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The COVID-19 Slide and it’s effect on our scholars

Have you considered or begun to create a plan to combat the effects that the school closures that have resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic will affect our scholars? According to research the effects will be  ore devastating than the typical summer slide. Read more in the article published by NWEA.

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The COVID-19 slide: What summer learning loss can tell us about the potential impact of school closures on student academic achievement - NWEA

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COVID-19 school closures will likely impact student academic achievement. Research on summer learning loss can offer insights to help educators, policy makers, and families understand, plan for, and address some potential impacts of this extended pause when students return to school.

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LiveSchool has provided some tips and resources that can be used to help you manage the move from face-to-face towards distance/ remote learning for our scholars.

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While no one knows how long schools will be closed due to COVID-19, we do know that for the foreseeable future, at-home learning is necessary. We have compiled a list of resources for learning at home for teachers, parents, and students.

We want to start off by recognizing that these are uncertain times. Schools are closing, vulnerable students and families are at risk, and the idea that students will learn virtually when they have never before can be overwhelming. If LiveSchool can help you, your school, or your students in any way, please let us know.

We know you had many plans for students - lessons, field trips, celebrations, and more. The coming weeks will be tough because of all the moments you won't get to have with students. Maintaining relationships with your students can be challenging over the internet, but we know one thing - strong teacher-student relationships positively affect student engagement and outcomes so lean into those relationships when you begin your virtual classroom. We will all get through this, and come back with our strongest relationships yet.

In this blog post, we share the best resources, advice, and plans we have found to help you begin and maintain virtual learning. The blog is written to teachers, but if you are an administrator, a parent, or a student looking for advice on how to learn at-home this resource will be helpful for you as well.

Four steps to start at-home virtual learning

Repeat after me - keep it simple. We reached out to some of our teacher friends ranging from novice to highly-experienced in the virtual learning community. One thing rang true - as you begin this journey - keep it simple and take it one day at a time.

We recommend taking these four steps to begin your virtual learning journey:

Understand the capabilities of your students.

Keep what you already use. Add only what you really need.

Plan your (virtual) lessons.

Invite your students and parents to your virtual class.

Read on to learn how to implement these four steps.

Understand the capabilities of your students.

Students and families rely on the services that schools provide. This can be a daunting time for families, caregivers, and school staff alike. There is no one size fits all approach but one thing is for certain, if you are going to teach virtually, you need to know the environment in which your students will be joining you virtually.

We recommend using Google Forms to send out a survey to your students and their families to learn about their home environment and how it pertains to learning. Questions could include:

What type of device (laptop, tablet, phone, desktop) if any do you have access to at home?

Do you have access to the internet at home?

If yes, please take this speed test and enter your results.

Do you have access to food for every meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner)?

Do you have a place in your home where you can join virtual lessons without distractions?

Do you or someone in your family need help setting up your technology?

Up to date contact information for students and parents, including email and phone.

Consider how you will ensure that families without a computer or internet access at home can use the plans and resources you're offering. You might offer printed resources in addition to online learning suggestions, and ensure that as many online resources as possible are accessible with just a smartphone.

Decide as soon as possible who will be responsible for what types of IT support, and how they will be reachable by students, families, and staff. Make sure all of your stakeholders know how to reach out for support.

Important update: Comcast and Spectrum are each offering two-months of free internet access for families in need.

Keep what you already use. Add only what you really need.

Now is not the time to implement a million new online resources. Your students need consistency now more than ever and consistency is especially important in virtual learning. Start by using the Learning Management System (LMS) you already have in place. If you do not have an LMS yet, we recommend Google Classroom. Here are a few more essential digital resources to build your virtual learning foundation:

Pick a Learning Management System (LMS)

Google Classroom is the most popular LMS in the US. Google Classroom has slides, assignments, handouts, tests, grading tools, connection to parents, and streaming. We recommend Google Classroom as your LMS. Not convinced? Watch a tutorial here by Jennie Magiera, Global Head of Education Impact at Google.

If Google is just not your thing, Moodle is another Classroom Platform option.

