Cordata Weekly Bulletin
10/15/2018
Happy Monday, Cordata!
So much learning going on all around Cordata . . . take a look at the moments below! Clockwise from top left:
- 2nd graders learned about coding using code.org, and try some new coding challenges during work time
- One 3rd grader helps another practice and perfect the audio for his digital story
- 4th graders practice identifying multiples during work places
- 5th graders get ready to begin their new jobs as kinder-guardians, first grade helpers, and Pals in our Life Skills classes
- 2nd graders learning from some visiting first responders
- a 3rd grader designs an imaginary plant to show his understanding of plant parts
All of these moments have elements of inquiry! This Friday during our PD day, teachers will have a chance to dig further into inquiry - I look forward to those conversations!
The week ahead - 10/15-10/19
This week is a catch- up week. Continue your work with Caring School Community resources, and add in any of the lessons below that you did not get to last week:
- Classroom teachers - review dismissal and bus expectations. Consider reflecting as a class about bus experiences and linking to you recent SEL lessons.
- Classroom teachers - continue Zones lessons, including Comfortable/Uncomfortable thoughts and feelings, pp.50-53
- Classroom teachers - also continue CSC or Positive Discipline lessons. note that this is the week for the Bugs and Wishes lesson, which is useful when specialists and support staff are helping kids problem solve. Please consider including the Bugs and Wishes lesson for your class this week.
- Specialists - review and reinforce hallway behaviors, which classroom teachers reviewed last week.
Upcoming Dates
- October 24-26 - 5th graders to Mountain School
- October 25 - 8:45 am all-school assembly
- October 25 - 1:00-3:00 - 2nd grade SGC meeting
- October 29 - Unity Care mobile dental clinic at Cordata
- Nov. 1 - 1:00-3:00 - 3rd grade SGC meeting
- Nov. 2 - all day parent-teacher conferences (other Thursday afternoons in November are available as well)
- Nov. 8 - afternoon and evening parent-teacher conferences
- Nov. 12 - No school for staff or students
- Nov. 15 - 1:00-3:00 4th grade SGC meeting
- Nov. 22 - 1:00-3:00 - kindergarten SGC meeting
- Nov. 30 - Family Glow Dance Party in the cafeteria and gym - a family fun event sponsored by our PTA
Other News and Information
- Congratulations to Robyn, Katharine, and all of our after school club leaders and volunteers on a fantastic start to after school enrichment!
- Classroom teachers, you received an email with the link to your Sign-up Genius page for parent teacher conferences. Please be sure to customize your sign-up page and send the link out to families this week no later than Thursday!
- It is exciting to see Seesaw being put to such wonderful use as a way to communicate with families, and to have children share and reflect on their learning! As a reminder, if you are using any other social media tools to share photos or student work, please let Analisa know. It is okay to do so, but I do need to document the accounts we are using school-wide.
- And speaking of social media, if you're not already following @CordataElementary on Facebook and Instragram, please do! And share with your students' families!
- Last social media reminder of the day - we need to always be conscious of our students on the no-publish list! Check this document to see if you have any students who should not be published. This includes not having them in group photos that go out to all families on Seesaw, and not including their name or work in images that go out to all families.
- This Friday is a PD and collaboration day for certificated staff. Cordata staff will be here at Cordata all day (with a few exceptions for special education teachers who will be joining job-alike colleagues across the district for part of the day). Our plan here at Cordata begins right at 7:30 and includes:
-time together to look at social/emotional and attendance data that relates to the important SGC work we're doing this fall
-time in teams to collaborate and explore the Caring School Community resources you recently received, and/or talk with job-alike colleagues about SEL in specialist settings
-time together to read and discuss Comprehension & Collaboration - bring your book!
-time in teams to work on the inquiry and tech integration work plan that you developed last Thursday
In closing . . .
What is inquiry?
We'll spend some time this Friday, when certificated staff gather for collaboration and PD, digging into the Comprehension and Collaboration book to develop a more full understanding of inquiry. There are many educators exploring the methods of learning through inquiry these days, so we can find definitions, explanations and methods in a variety of places.
Here's a video from school in Colorado that began with inquiry in science and then looked for ways to expand their approach across the curriculum. Listen especially for the role of questioning, both teacher-generated and student-generated questions. Enjoy!