Here comes the sun, do-do-doo-do!

What a busy (& SUNNY) week following mid-winter break!  Thank you for your support, flexibility, and willingness to bring the FUN for this year's Booster.  We are working our way to meeting the goal, so keep up the parent communication over the last few days of Booster!

The academic growth our students will make over the next few weeks will be AMAZING!!  Continue to remain focused on intentional lesson planning in whole group/small group instruction, DAILY reading and math small group instruction, and maximizing the most of every day.  As you continue to move through your grade level standards, now is a good time to consider where you will purposefully extend learning for students in reading, writing, and math.  How are your lessons continuing to meet student readiness levels and providing opportunities to extend when ready?  Simple ways to make this a priority...

  • Consider the text complexity (Lexile level) when selecting passages/books for small group reading
  • Include opportunities for writing (LOTS of writing), with explicit instruction along the way (TWR)
  • Provide real-world application of mathematical concepts
  • Extend math concepts beyond the standard, after students have demonstrated mastery
  • Allow adequate practice time and attend to fluency (in reading & math)
If you need support in ANY way, do not hesitate to reach out!

STINGER STORIES
Read the latest edition of Stinger Stories at the link below!


5TH GRADE STINGER SPOTLIGHT
Help us spotlight every 5th grade during their final days of elementary school later this year!  You can complete a spotlight at the form below.


KEEPING CLEAN!
A reminder from Nurse Nunez - Washing hands is the BEST way to stop the spread of illnesses in your classroom.  If your students need a lesson on handwashing, Nurse Nunez is always available to visit your classroom for a lesson!

UNOPENED PAPER REAMS?
Did you receive paper reams as a classroom supply item, or parent donation?  Are these unopened paper reams taking up valuable storage space in your classroom?  If you do not have a need for unopened paper reams in your classroom, you can place the reams on the cart in the front office.  These reams will go to the paper inventory for the copiers.

NEW ELA STANDARDS TRAINING PLAN, SAVE THE DATES!
Sara Kany will be delivering training across all schools on the NEW ELA standards.  Every effort has been made to schedule training during already protected meeting time (faculty/SOR).  These standards will be in effective next school year.  Please mark these important dates on your calendar!

New ELA Standards Training Dates

1:  Standards Introduction & Text Domains

Wednesday, March 19 (Faculty Meeting)

2:  Foundations Domain

Tuesday, April 1 (PLC during SOR Week)

3:  Language Domain

Wednesday, April 30 (Faculty Meeting)

4:  Practices Domain

Tuesday, May 27 (90 mins)

*Look for an email to come from Kany to sign-up for your specific training time

BOOSTER FUN RUN, 3/4!
Thank you for your support with this year's Booster!  We are SO close to meeting our goal.  Continue to push the teacher emails and social media posts to your families.  

All parents are invited to attend the Fun Run.  Students (and staff) can wear athletic bottoms and the Fun Run t-shirt.  T-shirts will be distributed on Monday, 3/3.  

FUN RUN SCHEDULE

OTHER NOTES

K-1ST GRADE

12:45-1:45

*NO recess (Fun Run = Recess)

*Regular Specials Schedule

*2nd Grade Lunch Change 11:00-11:30

2ND-3RD GRADE

11:30-12:30

4TH-5TH GRADE

1:50-2:50


UPCOMING LLT MEETING, 3/6
Our LLT members will attend the next district meeting on 3/6 to begin learning about the new ELA standards.  Please be mindful of the additional subs that will be in the building this day.  Your LLT grade level lead will prepare an agenda for the upcoming 1/2-day planning time for M4.  Subs have been arranged and entered.  Subs plans should be completed.

Kinder

March 10 – 8:00-11:30

1st

March 7 – 8:00-11:30

2nd

March 5 – 8:00-11:30

3rd

March 10 – 11:45-3:30

4th

March 7 – 11:45-3:30

5th

March 5 – 11:45-3:30


BOOSTER GIVE BACK 2024
If you have funds remaining from Booster Give Back 2024, these funds should be spent by Wednesday, March 5th. You can send Mary your orders, or reach out to her if you have any questions regarding your fund balance.

