Elementary Curriculum Updates
September
ELA
What Are Our Students Doing Vertically in Writing?
Kindergarten students are writing narratives to detail a real or imagined experience using a combination of
· drawing,
· dictating, and
· writing.
First Grade students are writing narratives using
· two or more sequenced events,
· details telling what happened,
· temporal words to signal order,
· and providing a sense of closure to their stories
Second Grade students are writing narratives by
· recounting a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events,
· including details to describe actions, thoughts and feelings,
· using temporal words to signal event order and
· providing a sense of closure
Third Grade students are writing narratives by
· establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters
· organizing an event sequence and using temporal words
· using dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts and feelings
· including a sense of closure
Fourth Grade students are writing narratives by
· establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters
· organizing an event sequence
· using dialogue, descriptions, transitional words/phrases, sensory details and
· providing a logical conclusion
Fifth Grade students are writing narratives by
· establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters
· organizing an event sequence
· using dialogue, descriptions, transitional words/phrases/clauses, sensory details
· and providing a logical conclusion
Newly Revised ELA Teacher Guidance Documents
Over the summer, RESAs across the state, as well as a team of teachers, worked to review and revise the ELA Teacher Guidance Documents that were part of the original roll-out of the ELA CCGPS.
These newly revised ELA Teacher Guidance Documents have been posted on the GSO website: www.georgiastandards.org. A direct link to the ELA page is here. Click on each grade level posted in the blue box on the right to access this document.
Please take some time to review and share with your teachers and administrators.
The Informal Decoding Inventory
The Informal Decoding Inventory (IDI) is a tool used to respond to universal screeners to diagnose students’ areas of struggles with basic early literacy skills. We are in our second year of district-wide use of this diagnostic tool. Please contact Kelly Felt, feltke@clarke.k12.ga.us, to review and analyze your building's IDI data and form student intervention groups for next steps in instruction.
Videos to Support the Differentiation Reading Modules
Videos to support the Differentiated Reading Modules have been created and uploaded to the Comprehensive Reading Solutions website. While the lesson scripts may alter a bit from our lesson plan scripts, teachers and grade level teams can view for more insight into how these targeted skills instruction looks like in small groups.
Math
Wrapping Up Unit I
Thank you for getting this school year started smoothly despite all destractors and hectic beginning-of-the-year assessment schedule!
GRASP Screeners
K: Dot Counting, Number Recognition, Comparing Numbers
1st: Counting up to 120, Place Value up to 20 (Optional: Addition/Subtraction within 10)
2nd-5th: Online
Optional Unit Assessments - Curriculum Guide
Unit II
Kindergarten - Comparing Numbers (NBT1, CC1, 3-7, MD3)
Counting and Cardinality: Counting by one, writing numbers 0-20 with the understanding of relationship between numbers and quantities, understaning ten and one, two,..., nine, using pennies as manipulatives, comparing quantities of objects, comparing numbers within 10
Base Ten Understanding: Understaning ten and one, two,..., nine (numeral 1 in 12 means 1 group of ten), Counting by ten with the understaning of one ten as a group of ten ones
Data: sorting, counting each category, comparing two categories
1st Grade: Builing Base Ten Understanding (NBT1, 2, 3, OA6)
Counting on from any number, representing a number of objects with a written numeral
Base Ten: Needs for place value (base ten number system), 10 is a bundle of ten ones, ten and ones, counting groups of tens
Using dimes as manipulatives - ten pennies make a dime
Build fluency in Addition/subtracttion within 10
2nd Grade: Becoming fluent in addition and subtraction (OA1, 2, NBT5, 8, MD10)
Continue building computational fluency within 20, Work on word problems in all situations
Base Ten Understanding: Counging by 10’s, 100’s from any number, use coins and dollar bills as manipulatives, use place value and mental math strategies to add or subtract numbers within 100
Data: represent data and answer questions (put together, take-apart, and compare)
3rd Grade: The Relationship Between Multiplication and Division (OA1-7, NBT6-7, MD3-4)
Multiplication as total of _groups of __each
Division as equal shares as a result of partioning
Solving word problems involving equal groups, arrays, and measurement quantities
Missing unknown in equations with multiplication/division
Applying properties to multiply/divide
Data: Scaled picture/bar graph, line plot with measurement including halves and fourths
4th Grade: Multiplication and Division of Whole Numbers (OA1-5, NBT5-6, MD8)
Multiplicative comparison (__ times as many as ___): interpret and represent
Multi-step word problems - use all four operations, represent situations using equations with symbol/letter use rounding to assess reasonability of the answers,
factor/multiples, prime/composite numbers
Multiply/divide upto four digit by one digit and two digit by two digit, use equations, rectangular arrays, and area models
5th Grade: Adding and Subtracting with Decimals (NBT1,2,4,7)
Understand the magnitude of place value (x10, x1/10)
Read, write, and compare decimals (base ten numerals, number names, and expanded form)
Round decimals up to hundredths place
Add and subtract decimals upto hundredths
RESA Assessment
Thank you for participating RESA Unit Assessmnets. They are loaded in SLDS Resources, and can be found in appropriate unit guide for each grade.
