Sunset Weekly Notes
February 26th - March 2nd
SUNSET ELEMENTARY - Colorado Governor's Distinguished Improvement Award Recipient - 2017!!!
Sneak Peak at the Week...
Kindergarten Registration: February 26 - March 2
Monday, February 26: Pati at Sunset
Tuesday, February 27: Pati at Sunset
Tuesday, February 27: PLTW Interviews -4:30 pm Admin. Building (Hafey, Zimmerman, Murr, Neton, Beaver, M. Jones)
Wednesday, February 28: 7:20 - Post Formal Observation Dialogue - Melany
Wednesday, February 28: Admin. Meeting & S3T Meeting - Hafey out, 8:30-3:00pm
Wednesday, February 28: 3:30 - Post Formal Observation Dialogue - Zimmerman
Thursday, March 1: Hafey out - Denver with Ulrich and Tupa
2017 School and District Performance Awards Ceremony
Thursday, March 1: NO RTI
Friday, March 2: 1/2 PLC (am) and 1/2 Plan (pm) - more to come
Friday, March 2: 7:20 - Post Formal Observation Dialogue - Amy
Friday, March 2: 1:00pm - Post Formal Observation Dialogue - Amber
Friday, March 2: 2:00pm - Post Formal Observation Dialogue - Wendy
Duty
Also, if you are am bus duty, if I am not out front and the buses have dropped, please move to the front of the building to help keep the traffic - Kiss and Go Zone moving!
Thank you....
Goal Setting
Engagement...
Engagement Strategies:
1. Cold calling
2. Use of technology
3. Productive Struggles
4. Pacing - not too slow, not too fast
5. Novelty - mixing things up
6. Small groups - Peer Collaboration
7. Anchor Charts - Graphic Organizers
8. Less teacher talk, more student talk
9. Movement/Gestures added to build retention
10. Chants
11. Music
12. Meaningful movement breaks
13. Establishing a goal - tracking to see progress
THANK YOU TILILA for your work with MAPS!
Thank you Amber, Amy, Stephanie Z, Wendy, Melany, Denise J, Denise S, Kim, Teesha, Celeste for allowing us to observe you during our Instructional Leadership walks!
Thank you Dibels team for your 'Dibeling' and being prepared for Data Dialogues last Friday!
2017 School and District Performance Awards Ceremony
Message from Dr. Ulrich...
Good morning Sunset Elementary School staff,
I want to be sure and follow up on last week's Superintendent's Instructional Leadership Visit. For the second cycle, Ridgeview Elementary School Principal, John Haddan, accompanied us.
Consistent with the first cycle of visits, we reviewed the school’s goals for this year and the data that supports the choice of the goals. We looked for evidence of implementation of the teaching and learning cycle and evidence of deep planning.
We were able to get into 4 classrooms including kindergarten reading instruction, kindergarten reading intervention, and 4th grade classrooms to observe math instruction. Throughout all the visits, we saw confirmation of a commitment to the teaching and learning cycle. We saw a variety of engagement strategies. We were also able to observe different instructional strategies for literacy and small group differentiation.
Student engagement during math instruction was high. Both teachers were using the same daily learning target to drive instruction, but took different approaches to reach the goal. Alignment to "What We Teach" was tight in all the classes and is strong evidence of deep, purposeful planning.
John, Zack and I were particularly impressed with the work during kindergarten reading intervention. It was clear that students were purposefully grouped based on individual data and differentiation was occurring throughout the observation. Students in all the groups were actively engaged in the learning activities.
I am thankful for any opportunity to visit classrooms (especially elementary classrooms), and I continue to be impressed with the teachers I've observed at Sunset. Thanks for everything you do for our students!
JA - Junior Achievement
Junior Achievement's Purpose is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy.
Dear Sunset Staff,
I am excited to let you know we have an opportunity to bring Junior Achievement (JA) to the students at Sunset Elementary this spring! Please click on this link to learn more about JA’s proven K-5th grade programs. You can also read about the organization’s mission at www.JAColorado.org. JA’s experiential programs are not only fun for students, they are also impactful. Students look forward to “JA Day” and it is time well spent!
I am considering a JA in a Day format on Friday, May 18 for all grade levels at the school, which is efficient and effective – allowing trained JA volunteers to teach an entire program all in one day. Teachers remain in the classroom to assist the volunteer with classroom management and connecting themes for students. JA curriculum aligns with many of the Colorado State Standards, including the new personal financial literacy standards within social studies and mathematics.
Thanks to the generous support of volunteers and donors, JA programs are offered at NO cost to students or schools. We will be reaching out to parents and community supporters to serve as the JA volunteers for each class.
JA is the nation's largest organization dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their futures, and make smart academic and economic choices. Junior Achievement's programs—in the core content areas of work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy—ignite the spark in young people to experience and realize the opportunities and realities of work and life in the 21st century.
JA Day at Sunset: Friday, May 18
JA Training for Staff and Volunteers: Tuesday, May 15 (Staff Meeting)
Kindergarten - JA
1st Grade - JA
2nd Grade - JA
3rd Grade
4th Grade JA
5th Grade - JA (2 choices)
Please take a look at your grade level's JA activity! More info. to come in the weeks to come! Just wanted to give you a heads up!
3rd, 4th, 5th grade teachers....PLEASE READ
There is also a pointer but it kept disappearing/reappearing so I found it to be more of a distraction than a help!