrin for her work with the science department
Thank you to Katie Geider for her presentation at our Grade-Level Meetings
Thank you to Officer Greenan, Officer Nappi, and Officer Stroh for providing extra presence and security this week - Our building continues to be a extremely safe place to learn and lead
We thank every department member for your discussions and focus during this week's department meetings- Thank you to those who are training staff in the weekly sessions
Luz Gonzalez for leading the way in supporting our families this holiday season - Thank you to the Clinical Team for organizing the "Pops in the Cafeteria" campaign and the PKMS staff and students for their generosity - You all are going to put smiles on students' and families' faces
Thank you to Jonathan Harrison and the Student Government for working on School Spirit Week & Talent Shows
We thank Ms. Detres, Ms. Fervan, Ms. King, Ms. Mahy, Ms. Settembre, Ms. Tual, Ms. Zupa, Mr. Harrison, Dr. Robinson, Mr. Hatch, and Mr. Coster for their work during our After School Program - We are also thankful to Andrew Weisman and Parketha Evans for providing a snack and drink (they will provide this until May 7)
Thank you for the RtI Meetings and Discussions this past week
Thank you to our security: Chemay, Nigel, Merriweather, Billy, and David for their work
Thank you to Tim, Mike, Mark, Kristen, Billy, Keith, and Manny for their work
Thank you to Parketha Evans and her Food Services Team
Thank you to our Clinical Team for continuing to support students, families, and staff
Thank you to staff for parent and family outreach and meetings conducted this week
A Humanities Lens
Students discussing the geography in Egypt: the physical features, climate, and the importance of the Nile River - understanding the events that led to the American Revolution - understand the Progressive Era, learning and interacting with vocabulary words while classifying them as political, economic or social and exploring the impact of muckrakers on society - continuing learning about figurative language while focusing on personification - learning how characters can change due to their experiences by reading and discussing - applying understanding of memoir writing by completing graphic organizers and writing their own personal narratives - discussing the rising action with the students.Have the students fill in the events on the plot diagram focusing in on the climax of the story - beginning to work on character development using RACCEE to describe the main character
The Arts Live Here
Students identifying what a coat of arms is and what it is used for, reading an article and answering questions, designing their own coat of arms shield, and sketching a design using 4 symbols that represent themselves - learning about the traditional hand building technique of coil building - creating a pinch pot that is inspired by Peekskill pride - singing at least 3 harmonies at once (Soprano, Alto, Baritone) by learning to blend with their section - identifying and performing whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes, and sixteenth notes by performing rhythm activities - applying sight-reading strategies to individual and collaborative rehearsal, define key musical terms in the music, and reflect on their individual and collective progress - developing listening and critical thinking skills to apply appropriate techniques to the presentation and balance of thematic material
A Health-Conscious Mind & Body
Students engaging in a series of static and dynamic stretches based on which “split” is being worked out - engaging in a workout consisting of only Lower Body exercise - identifying and explaining proper cues for successfully performing the back crawl, demonstrating ability to perform the back crawl using a flutter kick, alternating arm motion, and body roll, and reciting and showing knowledge of 2-3 water safety rules for pool and open water - completing a self-esteem All About Me project - analyzing an article analysis based on the topic students chose - partnering with Margaret’s Place in regards to healthy relationships and anti-violence/bullying - exploring communicable and non-communicable diseases
We Got STEM!