Grade Level Assessments Number of
1st: Unit 3 (OA) Data Due March 15, 2015
2nd: Unit 2 (OA, NBT) Data Due Nov. 13, 2015
3rd: Unit 2 (OA) Data Due Dec. 18, 2015
4th: Unit 4 (NF) Data Due March 4, 2015
5th: Unit 5 (NF) Data Due Feb. 29, 2015
Video guides to
Please note;
For grades 3-5, Google doc versions will be available for those who uses Google Classroom for assessment. (Students still need to work on the scratch paper for their work, and teachers need to collect student work.)
You can split assessments into small parts.
Each school is responsible for collecting data. (Student teachers can do this!) Let me know if this is stopping you from participating.
RESA will analyze the data collected to determine validity and reliability of each item.
Sharing Ideas and Resources
Please share any math assessments your teachers have created with me. I would love to include quality items from our own teachers in unit assessments.
If your school have something good happening in math instruction or collaboration, please share! We want to hear from all of you and spread the wealth!
Science
What are your students doing in Q1?
Kindergarten students are studying matter.
They will describe and sort materials based on their composition and physical properties.
First grade students are studying water.
They will observe and record changes in water as it relates to weather.
Second students are studying matter.
They will investigate properties of matter, identify the states of matter, and explore changes that occur in matter.
Third grade students are studying rocks, mineral, soils, and fossils.
They will investigate the physical attributes of rocks and soils and investigate fossils and how they are formed.
Fourth grade students are studying stars and the solar system.
They will compare and contrast the physical attributes of stars, star patterns, and planets. They will also explain the day/night cycle, phases of the moon, and seasonal changes.
Fifth grade students are studying cells and microorganisms.
They will compare and contrast plant and animal cells and multi- and single-celled organisms. They will also identify and explain why microorganisms are harmful or beneficial.
Science in 3D
A Framework for K-12 Science Education presents a vision for science education in which students move from just learning about science to learning by doing science. The diagram below maps out how the three dimensions of the Framework (disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts) can be applied in Georgia's science classrooms. As the diagram shows, literacy plays a central role in connecting the three dimensions to one another and to student learning.
5E Instructional Model
The Framework calls for students to do science, and many teachers may want extra support in planning lessons that allow for this. The 5E Instructional Model is an instructional framework that supports inquiry-based science teaching and learning. Learn more about the 5Es here.
Picture Perfect Books and Science Kits are Available for Checkout
Are your teachers interested in using a Picture Perfect Science Lesson? Do they have the books they need? Do they have the materials they need? Picture Perfect Science kits for the following lessons, as well as all children's books, are available for check out. Contact Amy Peacock @peacocka@clarke.k12.ga.us.
Over in the Ocean
Sunshine on My Shoulders
Be a Friend to Trees
Roller Coasters
If You Find a Rock
That Magnetic Dog
Oil Spill
Mirror, Mirror
Day and Night
Changing Moon
Sheep in a Jeep
Bugs
Grand Canyon
Name that Shell
Batteries Included
Chemical Change Cafe