RIT Brief
Volume 3, Number 9, May 2018
KEA/K-3 Formative Assessment News for the Piedmont-Triad and Northwest Regions
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Another School Year is Winding Down...
It has been our pleasure to support the Northwest and Piedmont-Triad Regions in the implementation of the NC K-3 FAP another school year. As the year winds down, the RIT is gearing up to plan for continued support. Thanks to all districts who have sent us your 2018-2019 Implementation Plans. These plans help inform our work as we go about identifying and meeting your needs as we move forward into the next school year. Visit our Community of Practice Page to view draft implementation plans shared by several districts
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MYTHBUSTERS
Read the following statement. Decide if the statement is a fact or a myth. Scroll to the bottom of the newsletter to see the correct answer.
Fact or Myth: Teachers are engaged in formative assessment all day every day.
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FAP Spotlight On: Developing Criteria for Success
The Formative Assessment Process (FAP) is comprised of five critical components: Selecting Learning Targets, Developing Criteria for Success, Eliciting Evidence of Learning, Interpreting the Evidence, and Adapting/Responding to Learning Needs. For modules designed to define and provide examples of each critical component, click here.
Developing Criteria for Success helps teachers and students answer the question, “What will it look like when the learning target has been met?”
The Practice Profile describes what teachers would be doing as they engage in the process of Developing Criteria for Success. Click here to download the Practice Profile.
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K3 Quick Guide Close-up: Gross Motor Skills
Current research emphasizes the importance of motor skill development in children. When comparing gross motor skills of age-matched children with and without learning disabilities, researchers found a specific relationship between reading and locomotor skills—skipping, hopping, running, jumping, galloping- and mathematics and object control skills—manipulative skills: the greater the learning delay, the poorer the motor skills (Westendorp, Hartman, Houwen, Smith & Visscher, 2011).
Read a new article posted on our wiki, "Teaching the Whole Child Means Addressing the Physical Development Too!" It emphasizes the importance motor skills have on social/emotional development as well as academic performance.
Check out this great video " Integrating Gross Motor Skills into Daily Recess Activities" created by Nancy Sutton, program specialist in Winston Salem/Forsyth County Schools.
For more information and suggestions for developing Gross Motor Skills find the Quick Guide here.
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Coming in July 2018--Family Engagement Platform Functionality!
The new Family Engagement functionality will allow teachers to:
- invite family members to create an account in the online platform
- share specific pieces of evidence with family members
- share Development & Learning reports with family members
- share evidence of learning that they observe outside of school
- use the "NC K-3 Family" app to view and share evidence about their child
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Stay Connected to the NCDPI K-3 Literacy Division
Quick Link: NC Read to Achieve LiveBinder
Contact information for Regional K-3 Literacy Consultants:
Piedmont-Triad: Rebecca Belcastro at rebecca.belcastro@dpi.nc.gov
Northwest: Mia Johnson at mia.johnson@dpi.nc.gov
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Fact or Myth Answer: FACT
As teachers we are constantly “kid watching” to learn about what our students can do. The KEA provides some additional tools to help us use our kid watching skills to inform our planning and instruction.
For the MYTHBUSTERS PowerPoint for use in your PD, click here.