Career Day Is Coming!

We're going to have our Career Day in the morning of April 16 this year. I will send a schedule for you to follow as soon as I have all the presenters lined up.

In Classroom Guidance I am talking to K-2 classes about the many different jobs that exist in our community and country. We are also talking about the universal character traits a person needs to develop to be successful in a job.

I will be sending an email asking 3-5 teachers to let me visit your classroom for about 20 minutes before April 16 to prepare your students for what will be happening that day. Please respond as soon as you can.

As usual I will be asking Specialists to help that day. I will be contacting you individually about that in the next few days.

I'm still trying to fill all the spaces we have for presenters, so If you know someone who relates well to children let me know.

Weekly Wrap for March 22nd

Essential Pieces,
Last week I embedded a message regarding uniforms. The first five teachers that responded to the weekly wrap were able to dress out of uniform for two days this week. The winners were Mrs. Nazareth, Mrs. Ehrens, Mrs. Stickler, Mrs. Humphries. and Ms. Bradley. I will from time to time put little prizes with in the weekly wrap to verify the staff members that have read the weekly wrap. In case you did not know Lindsay Brown got married today. She is now Lindsay Bowser. I probably spelled the last name wrong:) Chris Runge sent us the DVD of first grade's PLC meeting. It is excellent! I will share a clip of it at the staff meeting on Monday. Thank you First Grade!! I can't believe that 3rd quarter is over. Please try to relax over the spring break.

Important dates to remember:
March 29th: All grade levels will have PLCs on Monday for SIOP training.
March 30: RC Day (No vacation Day) Retentions are due to Ms. Morning
March 31: RS day or Annual Leave
April 12 and 13: SWOT Analysis Due (Please bring to your PLC meeting)
April 12: School Improvment Team Meeting
April 12-16: CFA Testing

Suggested Classroom Accomodations for Specific Behaviors

When you see this behavior:

Difficulty following through on instructions from others

Try this accomodation:

Gain the student's attention before giving the directions. Use alerting clues. Accompany oral directions with written directions. Give one direction at a time. Quietly repeat the directions to the student after they have been given to the rest of the class. Check for understanding by having the student repeat the directions.

PLC Meeting Minutes 3/16/10

Attending: Pate, Burkhead, Muzzy, Farthing, McKenzie (arrived late), McCabe (arrived late), Morning-Cain (arrived late)

We had additional reading training by Juliet Brown. She shared some statistics and quotations from the Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease.

During this training, there was an emphasis on reading aloud within our classes so that kids can connect reading to more areas than just their core classroom. We can provide additional models of a reader; read-aloud is good for even older kids.

We reviewed some released items for reading EOG’s for grades 3 - 5 and noted the higher-level vocabulary and subject matter that would seem abstract and difficult for our particular population of students to connect to. We discussed the particular phrasing within passages and items, and focused on how we can use these types of phrasing and vocabulary with students to help them get used to the terms. We received a sample chart of character traits to use to expand students' vocabulary (i.e., humorous vs. funny). We also received small cards with sample questions to ask in the areas of analyzing, generating, knowing, integrating, organizing, applying, and evaluating. A major point of discussion was on increasing the level of vocabulary we use when we are speaking to children.

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If there are items missing or that need to be amended, please leave a comment or contact Ms. McKenzie.

PLC Meeting Minutes 3/9/2010

Attending: Farthing, Muzzy, Burkhead, McKenzie, McCabe, Pate, Morning-Cain

We watched Essential Pieces video that Ms. McKenzie created that was to be presented at the board meeting this evening.

We had a Reading Training session presented by Juliet Brown on the Balanced Literacy model.

Balanced Literacy framework handouts are available on Learning Village. Search Learning Village for “balanced literacy” & it will bring up BL resources for each grade level. Click on one of the grade levels and look for X Grade Balanced Literacy Model.

How are you integrating literacy into your lessons? Leave a comment with what you are doing with each grade levels.

Ms. Brown presented a PowerPoint with highlights of the Balanced Literacy model.

Emphasis on using language that connects the words “infer,” “inference,” “draw conclusions,” “summarize” in daily interaction with our students.

Ms. Brown encourages us to each create a word wall for our particular area.

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If there are any corrections or additions to these minutes, please leave a comment or contact Ms. McKenzie.

Computer Skills 3-15 to 3-22

Kindergarten

Core Curriculum Connection: literacy: color words, proper capitalization

New Skills:

• Vocabulary: Internet, web browser, online, link
• Using Internet Explorer Favorites at school
• Going from getting the computer logged in to Smart Tutor (Murrill)

Review Skills:

• Opening a program by double-clicking the icon
• Logging in independently
• Word processing: using shift, space bar, enter, backspace (all other K classes)

1st Grade

Core Curriculum Connection: literacy: rhyming words; math: subtracting

New Skills

• Opening a spreadsheet template
• Entering values into a cell
• Viewing charts/graphs in a spreadsheet template
• Examining how spreadsheets can be programmed to calculate answers to math problems

Review Skills

• Parts of a spreadsheet (cell, row, column, chart/graph)

