HAWK HAPPENINGS
The official newsletter of Hillcrest Elementary Staff
Every single student, every single day, in every single way.
January 27, 2019
Please check calendar -- There have been some changes!
MUST READ
Weekly Announcements
Teachers: when it is your class' turn, please send your 2-3 volunteers to the office right away so they can begin announcements at 8:30.
PKMS Drama CLub presents SEUSSICAL the MUSICAL Jr.!
The PKMS Drama Club is presenting "Seussical Jr" - a jazzy, brassy, and sweet musical mashup of Dr. Seuss stories, on Friday, February 1 at 7:00 pm and Saturday, February 2 at 3:00 pm. Ms. Kramer is one of the directors of the show and they've included a cast and crew list so you can see how far your former students have come! (Cast/Crew List Click HERE)
We hope you will come out and support the show! There are so many talented students in our district, and the PKMS Drama Club is chock full of them!
CURRICULAR INFO FOR FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER
Feel free to go back and reference what you contributed to the January newsletter by clicking THIS LINK.
HUGE THANKS again to all of the teachers who contributed Curricular Information to the January Newsletter! Feedback has been very positive thus far from families -- what is your impression? Give us your GLOWS/GROWS by clicking HERE.
PLEASE send the link to the electronic version of the newsletter in any class email correspondence or in your Remind! or Class Dojo blasts to families in order to maximize readership. You can copy and paste the link from here:
( Is your class web page updated???? )
BULLETIN BOARD WARS!!
Some hints to meet expectations and boost your chances of winning:
- Be creative!
- Work should represent grade level standards and represent most/all of your class.
- Include a description of the TASK.
- Include a copy of the RUBRIC.
- Include a glow and a grow on student work (preferable either on an individual student rubric copy or on post-it notes -- do not write on student work)
- Reference the standards addressed.
ELA HAPPENINGS
- Student Reading Growth Goals: We are striving for students in red and yellow to make two F&P levels before the next assessment. Students who are in green and blue should make 1.
- Christine will be here on Wednesday to lead a 4th and 5th grade meeting on conferring with students.
She will then observe her new teachers. Here is the schedule:
8:45-9:25- Galiano
9:30-10:10- Flores
10:15-10:55- Lunch
11:00- Rossi/Tama
11:45- Levy/Tama
12:30- Thompson
1:15- Fernandez
Debriefs: (Coverage will be provided and these will occur in the art room.
2:00-2:15- Debrief with Galiano and Thompson
2:15-2:30- Debrief with Rossi/Tama/Levy
2:30-Debrief with Flores and Fernandez
3:00- Debrief with Randy and Crystal
- Miscue Analysis follow-up
Please begin to update the Reading Tracker during your technology time with the information from your miscue analysis on your F&P assessments
To do this, please use the code at the top of your sheet which says: KEY for this section: + means consistently, -- means sometimes, 0 means rarely. So, in the case of M (Meaning), S (Syntax), and V (Visuals), you place a "+" if they use that cueing system consistently, a "-" if they do sometimes, and a "0" if they rarely use it.
Please aim to have that completed by Christine's visit this week (January 30)
- John Boniello and the MTSS Initiative:
John Boniello will be meeting with two teams of teachers on Monday. Please refer to the calendar events that Crystal sent last week.
MATH HAPPENINGS
Gerald will not be here on Tuesday this week as planned due to the mock exam. However, he will be here on Thursday to do some more modeling. Here is the schedule:
Dr. Ardito's Math Modeling Schedule
1/31/19
8:45 Hernandez Diaz will Observe (Alvarado will cover)
9:30 Pop-In Visits
10:15 Bocek Perlowitz will observe (Hess will cover)
11:00 King - Room 2 Thompson will observe (Hess will cover)
11:45 Pena Flores will observe (Alvarado will cover)
12:30 Bruno/Rodriguez Combined No Coverage Needed
1:15 Lunch/Check and Connect with Crystal and Randy
UPDATE on the IIT (formerly DTDSE Team) TO VISIT HILLCREST FEB. 26-28
Thank you to everyone who attended Thursday’s faculty meeting with respect to the upcoming state review on February 26th, 27th, and 28th.
Remember the key items that we are working on:
Content/Language Objectives
Content: What do the students need to learn?
Language: How are they using language to learn it?
The “Why?” of Instruction- How does this content relate to the students’ everyday lives. This can be a question that is asked at the beginning of each lesson, or as an exit ticket.
Meaningful student discussions prompted by higher order questions/teaching students to ask higher order questions
Data Driven Instruction
Randy and Crystal will be watching a webinar from 10am-12pm on Monday with respect to this process. We will share any information we gather.
STUDENT ATTENDANCE
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
http://www.nea.org/tools/lessons/bhm-curriculum-resources-gradesK-5.html
https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/collections/teaching-content/black-history-month/
https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/black-history-month/
https://www.weareteachers.com/7-fresh-ideas-for-black-history-month/
https://www.weteachnyc.org/resources/collection/black-history-month-resources-teachers/
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/2014/02/black-history-month-teaching-resources/
As a 4th grade teacher, one of my favorite projects was during February when we made a biography Quilt of 100 Influential & Under-Celebrated Black Americans. Students researched lesser-known black Americans who made important contributions to our country or the world, and wrote biographical sketches (1-2 paragraphs) and drew a picture of that person, and glued it onto a square piece of paper, or a felt square. Our goal was to have 100 of them before the 100th Day of School and we assembled the quilt as part of our 100th Day Celebration. Once we even scanned them, printed them out on Iron-on paper and actually ironed them onto fabric squares and stitched them together to create a fabric quilt.