Google Classroom has Hangout Meets. Zoom Meeting just announced free subscriptions for teachers. Skype in the Classroom is a more international platform that works well. Choose one of these options and you will be in great shape for all class meetings and leading a lesson in real time.

Google Classroom has assignments, a grade book, and feedback. Seesaw is a great way to share assignments and get feedback. Flipgrid is a cool engagement and accountability tool that lets teachers set topics or questions for students to respond to via video.

Worth noting: we noticed a lot of teachers use Google Classroom and Flipgrid in their classrooms. Consider pairing these two tools!

Plan your (virtual) lessons.

It is just as important for you to lesson plan for your virtual classes as it is for your in-person lessons! Not a ton has to change here and you should always submit in a format that works for you (or your administrator) but we found some helpful resources to show you how virtual teachers have been planning!

Check out this virtual lesson instruction model. We love this resource because it is specific to online lesson planning and breaks down the tools you can use for all five lesson elements! We also liked Cornell University's Center for Teaching Innovations planning remote teaching protocol.

Schools in China have been teaching virtually for over a month and it is worth taking some tips to help plan your lessons! Here are some interesting tips:

Classes are asynchronous, meaning teachers post assignments and pre-recorded lessons and students complete work at different times.

Most teachers have at least three live classes each week in addition to the asynchronous classes. This helps build community in the class, engages students, and makes the learning more interactive. Some teachers have found it more effective to teach live classes daily.

As much as possible, assign students tasks that get them up and moving and away from their devices. Have students complete some assignments on paper, taking a picture of their completed work, and uploading the photo to submit the task.

Teachers all have daily three-hour office hour shifts. They log into the LMS and are visible as "online" for any student visiting the page. This enables students to contact a teacher for help as they're doing their schoolwork, and it helps our teachers maintain regular schedules.

Set up weekly professional development sessions for teachers using LMS with consistent start and end times. Agendas are developed by instructional leadership teams and distributed to teachers in advance.

Extra credit: We really loved reading these remote learning guides. They helped us wrap our brains around how at-home learning can and will work for you and your students!

Invite your students and parents to class.

This seems like a no-brainer but when we started working remotely at LiveSchool this was something our team overlooked and quickly changed! When you are not all in the same place, you are less likely to make and keep meetings, brainstorm, and get feedback - we quickly realized that these planned interactions are essential for learning and growth!

We don't want you to make the same mistake. Here are some great logistic and operational ideas for at-home learning:

Set a time for virtual lessons to start and stop

‍ It does not have to be all day, but choosing and sticking to a time of day that lesson's will be held and students can connect is crucial to maintaining consistency and making your student's feel safe. As Josh Starr said, "Kids are always learning. What they're learning right now is how adults respond." This is a teachable moment to make a plan, keep the plan, and follow through consistently for your kids.

Update your classroom rules and guidelines for virtual learning.‍

Virtual learning is different from in-person learning. What do you want to make sure your students and your parents know about your rules and guidelines for virtual learning? Do you want to make sure your students are sitting up right? Do you want them to bring your classroom rules home? Think through how your class rules and guidelines will change. This at-home learning pledge is a great example of how a school shares rules and guidelines with their virtual students!

Send out your new classroom rules for students and parents to sign.

‍Now that you have new rules and guidelines, make sure you share them with students and parents. Teach them to your students. Ask parents to sign them, just like you would at the beginning of the year. You can use a tool like DocuSign (sign up for the free trial). Great! Now everyone is on the same page and virtual learning can begin!

Send Calendar Invites to all students and parents.‍

Let's make this official! If you are using Google Classroom as your LMS you can send a google cal invite and Include a daily agenda and links for the lesson so everyone is on the same page!

Essential resources for the virtual professional

There are a lot of resources available for the virtual teacher but one thing we noticed... they were mostly about students! Students are your number one priority, but as the leader of the class, if you are not happy and healthy it is going to be hard to keep your students engaged - virtually or not!

One of our team's favorite professional resources is a 2019 New York Times article called How to Work from Home. Now that you, dear teacher, are working from home we hope it helps you create balance in your day.

