Monday Memo 1.4.16
Week at a Glance
Bi-Weekly Focus
Cell Phones
Do you still want to contact parents via text but don't want to use your personal number? Google Voice is a great app. When you sign in it assigns a random local number to your phone. Your parents would still be able to call and text your Google phone number and all calls will be sent your personal phone.
Parent -Teacher Conference Documentation
Better You...
This has been a best practice for years. The research was done by the Teachers College of Columbia University, where Professor Lucy Caulkins lead the charge. Here's the idea: Students need to experience literacy in every form in order become proficient in literacy. Exposure is paramount. Balanced Literacy block is designed to encompass all of the essential components . (There are other, more complex versions out there. This is the most basic.
- Word Work- Exposure to new vocabulary words in context.
- Interactive Read-Alouds- The teacher models fluency, intonation, and thinks aloud for the students.
- Lesson -There are several smaller component that make up a lesson
- The Hook- This is the piece that draws your students into the lesson. Be an Actor. Watch a short clip related to the topic. Sing a song.
- Mini-lesson- This is a short engaging lesson that demonstrates how a skill is done
- Guided Practice - Let them try it with you
- The send off- a small statement telling students how they will complete a task independently.
4. Independent practices- This is typically done by breaking up the class into smaller groups according to ability level and then allowing them to work independently on a task. This can also be included in your guided reading time. It is also important to incorporate independent reading.
5. Conclusion/Sharing - Students share their success in their independent practice or something amazing they read during their independent reading. This could be whole class or small group.
This format is applied to both the writing and reading portions of ELA. As stated before there are many different versions of Balanced Literacy this is the most simplistic. Think about ways you can incorporate these components into your ELA instruction.
Infinite Campus Behavior Log
Career Day
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XcqJCvjwvcXkhu5V2UcgpXqNk4ackyHWfzPHwkhHw1M/edit?usp=sharing