2nd Grade

Core Curriculum Connection: Science: weather/water cycle; writing: editing/peer editing

New Skills

• Using mouse/arrow keys/backspace/delete to assist with editing a word processing document
• Using spell check to assist with editing
• Formatting: double spacing

Review Skills

• Word processing (using capitals, placing punctuation appropriately, using only one space between words)
• Opening and saving files
• Using graphic creation program (KidPix)

5th Grade

Core Curriculum Connections: Science: weather/climate; Social Studies: geography/map skills

New Skills

• Accessing and interpreting weather.com
• Recording data in a pre-prepared template in a word processing program
• Using Google Maps to locate a specific address

Review Skills

• Dealing with pop-ups and banner ads
• Opening a document from the shared space and saving to one's personal space on the file server
• Accessing the Watsons Go to Birmingham wiki (more information on this lesson can be found at the wiki)

Computer Skills 3-5 to 3-12 rotation

Kindergarten:

Curriculum area: Literacy, color words

New Skills

• Using the number pad, including using number lock when the number pad is off
• Logging into the computer

Review Skills

• Typing letters and numbers
• Using special keys: space bar, shift, enter, backspace
• Maximizing/minimizing windows, closing windows
• Logging off the computer

First grade:

Curriculum area: Literacy, word families

New Skills

• Opening the spreadsheet program (MS Excel)
• Opening a file and saving a file
• Entering data into a spreadsheet and examining the resulting graph

Review Skills

• Logging on & logging off a computer independently
• Parts of a spreadsheet (rows, columns, cells)
• Naming cells

Second grade:

Curriculum area: science - weather/water cycle

Review Skills

• Word processing (using capitals, placing punctuation appropriately, using only one space between words)
• Opening and saving files
• Using graphic creation program (KidPix)

Third grade:

Curriculum area: art - primary colors

New Skills

• Spreadsheets: purpose and parts
• Opening MS Excel
• Opening a file from the file server (S: drive) and saving it to H drive
• Entering data into a spreadsheet and observing changes when a SUM formula is used

Fourth Grade

Curriculum area: writing/research - citing sources

New Skills

• Appropriately citing a book used for a research project (ALA format)
• Formatting text using bold, italic, and underline; changing text alignment (left, center, right)

Media

For the past 3 weeks our K-2 students have been reading 5 of the North Carolina Children's Book Award nominees. The students will choose which book they enjoyed the most and during the week of March 22nd they will be allowed to vote on their favorite. The books we have enjoyed so far are:
Sally Jean the Bicycle Queen by Cari Best
Traction Man meets Turbo Dog by Mini Grey
Woolbur by Leslie Helakoski
Katie Loves the Kittens by John Himmelman
A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker

Classroom Guidance

In Classroom Guidance next week we are going to continue talking about perseverance. Children will work in groups to complete a challenging task. We will learn the "I can do it!" cheer.

Music K-1-2

For the last three weeks, these students have read three different books with the title of Stone Soup. We have compared and contrasted these books, and some of these can be seen on the wall outside of my room. We are preparing to do the musical with the same name on April 8, so please, teachers of K-2, review the words to the songs with you students. Thanks for your help.

Music - Grades 3-4-5

This week the older three grades have been watching and listening to the video Three Mo' Tenors. We have heard at least four or five different musical styles while listening to the video. We have talked about opera, Motown, acapella music, gospel music, songs from musicals, and jazz music. Students have heard songs in the English, Italian, and French languages. It was an enjoyable week for me and one where the students used a lot of their prior knowledge. Most students seemed to get a lot from this study, and I feel it was really valuable for them.

Reading this week in AG

This week in AG we are working on figuring out how we would feel if we were in the situatuions the characters in the books we are reading are in.

PLC Meeting Minutes 3/2/10

Attending: Burkhead, Muzzy, Farthing, Crim, McKenzie, McCabe (arrived late), Morning-Cain, Maglio

Ms. Farthing thanks all who helped with the We Has Jazz musical performance last week.

Ms. Morning has asked the specialists to manage a school-wide newsletter next year to increase parent communication. Ms. Muzzy will head up this project.

Ms. McKenzie instructed those present in how to reset Google passwords (if necessary) and how to use a Google account to log into the blog and create blog posts and comments, and we practiced doing so. Ms. Morning encourages all of us to post to the blog as it may count as part of our technology development for our IGP's.

Specialists who did not attend this meeting need to get in touch with Ms. McKenzie so that she can add you as a contributor and show you how to post to the blog. We can post about our activities and ask for input from core teachers and other staff.

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Note from Ms. McKenzie: I know these minutes are incomplete but cannot remember what I am missing. Please comment with any corrections or additions. Thanks!

Going with the moment

Today the kindergartners were outsideof my door having a lesson on Green Eggs and Ham. After my second graders got in the classroom, I decided to play the song from Seussical, "Green Eggs and Ham" for the second graders and the kindergartners. The kindergartners all came into my room and we listened to the song. I taught the words to the children, and they all sang it. It was a lot of fun for all of us.

burkhead-practice

this is a practice

farthing practice

This is practice. Hope it works.