I ain't afraid of no ghosts!

IT'S HALLOWEEN WEEK!  In the words of Ghostbusters, "I ain't afraid of no ghosts!"...or students on Halloween.  When the excitement of the season begins to creep into the classroom, remember consistency is your BEST friend.  Students thrive off of consistent routines, consistent expectations, and consistent instruction.  Just 4 weeks until Thanksgiving break, & then we return with just 3 weeks until Winter Break.  This time is critical for our students.  Continue to remain focused on maximizing your instructional time and designing rigorous instruction to meet the readiness levels of your students.

COPY CODES!

Copy codes begin on Monday.  See Kim if you have ANY challenges!

SOR COACHING WEEK RECAP!

It was a great week of learning as we revisited the 3Ds in STEPS and explored the value of the Socratic Seminar in strengthening comprehension and oral rehearsal for writing.  Thank you for your professionalism throughout the week.  Angie will return on 11/7 for 4th/5th Grade SOR PLCs, and on 11/13-11/14 to continue classroom observations and support.

Did you know... JUST 6 WEEKS LEFT BEFORE MOY LDAs!!  It's hard to believe we have less than 26 instructional days (minus any field trips, etc.) between now and the last day for reading small groups.  This time is CRITICAL for the progress of every student.  Keep up the intentional work to move every student to become a more skilled reader & writer.  Every STEPS, every day!  :)

• STEPS Framework Guidance document HERE (includes hyperlinks for menu of activities for each part of STEPS)
• Remember the 3Ds for ALL of our students becoming consolidated readers!
• Set-up:  Deck Drills to include sounds, words, phrases - 1-3 minutes every day!
• Practice:  Decodable text to include passages or books - 10 minutes every day!
• Show what you Know:  Dictation of sounds, words, sentences - 7 minutes every day!
• Decodable Text Resources (for your students still mastering decoding skills):  UFLI, SPIRE, Alphabet Phonics, Whole Phonics, Fly Leaf & more!  Complete Decodable Texts Sets by grade level HERE.
• Consolidated Reader Text Resources (for your students who have mastered IDI decoding skills):  Text selected by student Lexile - text in Book Room, ReadWorks passages, JGB.

UPCOMING PLCS

• 10/29 - Q1 Math Assessment Data Dig (led by MLT Memeber)
• 11/5 - PL Day (schedule below)
• 11/7 - 4th & 5th Grade SOR PLCs w/ Angie (Socratic Seminar)

OAA ELA VISIT, 10/29

Sara will be on campus on 10/29 to observe W&W in action!  I know you will enjoy seeing her again, and she will be SO impressed with the learning happening in M2.  All visits will occur during the Whole Group Reading/ELA Block.

FULTON COUNTY LITERACY VISITS, 11/1

School leaders from Fulton County will be visiting on 11/1 to see structured literacy in action.  The visit will include classroom observations and a group debrief from teams also visiting ALB & HH.  They are aware it's PJ day at West Side & the day after Halloween! :)  If your classroom will be visited, look for a schedule to come on Monday.

8:30-10:30 - Classroom Observations

10:30-11:00 - West Side Debrief

11:00-11:30 - Lunch in Auditorium

11:30-2:00 - ALB, HH & WS Group Debrief

DUPLICATE INFORMATION FROM LAST WEEK BELOW THIS LINE

UPCOMING GIFTED DATES

Fall Gifted Testing will begin at the end of the month.  Please see upcoming dates for testing, MILE & TD.

• 10/30 – GRS & MSO Teacher Training, during faculty meeting
• 11/1 – Last day for MILE until 12/2
• 11/1 – Last day for TD until January
• 11/4-11/21 – Fall Gifted Testing Window
• 11/5 – GRS Forms DUE, completed during PL Day
• 11/18 – MSO Forms DUE
• 12/2 – MILE resumes for current MILE students

NOVEMBER 5 PROFESSIONAL LEARNING DAY, 11/5

You can find the schedule for our upcoming PL day HERE.  A schedule has been created to give teams an opportunity to have collaborative planning time, as well as provide staff time to complete their civic duty on Election Day.

W&W MODULE 1 END-OF-MODULE TASK STUDENT WORK SAMPLES, DUE 10/31

In preparation for an upcoming PLCs in November, please submit to Katy the following student work samples from W&W M1.

1.  ONE End-of-Module task that exceeds expectations

2.  ONE End-of-Module task that meets expectations

3.  ONE End-of-Module task that is below the expectation

UPCOMING DATES (Dates added since last week)

• 10/28 - Fall Gifted Testing Begins
• 10/28-11/1 - Red Ribbon Week! (schedule to come)
• 10/29 - ELA OAA Visit (Kany on Campus)
• 10/30 - 1st Grade FT (Pettit Creek Farms)
• 10/30 - Kinder FT (Sleepy Hollow)
• 10/30 - Faculty Meeting
• 10/31- Dress Down Day
• 11/1 - CCYA PJ Day $1.00
• 11/4 - 4th Grade Fire Safety Pre-visit
• 11/5 - PL Day (Election Day)
• 11/6 - Math OAA Visit (Whitaker on Campus)
• 11/6 - 3rd Grade Wax Museum 
• 11/6 - Leadership Meeting
• 11/7 - SOR Facilitator on Campus (4th/5th Grade SOR PLC)
• 11/7 - PTA Reflections Reception
• 11/8 - Veteran's Day Program
• 11/8 - 3rd Grade In-house FT
• 11/11 - 5th Grade FT (Fernbank)
• 11/12 - 4th Grade FT (Safety Village)
• 11/12 - PLCs
• 11/13-11/14 - SOR Facilitator on Campus
• 11/13 - Vertical Teams (SOR, LLT, MLT)
• 11/14 - Q2 Progress Reports DUE
• 11/15 - PTA Staff Chili Luncheon
• 11/18-11/22 – Stingers Serve Collection Week
• 11/19 – PLCs
• 11/19 – SGT Meeting
• 11/20-11/21 – Thanksgiving Lunches
• 11/20 – Faculty Meeting
• 11/21 – Dress Down Day
• 11/21 – Kindergarten Thanksgiving Play
• 11/25-11/29 – Thanksgiving Break