K-5 Curriculum Corner
Department of Instruction March 2017
Mathematics
All teachers can now access the Investigations 3 resources and assessments on the platform. There are M-Step style assessments that are available.
MyPearsonTraining.com provides free, 24/7 access to webinars and tutorials, which includes how to utilize and access Pearson Realize. If you previously registered for the PearsonSuccessNet platform, you can use those same credentials on Realize. If you did not use PearsonSuccessNet, you can clicksign up on PearsonRealize and register for your account.
Any questions, please contact Sarah Wood for 3-5 and Rachael Fisher for K-2.
Product Activation Training for Grade 1, 2, 4 and 5 teachers:
Please mark your calendars for an Investigation 3 Product Activation training scheduled for June 20th. Stipends are included for your time.
- 1st and 2nd grade product activation is scheduled from 8:30 AM - 11:30 AM
- 4th and 5th grade product activation is scheduled from 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Building Investigation PD:
Each building is being provided two days with an Investigation trainer to work with selected grade levels. PD is in the form of a lesson study:
1/2 day PD format (refer to building principal regarding schedule):
- Pre planning lesson focused on a math PD goal (such as: application of mathematical practice, meeting the needs of all learners in a given lesson, or conferring or questioning and discussion techniques, etc)
- Teach the lesson in a classroom
- Teach the same lesson in a different classroom/same grade level
- Debrief as a group
PD Dates:
Mayfield March 22-23
Lynch March 28-29
Turrill April 18, 20
Schickler May 3-4
Murphy May 22-23
ELA
As a district, we have been discussing the Essential Instructional Practices in Early Literacy. Very soon, the Essential Instructional Practices for 4-5 and 6-12 will be coming from General Education Leadership Network (GELN).
5 things in common – high performing west Michigan schools – no matter what socioeconomic status:
- Uncompromising focus on reading – 90-120 minutes of reading per day
- Relevant data use deeply – regularly meet with data & instructional “stuff”
- Shared leadership, sustained commitment – principals “what” teachers “how”
- Classroom management focused on learning – routines in place – everyone knows what to expect & what to do next
- Collective Responsibility to Every Child’s Success – every person takes care of student needs – basic needs must be met first & then the rest will follow
In the spirit of March is Reading Month, here is a little reminder from Penny Kittle:
Independent Reading Balance - Penny Kittle
pennykittle.net
BOOKLOVE Choice Inspires Reading Choice Inspires Reading How can we balance teacher and student choices to increase reading? 1000/0 Teacher Selects All Books
Science
NGSX training is being offered this summer, click on the link for details and registration. Stipends provided- https://www.smore.com/mnsem
For all K-2 Science teachers,
Please designate a grade level representative in your building, email the following information to Rose Dodson:
- Building/grade level representative name
- Number of sections are included in your grade level team
Rose and Pat need this information before March 31st. Live organisms will be delivered in the spring.
Social Studies
Continue applying close and critical reading strategies within Social Studies and focus on building vocabulary. The following strategy was taken from the top Instructional Essential Practices document recently published.
Intentional and ambitious efforts to build vocabulary and content knowledge within Social Studies:
The teacher:
- selects Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary words to teach from read alouds of literature and informational texts and from content area curricula
- introduces word meanings to children during reading and content area instruction using child-friendly explanations and by providing opportunities for children to pronounce the new words and to see the spelling of the new words
- provides repeated opportunities for children to review and use new vocabulary over time, including discussing ways that new vocabulary relate to one another and to children’s existing knowledge, addressing multiple meanings or nuanced meanings of a word across different contexts, and encouraging children to use new words in meaningful contexts (e.g., discussion of texts, discussions of content area learning, semantic maps)
- encourages talk among children, particularly during content area learning and during discussions of print or digital texts
- teaches morphology (i.e., meaning of word parts), including common word roots, inflections, prefixes, and affixes
Last but not least, continue to check in with MC3 for any changes and additions to the units.
Coaching
Why collaborate with a coach?
Research shows when professional learning comes in the form of peer coaching there is 95% transfer in knowledge and skill.
M-STEP Links
Attached are several important links that are worth checking out. You can find all of them athttp://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,4615,7-140-22709_70117---,00.html .
Click on the links below:
What the State is looking for: Brief Write Rubrics Claim 2/Writing
Mostly for 5th grade but probably the same for short answer in ELA 3-5: Opinion Performance Task Full-Write Essay, Grades 3-5
Mostly for 5th grade but probably the same for short answer in ELA 3-5: Narrative Performance Task Full-Write Essay, Grades 3-8
Mostly for 5th grade but probably the same for short answer in ELA 3-5: Informational Performance Task-Full Write Essay, Grades 3-5
Relevant vocab for ELA 3-5: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/M-STEP_ELA-Construct-Relevant-Vocabulary_526868_7.pdf
Click on this link and your grade level. This will highlight what is expected in math: Math Crosswalks: Claims, Targets, and Standards
Click on this link and your grade level. This will highlight what is expected in ELA: ELA Crosswalks: Claims, Targets, and Standards
Math and ELA; All will have math PT only 5th will have ELA PT: Sample Performance Task for Classroom Instruction and Rubrics
Online Practice for M-STEP ELA, Math, Science and Social Studies
Video Tutorials, Online Sample Item Sets, and Online Tools Training
The Office of Standards and Assessment (OSA) has developed online resources for students taking state assessments. The resources support the idea that students can learn about online assessment technology when teachers and other educators demonstrate the use of technology through (1) viewing the grade-specific student video tutorials to the entire class, (2) teachers demonstrating to the class how to navigate through sample item sets, and (3) students individually interacting with the sample item sets on the device they'll be using on test day.
The video tutorials are intended for classroom viewing led by the teacher, and give an overview of what students can expect to see and do when taking the online state assessments. The student video tutorials are located in eDirect(https://mi.drcedirect.com). Click on All Applications → General Information → Test Tutorials. The link to the tutorials will take you to the landing page where the tutorials can be selected based on the assessment the students are taking (see screen below).
The sample item sets are available for students in grades K-8, and 11. Sample Item Sets are a select group of test items that encompass various kinds of technology-enhanced items (drag and drop, hot spots, etc.). The sets provide students practice with: solving grade-level and content-specific test items aligned to Michigan’s content standards, navigating the online test delivery
The sample item sets are embedded in the Online Tools Trainings (OTTs), found on the following web pages:
M-STEP (www.michigan.gov/mstep)
MI-Access (www.michigan.gov/mi-access)
Early Literacy and Mathematics Benchmark Assessments (K-2) (www.michigan.gov/ earlylitandmath)
or at this link (https://wbte.drcedirect.com/ MI/portals/mi/). The OTTs and sample item sets are ONLY accessible through the Chrome browser.
Feedback collected from previous test administrations indicates that students and teachers who utilized the video tutorials, and Sample Item Sets/OTTs felt more prepared for online testing. Students reported feeling confident about taking assessments online, and school administrators and teachers said they experienced fewer issues related to online testing than students and teachers who did not take advantage of this resource.