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The Web Accessibility Initiative is what Be Better Elementary’s IT Specialist is trained in. This specialist has immense knowledge in this international forum and is responsible in guiding the BBE Community to utilize strategies, standards and resources to make programs accessible to students with diverse abilities.

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CT.gov - Connecticut's Official State Website

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Common Core State Standards Overview

Welcome to Connecticut's Common Core State Standards Library.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: The national Common Core State Standards website, CoreStandards.org, is offline. CCSSO, which manages CoreStandards.org, has updated the web location for the Common Core standards. Please access the standards at Common Core State Standards (ccsso.org). The standards are temporarily located there while CCSSO works to address technical challenges with CoreStandards.org. Links to the national standards on CSDE's Connecticut Core Standards web pages may not work while CCSSO fixes the issue.
An Introduction to Common Core
The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are a set of academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy that are grounded in evidence and designed to ensure that all students have the academic knowledge and skills they need in these core subjects to succeed after high school. The CCSS were developed in a state-led process under the leadership of governors and chief state school officers with participation from 48 states. The process included the involvement of state departments of education, districts, teachers, community leaders, experts in a wide array of fields, and professional educator organizations.

English Language Arts/Literacy

A good place to begin to understand the CCSS is through a study of the standards themselves and the key instructional shifts required in each discipline. In English language arts/literacy, students will be exposed to a balance of literary and informational texts to build a growing base of knowledge and will be expected to cite evidence from within the texts in order to answer questions and develop written or verbal responses. Students will also be expected to develop facility with academic language and read texts that increase in complexity as they progress so that all students are ready for the demands of college- and career-level reading no later than the end of high school. The instructional shifts in English language arts/literacy are as follows:

Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction

Reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and informational

Regular practice with complex text and academic language

See samples of English Language Arts/Literacy Materials

Mathematics

Focus and coherence are the two major evidence-based design principles of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. These principles are meant to fuel greater achievement in a deep and rigorous curriculum, one in which students acquire conceptual understanding, procedural skill and fluency, and the ability to apply mathematics to solve problems. Thus, the instructional shifts in mathematics are as follows:

Focus: focus strongly where the standards focus

Coherence: think across grades/courses, and link to major topics in each course

Rigor: in major topics, pursue with equal intensity

conceptual understanding,

procedural skill and fluency, and

applications

See samples of Mathematics Materials

View our classroom materials library
To ensure that all Connecticut students are able to meet these high expectations, all educators need access to high-quality and well-aligned instructional and assessment materials. In support of the work being done by both educators and developers to meet this need, Achieve, the Council of Chief State School Officers and Student Achievement Partners have developed a Toolkit for Evaluating Alignment of Instructional and Assessment Materials. The purpose of the Toolkit is to catalyze the impact that the CCSS can have on student achievement by increasing the prevalence of CCSS-aligned, high-quality instructional and assessment materials. Adapted from the Introduction: Toolkit for Evaluating Alignment of Instructional and Assessment Materials to the Common Core State Standards, July 2013, l-1.

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This unique schedule gives teachers the power of time. Subjects are long enough to explore topics, design creative lesson plans, assess progress, and utilize Core Standards. Breaks serve as periods for teachers to form caring relationships with their students to emphasize a student-first learning experience for each individual. Two shifts diminish the idea of an over-worked teacher which often leads to a stressful school environment. Morning Meeting & Dinner Discussion encourage teachers to share and build caring relationships with each other as well. BBE has teachers that take the extra step to show they care. BBE has effective teachers that show they care.

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The benefits of BBE’s 10 hour day are countless. Physical needs are met by serving three meals and by exceeding the recommended hour of physical activity a child has a day. Academic needs are guaranteed with classrooms which are adaptable for students with diverse abilities. Social needs are met by the universal understanding in the following idea by teacher Shirley Montovani: culture includes ethnicity, race, language, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, ability, geography and age—and that all of these are learning opportunities. Furthermore, two fifteen minute breaks are imbedded into the schedule that allow each individual student to bond with their teacher. Students are better motivated when they have the feeling of being included and cared for.

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Be Better Elementary impacts the community in multiple positive ways. These include volunteer opportunities to welcome family members during breakfast and dinner, the user-friendly BeBetterApp, and a 10 hour day providing safety and happiness of children. Furthermore, BBE teachers are encouraged to utilize their flexible schedules by participating in local organizations, joining local groups, or attending local events.

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It is essential that children feel supported in earning an education at a young age. At BBE, family members are encouraged to take part in this support by volunteering to help during breakfast and dinner time. Not only does this create a sense of connection but it also eliminates the need to hire and pay extra cafeteria staff. Further explained in audio:

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Each student will have their own chrome book to use for the years they attend Be Better Elementary. BBE has an IT Specialist who is an advocate for The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) present daily. Their duties include: downloading accessibility programs onto chrome books, maintaining the BeBetterApp, and training the teachers. Every teacher at BBE is properly trained to use all the technology available like smart boards, chrome books, and BeBetterApp during Teacher Inservice Days, Morning Meeting, or Dinner Discussion.

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The curriculum at Be Better Elementary includes the following subjects that will be covered once a day: Math, Science, Social Studies, English Studies, Reading, and Language Arts. The remaining two subjects will be physical education and specials that are rotated daily. The physical education classes offered at BBE are age appropriate versions of the following classes: Yoga & Mindfulness, Dance & Yoga, Sports, and Lifetime Activities. The specials include the following classes with the purpose of exposing students to common factors in today’s world: Art & Self Expression, Health & Wellness, Digital Literacy, and For the Love of Earth.

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Be Better Elementary is driven by the vision of a child who receives their academic, physical, and social needs on a daily basis. Members of the Be Better Community commit to student-first learning experiences for all. Every person at Be Better Elementary is taught their full potential through extra care in order to provide a student with the skills it takes to thrive in today’s changing society.

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The best way to honor someone is to keep their ideas alive. The name of this ideal school is dedicated to an amazing teacher, former principal, and loved relative, John Paire. Countless people claim that John’s presence was life-changing. Previous students and staff continue to share the powerful words that he was most known for in his school: Be Better.

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Be Better Elementary implements the Connecticut Core Standards into their daily schedule. Specifically, all members of BBE Community practice A Growth Mindset through formative assessment.

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The BeBetterApp is a user friendly application that ensures a student-first learning experience by creating a portal for all members of BBE Community to communicate and cooperate with each other.
Download the app to view:

Daily Update- Shift A AND Shift B teachers make at least one post a day summarizing WhatsHappening, Homework, and ComingUps (always concluded with a PositivePoint)

Schedules (Daily, Academic, Breakfast&Dinner Staff)

Progress Reports (Academic, Physical, Social)

Direct Messaging (Parent-Teacher or Student-Teacher only)

Resources (i.e. scratchjr.org,
factitious.augamestudio.com, khanacademy.org)