Building Bulldogs
February 6th, 2023
February Fun and Learning Together
Welcome to a quick February...between the short 28 days and the long President's Day weekend, it will be March before we know it! Despite that, there are so many fun things in February...
Our Groundhog friend saw his shadow, meaning we have 6 more weeks of what has turned out to be a very mild winter. According to tradition, if a groundhog comes out of its hole on this day and sees its shadow, it gets scared and runs back into its burrow, predicting six more weeks of winter weather; no shadow means an early spring. Groundhog Day has its roots in the ancient Christian tradition of Candlemas, when clergy would bless and distribute candles needed for winter. The candles represented how long and cold the winter would be. Germans expanded on this concept by selecting an animal—the hedgehog—as a means of predicting weather. Once they came to America, German settlers in Pennsylvania continued the tradition, although they switched from hedgehogs to groundhogs, which were plentiful in the Keystone State.
We also have Valentine's Day to celebrate this month. I love Valentine's Day, even if some say it is a "Hallmark" holiday lol. The history of Valentine's Day is not easily defined - but it could be for Saint Valentine of Terni, who had been secretly officiating weddings for Roman soldiers against the emperor's wishes, making him, in some eyes, a proponent of love. As an English teacher, I like the thought of Geoffrey Chaucer having to do with the current ideology of linking love to Valentine's Day. Chaucer's "The Parliament of Fowls" is all about birds gathering to choose their mates: "For this was on Saint Valentine’s day, / When every fowl comes there his mate to take." He, and then Shakespeare, chose this holiday to represent love, and, before anyone knew it, others took to equating love to the day until we found ourselves with today's version.
Lastly, we celebrate Presidents' Day this month. While you and I may like this holiday for the long weekend we look forward to, it was originally established in 1885 in recognition of President George Washington. The holiday became popularly known as Presidents' Day after it was moved as part of 1971’s Uniform Monday Holiday Act, an attempt to create more three-day weekends for the nation’s workers. Did you know that Presidents' Day never falls on the actual birthday of any American president? Four chief executives—George Washington, William Henry Harrison, Abraham Lincoln, and Ronald Reagan—were born in February, but their birthdays all come either too early or late to coincide with Presidents' Day, which is always celebrated on the third Monday of the month.
So, as you see, despite it being a short month, there is a lot of history and events helping us through the winter.
In our first few editions of this newsletter, we shared information and samples of station rotation and reciprocal teaching strategies. We have been fortunate enough to be in some classrooms to see how teachers are using these strategies to benefit our students, and we have been so impressed with what we have been able to see. Thank you to all who have taken these strategies and implemented them to maximize student learning time in the classroom. We hope that you continue to use these newsletters as a source of information and inspiration. As always, if there is something you would like more information on, or if there is anything you would like to share with your colleagues, please let us know or send it to us. Together, we will continue to make Butler the Best Small School District in New Jersey!
Be Well -
Suzanne, Peg, and Dan
"APP" etizers
Curipod
This one's interesting. This site allows you to create interactive lessons using your own slides or using some of the already created lessons in their library. What sets this apart is the AI part of the site that auto-generates lesson plans and ideas when you input a topic and grade level. The world is a cool place...
Novel Effect
The Novel Effect app responds to your voice with interactive music and sound effects, creating magical moments when you read aloud from children's books. Again, as an English teacher, there is no replacing read-alouds in the classroom, and this app adds to those efforts.
Studious
Studious is an all-in-one app built to keep student life organized. Studious uses the cloud technology to allow collaborative tracking of your courses and course deliverables. You no longer need to enter every detail individually.
TEACHABLES
Station Rotation - What it is and how to use it K-12
In station rotation, students rotate in small groups through a series of learning stations. For instance, you might design one station to be an independent online-learning station, where students work with content in NearPod. Another station might be a collaborative-learning station, where students complete learning activities with at least one other student. These activities may include technology, or they may be completely offline. The most common station in a blended-learning rotation is a teacher station. This station is impactful and allows the teacher to meet face-to-face with a small group of students. This setting allows for a more personalized and differentiated mini-lesson as well as an opportunity to provide targeted intervention and/or enrichment within our RtI Program.
Station Rotation in the Elementary School
Elementary teachers can use this model to cover a variety of learning modalities in their classrooms and keep student engaged through changing activities.
In your classroom, you can use videos for a station to deliver a mini-lesson.
At the teacher-led station, students work directly on the learning target and build off what was shown in the video. The teacher adjusts how they teach a group depending on the skills students have demonstrated so far.
After meeting with the teacher, students can move to a station for independent practice with a math worksheet.
At the fourth station students can pair up to complete a math game together.
Please make a copy of the slides above prior to using them to preserve the original
Cool Examples
This slideshow has a list of examples of different station activities you may choose to use as a jump-off point for ideas for your classroom
OTHER TEACHABLES
Fostering Effective Classroom Discussions
In this Cult of Pedagogy article, veteran ELA teacher Jessica Cannata (EB Academics) describes how she transformed her students’ small-group discussions from “surface-level talks that seemed like a waste of a class period into engaged, high-level analysis and collaboration."
Using Nearpod for Test Prep
Nearpod offers a host of options and ideas for assessments and test prep. Check out the test prep guide here, and stay tuned for upcoming Nearpod PD.
