Team Thomson News & Notes
May 21, 2018
Important Information for You!
Another Busy Week Ahead
As we head into Intersession, this is another busy week:
- Monday-Title I Parent Meetings-Megan and I will be conducting these meetings with parents at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.
- Tuesday-Author, Denise Brennan-Nelson visits Thomson and Child Studies will be held.
- Wednesday- Staff Meeting, 7:35 a.m.; STAR Testing; Senior Walk-Through. Just like last year, we will pull the benches from the main hallway into the classrooms to allow for more room for the students to stand against the walls. We will be encouraging the students to wear their Thomson or Davison gear on that day. The seniors will arrive at 1:15 p.m. and enter the library entrance just as they did last year and exit the doors by the baseball field. We will need to adjust the last set of lunches, moving the start time to 5 minutes earlier to allow the teachers to get the students back in at 1:10 p.m. and set up. If you have any questions about this, please let me know.
- Thursday-STAR Testing
Let's Get Back Into the Literacy Essentials
Essential 4. Activities that build phonological awareness (grades K and 1 and as needed thereafter) This is when teachers promote phonological awareness development, particularly phonemic awareness development, through explicit explanation, demonstration, play with sounds in words, and engaged study of words, such as by:
• listening to and creating variations on books and songs with rhyming or alliteration
• sorting pictures, objects, and written words by a sound or sounds (e.g., words with a short e sound versus words with a long e sound)
• activities that involve segmenting sounds in words (e.g., Elkonin boxes, in which children move a token or letters into boxes, with one box for each sound in the word)
• activities that involve blending sounds in words (e.g., “robot talk” in which the teacher says the sounds “fffff ” “iiiii” “shhhh” and children say fish)
• daily opportunities to write meaningful texts in which they listen for the sounds in words to estimate their spellings
Teachers should be planning for Words Study instruction that includes all of these types of instructional approaches. Instruction must be planned for and include both whole group and small group, differentiated instruction. Please watch the video in the link below for one example of this explicit instruction in phonological awareness in which the teacher uses a puppet to help the students blend and segment words during small group instruction.
Author Visit-Tuesday, author Denise Brennan-Nelson will once again visit Thomson. If you have any questions about her visit, book orders, the scheduling, please see me, Cheri, or Anna right away.
5D+
This week I will be working to finish forth round observations and if I'm able to stick to the schedule I've made that will happen. Even with all the is going on, I am so impressed by what I see happening in the classrooms and your dedication to finishing strong. Now is really the time to be doing some really cool application projects that the students will really enjoy. The fastest way to increase behavior issues is to have to much deviation from you normal routine when in the classroom; things like free choice or recess that last too long or are not guided tend to ramp kids up instead of settling them down. Thank you for staying true to instruction and maintaining your schedules as close to normal as possible.
Please complete your responses to my noticings and wonderings within 48 hours during this last round of observations. I am hoping to work on evaluations over Intersession, so that I can being delivering them. I will be asking Anna to contact you when it is time to schedule your evaluation meeting. Thanks for your continued focus on strong teaching and learning!
What Contributions Have You Made?
With all the committees at both the district and building levels it is sometimes difficult for me to keep track of what different contributions different staff members make. As you know 'significant and other contributions to the district' is part of the overall evaluation considerations. This week I will be sending out a Google Doc for each teacher to type in the areas in which they contribute and help out in at both the building and district levels. Please watch for an email with the link to the Google Doc and the directions.
Cardinal Code Focus of the Week:
This week the Cardinal Code focus is CAFETERIA. Please take the time to review appropriate cafeteria behaviors including: staying seated, using a quiet voice to talk to the friends around you, making sure trash ends up in the wastebasket...and most importantly...lining up to go to recess just like you would in your classroom to walk in the hall.
Quotes Worth Reading
"Mindfulness is simply being aware of what is happening right now without wishing it were different; enjoying the pleasant without holding on when it changes (which it will); being with the unpleasant without fearing it will always be this way (which it won't)."
-James Baraz
"You don't have to move mountains. Simply fall in love with life. Be a tornado of happiness, gratitude and acceptance. You will change the world just by being a warm, kind hearted human being."
-Anita Krizzan
Thomson Elementary
Home of the Thomson Teddies!
And..
Where Kids Come First and Futures Begin!
Email: nmiller@davisonschools.org
Website: www.davisonschools.org
Location: 617 East Clark Street, Davison, MI, United States
Phone: 810-591-0911
Celebrations & Announcements
Birthdays: Happy Birthday to Kelly Woznek, May 21st; Jen Seal, May 22nd; and Sue Dorman, May 28th!
A huge congratulations to Roy Hall who was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame this past week! While Roy only mentioned this to the office on his way out Friday, it is a huge accomplishment and one to be very proud of.
Also, thank you again to Crystal Holland and Brenda Pietras for planning the For Mar field trip last week. The kids had a blast and I loved hearing about all the things that they learned and the experiences they had...not to mention this field trip fits in nicely with the New Generation Science Standards (NGSS). I will be writing a thank you to Eugene Hynes with week to share with him what Sandy's memorial fund allowed us to do with our students.
Important Upcoming Dates:
- Monday, May 21st-Title I Parent Meetings, 10 a.m. & 5 p.m.; Math Curriculum Meeting, 4:15-6:15 p.m.
- Tuesday, May 22nd-Denise Brennan-Nelson Visits, Child Study Day; DI Meeting, 4:15-5:15 p.m.
- Wednesday, May 23rd-Staff Meeting, 7:35 a.m.(Amanda Barrett will be with us to discuss Mystery Science, End of Year Procedures);STAR TESTING; Seniors Last Day, Walk through Thomson will take place at 1:15 p.m.
- Thursday, May 24th-STAR Testing
- Friday, May 25th-Promo Cards due with STAR and DRA Scores included
- June 4-8-PLC Week
- Monday, June 4th-PTO Meeting, 4:00 p.m., Amy and Lori are reps; Board of Education Meeting, 7:00 p.m. in the AMR.
- Wednesday, June 6th-Staff Meeing, 7:35 p.m. (Agenda: Next Fall PD and more)
- Thursday, June 7th-General Admin Meeting (Natalie)
- Friday, June 8th-Last Trading Post of the Year
- Monday, June 11th-Davison High School Graduation
- Tuesday, June 12th-Summer Reading Challenge Kick-off