Hidden Valley Weekly Bulletin
Week of 10/17
Principal's Point to Ponder
What do we want to get out of planning?
If you are like me, you want to go into a meeting and leave with something that will help you do your job more effective. There are many times where meetings are great. I leave feeling ready to conquer the world. I leave with something that I can take and use to reach my goals, or even challenge myself.
We have been coming to our PLC meetings and trying to get accomplished the "WHAT" to do. This effort takes time, and usually takes up the majority of our planning. We usually don't even accomplish that. It is important that we come to planning with the "What" we are doing already done. This way we can spend the time reviewing the lesson plan, so we all know what we are doing, and spent the majority of the time with the "HOW" we are going to do it. We also need to come physically prepared with materials, and mentally prepared to discuss this lessons.
As I was listening to the misconceptions in the data talks, it is evident that we need to dive deeper in the lessons that we create. We need to come to the table with ideas already brainstormed, and determine how we will teach the concepts.
I challenge us to think about the following during the planning sessions:
* What types of questions will I need to ask to scaffold for my struggling students?
* What types of questions will I ask to challenge my students?
* Does this activity allow for mastery of the standard?
* How will I differentiate my small groups to meet to high and low students?
* Do my activities prepare my students for the rigorous assessments that we have created?
Acknowledgements and Recognitions
* Kudos to Ms. Council for organizing the Hornets Bus for our 1st, 2nd, and 4th grades. The students had a blast.
*Shout out to all teams for coming to the data talk meetings prepared to dive into the data and really discuss the misconceptions. I love the way that we were willing to see the data, and make adjustments to how we are going to alter our teaching for the betterment of our students.
*Kudos to Ms. Lynch who is really making an effort to effectively use every available moment of instructional time. Her lessons are fast-paced, interesting and fun for the students and they are actively engaged.
*Shout out to Ms. Locke for being an active part of PLC, data team, and data talks. She is involved and knows what is going on so is better able to meet the needs of students. She also pushes students to think deeper in small groups and is reflective as to what can help the students grasp the concepts better. Thanks for being great at what you do!
*Kudos to 4th grade literacy teachers for digging into their data and quick to react as to what needs to be done rather than making excuses. They grouped students by standard and performance and immediately began planning what each group would be doing during WIN time to intervene or enrich ensuring ALL students are making growth. Thank you for your hard work and dedication for our students!
* Shout out to Mr. Georgiades, h
e was teaching the students to identify what is in the text and also in a text feature with justifying their answers. He gave them questions that already had answers chosen and the students had to have an ACADEMIC CONVERSATION about if the answer was correct or incorrect. They then had to justify their answer with text evidence!!! Great job!
*Shout out to the 4th Grade team for their quick and calm response to the Lockdown Thursday. Teachers got all kids in the building from the playground, grassy area, and blacktop, accounted for them, and went straight into lockdown procedures once in the building. Teachers also did an amazing job of debriefing, counseling, and consoling students that were shaken up and upset by the incident and made them feel safe during and after the lockdown. Great job 4th Grade Team!!!
*A huge shout out to Ms. Le as she has created a learning culture in her class of conversations and respectful responses. Students can consistently be heard starting off their conversations with I agree with ____ because……or I disagree with ____ because and I here is how I would do this differently.” Students understand they must explain their reasoning as they discuss with each other whether or not answers make sense or are reasonable and why. Great work raising the level of conversations and thinking in your class Ms. Le!!!!
*SHOUT OUT to Ms. Witherspoon! She consistently comes to 1st grade planning and is an active participant! Our students are lucky to have such a team player in their corner.
*A huge shout out for the second grade literacy team. They did a great job organizing a non-fiction gallery walk. Students walked from room to room spending about 20 minutes in each class learning about the types of non-fiction text. The lessons were well prepared and fun for the kids. Transitions were smooth and the students were well behaved. Great job making learning fun and interesting for all second graders.
Reminders
* Please check the email from Ms. Stoner. She has sent a referral for for counseling services. Thin about the kiddos that need a little extra TLC, so we can get them the support that they need.
*October is National Bullying Prevention Month
Every October, schools and organizations across the country join STOMP Out Bullying in observing National Bullying Prevention Month. The goal: encourage communities to work together to stop bullying and cyberbullying by increasing awareness of the prevalence and impact of bullying on all children of all ages. Here at Hidden Valley bullying is an issue that often comes across the counselors desk. We have a zero tolerance for bullying here at HVES, and we want our students to feel safe and secure when they come to school each day.
