Curriculum Connection
Updates, Information, and Ideas for DCSC Staff
July 22, 2019
In order to be respectful of everyone's time, I have broken the newsletter down into information that staff "Have To Know" and information that is "Nice to Know." In addition, I have tried to break things down further by grade level or subject area. Please ensure you read and/or respond to anything in the "Have To Know" section that applies to a grade level or subject area you teach.
If you find any ideas, websites, books, etc. that you think are worth sharing out, please send them my way and I am happy to include them!
Morgan Walker
Director of Academic Services
All Certified Staff (K-12)
Curriculum Mapping- form closing at the end of next week, August 2nd
One of the goals of the corporation is to ensure we have a guaranteed and viable curriculum for every course and that it is organized into a central location. This work can be done during PLC time, grade level/department meetings, during your prep/school day as needed, and last year I was able to open up Title II grant funds for certified staff to work outside the contract day for pay if they chose.
Fun fact: DCSC staff logged 595 hours of work OUTSIDE of contract time on curriculum mapping since we started this work last summer!
I wanted to take a moment to remind you of the timeline of this work. During the 2019-2020 school year, we will work on TWO courses per semester until all of them are complete. **If you find that you are having trouble finishing in the time given to you during PLC time and you are unable to work outside of that time, please let me know. I will do my best to work with you and help in any way I can to finish! You are welcome to move faster than that, of course!
**Certified staff- Due to the Title II grant coming to a close soon, I will be shutting down the curriculum mapping form at the end of the day August 2nd to have accounts payable vouchers delivered to the buildings at the start of the year. Please use this form to submit your hours by the end of this week. If you see this email after that time, but your hours were completed before this Friday, please shoot me an email so I can manually record your time.
English/Language Arts (K-12)
Essential Vocabulary
A question to discuss with your PLC team: How do we know for sure all of these vocabulary words are being covered throughout the year in every classroom? How do we know students have mastered them?
English/Language Arts (9-12)
Individuals Sought to Review a Variety of Standards
IDOE reviews standards on a six-year cycle. The secondary English language arts, literacy, media, publications, journalism, math, and social studies standards are next to be reviewed. Educators in grades 9-12 and higher education who would be interested in joining these workgroups are encouraged to please fill out this form.
Social Studies (HS Government & World History)
Naturalization Exam/Enhanced Study of the Holocaust
As information is sent from the IDOE about this process, I will share it with you.
Try This Tech!
Insert Drawings into Docs
Think...labeling a map, labeling animal anatomy, underlining parts of a poem (that you have saved as a pdf), labeling the water cycle on a photo, drawing a picture to represent a vocabulary word, charting the path of war, labeling the positions on a soccer team, finding different types of lines in a painting, etc.
http://jakemiller.net/insert-drawings-into-docs-being-assigned-in-classroom/
Try This Tech!
The Kid Should See This
Try This Tech!
Random Emoji Generator
It was originally created so students could use the selected emojis to write a story. Here are some other possible uses:
- Reading Reflection: After reading a book, each student tried to randomly find a set of emojis that help to describe a part of the book or a character in some way.
- Brain break- Come up with three exercises that have something to do with each emoji picture.
- Phonics/Phonemic Awareness- How many syllables are in each word? What sound do you hear at the beginning/end of each emoji? Point to an emoji that rhymes with toast. Etc.
- Make a math problem more interesting- students must include all random emojis as they create a word problem for another student to solve.
- Public speaking- Tell a real or made-up story using all of the random emojis in two minutes or less.
- Get to know you- flip through the emojis until you find a set that describes you in some way. Share with a partner.
What other ideas can you come up with?
Here is the link to make your own copy and get started!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/1IuOc2ApiPJREFcQIuQH3Nr_bSubEY3_u8pbQfeJRzKQ/copy
Math, K-12
Check out this article from NCTM about how to help students through difficult math problems- if nothing else, the questions at the end may be helpful to print out and use with students!
All Staff
Check out this article for four (of many) things that ALL teachers can learn from watching the Physical Education teachers in our buildings!
Four Things P.E. Teachers Can Teach Us About Innovative Teaching
DCSC Curriculum Connection
Contact: Morgan Walker, Director of Academic Services
Email: mwalker@danville.k12.in.us
Website: www.danville.k12.in.us
Location: 200 Warrior Way, Danville IN 46122
Phone: (317) 745-2212
Twitter: @walker8208