We also think joining online learning communities is a great way to stay connected! Check out community groups like Educator Temporary School Closure for Online Learning, Amazing Educational Resources, and Online Teaching Tips for the Plague-Averse.

High-quality content for students

We've found that the following sites offer high-quality content (and most are fully accessible via smartphone):

All subjects

Reading/English Language Arts

Math

Writing

Current Events/Social Studies

Engaging students and parents

This is a BIG one and we want to make sure engaging students and parents is high on your priority list. Your in-person plans to engage students - PBIS, token economies, behavior incentives - might need to be switched up but do not abandon these awesome systems! They engaged your students and created connection with your parents, and they will continue to play that same role virtually!

If you are using this guide, you have already made sure you have up to date contact information for students and parents in your class (see Understand the capabilities of your families survey) and you have chosen an LMS with meeting capabilities for your class (re:Google Hangout, Zoom, or Skype). On top of this, it is SO IMPORTANT to continue to engage your students and their families in learning. Do this consistently and appropriately. And remember - this is the fun part!

There are a few avenues you can mix and match to engage,

Forums, or online discussion tools, are a cool way to get your class to connect!

Creating a classroom community where meaningful conversations can happen isn't easy but forums are a great way to encourage conversations to begin! Plus, the ability to engage responsibly in online discussion is a 21st-century skill all students need. Some free forums we recommend are Yo Teach and Kialo.

Remind is a secure and safe way to connect with students and parents.

If you find yourself two way messaging your class and parents a lot consider Remind! They make communication management easy for teachers. It's free and super user-friendly.

Digital behavior systems make learning fun by incentivizing positive behaviors. Give students points for following your new virtual learning rules and guidelines! When they earn enough points, celebrate those students virtually with these reward ideas.

Don't forget, when you are communicating with families, make sure you are sharing any resources available in your community to support childcare, meals, and other supplies while schools are closed. Let them know how they can access home learning resources and how they'll be able to ask questions about them while schools are closed.

Finally, encourage families to think about how they'll structure learning at home. Creating a daily schedule (see Invite students to Class) will help make sure that this transition to at-home learning is less stressful!

The coolest ideas for virtual learning we have seen so far

We will update this section with new ideas as we get them. Want to submit an idea of your own to share with the world? Tweet us @whyliveschool and we will feature you here and on socials!

Take a virtual tour of 75 museums from all over the world! Check out more virtual museum tours here

Your most interesting friends are working from home now - what a great opportunity for a Special Guest Speaker via Google Hangout! ‍

Kahoot is offering free access to its platform ‍‍

Get kids to build their own virtual learning platform to showcase the things they care about. A student in Nashville built a google site called CampKids!!! to help out the at-home school community when schools closed. Check it out!‍‍

Scholastic is offering free resources from their learn from home platform ‍‍

Some schools are encouraging students to take frequent breaks to do mini-exercises like a minute of jumping jacks. For elementary students, try Go Noodle for some fun mixed in with exercise. For Middle and High School students, work physical fitness into the day with Fitness Blender. ‍

A resource for when you are teaching from home but also have kids!

This New Orleans Art Teacher is posting daily lessons to YouTube. Subscribe here!‍

Schoology's video on how to use virtual learning during emergencies

Pear Deck's free add-on for Google Slides is a cool way to keep presentations engaging

Counselor Kari's post on Helping Kids Who are Worried about Coronavirus

Canva launched a free education product (C4Edu) that helps students create posters, infographics, websites, presentations, reports and more with simple drag-and-drop. Check out their overview video!

A first-grade class recently had a homework assignment where students needed to describe a pet. One boy's mother video recorded him while he used descriptive language to introduce the audience to his two cats. Students can also write and perform plays, or create and cook recipes and conduct interviews, and submit these assignments through video.

Resources to explore

Here are a few resources that might be helpful once you have established an at-home learning routine for yourself and your students:

Stay safe and ask for help

We are here to help! Have a question? Need an idea? Reach out to us at LiveSchool, we are standing by.

