NPS Teaching & Learning Flyer
Issue III, December 2023
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📚 New K-5 Literacy Program Updates
Elementary teachers are diving into using the new curriculum materials and reporting that students are enjoying the books that came with the EL modules and that they are engaged with the themes of EL Education Module 1! Grade 5 is reading the historical fiction novel, Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan, as their anchor text and are learning to identify a text’s main idea and how an author develops a main character throughout the course of a text. One teacher recently shared, "Today one of my kids who identifies as Latino said to me, “I’m so excited! This is the first chapter book I’ve ever read that has Spanish in it.” Unit 2 is focused on ‘Writing to Inform’ and had students identifying and writing about the threats to human rights, citing textual evidence to support their claims. On the other end of the elementary age span, all district Kindergarten students are becoming ‘toy experts’. In Unit 1, students received a letter from their pschool principal, which gave them a reason to explore their classroom toy collection and develop strategies for how to play collaboratively with the toys. In the first part of the unit, teachers read-aloud the anchor text Llama Llama Time to Share by Anna Dewdney. For the Unit 1 Assessment, students refered to illustrations from the text to explain what the main character, Llama Llama, learned about playing with others.
"I did not think that I would like EL, however I really love it. Here is a sampling of my students' poetry presentations that they created with some expert help from Greg Baker and I think that they are wonderful! [Students were supported] because of the graphic organizers and support built into the program. Thank you Rachel and Greg for all of your support and help throughout this unit!"
-Sara Simmons, Grade 4 teacher
by Scarlet Pensivy
Educator Spotlight💡
Nichole Lombardini- Grade 2 Teacher
I'm Nicole Lombardini and I've been a second grade teacher at Bridge Street for 6 years. Growing up I always thought I'd teach Kindergarten, but after doing my practicum in 2nd, I fell in love with it! I love to teach reading and Fundations and always get excited to start a new chapter book with my class. Our favorite series so far this year, has been the Ryan Hart books by Renee Watson. Outside of school I like to play cards, read books, and spend time with my family.
Eli Chastek, Math Teacher
Eli has been teaching math at NHS for 7 years. He enjoys bikes, foxes, and being outside. When the wind is right, he can be found kite skiing or paragliding from Mount Tom.
Bridges and Illustrative Math Program Updates
Hands on-Math Investigations and Games using Math Recovery, Bridges, and Illustrative Math activities
The K-5 teachers are using the Bridges into Math and Illustrative Math programs along with Math Recovery assessment and teaching progressions to teach students number sense, conceptual place value, and the structuring of numbers. What is number sense? It is the awareness of the relationship between number and quantity. A strong foundation in number sense contributes to the ability to flexibly engage in systematic counting and work with mathematical operations in order to solve problems. More than 75% of elementary teachers have taken the AVMR 1 course and more than half have taken the AVMR 2 course! In addition, many teachers have also taken the Math Recovery Fractions course. These courses were funded by the Massachusetts Tiered Academy. Northampton is one of 10 state districts that is involved in this exciting math professional development project that helps educators better understand the nuances of exactly what students know and are able to do with specific math concepts.
Snap 10
Gather 'Round!
Domino Addition
Domino addition is a fun game!
District-Wide Professional Development
November 7th was not only Voting Day; it was also NPS PD Day!
On November 7th the district engaged in a full day of professional development with all teachers and all paraprofessionals. Many teachers worked on curriculum development projects in grade-alike groups, led by teacher leaders in our district. Some highlights from the day include:
- The high school faculty worked with Carisa Corrow, from Educating for Good to learn more about competency-based learning. Teachers brought student work with them to analyze the many ways that students can demonstrate their understanding of content.
The JFK math team worked with a partner from the Teaching Lab to learn more about the structure of an Illustrative Math (IM) lesson, followed by lesson planning activities with a focus on how to link up IM with Google classroom features.
About 15 district paraeducators took a Youth Mental Health course and earned a certificate of completion. The course focused on adolescent mental health signs and symptoms that signify an emotional crisis and how to quickly and safely act using a 5-step action plan.