How to Teach Your Curriculum like You're Telling a Story
In this Educational Leadership article, consultant/authors Heidi Hayes Jacobs and Allison Zmuda say people’s natural love of stories can be used to make a curriculum more compelling, framing it as a 30,000-foot narrative. That’s the idea behind storyboards, which they say evoke “a sense of play, intrigue, and excitement” as they pull students and their families along on “a journey through a progression of related concepts.”
https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/storyboarding-your-curriculum
Matt Miller (Ditch that Textbook) brings you TEACHFLIX- A site with videos and resources from all content areas and grade levels.
Classroom videos to use in class TODAY -- crowdsourced from educators like you.
Classroom Spotlight
Monster Art Cans in Marisa Fatzer's class
Sculpture students built "Monster" can sculptures inspired by the work of artist Travis Mullins. The cans were created using air dry clay, recycled Monster energy drink cans & acrylic paint.
Noodle Activity- Modeling Polynomials
From Amanda Phillips class comes a student reflection:
"This activity helped us because it gave us an interactive way to graph polynomials. By giving us this activity, we were able to have a better understanding on which way the cross, bounce, and flex pointed while incorporating skills that we learned with end behavior. Overall, it was an interesting activity that grasped our groups attention."
Trade Route Games in World History
In Mr.Cosimano's 9th Grade World History class, students created Early Trade Route board games intended to help educate players on the region's unique trade characteristics.
6th Graders learn about Fronts and Pressure Systems in Science
Mr. Heller taught his 6th grade students all about fronts and pressure systems during this science unit.
ASL Students research famous Deaf people
Students in Ms. Perrone's ASL I Class researched and presented (in ASL) about a famous Deaf person.
Bill of Rights "Survivor Island"
Students in Mr. Branch's 7th Grade Civics class played "Bill of Rights" Survivor Island where they had to use evidence from primary sources to defend which amendments should stay on the island.
Making it on Your Own Class Career Exploration
Students in Mrs. McNear's Making It On Your Own class researched potential careers and made pamphlets for each one.
Patty McGee works with students and teachers
During her most recent visits to Aaron Decker School, Patty McGee demonstrated how to do a workshop lesson with each grade level. She also had a full schedule of coaching visits with different teachers.
Writing about the Presidents
As part of their nonfiction writing unit and to honor Presidents' Day, 3rd Grade students wrote research papers on an American president of their choice.
Be Well
This is one of my favorite sayings, and I say it often because I believe it to be so true. As I have gotten older, I have always embraced the aging process. I find myself fortunate for the life I have. Each wrinkle on my face is a memory - a story of the good times and good things in my life. Sun bleached days with my children on vacations have made my forehead wrinkles deeper with happiness. Laugh lines around my eyes are due to my bride and the memories we have made...through the tough days of limited budget means, to tired days traveling around with our kids...I wouldn't trade one of those wrinkles as they remind me of the smiles that caused them. Life is how you see it - you can try to change your circumstances or embrace them. Dancing in the rain...how do you make the best of what life offers. Save your money on face creams - let the wrinkles be the road map of memories for all the joy you have experienced in your life!
JUST FOR FUN...
Lasagna
Who doesn't love a good lasagna? When the weather is a little cold, and you want something warm and satisfying, try this recipe that was adapted a bit from Emeril. It takes some time, so if you make it, set aside a day to get it all done.
Ingredients for the Meat Sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/3 pound ground beef
- 1/3 pound ground veal
- 1/3 pound ground pork
- salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups finely chopped onions
- 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
- 1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
- 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
- 2 (28-ounce) can of San Marzano tomatoes
- 1 tube tomato paste
- 4 cups beef stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- Pinch of crushed red pepper
- 2 ounces parmigiano-Reggiano
Directions for Sauce
- Place a large saucepan over medium heat and add in olive oil
- In a mixing bowl, combine the three meats and season with salt and pepper - mix well.
- When the oil is hot, add the meat and brown for 4 to 6 minutes.
- Drain off fat and return meat to sauce pan with some more olive oil
- Add the onions, celery, and carrots. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.
- Add the garlic, crushed red pepper, and tomatoes. Continue to cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste and cook for two minutes
- Add the stock and the tomatoes. Add the thyme, bay leaves, oregano, and basil. Mix well.
- Bring the liquid to a simmer for about 2 hours stirring occasionally
- During the last 30 minutes of cooking stir in the cheese.
Ingredients for Lasagna
- 2 cups fresh ricotta
- 8 ounces grated Provolone
- 8 ounces grated Mozzarella
- 8 ounces grated Romano
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon chiffonade of fresh basil
- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
- salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Meat Sauce
- 1/2 pound grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
- 1 package of dried lasagna noodles
Directions for Lasagna
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the ricotta, Provolone, Mozzarella, Romano, egg, milk, basil and garlic. Mix well.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- To assemble, spread 2 cups of the meat sauce on the bottom of a deep dish lasagna pan.
- Sprinkle 1/4 of the grated cheese over the sauce. Cover the cheese with 1/4 of the dried noodles - do not cook the noodles (trust me on this one...the moisture from the sauce and cheese will cook them perfectly.)
- Spread a 1/4 of the cheese filling evenly over the noodles.
- Repeat the above process with the remaining ingredients, topping the lasagna with the remaining sauce.
- Cover with foil and place in the oven and bake until bubbly and golden, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Take foil off the top and cook an additional 15 minutes to brown the cheese on top
- Remove from the oven and cool for 15 minutes before serving. Slice and serve.