Greenwood Elementary School
September 14-18
Important Information
We have been in session for several weeks now, and teachers may need to make adjustments to schedules to ensure students are able to receive the best instruction during remote learning. This may be a change in small group lessons or an adjustment to the overall schedules to ensure student engagement. If teachers are making changes to schedules, they will notify you in advance. Thank you for your continued support and flexibility.
Some teachers have been trying out variations to Google Meets, and some teachers may be using calendar invites which show up on your child's Google Meet page and/or using codes. We want to provide our teachers with the flexibility to make those adjustments to meet the needs of their class/students. If you are having any difficulties in navigating Google Meet, please talk with your child's teacher or contact the office.
Please check around the house for any GWE or D200 Library books. You can return them to GWE and we will get them to the correct building.
If you are in need of any assistance or resources for the following, please contact the office
- Tech support- techsupport@wcusd200.org
- Breakfast/lunch~ We have meals that can be picked up and are being delivered to bus stops
- Child supervision~ we can help problem solve
- School Supplies ~ We have supplies here, if you are in need of anything, please call us to let us know
Please fill out this form with your student's username and password for the chromebook. This way if it is forgotten, we can quickly and easily get it to you. Thanks!
Students Assessments
When your child is being assessed, please do not help or share answers. We do not administer assessments only at the end of units or concepts, but rather early in units to gauge student understanding and differentiate lessons to meet students' needs. See below for an article on how we use assessments in the classroom to drive instruction.
Please watch for additional information regarding times your child will be assessed. If you have any questions, please contact your child's teacher or Mrs. Smith
Methods of Assessment
With the release of the National Science Education Standards, the issues of why, how, and what we, as teachers, assess in our classrooms will become a major challenge in the multifaceted science reform effort currently underway. As educators are changing their ideas about what constitutes exemplary inquiry-based learning, and recognizing that science is an active process that encourages higher-order thinking and problem solving, there is an increased need to align curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Classroom assessment techniques are focusing on aligning assessments more closely with the instructional strategies actually used with children.
The Nature of Assessment
Assessment can be defined as a sample taken from a larger domain of content and process skills that allows one to infer student understanding of a part of the larger domain being explored. The sample may include behaviors, products, knowledge, and performances. Assessment is a continuous, ongoing process that involves examining and observing children's behaviors, listening to their ideas, and developing questions to promote conceptual understanding. The term authentic assessment is often referred to in any discussion of assessment and can be thought of as an examination of student performance and understanding on significant tasks that have relevancy to the student's life inside and outside of the classroom.
The increasing focus on the development of conceptual understanding and the ability to apply science process skills is closely aligned with the emerging research on the theory of constructivism. This theory has significant implications for both instruction and assessment, which are considered by some to be two sides of the same coin. Constructivism is a key underpinning of the National Science Education Standards.
Constructivism is the idea that learning is an active process of building meaning for oneself. Thus, students fit new ideas into their already existing conceptual frameworks. Constructivists believe that the learners' preconceptions and ideas about science are critical in shaping new understanding of scientific concepts. Assessment based on constructivist theory must link the three related issues of student prior knowledge (and misconceptions), student learning styles (and multiple abilities), and teaching for depth of understanding rather than for breadth of coverage. Meaningful assessment involves examining the learner's entire conceptual network, not just focusing on discreet facts and principles.
The Purpose of Assessment
Critical to educators is the use of assessment to both inform and guide instruction. Using a wide variety of assessment tools allows a teacher to determine which instructional strategies are effective and which need to be modified. In this way, assessment can be used to improve classroom practice, plan curriculum, and research one's own teaching practice. Of course, assessment will always be used to provide information to children, parents, and administrators. In the past, this information was primarily expressed by a "grade". Increasingly, this information is being seen as a vehicle to empower students to be self-reflective learners who monitor and evaluate their own progress as they develop the capacity to be self-directed learners. In addition to informing instruction and developing learners with the ability to guide their own instruction, assessment data can be used by a school district to measure student achievement, examine the opportunity for children to learn, and provide the basis for the evaluation of the district's science program. Assessment is changing for many reasons. The valued outcomes of science learning and teaching are placing greater emphasis on the child's ability to inquire, to reason scientifically, to apply science concepts to real-world situations, and to communicate effectively what the child knows about science. Assessment of scientific facts, concepts, and theories must be focused not only on measuring knowledge of subject matter, but on how relevant that knowledge is in building the capacity to apply scientific principles on a daily basis. The teacher's role in the changing landscape of assessment requires a change from merely a collector of data, to a facilitator of student understanding of scientific principles.
The Tools of Assessment
In the development and use of classroom assessment tools, certain issues must be addressed in relation to the following important criteria.
A. Purpose and Impact— How will the assessment be used and how will it impact instruction and the selection of curriculum?
B. Validity and Fairness— Does it measure what it intends to measure? Does it allow students to demonstrate both what they know and are able to do?
C. Reliability— Is the data that is collected reliable across applications within the classroom, school, and district?
D. Significance— Does it address content and skills that are valued by and reflect current thinking in the field?
E. Efficiency— Is the method of assessment consistent with the time available in the classroom setting?
There is a wide range of assessments that are available for use in restructuring science assessment in the classroom. These types of assessments include strategies that are both traditional and alternative. The various types of alternative assessments can be used with a range of science content and process skills, including the following general targets.
Declarative Knowledge— the "what" knowledge
Conditional Knowledge— the "why" knowledge
Procedural Knowledge— the "how" knowledge
Application Knowledge— the use of knowledge in both similar settings and in different contexts
Problem Solving— a process of using knowledge or skills to resolve an issue or problem
Critical Thinking— evaluation of concepts associated with inquiry
Documentation— a process of communicating understanding
Understanding— synthesis by the learner of concepts, processes, and skills
Assessment can be divided into three stages: baseline assessment, formative assessment, and summative assessment. Baseline assessment establishes the "starting point" of the student's understanding. Formative assessment provides information to help guide the instruction throughout the unit, and summative assessment informs both the student and the teacher about the level of conceptual understanding and performance capabilities that the student has achieved. The wide range of targets and skills that can be addressed in classroom assessment requires the use of a variety of assessment formats.
It is clear that different kinds of information must be gathered about students by using different types of assessments. The types of assessments that are used will measure a variety of aspects of student learning, conceptual development, and skill acquisition and application. The use of a diverse set of data-collection formats will yield a deeper and more meaningful understanding of what children know and are able to do, which is, after all, the primary purpose of assessment.
Scholastic Book Orders
Welcome back to school Greenwood families!
In an effort to keep our students reading, we will be offering monthly Scholastic book orders . All orders will be shipped for free to the school, and our bus drivers will be delivering them to your homes. As always, when you order from Scholastic, our library is able to use the points to buy books to add to our library. This months due date is September 25th. To browse the current selection, please go to Scholastic.com. It will prompt you to make an account if you don't already have one and to add a code to connect to your child's teacher. Our school/teacher code is WVPVH. ( Please be aware it is different from previous years code.) If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at kkopp@wcusd200.org. Thank you for your support!
Kathy Kopp
GWE LRC Associate
Class Pictures are in, if you would like a class picture from last year stop by GWE 7:30-2:30
School Contact Information
Phone: 815-648-2606
Attendance: 815-337-8614
Phone: 815-648-2606
Attendance Line (to report absences): 815-337-8614
Fax: 815-648-4808
Kids Club: 815-276-3755
Principal: Julie Smith jsmith1@wcusd200.org
Principal’s Secretary: Tammy Wood
Attendance Secretary: Martha Delgado
Nurse: Denise Clark
Office Hours: 7:00-3:30