PTA TEACHER SUPPLY FUNDS
As a reminder, reimbursement for all PTA teacher supply should be submitted by Friday, April 4th.  Your receipts should be submitted with the PTA Check Request Form for reimbursement.

BELOW THIS LINE IS REPEATED INFORMATION FROM PREVIOUS STINGER STATS.

SOR COACHING WEEK RECAP
The cycle this week focused on FLUENCY - the bridge from word recognition to text comprehension!  Fluency can be practiced everywhere in the classroom, but our intentional efforts ensure students can become automatic and efficient readers.  In addition to repeated reading practices, fluency practices will include:
  • Modeled, choral, partner, independent reading (never round robin, or one read the rest listen)
  • Fluency grids at the word, phrase, sentence level
  • Scooping the phrases
  • LAVA Reading (an old favorite!)
  • Focus on prosody and expression with modeling and immediate feedback
The importance of PRACTICE!  Those with the most practice have the greatest potential for growth.  Kobe Bryant shared this analogy attributing the hours spent practicing basketball to his growth in the game as a young athlete.  As a reflective question in our teaching... How do you prioritize this practice time for all students during your small group instruction?  Our STEPS Framework strives for PRACTICE in connected/decodable text/grade-level text for 10-minutes in EVERY lesson!  If you struggle to get to this in your daily lessons, make it your next goal.

*NOTE:  LJFA Walks will continue on 3/6.

ALICE & WONDERLAND, JR. 3/7

We look forward to bringing the entire school to enjoy the Alice & Wonderland, Jr. performance on Friday, 3/7 at the Marietta Performing Arts Center.  Please see trip logistics and reminders below.   

  1. Permission Slips were signed at the beginning of the year.  Nothing to send home.
  2. Field trip shirts not required.
  3. NO 3rd-5th grade specials.  NO reading small groups from 9:00-11:30.
  4. First bus shuttle (3rd-5th Grade + 2A/2B) will leave at 9:00 AM.  WS staff will be at MPAC to assist with seating and provide supervised restroom breaks.
  5. Second bus shuttle (K-1st Grade + 2C/2D/2E) will leave at 9:15 AM.
  6. The show will begin at 9:30 AM.  The show run time is approximately 75 minutes. 
  7. First return shuttle (K-1st Grade + 2C/2D/2E) will leave at approximately 10:45 AM.
  8. Second bus shuttle (3rd-5th Grade + 2A/2B) will leave at 11:00 AM.
  9. No changes to lunch schedules.

Community shows are Friday, 3/7 at 7PM & Saturday, 3/8 at 2PM.

*NOTE:  Alice & Wonderland cast will complete tech day on Wednesday, March 5 @ MPAC during the school day. 

UPCOMING GIFTED DATES

  • 2/24-3/14 – MILE paused for spring gifted testing (NEW gifted students begin in August)
  • 3/7 – Last day for TD Session 2
  • 3/17 – MILE resumes
  • 3/24 – TD Session 3 (K-2nd ONLY) begins

