Hidden Valley Weekly Bulletin
Week of 1/11/16
Principal Point to Ponder
"The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education." MLK
Whether it is that character education, reading, math, writing, science, art, PE, media, Spanish, or music; we must get our students to think intensively and critically. What does this mean? How do we get our students to do this? It must start with us, the educators. What materials are we using to get our students interested so they can make the connections? What questions are we asking of them, so they have to elaborate on their answer? What activities are we having them do, so they can think critically of the assignment and the content? Sometimes it feels like we are pulling teeth to get our students to answer questions thoroughly, or to get them elaborate on their answer.
The questions that I ask are:
Are we modeling effective thinking and reasoning? Are we forcing our students to restate the question, or are we just taking yes and no answers? Do we model with description to allow the students to see and hear what effective thinking looks and sounds like? Are we asking them additional scaffolding questions to get that elaboration out of them? Are they going back in the text to prove their answer? Are they looking at a piece of art or listening to a piece of music and able to explain the mood and feeling of the work? Do they understand the rules to a specific athletic game?
If the goal of education is to teach someone to think intensively and critically , how are WE intensively planning and critically thinking when designing activities that build intelligence.
Acknowledgements
* Kudos to Ms. Bordelon for getting engaged.
*Kudos to Mr. Everett and Mr. Staton for taking the Math assessments to ensure they are error free.
* Kudos to Ms. Chastain who is really gaining a grasp of the 4th grade math curriculum and asking her students the right scaffolding questions during instruction.
*Shout out to Mr. M Hayes for providing support to the subs on the E hallway this week.
*Shout out toMs. Hammer for sending an abundance of resources to the fifth grade reading team.
* Kudos to Mr. Busbee and Ms. Stoner for supporting many of our fifth grade students in ways beyond what classroom teacher can do.
*Praise for Ms. Gundersen as she was teaching her Kindergarteners authors purpose as well as worked with strategies to solve multiple choice questions. The class discussed thinking like first graders and how skills learned in class apply to goals in life.
*Praise for grade 2 – blowing MAPS scores out of the water. Both reading and math scores rocked it!!
*Kudos to Ms. Flynt for incorporating a fun way to teach place value to her students by way of the Place Value Song with movement to represent each place value.
*Kudos to the K-2 teachers along with Ms. Rosato who are diving in to the new phonemic awareness materials. The lessons that have been observed have been fast-paced and well-presented by the teachers.
Instructional Strategy of the Week
MS. London
She is working with her students to compare and contrast the main idea of a fiction and non fiction text. All of her students had a complex fiction and non fiction text printed side by side in hand and it was displayed on her promethean board. Her students were having rich conversations about what the main idea was in the fictional text and then focused on the main idea of the non fiction text before comparing them. This was a great way to expose her students to complex text and work on the important skill of determining the main idea of a passage! Great job Ms. London!----SORRY NO PICTURE
ELL Strategy of the Week
Week of January 11
Fluency strategy for Small or Whole group instruction
It is helpful for the ELLs in your classes to have the text (of a book or passage) read out loud to them first before asking them to read on their own or with a partner. This allows the English language learner to hear correct pronunciation along with fluent reading.
Reminders
* Girls on the Run will be offered this spring 2016 at Hidden Valley. Girls on the Run is an amazing after-school program that teaches healthy living, confidence, and includes fun games and activities that revolve around physical activity! Registration forms and payment will be accepted January 8 to the 14. Our first practice will be February 2nd! Talk to your parents if you are interested in participating in Girls on the Run! PLEASE SEND ALL INTERESTER GIRLS TO D11 RIGHT AFTER THE MORNING NEWS SHOW ON MONDAY (Grades 3-5)
*If you are collecting money from students like field trips or fundraisers, please have the money into Ms. Velez by your lunch time. Deposits need to be made daily, thanks...
* Read Write and Inspire PD- Please see email from Ms. Hews.
* Common Assessment # 3 - Please see testing accommodations in email from Mr. Nash
* Please monitor the students as they take the Cycle 3 common assessments. Please ensure students are showing their work, bubbling in the answer sheets correctly, and using the strategies you have taught in class. We are excited to see all the growth the students have made over Cycle 3.
*The Cheerleaders and Basketball team will be selling Krispy Kreme doughnuts this week. This will go till Thursday January 14th. Glazed doughnuts are $8 dollars per dozen, a pound of coffee of a dozen specialty doughnuts are $9. 50-60% go to the school.
* We will be collecting money from staff on Monday for Ms. Gaddy who is at home recuperating from surgery. We would like to take something to her early next week to show that we are thinking about her. Please send money to Ms. Watson
* Pre K and K teachers please check email from Mr. Brynildsen about this Friday's dental screenings.
* Please check your email and your settings. Please make sure that you are in the eastern time zone. When people are sending calendar reminders and we are in different time zones, it will read per your time zone. Check with your settings on your email calendar.
*If you have any blue cafeteria trays please return them to the cafeteria, they are missing a ton......thanks
TEACHER OF THE YEAR NOMINATIONS
Congrats to this years finalists: Mr. M. Hayes (5th), Ms. Flynt (2nd), Ms. Riley (K), Ms. Stewart (K), Ms. Allison (4th), Ms. Pratt (4th), and Ms. Steib (1st)
Please click on the link below by Monday at 5pm, choose your selection, and the winner will be announced at This Wednesday's staff meeting.
What to Expect This Week
Monday 1/11/16 (Day 2)
- Wear your school colors (model our uniform for the students)
- Common Assessment # 3 ( Math grades 1-3)
- DIBELS/TRC - See schedule from Hews
- Beginning Teachers Meeting @3:15 pm
Tuesday 1/12/16 (Day 3)
- TIE TUESDAY - Can we really promote this with the students and staff :)
- DIBELS/TRC- See Schedule from Hews
Wednesday 1/13/16 (Day 4)
- Common Assessment #3 (Reading grades K-5)
- Staff Meeting - Teacher of the Year, Team Player of the Month, Bronze Eagle, and DDI)
Thursday 1/14/16 (Day 5)
- Common Assessment #3 (Math Kindergarten)
- DIBELS/TRC- See schedule from Hews
Friday 1/15/16 (Day 1)
- Wear Jeans and Panther's Colors
- Common Assessment # 3 ( Science 5th)
- Pre K and K Dental Screening- See wmail from Mr. B
Upcoming Events
- 1/18/16 - Holiday No School
- 1/19/16- Common Assessment Math grades 4-5
- 1/20/16- End of the 2nd quarter, Half Day, DDI Day
- 1/21/16- PTO meeting
- Week of 1/26 and 2/1 - Data talks during specials- schedule to come out next week
- 1/22 Report cards need to be finalized and sent to Mr. B or Mr. Nash
- 1/25 Required Teacher Work Day - Restorative Justice Training
- 1/27 End of DIBELS /TRC window
- 1/29 Awards Assembly during specials
- 2/11 Family Math Night