Alice ISD - ISC Curriculum Gazette
April 2018
April Gazette
Our goal is not to just get to the end of the year, but to get our students to the end of the year showing growth. And remember that growth precedes performance. It is important for students to realize that they are making incremental strides towards their goal. That is true for us as educators as well. Each day we make progress towards our goal. Sometimes we have setbacks, but ultimately we move forward. As we enter these last few weeks, lets celebrate the successes that come along.
This gazette contains info about various subjects and upcoming events. Take a look at all that's going on. Please be sure to scroll to the end. Thank you for all you do every day in the classrooms!
Pre-K: Labeling the Classroom
When we hear “label your classroom” we think of labeling the clock, sink, door, chair, or table. Labeling goes beyond everyday objects and includes a labeling system where supplies, materials, bins and shelves are labeled.
Why do we label the classroom? Classrooms are labeled to provide children with a print-rich environment. With a labeling system not only are children exposed to reading in a functional way they also develop responsibility for materials and organization.
To have the most impact on a child’s understanding of print we must follow these guidelines when labeling:
· Use pictures and words
· Be at a child’s level
· Use capitalization rules (capitalize only proper names)
· Letters should be the same size, type and color.
· Words and letters should be from left to right.
You can find more great tips on labeling the classroom at the following website: https://www.pre-kpages.com/classroom-labels/
Campus Improvement Plans
This school year we will no longer use the 8 measures of NCLB to complete the Campus Needs Assessment (CNA). We will be using the Multiple Measures of Data, which is based on the research of Dr. Victoria Bernhardt. There will be several changes that will occur with the shift from one comprehensive needs assessment to the other. Instead of the 8 measures in NCLB the Multiple Measures of Data will now use 4 measures. The four measures include demographics (who we are), perceptions, student learning, and school processes. Another shift includes looking at all 4 measures as a whole instead of isolating them like in NCLB, when committees focused on the 8 measures in isolation. The 4 measures in Multiple Measures of Data we will also look at various forms of data and dig deeper.
EOY Literacy Assessment Dates
CIRCLE testing (PK students)
- April 30 - May 11
TPRI 1st & 2nd Grade
- April 9 - April 20
TPRI Kinder
- April 16 - April 30
Fountas & Pinnel (K - 4)
- April 16 - May 18
TPRI Assessment Reminders
The correct directions for administering and scoring the Reading Accuracy, Fluency and Comprehension portion at grades 1, 2 and 3 are provided in detail below:
SAY: I’m going to ask you to read a story. The title of the story is _____________. After you read it, I’ll ask you a few questions. Read the story out loud to me.
DO: Place the Story Booklet in front of the student. Start the stopwatch when the student reads the first word of the story. As the student reads, mark errors.
STORY READING ERRORS:
Mark any words not read correctly.
Errors include:
- Mispronunciations – The student pronounces the word incorrectly. This includes leaving off –s, –ed and –ing endings.
- Substitutions – The student replaces the correct word with a different word.
- Omissions – The student skips a word.
- Reversals – The student reads adjacent words in the wrong order.
- Hesitations – The student pauses for longer than 3 seconds or takes longer than 3 seconds to sound out a word. In these cases, provide the word and count it as an error.
Items not considered errors:
- Insertions – The student adds a whole word that does not appear in the text.
- Self-corrections – The student makes an error, but then corrects the error.
- Repetitions – The student reads the same word or phrase multiple times.
- Loss of place – The student skips a line or loses their place. Redirect the student to the correct place in the story and allow the stopwatch to continue to run.
If the student reads the same word incorrectly multiple times throughout a story, count the word as an error each time it is read incorrectly. All words, including names, are scored in the same way.
WIlliam Adams Hosts Career Fair
Students spent approximately forty-five minutes visiting the various booths to gather information, goodies, brochures, pencils, pens and many other freebies.
A special thanks to the parent volunteers who were on hand to assist with the sign in tables, booth registration and the hospitality booth. Also on hand, were student volunteers who assisted in setting up the booths and ran errands for the agencies at the fair. A WAMS camera crew was also on-site filming under the direction of their teacher Mr. Ric Mireles.
Students in the Careers & Explorations and Technology classes made "Thank You" cards for all of the guests. A special thank you to Mrs. Eberhard and Ms. Vasquez for assisting with that endeavor.
Thank you to the following agencies and organizations who participated in this event.
- Alice Police Dept.
- Alice SWAT Team
- Alice Echo News Journal
- Jim Wells District Attorney Carlos Garcia
- Jim Wells County Judge Pete Trevino
- United Connections Counseling
- Lily Padz Face painting Artist
- First Community Bank
- Wells Fargo Bank
- CBC- Nursing, Welding, Law Enforcement
- Texas Dept. Public Safety
- Workforce Solutions of Coastal Bend /Coastal Compass Education Career Resources
- Vela Orthodontics
- Texas A&M Kingsville Admission Office, Engineering and Moscot Porky
- Jim Wells County Probation Office
- Edward Jones - Katrina Morris
- Community Action TOPS
- Covance Research Products
- Nigel M. Gomez - photographer
- WAMS Nurse
- Radio Station 92.1 FM
AHS Clubs
- Sports Medicine
- Police Academy
- FFA
- Health Science
- Robotics
- Education Training
- Cosmetology
- AFJROTC
- DECA
Thank you to all the administration, staff and teachers of William Adams Middle School for helping with this event. Special thanks to parent liaison Sandra Smithwick for coordinating another successful career fair.
District of Innovation and Calendar
It will go to the board in May for vote.
Calendar A was the calendar approved by staff. That will also go to the board in May.
