Cool Cat News
Principal Brief
November 13-17
Cool Cats,
Diane and I felt humbled and honored to represent the Cool Cats in D.C.! Betsy DeVos said in her speech that "A school is just a building; your care and your love make what happens there special." Think about ways you make your classroom special - How do you make your students feel like heros? How do you encourage them? How do you continually build relationships? I had the privilege of meeting the National Teacher of the Year, Sydney Chaffee, in one of our break out sessions. When I asked her about her beliefs and philosophy she said she believes every teacher should value these three things - Realtionships, Relevance and Equity. "We don't have to be perfect. We just have to be brave because tomorrow's adults sit in our classrooms today." As we head towards Thanksgiving break - know we have 5 more days to make a difference, let's not countdown the days but embrace every minute we can to encourage and grow our students.
We are planning a blue ribbon flag ceremony. When we have the date I will let you know. Please use this hashtag with your posts #nbrs2017 as well as #hartmanpride.
Shawna
Upcoming Dates:
11/13 McDonalds Night 5-7pm (G3)
11/14 Sunshine Committee Meeting 3pm, Spaghetti Dinner 5-7pm, PTA Cookie Dough Fundraiser pickup,
11/15 RTI Team Meeting
11/16 Fall Picture Retakes, UIL Competition @ Watkins 4pm, Awards @ WEHS @7pm
11/17 Sunshine "We're so thankful for YOU" day, Famous Cats Pep Rally (G1) @ 7:50am- Staff and students dress like a famous cat. Thanks first grade for coming up with a great theme for the pep rally!
Fifteen Websites with Leveled Texts
I think these online leveled reading texts are great! How could you use these in your classrooms to differentiate?
In their book, Making Teacher Evaluation Work: A Guide for Literacy Teachers and Leaders (Heinemann 2017), Rachael Gabriel and Sarah Woulfin list online sites that provide leveled reading texts:
- New York Times Kids Blog: http://www.nytimes.com/section/learning
- Tween Tribune: http://tweentribune.com/
- Epic Books: https://www.getepic.com/
- Kids Discover: http://www.kidsdiscover.com/quick-reads/
- Common Lit: http://www.commonlit.org/
- ReadWorks: http://www.readworks.org/
- Starfall: http://www.starfall.com/n/level-c/index/play.htm?f
- Breaking News English: http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com
- For the Teachers: http://www.fortheteachers.org/reading_skills/
- ThinkCERCA: http://www.thinkcerca.com/
- NewsELA: https://newsela.com/
- News in Levels: http://www.newsinlevels.com/
- Unite for Literacy: http://www.uniteforliteracy.com/
- Bookbox: https://www.youtube.com/user/bookboxinc
- Center for the Study of Adult Literacy: http://csal.gsu.edu/content/are-you-learner
R- Time Every Wednesday!
Rtime for Better Relationships! 10 minutes every Wednesday!
- Show good manners and respect at all times.
- Care for everyone and everything.
- Follow instructions with thought and care.