Lincoln Elementary Newsletter
Purpose, Passion, Belonging
The Week Ahead- February 24th-28th
February Core Value
Creativity
Using Your Imagination to do Something Unique
Monday, February 24th- 3-5 MAP PLC-Meet in the Library
Brave Leadership District Book Study @Mt.Stuart
ALL K-1 Teachers-EL Strategies with Bridget Dale- Meet in Staff Room
Tuesday, February 25th-
ELPA21 TESTING today through February 28th (Please make sure students are on time for their testing session with Trina)
Wednesday, February 26th-
Thursday, February 27: Staff Meeting/We will be in our Teams-Culture & Climate, Learning Improvement Team- We will begin Together in the Library.
Lincoln Design Team Meeting with Architects 4:00 in the Library
Ballroom Dance Performance @ MMS - 6:30
Friday, February 28th
Threat Assessment Training
March:
Wednesday, March 4: M.M.S. Music Presentation for 5th Grade @ 11:00
2nd and 3rd Grade EL Strategies with Bridget Dale
Thursday, March 5- 4th and 5th grade EL strategies with Sue Connolly
Friday, March 6: Pacific Science Center (Times will be sent out)-We will not have a Core Value Assembly in the month of March.
Thursday, March 12: 3rd Grade Play @ 6 pm
Friday, March 13th-Ealry Release at 12:30 for Conferences
Tues, March 17th-20th-Early Release at 12:30 for Conferences
Monday, March 23-Friday, March 27th- NO SCHOOL-Spring Break
Monday, March 30th-School Resumes
BINGO was a BLAST!!
Small Group Work is Happening in Our Classrooms
When should small group instruction usually occur?
Small group instruction usually follows whole group instruction to reinforce or reteach specific skills and concepts and provides a reduced student-teacher ratio. Small groups typically range in size from four to six students.
What are the key benefits of small group instruction?
There are four key benefits to small group instruction:
- Personalize Instruction: Small group instruction allows teachers to work more closely with each student. This type of instruction provides the opportunity to evaluate students’ learning strengths, locate gaps in the development of their reading or math skills and tailor lessons focused on specific learning objectives. In addition, small group instruction allows teachers to check for understanding, reinforce skills presented in whole group instruction, and/or change the pacing of a lesson (i.e., teachers may break down concepts not easily understood or quickly pass though lessons that students clearly understand).
- Provide Feedback: Small group instruction allows a teacher to monitor student actions more closely and to provide frequent and individualized feedback at point of use to improve specific reading or math skills.
- Reteach or Preteach: Small group instruction is an opportunity for teachers to provide additional teaching and practice often needed for struggling students to master important skills or understand key concepts (e.g., phonemic awareness skill of manipulating ending sounds, or operations with whole numbers or rational numbers). Through the use of diagnostic assessments, a teacher can determine skills or concepts for which students may need more instructional support. Small group instruction also provides an opportunity for teachers to pre-teach specific vocabulary, challenging text structures, or other prerequisite knowledge to English learners or any students who may experience difficulty in upcoming lessons.
- Build Confidence Through Collaboration: Small group instruction can provide a comfortable environment and boost the confidence of students who might not otherwise participate in a lesson or activity. Small group instruction encourages teamwork as everyone in the group is working toward achieving the same goal.
Small Group Information-https://www.corelearn.com/small-group-instruction-blog/
Teachers Visit the Opal School in Portland
Educators from around the world attend and study alongside the Opal School including Ellensburg educators.
Stephanie Teasely was our Lincoln teacher who was able to attend the Opal school along with Early Learning Coordinator, Juli Hamilton and a teachers from Mt. Stuart and Valley View. Stephanie has been using some of the ideas from the Opal School to guide her in creating, sustaining and expanding our Playful/Inquiry based Explore Program at Lincoln. Here are some of Stephanie's take aways:
Visiting the Opal School left me feeling inspired and encouraged. What a lovely experience to watch how this school has zeroed in on their vision and passion for engaging playful inquiry in students of all ages. We were able to explore classroom environments and then observe students in action. I think what struck me the most from this experience is:
- Our view of our students. Do we see them as merely empty vessels to be filled or as contributors to the learning process? They have so much to contribute!
- How impactful our classroom environment is in the learning experience, it's another teacher. I loved how Opal classrooms were language rich, with student voice and drawings (all related to learning) posted everywhere.
- The importance of taking time to pause. So often I observed teachers and students sitting together in one thought or question. They pressed in deeper together and you could see the students feeling valued and fruitful learning and discussion overflowed.
- We are doing this!! Our amazing Lincoln teachers already foster so many of these strategies in their classrooms!
- This teaching model allows for opportunity for social and emotional learning to be interwoven into academic content.
I was observing in a 1st-2nd grade combined class that had been looking closer at the natural world. From that experience, they were zeroing in on the idea of invisible and visible. During this observation, the class was asking the question: "How might I use these materials to make an invisible part of me more visible?" I was watching the students who chose to explore the question with clay. Here is what unfolded:
Student: Sharing at the clay table, as he builds, how he was afraid of clowns and he had a bad dream about clowns. Other students agreed that was scary.
Teacher: "How is clay helping you?"
Student: "Because I'm expressing by carving. People know something I love and something I'm scared of."
I LOVED seeing how their initial look into nature, connected this class back to themselves, how they felt safe and empowered to express an invisible part of them.
Some thoughts from Juli Hamilton-
What I walked away from Opal School with was- excitement and inspiration! I was so excited to leave feeling like we are not far off from being able to implement this type of inquiry into our current system. We have workshop model and structures in place, and in my opinion that was the heaviest lift. Now, with more opportunities to learn about Intentional Play and Inquiry Based learning together, I am excited to see how our awesome teachers will run with this idea. I also loved Matt Carlson's reminder that when walking away from Opal School- we need to remember the 5% rule. We can't (and wouldn't want to!) change everything upon our return to our classrooms, but what 5% can we take back and infuse into our current systems and structures to incorporate Inquiry and Intentional Play to our current practice?
Contact Juli or Stephanie to learn more about the Opal School or playful inquiry. You can also check with Stephanie to learn more about the Lincoln Explore Program or would like to observe the Explore Program in Action.
You can learn more about the Opal School here-https://opalschool.org/