How will your class commemorate Black History Month? Let us know so we can spread the good word! Enter your info IN THIS CHART.
Our Integrated Intervention Team Visit is at the end of the month, so creative, rigorous projects on Black History would look good in our classrooms and bulletin boards so they can see the skill and creativity of our staff and students!
THIS WEEK'S HAWK HEROES!!
Hawk Heroes:
Our Clinical Team: Ana, Christina, and Brandon for all they do to support our students and staff every single day!
All of our 1:1 and Classroom Aides for helping their students to be their best!
Ms. Ali
Ms. Vogel
Ms. Eakler
Ms. Fisher
Mr. Dodaro
Ms. Vinci
Ms. Fajardo
Ms. Lepore
Ms. Reeves
Ms. Lape
READING ROCKSTARS MID-YEAR CHECK-IN
If you haven’t done so already, please make sure to submit your reading log minutes to Tara, Peggy and Marisa so that we can telly them up and see where we are as a school.
ROCK THE MOCK: INTERIM ASSESSMENT JAN. 29 and FEB. 1
Please know that the next interim/mock assessments are coming up on January 29th (ELA) and Feb 1st (Math)
We will be treating this as the "real deal" - complete with following a 3 hour delayed schedule (for lunch purposes)
Tests and materials to be picked up and signed out in the library, and we will follow all mods and alternate locations
A HUGE thank you to the SLT for creating the tests based on the ELA and Math content taught thus far this year. This administration will not only give students another chance to feel what it is like to sit for a formal assessment, and will let us know how prepared students are for the upcoming state assessments, but will also gauge how students have learned and internalized the topics that we have already taught this year.
Everyone will receive a package with the following:
Student exams- one extra for teacher
Answer Sheets
Teacher Directions
Attendance sheet- Please tape onto your door before you begin at 9:00
Be Quiet Sign
ELLs will receive Spanish/English glossaries/dictionaries
Manipulatives for math exam if needed
Announcements will be made for everyone to come and pick up their tests at 7:40. Crystal will sign out 4th grade, Randy will sign out 5th, and Tracy will sign out for students with mods. Please count your materials and sign off.
We will send an updated version of the students with special groupings/accommodations this week. We will call students down to the cafeteria as usual, and proctors can pick up their students there.
It is very important that we take this mock seriously because we will be using the data from it to inform our instruction.
Specials teachers will go to the classrooms to relieve teachers during their prep.
Lunch monitors will be assigned to man the hallways for students/staff who need to use the restroom. One student at a time please.
The only thing we will NOT be doing for the mock is the OPT-OUT station.
Please have the students use their own pencils.
Reminder: ED-DATA ORDERS
LESSON PLANS
Reminder: THREE THINGS TO FOCUS ON IN 2019
1). Authentic, caring relationships with every student
2) Differentiated, data-informed instruction
3) Common, standards-based assessment with timely, actionable feedback
If we are successful with these three priorities, we will truly positively impact every student, every day, in every way.
Reminder: REPORT CARD WINDOW
WORLD READ ALOUD DAY FEB. 1
We will participate in World Read Aloud Day. In addition to or instead of your regular daily read aloud, feel free to invite a special guest to come and read to your class. You could invite a community member, class parent, friend, or family member -- you can even use technology to include someone who lives far away by either skyping them or having them pre-record their read aloud and sending a YouTube link.
Why World Read Aloud Day?
We think everyone in the world should get to read and write.
Every year, on World Read Aloud Day, people all around the globe read aloud together and share stories to advocate for literacy as a human right that belongs to all people.
For more information visit sponsoring organization LitWorld's website at http://www.litworld.org/wrad/.
Children's Author Kate DiCamilo on Reading Aloud
Mark Your Calendar: FEBRUARY 5
GLOBAL SCHOOL PLAY DAY FEB. 6
We will discuss this further in an upcoming email (when you will dedicate time for this, what is allowed/not allowed i.e. no electronics, etc.) but for now, mark your calendars!
“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.”
-Plato
Why should we encourage unstructured play at school? Watch this amazing TED Talk by Stuart Brown by clicking THIS LINK.
PBIS ASSEMBLY & SPIRIT DAY -- JANUARY 30 -- TROPICAL DAY
COLD & FLU SEASON IS UPON US!
It is surely that time of year! There have been 3 confirmed cases of the flu so far, and we are working with Myron and Carmine to have the building disinfected. We will start with the common areas and the classrooms of those people who have confirmed cases. We will keep you updated on the plan for sanitizing, In the meantime, please make sure to wash your hands frequently, and have your students do the same. Nurse Deb will be reviewing healthy habits at this week’s PBIS assemblies. Please make it a point to discuss with your students as well.
Don't Forget: WINTER ASSESSMENT & DATA MEETING TIMELINE
SHOULD READ
Five Ways to Help Kids with ADHD Develop Their Strengths
TEACHER To-Do LIST
- Plan for World Read-Aloud Day this Friday February 1
- Enter miscue data into Reading Tracker doc (use Tech time) by Wednesday if possible
- Ed-Data order by Thursday
- Plan for Black History Month
- Send glows/grows on newsletter via link
- Collaborate with team to complete February Curricular Update by end of day Tuesday
- Discuss Global School Day of Play for NEXT WEEK (Feb. 6)