Elementary Curriculum Newsletter
January 2020
MYSTERY SCIENCE
WHEN: WEDNESDAY, January 15, 2020
WHERE: Oakland Park Elementary School (3392 Atwood Terrace)
TIME: 4:30-5:45 pm (1hr 15 min)
WHO: Any K-5 teacher
Have you noticed Mystery Science has been added to your Clever account?
Columbus City Schools has been given a 1-year FREE subscription to the Mystery Science lessons.
Inspire students to question, analyze, and participate in hands-on science activities. STEM-inspired lessons that combine videos, discussion, and hands-on activities. A fun and interactive way to enhance the content area or broaden the knowledge base of students and challenge them to be critical thinkers
This session will explore what Mystery Science is and give you time to look at lessons correlated to Ohio's Science Standards.
PDS # 37334
Looking a EVAAS Value Added Data - Only for 4th & 5th grade teachers
WHEN: TUESDAY, January 21, 2020
WHERE: Southland Center (3700 S High Street, Suite 120)
TIME: 4:15-6:15 pm
WHO: 4th & 5th grade teachers
Each year 4th and 5th grade teachers receive EVAAS data through Teacher Value-Added Reports. This value-added analysis helps educators measure the impact they have on students’ academic progress rates from year to year. So, what do we do with the information? This workshop will help teachers understand the data, look at the information that the data provides, and see how it can be used along with other data sources to help support student learning.
PDS #37521
Columbus City Schools will be hosting its annual Saturday Academy!
Here are the details for this year's Academy:
- NEW Theme: Power of 3- Practice, Perseverance, Performance
- Grades 3, 4, 5
- Reading and Math instruction at grade level, and test preparation
- 7 District locations: Africentric, CSIA, East Linden, Ecole Kenwood, Olde Orchard, Southwood, West Mound
- Each site will have an Intervention Specialist and an ESL teacher
- Transportation will be provided
- A lite breakfast and "grab 'n go" lunch will be provided
- Teachers may apply online: https://applications.columbus.k12.oh.us/ccsdas/login/auth
- Submitting an application indicates you are able to commit to teach all 6 weeks of the Academy
- Families will register online through the IC Parent Portal in December - fliers and information will be coming soon!
- 2 Family meetings will be held during the Academy
What we need from you:
- Apply to teach!
- Encourage families to register their child!
Identifying Concepts and Skills
Knowing the standards well allows teachers to identify the necessary prior knowledge and to determine the expectations for the students’ success. In nearly all cases, the standards themselves articulate outcomes of learning and often call upon students to apply what they have learned. These outcomes cannot be mastered in a day or a week. They require intentional instruction that is sustained over many lessons and learning experiences.
We can look at the standards as having two distinct parts. The content or knowledge the students need and the skills the students demonstrate to be successful. Often, we look at the nouns of the standards as the concepts the students need to learn.
- This knowledge is the declarative knowledge, which is the factual information associated with the subject. The verb of the standard is the doing side.
- The skill is the procedural knowledge, which is useful when it comes to applying the knowledge. It is the skills the students must acquire in order to make the concepts and content useful.
January 18 - Thesaurus Day
THESAURUS DAY - Because words matter
Thesaurus Day celebrates the birthday of the author of Roget's Thesaurus. Peter Roget was born on this day in 1779.
The Thesaurus has been an invaluable reference book for hundreds of years. Students and writers use it to improve the quality of their literary work. The Thesaurus lists synonyms (words with the same or similar meaning) for words. It allows you to avoid repetition in writing and speeches. It also lists antonyms...words with the opposite meanings.
*** Did You Know? There is no synonym for "Thesaurus".
January 20 - Martin Luther King Jr. Day
"This is not a black holiday; it is a people's holiday," said Coretta Scott King after President Ronald Reagan signed the King Holiday Bill into law on Nov. 2, 1983.
10 Things You May Not Know About Martin Luther King Jr.
(Click to read more about the facts from the History.com website)
- King’s birth name was Michael, not Martin.
- King entered college at the age of 15.
- King received his doctorate in systematic theology.
- King’s “I Have a Dream” speech was not his first at the Lincoln Memorial.
- King was imprisoned nearly 30 times.
- King narrowly escaped an assassination attempt a decade before his death.
- King’s last public speech foretold his death.
- Members of King’s family did not believe James Earl Ray acted alone.
- King’s mother was also slain by a bullet.
- George Washington is the only other American to have had his birthday observed as a national holiday.
YouTube Videos
Martin Luther King Jr. Day by Studies Weekly
The Story of Martin Luther King Jr. by Kid President
A Picture Book of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
January 25 - Chinese New Years
Chinese New Year 2020 - The year of the rat
Chinese New Year is celebrated by billions of people around the world.
The date of Chinese New Year changes every year.
It is a 15-day celebration, beginning on the first day of the new moon, and ends on the full moon. The celebration on the15th day is called the Chinese Lantern Festival.
Chinese culture is amongst the oldest in the world. While the rest of the world is in the early years of but the third millennium, Chinese culture is in their fifth millennium.
In Chinese astrology, every year is represented by an animal. The cycle is twelve years, with a different animal each year. This year is the year of the rat.
Chinese New Year or Spring Festival, is the biggest holiday in Chinese culture. It is celebrated with festivities, fireworks, brightly colored lights, special meals with family and gift-giving. Like Christmas in the western world, most Chinese travel home to be with family for the new year celebration.
YouTube Videos
World Dragon and Lion Dance Day Yau Kung Moon 2018
Lion dance ( 舞獅) is a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture and other Asian countries in which performers mimic a lion's movements in a lion costume to bring good luck and fortune. The lion dance is usually performed during the Chinese New Year and other Chinese traditional, cultural and religious festivals. It may also be performed on important occasions such as business opening events, special celebrations or wedding ceremonies, or may be used to honor special guests by the Chinese communities.
FEBRUARY 5, 2020
LitWorld founded the World Read Aloud Day in 2010 because we believe reading is powerful. Studies show that individuals who frequently read are better able to understand other people, empathize with them and see the world from their perspective.
Reading aloud not only helps develop literacy skills like word mastery and grammatical understanding, but it also builds community and connects us to each other.
On World Read Aloud Day, people all around the globe read aloud and share stories to advocate for literacy as a human right.
Global Literacy Statistics
- According to the latest report (2016), 758 million adults – two thirds of them women – lack basic reading and writing skills.
- Since 1985, the female adult literacy rate has risen 15%, which is about double the growth of the male literacy rate in the same time period.
- Among the youth population, female literacy rates have been rising quickly. Nonetheless, three out of five youths lacking basic reading and writing skills are young women.
- If all children in low-income countries left school literate, 171 million people could rise from poverty.
- Poorly-literate individuals are less likely to participate in democratic processes and have fewer chances to fully exercise their civil rights.
- A child born to a literate mother is 50% more likely to survive past the age of five than a child born to an illiterate mother.
- A literate and educated woman will produce a smaller, healthier family, is three times less likely to acquire AIDS, and will earn at least 25% more income than an illiterate woman.
- Illiterate people earn 30-42% less than their literate counterparts.