Coming Soon! Alice ISD Health Fair - April 26th
Various agencies and businesses from Jim Wells County and surrounding areas will be on hand to provide health and wellness information, free health screening for cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure. Additionally, health care professionals will be on hand to answer questions on stroke and heart disease prevention, weight & nutrition information and much more! Healthy food, snacks and drinks will be provided throughout the event and plenty of door prizes will also be given out.
For more information or to sign up for a booth space, please click on the link below for the registration forms. Fax forms to (361) 660-2128 or send to Liza Lozano at lisa.lozano@aliceisd.net or Sandra Smithwick at sandra.smithwick@aliceisd.net.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dqplorSEBXEALX2AGG0rc0J7jSvmMDsx/view
Students Advance to State History Fair
On Saturday, March 3rd, we had 30 students participate in both Junior and Senior Divisions in the Coastal Bend History Fair Day Contest. Of the 3o competitors, 24 qualified for state competition to be held on April 28th in Austin, Texas, at the University of Texas and the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. Congratulations to all competitors.
Senior Division State Qualifiers* & Alternates—
*Jacquelyn Perez-Saenz and Betty-Mae Rodriguez--Hamilton, Group Performance Category
Zachary Vela—The Berlin Wall, Individual Website
Junior Division State Qualifiers & Alternates—
*Juan Garcia, Jaime Garza, Ezekiel Martinez, Lucas Walker—The Christmas Truce of 1914, Group Documentary
*Cameron Timmons—King Henry VIII, Individual Documentary
*Grabiel Silva & Cristian Trevino—The Vietnam War, Group Documentary
Charles Yarbrough & Trenton Zuniga—Discrimination in America, Group Exhibit
*Ember Cavazos & Alejandro Villarreal—Remembering 911, Group Exhibit
*Mercedes Benavides & Robyn Charles—Toxic Wounds of War: Vietnam, Group Exhibit
*Celeste Torres & Isela Torres—Mendez vs. Westminster, Group Website
Alvaro Ceja & Carlos Lopez—Mexican American Immigration, Group Website
*Maedean Cardenas & Maricela Lopez—Nelson Mandela in South Africa, Group Website
*Deandra Ybarra—September 11, 2001, Individual Documentary
*Allyson Cantu—Scandal in a Small Town, Individual Exhibit
Randee Hernandez—Reconstruction, Individual Exhibit
*Marco Ruiz—Si Se Puede, Individual Exhibit
*Aliana Silva—Del Rio vs. Salvatierra, Individual Exhibit
*Shawn Chalfant—Ronald Reagan and The Berlin Wall, Individual Website
JJ Salazar—Police Brutality, Individual Paper
*Julianna Espinosa—The Salem Witch Trials, Individual Paper
1st Annual Alice I.S.D. Spelling Bee 2018
MATH END OF YEAR TESTING DATES
MCLASS: April 23rd - May 16th
ESTAR/MSTAR: April 24th - May 22nd
Alice ISD First Annual Spelling Bee Competition was held on March 20th at WAMS. Congratulations to our champion, Lucas Walker, 6th grade student from Dubose Intermediate. Our first runner-up was Eli Walker, 3rd grade student from Salazar Elementary.
Winners from campus bees held earlier on campuses produced the following results:
Memorial, Carla Gonzalez, Sponsor
Jayden Parsons, 1st place
Amaury Resendez, runner-up
Dubose, Dr. Stottlemyer, Sponsor
Lucas Walker, 1st place
Mia Gonzalez, runner-up
Hillcrest, Edna Yzaguirre, Sponsor
Bailynn Villarreal, 1st place
Alieyah Sandoval, runner-up
Mary R. Garcia, Darla Reyna, Sponsor
Juan Escamilla, 1st place
Eileen Trevino, runner-up
Noonan, Jennifer Rodriguez, Sponsor
Abdu Gowaily, 1st place
Shelby Ramirez, runner-up
Saenz, Elda Salazar, Sponsor
Sienna Zuniga, 1st place
Nyli Resendez, runner-up
Salazar, Norma Alegria, Sponsor
Eli Walker, 1st place
Micah Torres, runner-up
Schallert, Cecilia Cantu, Sponsor
Mary Torres, 1st place
James War, runner-up
Congratulations to all who participated and those students that proudly represented their campus. A huge thank you also to those campus sponsors that put in the additional time and effort to assist our students in the preparation process. Thank you to our host campus, principal and judge, Dr. Judy Holmgreen, as well as judge, Mr. Marin Perez and word caller, Ms. Anna Holmgreen. One last thank you to Cindy Sandoval for assisting with the whole process.
Students from A.I.S.D. attend State Science Fair!
Lucas Walker, Aileen Flores and Alejandra Charles were also nominated to participate in Broadcom MASTERS- a program of Society for Science and the Public. This opportunity allows them the chance to participate in the top science and engineering competition. Students could win cash awards up to $25,000! Good luck to them!
Science Planning for Grades 5, 8 and Bio!
Monday, Apr 16, 2018, 08:00 AM
Alice ISD Board Room
Truth for Teachers Podcast
Current topics include:
- 7 Ways for Teachers to Beat the Sunday Blues
- How to Streamline Assessment and Spend Less Time Grading
- 6 Ways to Stop Worrying About Things Before They Happen
Archived Topics include:
- How to Respond to Rude, Disrespectful Student Attitudes (THIS WAS GREAT)
- How to Undo Your Classroom Management Mistakes
- How YOU Can Build a Positive School Culture
- Responsible Rewards: Using the "Now That" Principle
I know we have many teacher who commute. I find myself listening even in short spurts around town. Take some time to listen to one of these episodes. I think you will find something useful.
Alice ISD Curriculum Department
Email: anna.holmgreen@aliceisd.net
Website: www.aliceisd.net
Location: 2 Coyote Trail, Alice, TX, USA
Phone: 361-664-0981
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AliceISD/