ILT Newsletter
Intervention of the Month
January 2015
Happy New Year! We hope you all had a restful and wonderful break. We are excited for the first ILT Newsletter of the new year.
HIGHLIGHTS IN THE MONTH OF JANUARY
- Do the Math: Math intervention 2nd - 6th Grade
- NEWSELA: Online Instructional Resource for Reading
- Word Walls: EL and ELA vocabulary strategy
- Behavior Strategy: ??
- Upcoming Trainings: Check you calendar and inbox for upcoming ILT meetings!
Intervention of the Month
Do The Math is organized into 13 scaffolded modules that focuses on whole numbers and fluency with fractions.
The program targets 4 core areas:
- Addition & Subtraction
- Multiplication
- Division
- Fractions
Throughout Do The Math lessons, students spend time on a few key concepts over the course of multiple lessons, providing the time they need to learn, process, and build understanding. The program is designed to be used as an intervention for those students who are a year or more behind grade level.
https://iusd.instructure.com/courses/10283/pages/intervention-do-the-math
INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCE OF THE MONTH - GRADES 3-6
Newsela Elementary
An online resource that provide news articles to students, many are engaging current events and non-fiction.
You can sort articles by: reading level, subject, and standards.
From the Newsela website: https://www.newsela.com/elementary/
5 Easy Ways to Use Newsela
- 1. Getting to Know Your Students
- 2. Creating Newsies
- 3. Predictions from Pictures
- 4. Compare and Contrast
- 5. Uncovering Unknown Words
http://support.newsela.com/hc/en-us/sections/200271319-5-Easy-Ways-to-Use-Newsela
IUSD teachers share their thoughts on NEWSELA...
"I love NEWSELA. For the first trimester my class completed weekly assignments using NEWSELA as a backbone. Now in the second trimester, we are going to do two articles per week where we do two close reading strategies followed by a question that needs to be completed using the ACE response. This is all done through CANVAS so students are able to create discussions with others that may have similar or differing ideas about the article."
-Chris McNatt, 4th Grade Teacher
Stonegate Elementary School
"I use Newsela with my strategic RTI group. I like that I get high interest, current, and relevant non- fiction articles at their reading level. We have had some passionate discussions develop from those articles and that inspires my students to learn more."
-Jennifer Diaz, 6th grade teacher
EL Instructional Strategy of the Month: Word Walls
A word wall is a collection of words which are displayed in large visible letters on a wall, bulletin board, or other display surface in a classroom. The word wall is designed to be an interactive tool for students and contains an array of words that can be used during writing and reading in all subjects.
This link will give you many great ideas on how, when, and why to use Word Walls to strengthen your students' academic vocabulary:
http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/word_walls
Why use word walls?
- They provide a permanent model for high frequency words
- They help students see patterns and relationship in words, thus building phonics and spelling skills
- They provide reference support for children during reading and writing activities.
What words to include on Word Walls?
If you are new to incorporating academic language into your lessons, a good place to begin is with Tier 2, high-frequency, general instruction words (such as paraphrase, summarize, predict and justify) that learners need to know for completing an activity, but that are not a lesson's primary learning objective. These words are critical to students' successful processing of academic tasks and appear in the Common Core State Standards and on standardized tests.
"Teachers should be aware of the need to intentionally teach academic vocabulary. When planning lessons teachers need to determine which words the students will need in order to be successful. Some of the words are identified in the vocabulary section of the lesson overview, but teachers should also be identifying other words students will need to know in order to explain their knowledge. These can be words one might find in Blooms Taxonomy such as create, define, analyze etc."
-Lucinda Mroch, TOSA
IUSD, Language Minorities Program
I
BEHAVIOR STRATEGY OF THE MONTH
- Studies indicate a 5:1 ratio, or, 5 confirmations, praise and approvals for every 1 criticism or disparagement.
January ILT Training Dates
Year-Round ILT Training
January 12
3:15-4:30pm, Guidance Resources Conference Room
Click HERE to register on SchoolNet!
Title 1 ILT Training *ILTs and Title 1 Coordinators
January 19
3:15-4:30pm, Guidance Resources Conference Room
Click HERE to register on SchoolNet!
Traditional ILT Training
January 21
3:15-4:30pm, Guidance Resources Conference Room
Click HERE to register on SchoolNet!
MTSS Intervention Team Training
January 28
8:30-2:30pm, Westwood Training Center MPR
Click HERE to register on SchoolNet!