PATRIOT POST
September 16, 2019 Volume V. Issue VI
We had a great time celebrating the Falcons Hometown Grant here at Liberty Point!
Our first spirit night at Oz Pizza was a success! Thank you all for supporting this event.
Kindergarten & Fourth grade teachers working hard to create toolkits to lift the level of student work during the writing block!
Kudos to our cafeteria staff for embracing change to drive improvement! The mobile breakfast kiosk is going to ensure that we begin our instructional day on time!
Kudos to Mr. Franklin for putting in extra work on a Saturday! Thank you for working to ensure that our building is well kept!
Greetings from Mr. Borders! Get Ready for Tech Preps & Coaching Support!
Showcase Bulletin Boards Kickoff in September
The creator of the previous board should remove all items from the board by 3:00 PM on the last day of their scheduled display time.
The board should be neat and display our scholar’s writing to their best advantage.
The board should represent writing from your entire class.
Each board must have a rubric and standard.
Each students’ writing must have Teacher Commentary.
SPECIAL POINTS OF INTERESTS:
Monday, September 16 - Tech Prep with Mr. Borders; AVID Site Team Meeting @ 3:00 in Principal's Conference Room
Tuesday, September 17- Safety and Security Assessment
Wednesday, September 18 - Speedy PD Teacher Leader Session with Mrs. Ricks 3pm in Media Center
Thursday, September 19 - Vision (Grades 3 and 5) and Hearing Screening (Grades 1 and 3)
Friday, September 20 - Picture Day, Parklane ES School Visit (Grades K - 2)
Reading & Writing Units of Study Updates
Tip 1: Invite students to have a real give-and-take with you.
Even though in conferences you’re a teacher talking to students, you’re also a (more experienced) writer talking to (less experienced) fellow writers about what writers do.In this give and take, you learn about what students are trying to do as writers and how well they’re doing it, and the students learn how they can do their work better.
Tip 2: Sit alongside students, at their eye level.
How you sit with students helps you establish a positive tone in conferences.
- You might grab a nearby empty seat or sit on one that you carry with you around the classroom.
- As you sit, it’s important to make frequent eye contact with students and make sure that your facial expressions show an interest in what students are telling you.
Tip 3: Use "active listening" strategies.
- Give some wait time after asking a question so that students have the time and space they need to come up with a response.
- Ask students to “say more” about what they tell you.
- Repeat what children say to check that you’re hearing them correctly.
Need A Refresher on Research, Decide, Teach Conferences? Please Watch & Grow !!!
Humanities' Highlights & Hive Fives
Ms. S. Williams focused on lifting the level of elaboration in students' writing during a small group
Ms. Dye diving into Interactive Read Alouds!
MATH UPDATES
Four Key Benefits
1. Personalize Instruction:
- Close work with students, allows teachers to evaluate students' learning strengths, locate gaps in development and tailor lessons to focus on specific learning targets.
- Frequent and individualized feedback
- Provides an opportunity for additional teaching and practice
4. Build Confidence Through Collaboration:
- Allows a comfortable environment and boost the confidence of students might not participate in whole group.
Strategy Groups in Math
- Can be a familiar or unfamiliar problems.
- Students may have different problems, as long as the strategy can be applied to the problems.
- Groupings are short term (maybe a day or two) and based on students who struggle with a Learning Target.
- Teacher begins with a purpose (stating the Learning Target).
- The teacher often reteaches a whole-group mini lesson and models first.
What's coming up for Math?
Unit 1 Post Assessments and Data Analysis
Begin Unit 2
Costa's Levels of Questioning and Thinking
AVID Strategy of the Month: Inquiry/ Costa's Levels of Thinking
Inquiry is “a seeking for truth, information, or knowledge—seeking information by questioning.”
Being able to recognize different levels of thinking is beneficial for all students in many areas of learning.
Costa's Levels of Thinking and Questioning
-Happy Critical Thinking!
Levels of Questioning Assignment for Math teachers this week
Step 1: Model using think-alouds, the levels of thinking by preparing 3 levels of questioning reflecting current science or social studies content.
Step 2: Allow students to work in pairs to design a question for each level of thinking using science or social studies content.
Step 3: Repeat once a week with science, social studies, or math content
Levels of Questioning Assignment for ELA teachers this week
Step 1: Model using think-alouds, the levels of thinking by preparing 3 levels of questioning reflecting your current read aloud .(During the read aloud time Tuesday)
Step 2: Allow students to work in pairs to design a question for each level of thinking using the current read aloud. (During the read-aloud time Wednesday)
Step 3: Repeat once a week with read alouds or their individual books they are using for independent reading
AVID Binder Tips & Reminders:
2. Binders should not have any loose random papers inserted like classroom daily work. This is how the binders becomes disorganized, overwhelming, and ineffective. If you would like a data section in your binder see me for labels. Once you have labels and you would like for your students to keep up with formal assessments, you can place them in the data section.
3. Students should take their binders home EVERY DAY! The binder serves as a home-school connection for the parents and students. We have to train our students to be independent enough to do this.
5. The students should spend about 10 minutes per day organizing their binder ( 7:15-7:45)