Bobcat Bulletin
January 6, 2019
This Week's Events
Monday 1/6
- Devon at 1:15 Meeting
Tuesday 1/7
- MTSS - 10:00am
- Lockdown - 3:10 with Navigate
Wednesday 1/8
- NWEA Starts
Thursday 1/9
- Devon at 1:15 Meeting
Friday 1/10
- Holiday Parties
Next Week's Events
Monday 1/13
- Math Coach - In class support - No Subs
Tuesday 1/14
- MTSS - 10:00am
- District Reading Night for K-3 6-7pm
Wednesday 1/15
- ET for Staff 3:50 - 5:35pm
- PTA Meeting - 6:30pm
Thursday 1/16
- Devon at 1:15 Meeting
Friday 1/17
Looking Ahead
January 20
- MLK Day - No School
January 22
- LIM Parent Night 6:30pm
January 24
- Leadership Day
- Half Day Dismissal
- End of Marking Period
January 29
- ET
January 30
- SIT Team Work Day
The Legacy of Relationships
At our last ET, due to time we were not able to see this video. I implore you to watch it, it's an oldie, but a goodie. In this video - Rita Pierson reminds us that every kid needs a champion. I've seen each of you champion your kids. What you do matters. Rita reminds us that relationship comes before rigor. This is a great inspiration for this time in the school year!
Everything they missed was based in relationship, and guess what? Relationship comes before rigor or relevance. Relationships will truly be our legacy, not our test scores, our Pinterest-worthy classrooms, or even that stellar lesson plan in Science on solubility (ahem, though I appreciated it!)
While I strongly encourage each of us to take winter break OFF...
I also know that being prepared, and having time to catch up also relieves stress. If you feel you need to be at Amerman during break, it will be open for staff access from 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. on the following days. Our custodians will be working, but you'll need to fob yourself in.
- Monday, December 23rd
- Thursday, December 26th
- Friday, December 27th
- Monday, December 30th
- Thursday, January 2nd
- Friday, January 3rd
F & P Symposium
On Friday, December 13, the district held a F & P Symposium. Representatives from every building across the district attended. People that attended (from Amerman it was Lauren and Elizabeth) said it was very beneficial. The F & P Symposium Video is about 2 hours in length. While it is not required that you watch, you can use it as blended ET and you might find it very helpful to learn more about F & P Classroom and how the elements are interconnected. We do plan to archive the video by 4/1/20.
Winter NWEA Map Schedule
Here is the 19-20 NWEA/MAP Winter Schedule (The purple shading indicates classrooms that have students who need accommodations.)
As in the fall, everyone will be responsible for helping to move the carts throughout the testing window. We all worked so well as a team in the Fall, I know we can do it again! Thanks in advance!
LC Corner - Curriculum, Literacy & Learning...oh my!
THE LEARNING CONTINUUM - TOP 10
As we head into winter break, I know a few of you will spend some time planning and prepping for the new year. You may even bring home the ‘tome’ of F&P known as the Learning Continuum. We each have a copy as part of the BAS kits, but the Learning Continuum is so much more than a companion to our assessment system. Here are 10 tips and information that might help you better understand and use the continuum. (The page numbers given are from the The Fountas & Pinnell Literacy Continuum Expanded Edition. 2017)
1. Did you know that the Literacy Continuum is often referred to as the ROAD MAP TO LITERACY ACQUISITION?
2. There are at least 6 reasons to use the Continuum (p.6&7):
- Foundation for Teaching
- Guide for Curriculum Planning
- Linking Assessment to Instruction
- Evaluating and Grading
- Reporting to Parents
- Guide to Intervention
3. F&P’s materials are grounded in principles of literacy and learning (p.2).
Four to consider are the following:
- Students learn by talking
- Students need to process a large amount of written language
- The ability to read and comprehend texts is expanded through talking and writing.
- Learning deepens when students engage in reading, talking, and writing about texts across many different instructional contexts.
4. There are 10 Characteristics of Texts for Guided Reading. “Studying the text characteristics of books at a given level will provide a good inventory of the challenges readers will meet across that level.” (p.407) Ten Characteristics of Texts for Guided Reading
5. You may find it helpful to organize your Guided Reading section by tabs that correspond to reading levels. This will help you to zero in on one or two levels specific to your Grade Level. (I used a different color system for mine because those were the colors I had on hand. Make it work for you.)
6. You may find it helpful to organize your Guided Reading section by tabs that correspond to reading levels. This will help you to zero in on one or two levels specific to your Grade Level. (I used a different color system for mine because those were the colors I had on hand. Make it work for you.)
KEEP IN MIND THE LEVELS ARE A TOOL FOR THE TEACHERS NOT A LABEL OR A LIMIT FOR THE STUDENT.
6. There is a section that corresponds to each element of the F&P Classroom System and the balanced literacy framework. Each section is organized by grade level, except for Guided Reading. GR is organized by reading level. There are actually 8 different continua in this continuum. “Each focuses on a different aspect of our language and literacy instructional framework.” (p.2)
7. Have you ever noticed how some bullets are red? Or how some are round and some are square? They each identify something specific about the reading behavior.
8. If you are looking for language to create reading learning targets, goals and/or success criteria. Consider the language of the Systems of Strategic Action chart. (It can be found inside the front cover.) We know that literacy is not just an isolated skill or strategy. Readers are expected to use all systems at the same time to process and understand the texts. We find evidence of their ability to do this and their understandings through observing oral reading, talk, and/or writing about reading. (pg.4) This happens during interactive read-alouds, mini-lessons, guided reading, and writing about reading.
9. Want to dive in more? Check out this Webinar (It is about an hour long):
A Deeper Dive into The Fountas & Pinnell Literacy Continuum
10. Are you more of a Blog reader? This might be a better fit.
Why The Literacy Continuum is Essential to Your Literacy Instruction
As always, if you want to walk through the Continuum or any elements of our F&P Resources, just ask.
And please take time to read just for fun this winter break!
Dismissal Duty
Week of 1/6
- Bus - T. McMaster
- Loop - Pavlich, Wells, LaManna, K. McMaster
Week of 1/13
- Bus - Warum
- Loop - Mooney, Charboneau, Cowger, Segerstrom/Bartel/Lenahan
Random Useless Facts
A bee uses 22 muscles to sting someone.
- East St. Louis is in Illinois.
- An average American will eat 350 cows, 310 hogs, and 225 lambs in a lifetime.
- The term “senator” means “old man” in Latin.
- Earthworms don’t have eyes or ears.
- Ants have 5 noses.
- A cave man’s life span was only 18 years.
- New Mexico is the only US state with two official languages – English and Spanish.
- Lightning is the cause of most forest fires.
- Toaster's kill about 45 people a year.
- Falling coconuts are 15 times more likely to kill people than sharks are.
Happy Birthday!!
Jennifer Pavlich 1/6
- Linda Pinneo 1/8
- Mandy Tiba 1/19
- Kathy McMaster 1/27
- Jessica Rohrhoff 1/31
Now that I've been observed...how do I upload and label evidence into pivot again?
1. Upload, name, and code evidence to a specific indicator.
2. To check where you have evidence by indicator.