Grainwood Gab
A Celebration of the Week and What's Ahead! (October 14)
Staff Development Day, October 24th
With MEA approaching, we will be hosting 1 of 2 all-day PD days in PLSAS on the following Monday, October 24th. While the schedule is not finalized, K-2 teachers will be meeting at one elementary in the morning, 7:30-11:30 AM, and 3-5 teachers at another. Specialists will most likely be gathering at one of the elementary sites as well, while SPED staff will be meeting at the PLHS for monitor and compliance requirements. A final PD schedule should be released on Monday or Tuesday of next week, along with information on Frontline, a new online PD tool...Stay Tuned!
Afternoons for all elementary staff is dedicated back at home sites to focus on and accomplish Learning Team and SCIP action items. Benchmark Assessments, reports from MDE, have arrived to our district and map out how Grainwood performed on all of the benchmarks that were assessed on the MCA reading, math and science assessments. These reports are crucial for helping us understand specific areas of underperformance of our students. From that data, we can then develop curricular and instructional improvements (Action Plans in all 3 areas) to make sure we are best meeting the needs of our students.
For anyone who has not viewed our School Improvement Plan (SCIP)...here is a link:
Math Outside
4th graders measuring area and perimeter outdoors.
Independent Reading
Growing reading stamina solidifies valuable reading routines and increases flexible opportunities for teachers to work with students.
Unity Day is Coming:)
Grainwood will celebrate Unity Day on Wednesday, October 26th.
Lesson Objectives or Learning Targets
As reviewed at our last staff meeting, Learning targets frame a lesson from the student point of view. They help students grasp the lesson's purpose--why it is crucial to learn this chunk of information, on this day, and in this way. Learning targets are best practice and written in a student friendly way, often posted beginning with the words "I CAN..." They provide a concrete, visual reminder of the lesson's objective and are usually measured during or at the end of the lesson. Below are few pics of lesson objectives or learning targets found at Grainwood on Friday, October 14th...