Tiger Tribute
Week of: February 11th-15th
Good to Great: "What Surprised You?"
The second take-away for me was using the question, "What surprised you?" to help students process as they read. The trainers put a text on the screen and asked us to read it while thinking about typical comprehension questions that we might ask our students. Then, they asked us to read the same piece of text thinking about the question, "What surprised you?" I was shocked at how powerful this was for me-a proficient reader, reading a 4th-5th grade level text. When I had to think about what surprised me, I suddenly had to activate all these levels within my own mind:
- I had to activate my prior knowledge-one can't consider what was surprising without considering what one already knows.
- I had to make connections with the text-I couldn't begin to think about what surprised me without personalizing it to myself as a reader.
- I had to monitor my comprehension-there is no way to figure out what is surprising without fully comprehending what is being read.
- I found myself naturally asking questions throughout the entire reading.
- In order to share what surprised me with my thinking partner, I had to summarize what I had read.
Whoa-look at ALL of those research based reading comprehension and metacognitive strategies and actions I engaged in, without ever being told to do ANY of them. I don't know if I would have understood the power of this strategy if I had not actually done it myself. I encourage you to try intentionally taking this stance the next time you read and see what you notice about the depth of your interaction with the text.
To help get you started...below is a quick 3 minute video that introduces the idea of asking "What surprised me? to your students.
What Surprised Me? In Action
Saying Goodbye
Weekly Events
- Barr, Mid-year Evaluation-classroom visits
Tuesday, February 12
- 4th Grade NAEP Testing
- PST
- Skate Night
- 100th Day of School
Wednesday, February 13
- Elementary Principal Meeting, Barr
- KEA Meeting, K Teachers, 3:00-4:30, Pod C @ DCHS
Thursday, February 14
- Happy Valentine's Day
- District-wide Jeans Day: Pay $2 and wear jeans. Proceeds support Davidson County United Way
Friday, February 15
- BT1 and BT2 Observations Due to Google Classroom
Looking Ahead
Spring Book Fair this week!
MTSS Data Conversations in PLCs this week
- 4/5 All day planning
- Making Content Comprehensible Training
Tuesday, February 19
- Kindergarten All Day Planning
- Lanie Pope in 5th grade
- PST
- Zaxby's Night
Wednesday, February 20
- 3rd All Day Planning
Thursday, February 21
- 1st All Day Planning
- 3rd Grade CogAT Parent Meeting
- Literacy Night
- NC School Report Cards Released to Public
Friday, February 22
Morning Car Duty Schedules-February
February 4-8: 2nd grade teachers, Carroll, Condon, York
February 11-15: 5th grade teachers, Barnes, Condon, Carroll, York
February 18-22: K Teachers, Joyner, Weaver, Brown, Glasgow
February 25-March 1: 5th grade teachers, Barnes, Condon, Carroll, York
February Curriculum at a Glance
PLCs This Week
1st Grade: Stephanie Reich-Parent Conversations and mCLASS
3rd-5th Grade: Disaggregated benchmark/Check-in Data and District Comparison