FHSD Elementary ELA/SS Newsletter
March 20, 2018
Important Upcoming Dates
Assessment Wall: May 1-14
Aimsweb: May 1-11
ELA Benchmark 4th Qtr (2nd-5th, Optional)-May 1-14
Mastery Connect Data Entry for ELA Writing Assessments: May 1-14
Kindergarten & First Grade Reading Summative: May 1-14
Other Important Celebrations
National Library Week April 9-13
Public School Volunteer Week April 16-20
Administrative Professionals Day April 25
Earth Day U.S.A. April 22
School Nutritional Employee Week April 20-May 4
National School Principals' Day May 1
Teacher Appreciation Week May 7-11
National School Nurse Day May 9
ELA Curriculum Frequently Asked Questions
A few "Did You Knows" about the curriculum:
- 59 out of 60 PLC's have representation on K-5 ELA curriculum
- The sequence of Units follow the Teachers College recommended order
- Multiple committees gave feedback regarding the adoption of the Units of Study (Lucy) resource
Find out even more information by checking out the FAQ document!
Homegrown Institute Update
All teachers who have currently signed up to attend the Homegrown Institute for Writing will attend. Some teachers will attend in April, they will receive notification regarding location, necessary materials, and other important information March 18-24th. Other teachers who have signed up to attend the institute will participate July 9th-12th. If you have any questions about your status contact Carrie Hepburn.
Curriculum Writing Update
- K-3 ELA curriculum approval is in process
- K-3 ELA curriculum is represented by a teacher for each building and grade level
- K-3 science and social studies curriculum writing began in February, completion dates by the end of this school year
- K-3 implementation of new curriculum for ELA, science, and social studies 18-19 school year
- April & July of 2018 Francis Howell hosts the Writing Homegrown Institute
- 4-5 curriculum research began March 2018
- 4-5 curriculum writing for ELA, science, and social studies in 18-19 school year
- 4-5 implementation of new curriculum for ELA, science, and social studies in 19-20 school year
- Elementary Physical Education classes will be teaching health as new ELA curriculum is written and new PE/health curriculum is written. 2018-2019: K-3 teachers will NOT be teaching health, 4-5 teachers will continue with current ELA curriculum. 2019-2020: health will be taught in PE K-5.
If you are interested in the elementary curriculum plan from 2017 until 2024, check out the information and feel free to contact Carrie Hepburn or Sherri Lorton with any questions.
Social Studies Information
Kindergarten
Kindergarten 4th Quarter ELA Assessments
- Fourth Quarter Sight Words: May 1-14
- Aimsweb: May 1-11
- Assessment Wall: May 1-14
Fourth Quarter Writing Summative: Students write an opinion piece about what is their favorite animal and why (not required for MC entry, the assessment may look different if you are piloting Lucy).
Kindergarten's ELA Assessment and Cheat Sheet Document-Document includes a direct link to the assessments within Mastery Connect (no searching required) and outlines each assessment by quarter.
First Grade
- Fourth Quarter Reading Assessment: May 1-14
- Aimsweb: May 1-11
- Assessment Wall: May 1-14
Fourth Quarter Writing Summative: Students will write an informational piece about an animal they have researched (not required for MC entry, the assessment may look different if you are piloting Lucy).
First Grade's ELA Assessment and Cheat Sheet Document-Document includes a direct link to the assessments within Mastery Connect (no searching required) and outlines each assessment by quarter.
Second Grade
- Second Grade Fourth Quarter Reading Benchmark: May 1-14 (optional)
- Aimsweb: May 1-11
- Assessment Wall: May 1-14
- Fourth Quarter Writing Summative: Students will write a persuasive piece about a place they would like to visit (not required for MC entry, the assessment may look different if you are piloting Lucy).
Second Grade's ELA Assessment and Cheat Sheet Document-Document includes a direct link to the assessments within Mastery Connect (no searching required) and outlines each assessment by quarter.
MAP Support
- Students will see text referred to as passage, story, informational piece, and text.
- Speaking and listening is a portion of the test, students will be allowed to listen to an audio piece more than once in order to answer a question or ask a question about the audio portion, however, they will not be able to see it in written form. Some ways to help your students with this are asking students to listen to the read aloud and paraphrase evidence from the text to support their answers to questions. Watch a Brainpop video without Closed Captioning and have them ask and answer questions about the video.
The MAP Blueprint has been aligned with:
- Current reading benchmark
- MAP Practice Form
- Common Core State Standards
- New Missouri Learning Standard Expectation
- MAP Practice Form
If you have questions about this or your team would like some extra support feel free to give Carrie Hepburn a call.
Third Grade MAP Blueprint Alignment
Third Grade
- Third Grade Fourth Quarter Reading Benchmark: May 1-14 (optional)
- Aimsweb: May 1-11
- Assessment Wall: May 1-14
Third Grade Fourth Quarter Summative Writing: Students will write a narrative piece about a weather-related event (not required for MC entry, the assessment may look different if you are piloting Lucy).
Third Grade's ELA Assessment and Cheat Sheet Document-Document includes a direct link to the assessments within Mastery Connect (no searching required) and outlines each assessment by quarter.
Fourth Grade
Fourth Grade 4th Quarter ELA Assessments
- Fourth Grade Fourth Quarter Reading Benchmark: May 1-14 (optional)
- Aimsweb: May 1-11
- Assessment Wall: May 1-14
Fourth Grade Fourth Quarter Writing Summative: Students will write a Hero's Quest, not required for MC entry. (the assessment may look different if you are piloting Lucy).
Fourth Grade's ELA Assessment and Cheat Sheet Document-Document includes a direct link to the assessments within Mastery Connect (no searching required) and outlines each assessment by quarter.
Fifth Grade
Fifth Grade 4th Quarter ELA Assessments
- Fifth Grade Fourth Quarter Reading Benchmark: May 1-14 (optional)
- Aimsweb: May 1-11
- Assessment Wall: May 1-14
- Fifth Grade Fourth Quarter Writing Summative: Students will write a descriptive letter from the perspective of a slave (not required for MC entry, the assessment may look different if you are piloting Lucy).
Fifth Grade's ELA Assessment and Cheat Sheet Document-Document includes a direct link to the assessments within Mastery Connect (no searching required) and outlines each assessment by quarter.
Are We Doing Lucy Calkins or Balanced Literacy?
Elementary ELA/Social Studies Content Leader
Email: carrie.hepburn@fhsdschools.org
Location: 1405 Hwy D, Saint Charles, MO, United States
Phone: 636-851-6341
Twitter: @CarrieHepburn