Elementary ENews
Issue 26/September 2015
The Power of Words!
Words matter
"Words can offer perspective, insight, and understanding. Words can bring encouragement and hope. Words can remove fear and isolation. Words can reconcile and unite. When words become actionable in our own lives and the lives of others, we can change our thinking and our practice.
Education is word intensive. Educators use words continually in classrooms, meetings, professional learning communities, curriculum guides, school improvement plans and in a multitude of ways. Using words meaningfully is both an art and a science".
Click the link below to read the entire article titled:
"The Power of Words to Spark Positive Change"
By Dawn Wilson
Click on the link to view the complete schedule of Point People for Fall/Winter meetings.
Instructional Coaches
All day meetings - 8:30-3:30 at various locations (be sure to check Eduphoria)
- October 1
- October 21
- November 12
- December 8
- January 7
- February 4
- March 3
- May 17
District Learning Walks - Oct. 5-9
Below is the link below provided by Amber Jones that will contain all the needed information.
Math - Kerise Ridinger
@kerise_ridinger
Point People - District Assessments - Design Teams
Point People Meeting
The point people meetings went well. Our learning was focused around the state of our math classroom and how to integrate the process standards into our daily teaching. Please make sure to ask your Math point people about their commitments they made.
Quarter 1 District Assessment
Quarter 1 District Assessments have been loaded into Forethought for grades 1st –5th grade. The assessment window opens on October 9th and closes on October 23rd. Please make sure that all data is scanned in by the October 23rd closing date. Feedback about the assessments need to be submitted via the Google Form linked below:
http://goo.gl/forms/jMO1Pxdlns.
Please know that we will follow the same process for remaining assessments.
Math Design Team
I am looking forward to meeting with our math design team beginning on October 29th. This year our team will meet 3 times during the year to analyze data, review feedback, revise assessments, and revise/create lessons to better align with our standards.
Science - Marie Hayes
@sciencehayes
Point People - Project Tabs - OI Trainings
Fall meetings focused on the Why/What/How of pre-assessment. Teachers were pre-assessed through “Jot Thought” to find current implementation of pre-assessment in their classrooms. We analyzed an article together and participated in some friendly discussion about the current means of pre-assessment in our science classrooms to build the case of why it is so important. New pre-assessment techniques were shared and explored in collaborative groups as participants created their own pre-assessments to be utilized before their next units.
Winter science point people meetings, we will be focusing on student work. In order to have authentic conversations, please begin collecting science work samples that would exemplify various levels of understanding from your students. Further information from our meeting can be found here: Science Fall Point People
Project Tabs:
The new “Projects” tab - Science is up and running in Forethought. Teachers can find/share rubrics for every Science TEKS, ideas for high-level instructional opportunities, as well as Science Investigation Videos to be used by teachers, students, or both. This is an amazing resource that should be explored and utilized.
OI Trainings:
These are optional trainings that we highly recommend to provide teachers with hands-on experiences and collaboration with the curriculum resources to gain confidence in the upcoming material and learning expectations for the students. SCI/SS OI Training Schedule
ELM
Just in Time Trainings:
- October 6 and October 8 from 3:30-4:30 at Minshew Elementary
Social Studies - Stacie Nickols
@snnickols
Pearson - Point People - Sneak Peeks - Instructional Framework Reminder - DAs
Pearson Realize staff and student accounts
Information regarding creating accounts for our new Social Studies materials was emailed through Instructional Coaches to teachers mid September. This is a great resource for teachers and students.
Pearson Workshops are in Eduphoria and the next ones are October 5th and 6th.
Point People Meetings
Our Fall Point People meetings went well. Thank you for helping us emphasize the importance of this learning time. The presentation is in Forethought in the resources tab in the Point People/Fall Update gear.
Next Sneak Peek Trainings for Social Studies
4th Grade: October 6
5th Grade: December 1
Instructional Framework reminder
Kinder and 1st: 45 minutes a day for Science and Social Studies
2nd and 3rd: 1 hour each day for Science and Social Studies
4th and 5th: 30 minutes each day for Social Studies and Social Studies content integrated into ELAR time as reinforcement
First Social Studies District Assessments
3rd grade Community DA: September 28-October 20
4th grade Early Colonization DA: November 16-December 14
5th grade American Revolution DA: November 16-December 14
ELAR - Mona Savage
@mona_rsavage
Anchor Learning
Stems for Support
Graphic Organizers
Point People - Sneak Peeks - DAs - Design Teams
Each grade level gathered to share and collaborate on ideas for the upcoming Units of Study TEKS. it was powerful to hear all the ideas on the focus areas for reading and writing. Thank you for your continued support! All items of learning and those shared can be found in Forethought within the Instructional Strategies folder of each grade.
Sneak Peeks:
These are optional trainings provided to each grade level to equip teachers with the confidence to plan and design in teams for upcoming quarter using the newly designed curriculum documents.
- Oct. 6 - Kinder, Second & Fourth
- Oct. 8 - PREK & Fifth
- Oct. 13 - First & Third
District Assessments:
Windows for grades 5 has been rescheduled and is noted below.
Grade 3 Fiction: Oct. 2 - Oct.16
Grade 4 Fiction: Oct. 2 - Oct. 16
Grade 5 Fiction: Oct. 2 - Oct. 16
Curriculum Design Teams:
I am looking forward to gathering with design teams mid-October. These grade level teams will assembly three times this year: October, April, and May. I appreciate your support as we continue to revise and update ELAR curriculum with strong alignment to TEKS as well as the vertical alignment.