Elementary Curriculum News
September 2016 Edition
We're BA-ACK!
The floors are shiny, the desks are polished, the pencils are sharp, and soon our hallways will be ringing with excitement. All of that shine and polish will quickly turn to the fabulous reality of schools full of eager children. Each child and every one of us will come with a unique background and set of expectations, as well as the ultimate goal of a great school year.
Everyone's great-school-year goals, teachers and students alike, are varied. For some it will be a mind-bending STEM experience. For others it might be a library and classroom full of great books to be discovered. Others might wish to master math-fact fluency, or others might simply want to make some new friends.
The great work of finding our way to our goals and helping our young ones do the same is so exciting. Have fun getting to know your students and their dreams, and enjoy the opportunity of the year ahead and the chance to help fulfill some of their goals and dreams as well your own.
Below you will find a link to a "Elementary Curriculum Resources" page that I hope will serve as a quick reference and link to many of our excellent resources.
In addition, please email me at jwkeegan@oceansideschools.org with any requests for replacement materials for Reading Street or Envision Math you may need this year.
Please, as always, be in touch if I can be of assistance with anything at all. I'm looking forward to another great year together.
All Best Wishes,
Jessica
Reading Inventories - a Key Piece in Getting to Know Your Students
Please remember, if you are a teacher of ELA in Grades K-6, these reading surveys serve as one of the key components in how you will strategize and differentiate reading instruction for the children in your classroom.
For some other reading surveys to get to know your children as readers, please see the links below. If you like Donalyn Miller's "Reading Interest-A-Lyzer" I can share a Google form version of it with you if you send me an email request at jwkeegan@oceansideschools.org.
Summer Reading Challenge Update
749, 495 Minutes!
Election Ahead . . . Top Ten Books for Teaching about Politics and Presidents
PNW BOCES Login and Password Update for Social Studies/ELA Curriculum Resources
USERNAME: Oceanside
PASSWORD: OCSD112
Elementary Teachers' Book Club
Stella by Starlight
The War That Saved My Life
Last Stop On Market STreet
All Oceanside Educators Welcome!
Join fellow book-lovers to chat about the great reads above. You can read one, both, or just come to listen, talk books, look for new reads for our group, and shop!
Please note that August 28th is the beginning of "Teacher Appreciation Week" at the bookstore, and all educators will receive 20% off.
This past year it was great to see that 1,724 students in Oceanside Union Free School District used Sumdog. Overall they answered 2,267,228 math questions!
Sumdog is now planning contests for 2016-17. We'd love to see new classes and students joining in the fun and an increasing number of students enjoying math!
Nassau County contests will have the following start dates:
- October 28, 2016
- February 10, 2017
- April 21, 2017
As usual, contests will start on a Friday and run until the following Thursday and it will be free to take part.
Please talk with your school's Instructional Assistant if you need help getting your class registered and started.
Flocabulary
Teaching Tools for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Education
"Talking is integral to human learning. Scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and writers routinely communicate—not merely to share their final form products—but to make sense of their work and to gather feedback and refine their ideas as the work unfolds. Learners benefit from such accountable talk as well.
This new interactive STEM Teaching Tool highlights 10 different talk formats and explains when, how, and why to use each one in science investigations.
Edcamp Long Island - October 1st!
Last year, many Oceanside educators attending Long Island Edcamp. This was an excellent and collegial day of learning, discussing, and brainstorming. We took away ideas for great books, for our own unconference, and for topics of all kinds. Bring your own interests and ideas to share!
Humans of Oceanside
- Leo and Matthew