Curriculum Footprints
Volume 6 2015-2016
MOONSHOT THINKING - TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT!
Moonshot : (N) - a project or proposal that…
1. Addresses a huge problem
2. Proposed a radical solution
3. Uses breakthrough technology
Important Dates
September/October
- September 28-29 -
- September 30 -
Innovative Grants Due
- October 1 -
- October 2
- October 7
- October 8
Dates for ESL Monthly Meetings
ESL Staff Monthly
Meeting Dates
3:40-4:30 @ the Welcome Center
August 21, 2015
September 16, 2015
October 21, 2015
November 18, 2015
December 16, 2015
January 20, 2016
February 17, 2016
March 16, 2016
April 20, 2016
May 18, 2016
Innovative Grants
NCCS is excited to announce a new way for teachers to think outside the box in their classrooms during the 2015-2016 school year. NCCS Innovative Grants provide teachers an opportunity to implement new and creative ideas to meet the needs of our students. NCCS embraces the fact that every child learns differently and that the number of ways we can engage students is limitless. Our goal, as educators, is to prepare students for college, career, and beyond, and NCCS Innovative Grants will be awarded to fund projects that extend the regular curriculum; encourage higher-level thinking skills; and enrich student learning through culture, art, music, and other activities. Teachers who receive the grant will be able to create memorable, interactive, and enhanced learning experiences that would not be possible without additional funding. These opportunities may include but are not limited to providing engaging learning opportunities outside of the standard curriculum or piloting innovative educational programs.
Eligibility
Grants are available to staff or students who work in Newton-Conover City Schools.
Grant Guidelines
NCCS Innovative Grants are intended to inspire student learning, by supplementing rather than supplanting regular district funding. These grants will support the purchase of equipment, materials, or experiences which go beyond school budgets. Innovative Grants are not intended to become a regular funding stream for ongoing projects. Precedence will be given to creative ideas that will provide students with a unique experience to enhance their understanding of content standards.
Grant Amounts
Individual Teacher grants for classroom projects are limited to $1000. Collaborative Grants (2 or more teachers) are limited to $1500.
How to Apply
Completed applications must be submitted to Tammy Brown by 5:00 pm on September 30, 2015.
Click here to access the application.
Title I Updates for the Month
October
· Prepare to send home the Title I report cards
· Hold a PAC (Parent Advisory Council Meeting)
- This team reviews the Title I plan and Parent Involvement Policy
- Ask if the parents have requests for workshops or activities for the year
- Keep a record of your invitation, agenda, sign in sheet
- Take pictures
- Keep minutes of meeting
· Hold a Parent night – Complete Parent Compacts
- Things to have for that meeting include:
- Invitation
- Reminder
- Sign in sheet
- Agenda
- Copies of materials given out
- Sorry we missed you letters
- Photos
· Review the Title I budget with the SIT/Title I team. Review the strands that need evidences collected throughout the school year with your SIT/Title I team.
· Begin to add evidences to the strands on the dropbox
Resources
Title I Amendment Form
Complete Verification and Attestation forms and put into the dropbox and send me a copy
o Shuford
DOK (Depth of Knowledge)
Are you using the Depth of Knowledge questions in your classroom? Read below to determine what each level would look like.
Curricular elements that fall into this category involve basic tasks that require students to recall or reproduce knowledge and/or skills. The subject matter content at this particular level usually involves working with facts, terms and/or properties of objects. It may also involve use of simple procedures and/or formulas. There is little transformation or extended processing of the target knowledge required by the tasks that fall into this category. Key words that often denote this particular level include: list, identify and define. A student answering a Level 1 item either knows the answer or does not; that is, the answer does not need to be “figured out” or “solved.”
Level 2 – Working with Skills & Concepts
This level includes the engagement of some mental processing beyond recalling or reproducing a response. This level generally requires students to contrast or compare people, places, events and concepts; convert information from one form to another; classify or sort items into meaningful categories ; describe or explain issues and problems, patterns , cause and effect, significance or impact, relationships, points of view or processes. A Level 2 “describe or explain” would require students to go beyond a description or explanation of recalled information to describe or explain a result or “how” or “why.” The learner should make use of information in a context different from the one in which it was learned.
Elements found in a curriculum that fall in this category involve working with or applying skills and/or concepts to tasks related to the field of study in a laboratory setting. The subject matter content at this particular level usually involves working with a set of principles, categories, heuristics, and protocols. At this level students are asked to transform/process target knowledge before responding. Example mental processes that often denote this particular level include: summarize, estimate, organize, classify, and infer.
LEVEL 3 – SHORT-TERM STRATEGIC THINKING
Items falling into this category demand a short-term use of higher order thinking processes, such as analysis and evaluation, to solve real-world problems with predictable outcomes. Stating one’s reasoning is a key marker of tasks that fall into this particular category. The expectation established for tasks at this level tends to require coordination of knowledge and skill from multiple subject-matter areas to carry out processes and reach a solution in a project-based setting. Key processes that often denote this particular level include: analyze, explain and support with evidence, generalize, and create.
Level 4 – Extended Strategic Thinking
Curricular elements assigned to this level demand extended use of higher order thinking processes such as synthesis, reflection, assessment and adjustment of plans over time. Students are engaged in conducting investigations to solve real-world problems with unpredictable outcomes. Employing and sustaining strategic thinking processes over a longer period of time to solve the problem is a key feature of curricular objectives that are assigned to this level. Key strategic thinking processes that denote this particular level include: synthesize, reflect, conduct, and manage.
Legislative Updates
Mrs. Tammy Brown, Director of Elementary and ESL Services
Email: tammy_brown@nccs.k12.nc.us
Website: www.newton-conover.org
Location: 605 North Ashe Avenue, Newton, NC, United States
Phone: 828-464-2631