UPCOMING DATES (Dates added since last week)
  • 3/4 - PLCs
  • 3/4 - Boosterthon Fun Run! (schedule above)
  • 3/5 - Leadership Meeting
  • 3/7 - Last Day for TD Session 2
  • 3/7 - Alice & Wonderland 10:00 (School-wide Performance @ MPAC)
  • 3/10-3/14 - Teacher Appreciation Week
  • 3/11 - PLCs
  • 3/11 - 5th Grade FT (MSGA Show on the Road @ The Strand)
  • 3/12 - Q3 Progress Reports DUE
  • 3/12-3/13 - Angie on Campus
  • 3/18 - PLCs
  • 3/19 - Q3 Grades DUE
  • 3/19 - Faculty Meeting (ELA Standards Training #1)
  • 3/21 - Q3 Report Cards Published
  • 3/21 - 4th Grade FT (In house)
  • 3/21 - 5th Grade FT (High Museum)
  • 3/21 - 1st Grade FT (Fernbank)
  • 3/21 - Kinder FT (Zoo Atlanta)
  • 3/24 - TD Session 3 Begins (K-2nd Grade ONLY)
  • 3/25 - PLCs
  • 3/25 - SGT Meeting
  • 3/26 - Leadership Meeting
  • 3/27 - Dress Down Day
  • 3/31-4/4 - Unwind Your Mind (3rd-5th)
  • 3/31-4/3 - SOR Coaching Week Angie on Campus
  • 4/2 - Vertical Teams
  • 4/3 - 5th Grade FT (State Bar)
  • 4/4 - 5th Grade FT (State Bar)
  • 4/4 - 2nd Grade CFA FT
  • 4/7-4/11 - Spring Break!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fall MAP & SOR Coaching Week = JEANS!

Image
This week brought the joy of familiar routines to whole group and small group instruction!  Our students have settled so well into your high expectations for learning.  We saw small group instruction start right at the skill level appropriate for each student.  Next week during the SOR coaching week, we will review best practices for STEPS Lessons, HFW & Oral Language.  STEPS will provide the framework necessary for our instruction to "move as quick as it can, but as slow as it must."  Your lesson preparation during small group reading will ensure adequate practice opportunities (30+) are available every day for students to read and write words aligned to the target skill.  If you would like support planning for reading small group lessons, reach out to Mary Claire (K-3) or Katy (4-5).   On the math front, Katy shared district resources available on Schoology to support math instructional planning.  If you find you would like more time to...
Read more

Thanksgiving Break, Praise the Lord!

Image
  YOU MUST SING THE BELOW IN THE TUNE OF DEF LEPPARD, POUR SOME SUGAR ON ME.  :) WHOOHOO!  You made it to Thanksgiving, and in the words of our Kinder ministers, "Praise the Lord!"  It was a great week of feasts, Kinder pilgrims, Wampanoag men/women, and turkeys!  Thank you for your flexibility with the busy events of the week.  As we move into the final weeks of Q2, our days will be filled with W&W Module and Math unit completion, assessment, field trips, and celebration.  Consistent routines will be very important during December to maximize your instructional time and provide necessary structure for students. PTA LUNCHEON ENTREE SELECTION! The PTA will host their annual staff holiday luncheon on 12/19.  To help their planning, please select your entree item at the form below.  PTA LUNCHEON ENTREE SELECTION UPCOMING PLCS 12/3 - Q3 Math Preview 12/10 - SOR Coaching Week 12/17 - NO PLCs  12/19 - OPTIONAL:  Your team is welcome t...
Read more

Teacher Appreciation Week!

Image
Next week is all about YOU - the most phenomenal staff around!  PTA has a wonderful week of treats planned to share their appreciation for the positive difference you make EVERY day on the lives of our students.  The complete schedule of treats and activities can be found below.  As a reminder, lunch from admin will be provided on Monday and Friday. We hope you feel LOVED and celebrated next week!  You are the true Queen of Hearts around this hive! Q3 REPORT CARD TIMELINE Q3 REPORT CARD TIMELINE Q3 Grades DUE March 19 th Q3 Report Cards Published March 21 st BELOW THIS LINE IS REPEATED INFORMATION FROM PREVIOUS STINGER STATS. UPCOMING 1/2-day W&W PLANNING Your LLT grade level lead will prepare an agenda for the upcoming 1/2-day planning time for M4.  Subs have been arranged and entered.  Subs plans should be completed. Kinder March 10 – 8:00-11:30 1 st March 7 – 8:00-11:30 2 nd March 5 – 8:...
Read more