*It is that time of the year again and Red Ribbon Week is fast approaching. Mr. Busbee and I wanted to receive you feedback regarding daily activities. This year national theme is “You Only Live Once” YOLO. We wanted the activities to be a more festive this year, we know last year you wanted to ensure everyone, was acclimated to the new uniform policy. Here are some suggestions for the upcoming Red Ribbon Week on October 24-28th. Please provide your input. I am also attaching a parent letter for your review. If you make changes to the activities, than I will edit the letter as well. ACTIVITIES FOR THIS WEEK WILL BE COMING IN THE NEXT WEEKLY BULLETIN.
*REMINDER: The Tailgate Party will be on Oct. 30th at 1:00pm (the kickoff time for the game has changed). Please see a flyer around the front office for details and pay Ms. Velez or Mrs. Tyler $10 as soon as possible. $10 must be paid by 3:00pm on Oct. 28th. Thank you and we cant wait to relax and have some fun with everyone!! tHE TEN DOLLARS PAYS FOR PARKING SPACES FOR TENTS, FOOD, AND BEVERAGES (NON ALCOHOLIC)
*Picture Day is coming nxt week, see email from Mr. B for the schedule.
*In your mailbox today you will receive a letter explaining Crayola ColorCycle to parents. Please send this home in the Tuesday folder. GOTR and I have paired up to implement a marker recycling program at our school. Crayola accepts markers, dry erase markers, and highlighters as part of the Colorcycle program and even pays for shipping! The old markers are used to create new markers and also energy solutions such as solar panels. On Tuesday after school, GOTR will be hanging a marked bag outside of each classroom. Feel free to move this bag inside your room if you would like. The GOTR girls will then come around every other week to collect markers. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me. I have also attached a short 3 minute video if you want help explaining the program to your students. See email from Mrs. Chinchar
*For your information CIS dental screenings are scheduled for Tuesday October 18 starting at 8AM. Dental hygienist, Peggy Rohleder will be pulling students out of class briefly, it should only take a minute or two. Attached you will find the rosters by grade levels. Please see email from Ms. Echevarria.
*If you’re interested in becoming a school leader, we’re holding an open house next week that you should attend. You’ll hear from representatives of four leadership programs open to you: Leaders for Tomorrow at Winthrop University, School Executive Leadership Academy at Queens University, Aspiring High School Principals Program at UNC Charlotte and the Educational Leadership Programs at Wingate University. The open house is from 4:30-6:30 p.m. October 25 at Spaugh. If you want to attend, RSVP here.
ELL Strategy of the Week
Last week we talked about pairing students up using classroom vocabulary. In keeping with the vocabulary focus, this week's strategy is to explicitly teach affixes of a word to students when introducing vocabulary. ELL students do not have the same vocabulary as native speakers, and one way to help them start catching up quickly is to teach them ways to solve words and put words together using the word's root words, prefixes, and suffixes. For example, if you have introduced the word "unsinkable"-like in the Titanic-you could take the time to not only talk about what it means to be unsinkable, but also that un- means not and there are other examples of un- words like unfriendly and having them predict what that means. Non-literacy classes are perfect places to incorporate this strategy! For example, if you have introduced the word "pentagon" you could take the time to talk about how pent- means 5 and other pent words with predicting.
(P.S. The first three teachers to email michellej.birlet@cms.k12.nc.us will have a sweet treat delivered!
P.P.S. The first teacher to email michellej.birlet@cms.k12.nc.us with a picture showing us the strategy in use will get a gift card to Dunkin'!)
What to Expect This Week
Literacy Focus
Inferencess/Cause&Effect
Key Details
Connections btwn 2 events
Writing focus
Informative/Explanatory Writing
Monday 10/17 (Day 3)
- This month is National Bullying Prevention Month. Please wear your bullying shirt if you have one with jeans , or wear jeans and orange.
-Data Talks 5th grade Science in the planning room .
Tuesday 10/18 (Day 4)
- Tie Tuesday, Lets see how many students we can pump up by wearing ties. Men in the buiding , sorry you don't have a choice :)
-Fire Safety class for 3rd grade
- Beginning Teacher meeting after school in the media center
- PTO McDonald's spirit night at Sugar creek McDonald's
Wednesday 10/19 (Day 5)
- Staff Meeting at 3:15- Committees
Thursday 10/20 (Day 1)
- Fall Picture Day - See Schedule from MR. B- (PE TEACHERS WILL COME TO YOUR CLASS)
- Real Men Read Orientation 7:45 in the cafeteria
Friday 10/21 (Day 2)
- Jeans and College Shirt-