Humanities Voice
Quarterly Newsletter - Professional Learning February 2019
Please refer to our Humanities department goals by clicking on the image below.
Humanities Spotlight
Students each quarter who submit their challenge forms will be randomly selected and celebrated. Our team will arrive at the student's campus to take a photo and communicate around the district and campus. Students get to share which teacher most inspired their passion for reading. We would equally like to celebrate those teachers by presenting them with a short video message from the student who recognized them, along with a certificate of recognition for capturing the heart of our GCISD Reads program. We look forward to promoting the reading success of our students and teachers!
GCISD Reads Challenge
Encourage students to complete one or all of 3 challenges
- Pages / Book / Genre
- October 12th / December 14th / March 1st / May 1st (April 24th HS)
Click here to watch video on our GCISD Reads Build Your Stack Challenge!
Middle School GCISD Reads Bookstacker of the 2nd Quarter
- October 12th / December 14th / March 1st / May 1st (April 24th High School)
Elementary School GCISD Reads Boockstacker of the 2nd Quarter
- October 12th / December 14th / March 1st / May 1st (April 24th High School)
Congratulations to our Area Spelling Bee Participants, Winner and our Runner-Up
GCISD School Spelling Bee Champions
Area Spelling Bee Champion
Area Spelling Bee Runner-Up
Congratulations to all our Geography Bee Winners! See the attached pictures of our winners.
Click here for additional information
At Learning Without Tears, we know the importance of handwriting and the impact of a handwritten note. That's why we've teamed with VetAdvisor, a veteran-owned company that supports our service members, to provide an opportunity for students to write letters to those serving on the USS John C. Stennis, an aircraft carrier deployed in the Indian Ocean.
How does it work?
Once you have registered to participate, you will receive a self-addressed, pre-paid envelope from VetAdvisor. Use this envelope to combine and send back your students’ letters. You can even include a picture of your class.
It takes about two months for letters to arrive on board, but we'll publish regular updates about the ship to keep your students engaged.
Click on the link to register.
Connect What You’re Studying in School With the World Today | Dec. 6, 2018-Jan. 21, 201
What does the Civil War — or evolution, or Shakespeare or anything else you’re studying in school this year — have to do with your life and the lives of those around you? Why should you remember it once you’ve taken the test? What parallels do you see between it and something happening in the news or in our culture?
In this contest, we invite students to address those questions by matching something they are studying in school to anything they like that was published in The Times in 2018 or 2019, and tell us why they made the connection.
Like all our student challenges, this one is open to anyone 13 to 19 years old, anywhere in the world. For this one, though, we really just wanted insight into student thinking.
Click on the link for rules and regulations. Here is the rubric to help.
Additional New York Times Contest
- New York Times Vocabulary Video Contest | Jan. 17-Feb. 18, 2019. Produce a 15-second video about the meaning of one the New York Times Words of the Day. Click on the link for rules and regulations.
- New York Times Editorial Contest | Feb. 21-April 1, 2019. Write an editorial on an issue that matters to you. Click on the link for rules and regulations.
- New York Times Found Poetry Contest | April 4-May 6, 2019
Create a poem composed from words and phrases found in Times articles. Click on the link for rules and regulations.
- New York Times Podcast Challenge | April 18-May 20, 2019. Make an original podcast, of five minutes or less, to inform and entertain listeners. Click on the link for rules and regulations.
- New York Times Summer Reading Contest | June 14-Aug. 23, 2019. We ask, “What interested you most in The Times this week? Why?” each Friday for 10 weeks. Click on the link for rules and regulations.
Teaching Social Studies to ELLs is an in-depth approach to differentiation in the secondary social studies classroom. The session will feature specific examples of engaging accommodations for all language proficiency levels and strategies that maximize content mastery while students acquire academic language. Participants will receive a copy of Tina Beene’s book, Teaching Social Studies to ELLs which outlines her unique practical approach.
Participants will learn how to:
- support and engage all ELLs with social studies content
- accelerate language acquisition in social studies classrooms
- meet the unique needs of their ELLs in each component of a typical social studies lesson
Location: Waxahachie Global High School, 275 Indian Drive, Waxahachie, Texas 75165
Click on Link to register
Please click on the link to download grant form.
TPPF is launching a new initiative that will bolster civic education across Texas. Next year, TPPF will hold its first Summer Institute for High School Civics Teacher. Teachers from across Texas will be selected to participate in a week-long classroom session that will equip them with the skills needed to effectively communicate to students the United States’ founding principles – like free speech and individual liberty – into curricula. The first class will take place June 24-28.
They are looking for high school teachers who are committed to American principles and focused on providing quality education to students.
Selected teachers will gain 30 hours of professional development that counts toward the 150 hours each is required to take every five years. Furthermore, they will be reimbursed for their travel to and from Austin and housed by TPPF during the week of class. Meals will be provided and each teacher will receive a $500 stipend upon completion of the course. If any teacher completes a lesson plan deemed suitable for addition to the TPPF civic-education packet of materials, they will receive an additional $250.
Teachers if you are committed to improving civic education in Texas, please email Dr. Tom Lindsay, Center for Innovation in Education Director, at tlindsay@texaspolicy.com with your recommendations, or contact him directly. They anticipate a large number of potential participants, so please share your recommendations soon! Click on link to take you to the website.
The regional contests will run from February 25, 2019, until April 6, 2019. Click on link for rules and registration information.
Here to Hear: want to give us some Humanities feedback?
- Routines and Procedures for Reading/Writing Workshop
- Building Independent Readers and Writers
- Keeping Mini-Lessons Mini
- Daily Read Aloud Tips
- Benefits of Word Study vs. Spelling
- And many more
Click here to see our 2018-19 slideshow of Tips from the Two of Us
Just in case you missed or wanted to reference back to our amazing tips Click here to see the slideshow of 2017-18 Tips
Humanities Voice - Previous Newsletters
GCISD Humanities Department
Email: jacqueline.vanhorn@gcisd.net
Website: http://www.gcisd-k12.org/Domain/3242
Location: 3051 Ira East Woods Avenue, Grapevine, TX, USA
Phone: 817-251-5937
Twitter: @GCISDHumanities