Students understanding that positive and negative numbers are used together to describe quantities having opposite directions or values - computing products of fractions and whole numbers - finding the reciprocal of a number - computing quotients of fractions - applying properties of inequality to generate equivalent inequalities - solving two‐step inequalities using the basic operations - applying two‐step inequalities to solve real‐life problems - analyzing the graph of functions in different representations (by comparing, determining linearity, and describing qualitatively) - exploring cell structures and functions: plant versus animal cells - measuring matter: using mathematics and computational thinking - exploring the seasons - design their own Game and play test each others game and give a review - demonstrating knowledge of key historical factors that have shaped manufacturing over the centuries - explaining current and emerging 3D printing applications in a variety of industries - working their way through several tutorials to learn the basics of the program - understanding that the Engineering Design Process is a method to carefully solve problems - understanding that the Engineering Design Process is a method to carefully solve problems - learning about cell structures and levels of organization while engaging in argument from evidence
Town Hall - Student-Building Work
- This week’s quote speaks to our Social Emotional Learning Theme of Community: "Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much” – Helen Keller
- Please refer to the counselors' email on the Town Hall's New Format/Structure - See them for any questions for additional details
- Tuesday - Friday (Work Completion Days – Please structure it so that students can complete homework, work on projects, and get work from other teachers - Fun Days - Students who have met behavioral expectations will enjoy recess or whatever classroom activity designed)
Collaborative & Department Work
- Full Department Meetings from 3-3:40PM: 1/27, 2/10, 3/9, 4/20, 5/11, 6/8
- Month of December:
- For the month of December, please take a close (or closer) look at the 2019 ELA, Math (take a look at the Regents to determine what adjustments are necessary), and Grade 8 Science or Earth Science exam - Social studies will review the American History exam
- The goal is to identify trends, patterns, academic vocabulary, sentence phrasing, and what is the student being asked to do that he/she was not previously asked to do - From there, look at how you can add additional components/tasks/assessments to Rubicon Atlas and what instructional adjustment/supports will be designed
ENL and Culturally Responsive Work
Grade-Level Work
- RtI Meetings where applicable - Leslie Detres will communicate specifics
- January 8 - RtI Direct Tab Training in Normal Classrooms
GOT DATA???
We thank everyone who continue to create authentic, challenging, and standards-based assessments - We thank you for the analysis and task/lesson design to enhance learning - #datadriveninstruction
Must ask: Are Our Students Learning
What do my students need to learn? Why?
What have my students learned? How do I know?
What are my next steps? Why?
Task Predicts Performance
Questioning - are we posing low-level questions that address the standard or are we challenging students to think critically while addressing the same standard
LEVEL OF MASTERY THAT WILL BE REACHED IS DETERMINED BY WHAT SORT OF QUESTIONS STUDENTS ARE EXPECTED TO ANSWER
Work Dates
- December 16th - 20th - School Spirit Week - More to come this week
- December 20th - Grade-Level Talent Shows - More to come
- December 23rd - Jan 3rd - Holiday Recess
- January 6th - Return from Holiday Recess
- January 7th - Board of Education Meeting @7PM
- January 9th - Data-Technology Meeting @7:45AM & Period 1
- January 10th - BERT Meeting @7:45AM in Library
- January 13th - Faculty Meeting @3PM - DASA
- January 16th - New Teacher Meeting @7:45AM in Library
- January 17th - Department Leader Meeting @7:45AM
- January 20th - NO SCHOOL - Martin Luther King, Jr.
- January 21st - SLT Meeting @7:45AM in Library
- January 24th - PKMS Musical @7PM
- January 25th - PKMS Musical @3PM
- January 27th - Department Meetings @3PM
Work Reminders
- Take attendance for each of your instructional periods
- Ensure 504 and IEP Plans are being supported
- Ensure grade content colleague planning - reflecting Rubicon Atlas
- Ensure Gradebook and Teacher Webpage/Google Classroom reflect current information and assignments
- Communicate with families and maintain that communication in PLP
- Data Driven Instruction Model
- Always Ask: Have They Learned? How Do You Know?
- Training One Another
- Discussing Student Performance Information
- Designing Tiered Instruction
- Reflecting on Daily Practice
- Reviewing Assessments from All Content Areas (Formative, Summative, Interim)
- Discussing Progress Monitoring Efforts
- Pacing through Rubicon Atlas
- Lesson Plans Should Be Designed with the following in Mind
- Questions Posed - What is the level
- Tiered Instruction
- Guided Instruction
- Driven By Data
- Clear and Articulated Assessment Throughout (assessments must contain spiraling back questions)
- Groupings (Fluid)