- Grades K-5 regular education, special education and English language learner teachers all met at RK Finn Ryan Road School to learn more about the BOOST reading program from Rachel Nicholas, Literacy Coach, and how to access the many features available to students to help them ‘boost’ their reading skills. Then teams worked together to learn more about structured literacy instruction and to plan EL Education lessons.
- The Pre-K team had a workshop on Bridges to Math with elementary math coach, Diana Smith They explored all of the program instructional components; mapped the monthly themes to existing preschool monthly themes; explored teaching methods which encourage student ownership and involvement in mathematical exploration and thinking, and they played games while discussing ways to differentiate the games for various levels of mathematical understanding.
The Arts are Alive at NPS!
In all visual arts courses at NHS, artwork critique (both written and discussion) is an important component in reflecting on growth and learning of our student artists. In Honors Art, Louise Martindell faciliates a critique of student artwork in class every Friday, rotating between groups of students. Sometimes they engage in large class critique discussions, small group critiques or partner critiques. They use the critique process to develop our visual analysis skills, describe work using key vocabulary, analyze work and evaluate work to identify areas for growth and celebrate successes. One of the themes of this first half of the semester has been to consider how critiquing skills impacts our own growth as artists and help to develop technical skill set as well as formulate conceptual ideas. In other words, as the class formulates ideas and offers feedback on the work of others, students are also internalizing these concepts to grow our own artwork practice and learning. Students are also asked to self reflect on the critiquing process. They were recently asked to respond to the following prompt: Why is critique important to your growth as an artist? Here is a selection of responses Ms. Martindell received.
"It pushes me to see my work in new ways, to refine my visual skills, as well as my language around art." —A.G.
"Hearing other people's perspectives about your work can help you work through problems in your art or improve it in a way you didn't even see. Providing critique can also be beneficial to see how other artists work and understand their process which may be helpful in improving your own art practice "— L.G.
"Critique is both important for the artists whose work is being critiqued and the person providing the critiques. It allows an artist to see a new perspective and learn to look for things they should look for in their own art. This process teaches one to have a lot more intimacy in their own art and provide constructive feedback." —A.K.
"I always engage in critiques by asking questions, giving suggestions, as well as compliments on parts of the artwork that I think are very strong. I participate in critique by being very vocal and trying to get a deeper understanding of my classmates' work. I think I could critique more on the principles of design and elements of art, such as comments on color, form, line, shape, space, texture, and value." —O.W.
Educator Spotlight💡
Paul Kingsman, NHS Band Director
Hello! My name is Paul Kinsman and I am the Band Director at Northampton High School. I've been in the district for six years and have so enjoyed serving the community to make great music and build strong communities. I love working with all types of musicians and ensembles at Northampton High School including multiple Concert Bands, a Jazz Band, Jazz Combos, Rock Bands, Songwriters/Composers, and the new Music Technology and Sound Recording Program. I also love collaborating with other music teachers and local arts institutions in order to create a strong musical environment at Northampton High School. As a musician, I specialize in woodwinds and piano and attended Umass for Music Education. I am currently working on my Master's Degree in Music Production at Berklee College of Music Online in service of the Music Technology Program at NHS.
Louise Martindell, NHS Art Teacher
Shelby Serio- JFK Band Director
The NHS Band visits JFK!
The NHS Marching Band recently visited the JFK middle school Band students to perform selections from their marching band repertoire and encourage the new instrumentalists to join the band! It was an awesome field trip made possible through the Northampton Education Foundation. Thank you to Mr. Paul Kinsman who directs our Band program and to Shelby Serio (Band Director JFK) for hosting. The 6-7th graders loved the performance and the high schoolers loved seeing themselves in the next generation of Northampton musicians. Both groups are still in touch as we enter into our concert season and plan for a collaborative concert in the Spring.
This publication was created by the
NPS Office of Curriculum & Instruction which oversees:
- Curriculum Development
- Benchmark Assessments
- Title I Program Management
- Educator Professional Development
- Curriculum Grant Procurement & Management
- New Teacher Orientation & Mentorship Programming
- Elementary Instructional Coaching & Department Chair Support
Website: https://northamptonschools.org/project/nps-district-curriculum/