North Side Paw Prints
Staff Newsletter
February 28, 2014
Volume 5, Issue 26
Mission Statement: "Maximize potential in all people every day"
Vision Statement: "To create a culture in which all children can learn lifelong skills to succeed"
Congratulations Pam Jennings and Mary Getts for Going the Extra Mile this Month!
Weekly Quote
"Some of your greatest pleasure will come from finding ways to overcome your obstacles."
~ Coach K
Weekly Reflection
School shouldn’t be a constant reminder of student deficits, but rather a demonstration of student strengths. What is one way you are demonstrating your student’s strengths?
Upcoming Dates
March
March 6th - Staff Meeting @ 7:00 am
March 10th-14th - We will run on a 2 hour delay schedule for ISTEP - IA's to report at 8:00
March 10th - SOM Names due to Venita
March 11th - PTO Meeting 5:30 pm
March 14th - 2nd grade to ENHS for play (starts at 9 am)
March 17th - NO Collaboration - School Starts at 8 am
March 18th - 20th - IREAD 3 window
March 19th - 20th - Mobile Dentist
March 21st - 20 Day Countdown Begins
March 21st - PTO Mother/Son Basketball game 6:00-7:30
March 24th - NO Collaboration - School Starts at 8 am
March 26th - Valic Rep in room 200; Music Program for grades 3 and 6, 6:30 pm
March 27th - End of 3rd nine weeks; last day for extended school day
March 28th - No school....Spring Break!!! Enjoy and Rest and Relax!
April:
April 1st-4th - Spring Break
April 8th - PTO Meeting 5:30 in library; Report Cards due to the office
April 9th - Report Cards Issued
April 10th - Staff Meeting 3:10 in library; SOM names due to Venita
April 11th - Science Central 6:00pm
April 14th - Leadership Meeting 3:10 in conference room
April 15th - Kindergarten Round-Up 6:00pm
April 16th - Mclass reading and IRI window opens
April 18th - School in Session -Good Friday
April 23rd - Mclass math window opens
April 28-May 7th - ISTEP Multiple Choice & IMAST testing
This Week's Case Conferences
March 3 @ 7:30 - Demske - McHenry
March 3 @ 4:00 - Demske - McHenry
March 3 @ 4:45 - Demske/Stoll - McHenry
March 5 @ 4:00 - Demske - Wilder
March 5 @ 4:45 - Stoll - Everage
March 6 @ 9:30 Stoll - Everage
March 6 @ 12:30 Kneller - Hamlin
March 7 @ 4:00 Demske - Opliger
Featured Instructional Strategy of the Week
Argumentative vs Persuasive Writing
The Common Core Standards expect students to have experiences in the three major modes of writing:
- CCR.W.1 Write arguments (persuasive)
- CCR.W.2 Write informative/expository
- CCR.W.3 Write narratives
ARGUMENTATIVE WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
- When writing an argumentative piece, students need a debatable topic. Check out some of these sources for topic inspiration.
- Pro-Con.org displays the opposing perspectives to current events/issues in 2-column formats.
- When brainstorming argumentative topics, have students look through newspaper headlines and articles (News Horizontal/News Vertical). It's probable that they will find topics to write about. For each of the hot topics within the News Horizontal and News Vertical documents, here are possible prompts to practice persuasive or argumentative writing.
- Not only newspapers, but potential topics can rise from television commercials and programming. Check out the controversial decision (full article may not be available) to publish graphic images on the effects of smoking.
- To practice finding and interpreting data, utilize the fabulous Whodunit? PowerPoint SmartBoard which slowly highlights the important clues for solving each case. These examples (and MANY MORE) are found within the Crime & Puzzlement series.
- Slip or Trip?" (PDF/Smart Board)
- "The Case of the Dead Musician" (PDF/Smart Board)
- "Lunchroom Murder" (PDF/Smart Board)
- P.E. teacher Dave Neuenschwander provides articles on relevant issues of his Adams Central HS (Monroe, IN) students. He doesn't just incorporate sports and athletics into his class. He also addresses physical and mental health. Here are two articles and the real-world writing prompts he had them respond to:
- Depending on the debatable issues students choose to argue, they can find proof and interpret data using the Hot Topics series on the following topics:
Featured Video of the Week
In this video, Kristina Smekens does a book review of Clothesline Clues to Jobs People Do by Kathryn Heling and Deborah Hembrook. Great for teaching context clues in the primary grades.