Bundle up!

Bravo to our AMAZING 2nd grade Stingers for a wonderful production of Penguinaut!  This event is always such a sweet memory for our Stingers!  Bundle up this 3-day weekend!  

UPCOMING PLCs

• 1/21 - No PLCs (4 day week with MTSS on Thursday)
• 1/23 - MTSS Grade Level Meetings

TOTY TIME!

Submit your TOTY nominations by 1/26 to any member of the selection committee (Vick, English, Young). Ballots will be available on 1/30.

TKES MID-YEAR CONFERENCES NEXT WEEK!

Please have your mid-year conference form completed before your mid-year conference.

SOR WALKS, 1/26-1/28

Our SOR Facilitator will be on campus to conduct the next round of SOR Walks with a focus on ORAL LANGUAGE & TEXT COMPREHENSION. Katy will send the walk schedule to teachers included on the observation rubric.

Brush up on Oral Language! A language rich classroom intentionally fosters opportunities for students to build, use, and play with language in reading & writing. Frequent turn & talks and choral response are two high leverage strategies to foster oral language in the classroom. Here are other strategies we have learned through the years!

• Ask open-ended prompts to engage students in putting into words what they have learned.
• Plan for students to participate orally through Turn & Talk, Think-Pair-Share, Pick Sticks so all students have the opportunity to participate.
• Plan for students to participate orally through choral response.
• Use scaffolds to support oral language in the classroom (sentence stems, word banks, restate/rephrase students to model strong oral language).
• Explicitly use academic language (Sparkle Words, WOW Words, etc.) to lift the level of daily language used by students and create a word conscious classroom.
• Provide opportunities for students to "repeat after me" and paly with language to build phonological, morphological, and syntactical awareness.

Text Comprehension Refresh! When text comprehension is at the center of a lesson, meaning is the main course. Text structure is used to facilitate meaning and text structure graphic organizers used for students to demonstrate understanding of the text.

• Establish a purpose for reading and teach relevant vocabulary that builds new knowledge
• Assist students in organizing new understandings by explicitly teaching or reviewing text structure
• Use graphic organizers during/after reading, that match the text structure type, for students to demonstrate understanding ACCESS OUR SCHOOL ORGANIZERS HERE!
• Constructs a mental model by engaging students in conversation about the text
• Support students in communicating what they learned from the text by using graphic organizers

COLD WEATHER RECESS

"I said...Brrr! It's cold in here!"  Cold weather recess has officially arrived.  Every effort should be made to allow outdoor recess, when weather conditions allow.  Please see the district guidance below.

1. When properly clothed, elementary aged students can participate in an outdoor environment in most weather conditions.  Increased caution should be displayed when temperatures fall below 40 degrees including wind chill. 

2.  When temperature and wind chill fall below 35 degrees, students should remain indoors for recess.

*As a reminder, Chromebooks should not be used as an indoor recess activity.  Bring out the Indoor Recess Bins provided early this year for some great games!

3RD-5TH GRADE AFTER SCHOOL READING TUTORING BEGINS, 1/26

HR teachers will receive a list of students participating in after school tutoring for dismissal purposes. All participating students will be dismissed to the gym at 3:05 for a movement break before tutoring begins at 3:30.  Tutoring meets on Mondays/Thursdays, ending at 5:00.

CAREER WEEK & DAY, 1/26 & 1/30

We have two school Career Week activities scheduled.

1. 1/26 - Wear your college colors! Staff are encouraged to wear the college colors to represent their school. Students may wear college colors.
2. 1/30 - 3rd-5th grade will participate in career day rotations (schedule sent by the counselors) during specials time. 3rd-5th grade students can dress for success. K-2nd grade students can dress for future careers.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH PROGRAM, 2/6

We are excited to partner with MHS performing arts students who will share their Black History Month performance with our school. All classes should arrive to the gym at 9:30 AM for the program. We anticipate a 30 minute program.

REMINDERS FROM LAST WEEK ARE BELOW!

SOR CYCLE RESOURCE REVIEW!

As you launch reading small groups, use the resource document HERE to support fluency, text comprehension & vocabulary.  Page 2 includes MANY text ready to use aligned to your grade level content standards!

STEPS Lessons - Every STEP, Every DAY!  Beginning new reading small groups with strong routines will help your groups get off to a great start!  One routine to prioritize this semester is P = PRACTICE.  

• The PRACTICE phase of the lesson is the largest bulk of instruction during STEPS (10-12 minutes during a 30 minute reading small group)
• During PRACTICE, the STUDENTS are doing the reading work.  This is when the teacher turns the text over to the students with a clear purpose for reading to do the heavy lift.  Everyone does everything - every student reads independently or with a partner during the practice phase.  

ACCESS TESTING

ACCESS testing for ESOL students will continue next week.  If you see "TESTING" signs in the hallway, please be quiet during transitions.

UPCOMING MLT & LLT

Please be mindful we will have several subs in the building on 1/28 (MLT) and 1/30 (LLT) for district MLT/LLT meetings.

UPCOMING GIFTED DATES

• 1/12 - MILE Begins
• 1/12 - TD Session 2 Begins
• 1/31 - Parent/teacher referrals for gifted testing DUE
• 2/23-3/19 - Spring Gifted Testing (MILE paused due to testing)
• 2/27 - TD Session 2 Ends
• 3/23 - TD Session 3 Begins (K-2nd ONLY)

WSSN!  HOW CAN I ACCESS THE WSSN EACH WEEK?

We have created a show page for teachers to easily access WSSN each week from your ViewBoard.  Follow these steps to create a shortcut to keep the show page one click away:

1. Open the WSSN Show Page
2. Click 3 dots on Google Toolbar
3. Choose Cast, Save and Share
4. Create Shortcut (It will appear on the Desktop)
5. When you open the Shortcut, click on the Monday morning date to access WSSN for that week!
6. Watch with your class. :)

STAFF ABSENCE REMINDERS!

There are THREE steps to follow, if you are going to out unexpectedly.

1. Text both Carla and Lindsay.
2. Fill out Employee Leave Yellow form (DIGITAL FORM HERE).
3. Complete absence in Kelly/Frontline.

UPCOMING DATES (Dates added since last week)

• 1/19 - MLK, Jr. Day - NO School
• 1/21 - Vertical Teams
• 1/22 - MTSS Meeting
• 1/23 - Kinder FT
• 1/23 - District Reading Bowl
• 1/26-1/30 - College & Career Week
• 1/26-1/28 - SOR Facilitator on Campus
• 1/27 - PLCs
• 1/28 - Faculty Meeting
• 1/29 - Dress Down Day
• 1/30 - Career Day (3rd-5th Grade - see schedule from counselors)
• 2/2-2/5 - SOR Coaching Cycle
• 2/2 - 5th Grade FT
• 2/3, 2/5, 2/6 - DIY Maker Night
• 2/4 - Vertical Teams
• 2/6 - BHM Program @ 9:30 AM
• 2/10 - PLCs
• 2/11 - School-wide FT (Peter Pan Jr.)
• 2/11 - Leadership Team
• 2/11-2/12 - Peter Pan Jr. Community Performances
• 2/13 - Q3 Progress Reports DUE
• 2/13 - PTA Valentines Day Treat
• 2/16-2/20 - Mid-winter Break!