Hidden Valley Weekly Bulletin
Week of 5/16
Principal Point to Ponder
Are you a teacher?..........OR...........Are you an educator?
I want you to really think about that question. Please watch this video. and then ask yourself. Has your answer changed, or will your answer change?
Acknowledgements
* Shout out to Mr. Woods, who hosted a E2D Lemonade stand to stop the digital divide. The money raise will go to purchasing some computers for our families.
* Shout out to Mr. Barefoot! Did you know even though Mr. Barefoot teaches math he teaches an awesome reading lesson? Mr. Barefoot was working with students to use close reading strategies and ink think using the strategies Ms. Rosato has taught her students when he had to cover a class during a dispersal! He did a great job of building their background knowledge and making connections to the history of roller coasters with the passage they were reading. Students were engaged in turn and talks and some were independently working and labeling questions as they were eliminating answers! Shout out to Ms. Rosato too as it is clear she has prepared her students to use specific close reading strategies! She has done a great job of setting the expectation for her “cold” and “warm” reads. Great job!!!
*Shout out to Ms. Pratt as her class was rocking out to a non-fiction rap today. It was a great way to remember their strategies.
* Kudos to Mr. Hayes as he had students adding to a class "Cheat Sheet". This is displayed in the E Hallway to show all 5th grade students all of the important facts, formulas, and vocabulary that will help them pass the Math EOG.
*Shout out to Ms. Salters as she is having her students fold paper into fractions to have a reference for taking their assessments.
* Kudos to Ms. Cooper and Mr. Shakeshaft have added a new tool called KAHOOT to help make reviewing Science Concepts more entertaining. Students use their laptops to answer questions and they get immediate feedback on what they got correct or incorrect. The kids love it!!!!
*Kudos to Ms. Mitchell and her class for creating two multiplication songs that will help the third graders learn multiplication facts.
* Shout out to all of the 3rd-5th grade teachers as they put on one heck of a pep rally. There was acting, videos, songs, competition, music, and much much more. The kids were eating it up. When we get excited, they get excited.
* Shout out to all of the K-2 teachers during the EOY TRC window. Your flexibility with dispersals and testing is extremely cooperative. We have really seen some amazing gains in the EOY TRC assessments.
Teacher Assistant of the Year
ELL Strategy of the Week
Simplify your language without "dumbing it down."
It may seem difficult to balance this at first, but here are some tips for communicating effectively with your students: Avoid slang and idiomatic expressions. Speak clearly and naturally, without going too quickly or slowly. Encourage students to raise their hand if they don't understand a word.
Remember that ELLs may not understand instructions and key vocabulary words, and that reading something aloud doesn't always help comprehension. You can aid student comprehension by scaffolding language (providing extra supports such as realia, graphic organizers, visuals, etc.).
Reminders
* Please take a look at and advantage of some Read, Write Inspire PD that CMS is offering this summer. A email was sent out by Ms. Hews .
* Thank you for your interest in sharing Summer Break at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library with your students and staff. Please share this link on your website and with your students/staff:
http://summerbreak.cmlibrary.org/
*The Hidden Valley Elementary School PTO is excited to host its last School Spirit Night of the year. So come out, join the fun, and support our students by purchasing a meal. This event will be held at the McDonald's located at 1201 W. Sugar Creek Road on Tuesday, May 17th from 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm. The key to a successful Spirit Night is having 50 or more friends and family members to visit and enjoy a meal during our designated time period. Teachers could you please encourage students to attend. All proceeds from Spirit Night will benefit Hidden Valley Elementary School. Thanks to all of you that came out last month and supported us. We really appreciate it.
* Chameleon's Journey. There was an email sent out by Mr. Busbee for some opportunities for our students to participate in a fall "Grief Camp." If you have a student that can benefit from this, please submit their name to Mr. Busbee.
*Over 10% of our student population identified the last two years of having either an incarcerated parent or a parent that has been deported. How do I know this? A needs assessment was sent home to each family in September to identify such students. Students' and families were then interviewed in there homes and completed the intake process in order to serve the most needy scholars. The over 100 students were then whittled down to 30 students from all grade levels and these students were served through the E-KWIP program. Our scholar has partnered with the Center for Community Transitions the last two years to be able to provide such groups to our students. Now that groups have wrapped up, getting those post assessments back are important to us moving forward. Please take a moment to complete them and turn them back into me if you have not already done so. ---Mr. Busbee
Instructional Strategy of the Week
What to Expect This Week
Monday 5/16 (Day 4)
- Wear your HVES Uniform Colors
- Beginner Teacher Meeting @ 3:15 in the Media Center
Tuesday 5/17 (Day 5)
- Tie Tuesday
- PTO McDonald's spirit night at Sugar Creek and 85 McDonald's
- Beginners Night for upcoming Kindergartners
- K, 1st, 3rd grade Retention Meeting
Wednesday 5/18 (Day1)
- Staff Meeting- End of Year Close Out Procedures
- 2nd, 4tg, 5th grade Retention Meetings
Thursday 5/19 (Day 2)
Friday 5/20 (Day 3)