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Resources for at-home learning when schools close

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While no one knows how long schools will be closed due to COVID-19, we do know that for the foreseeable future, at-home learning is necessary. We have compiled a list of resources for learning at home for teachers, parents, and students. We want to start off by recognizing that these are uncertain times.

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When trying to figure out the types of tasks to create for students on Google Classroom, consider adding activities other than worksheets/ workbook pages. Below are a few examples of tasks which will keep scholars highly engaged.

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G Suite Creation options for Students - HyperDoc Freebie for Teachers

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If you are new to the Google Classroom platform, here is a quick video that walks you through posting assignments for your scholars to complete. Thank you for pushing yourself to learn new methods to keep our scholars engaged during this difficult time.

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TIME for Kids Launches Free Digital Library

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TIME for Kids Launches Free Digital Library

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In the midst of these unpredictable point in history, TIME for Kids has launched a Free Digital Library for students in grades K through 5. Just follow the link below and look through the resources so that you can use nonfiction articles to help your scholars build background knowledge. 

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TIME for Kids nurtures today’s learners and tomorrow’s leaders with authentic news and the critical-thinking skills that shape active global citizens.

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Math Kinesthetic Activities(Learning at Home)

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Math Kinesthetic Activities(Learning at Home)

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In order to help ensure that our students are moving around and getting the recommended 20-minutes of P.E. each day, it is important to offer students and parents content-based kinesthetic options to use in combination with the district packets and on-line practice. Below I am attaching a link to a site that gives ideas of some activities which can be used to help students learn and retain math foundational skills. 

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Pool Noodles & Pixie Dust - Solutions for Simple, Real-Life Homeschooling

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Solutions for Simple, Real-Life Homeschooling

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21 Kinesthetic Reading Activities to Get Students Up and Moving

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21 Kinesthetic Reading Activities to Get Students Up and Moving

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It’s important to offer activities that are fun, educational, and easy for parents and students to do easily at home. We are Teachers has compiled 21 activities that incorporate reading and movement. 

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Reading tends to be considered a quiet-time activity, where kids will sit still and focus on the book in front of them. But for kids who just can't help but fidget, or those who learn better when they're active, reading activities work best when they involve plenty of movement. These kinesthetic reading activities teach the ABCs, sight word skills, spelling, rhyming, and even reading comprehension. Every one of them gets kids up and out of their seats, giving them some much-needed exercise and a chance to move while they learn.

1. Get a kick out of sight word soccer.

Grab some cones and label them with your class's current sight word list. Then have kids dribble the ball from one cone to the next, stopping to read the words along the way. You can also call out words for them to aim for.

Learn more: Coffee Cups and Crayons: Sight Word Soccer

2. Play hide and seek with animals and letter sounds.

What a fun way to learn letter sounds! You can play this one indoors or out. Hide small animal figures (or cards with animal pictures) around the room or playground. Write out the letters of the alphabet and send kids off to find the animals and set them by the correct letters.

Learn more: The Letters of Literacy

3. Look for letters and words on the go.

Help kids practice reading by observing the world around them. Mark letters (or phonics combos, or sight words) around the edge of a paper plate and cut between. Take a walk around the school and have students fold down each letter or word as they find it written somewhere.

Learn more: No Time for Flashcards

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4. Make whole-body letters.

Anyone who's ever danced the "YMCA" at a wedding knows how fun this is. Get kids to create letter shapes using their bodies. Then try putting them into groups to spell whole words from their spelling lists. Be warned, though: reading activities like this one are sure to bring on plenty of giggles.

Learn more: First Grade Smiles

5. Try the Spell-Your-Name workout.

Hit the link below for the free printable that provides an exercise activity for every letter of the alphabet. Then, challenge kids to do a workout by spelling their name or words from this week's spelling list.

Learn more: 730 Sage Street

6. Host a StoryWalk®.

This reading activity can benefit more than just your own class! In a StoryWalk®, pages from a book are spread out along a walking trail. Kids (and their parents) can take a walk and read the story as they go along. Communities have gotten into the act by providing permanent outdoor signs in parks, but you can do it on your playground with laminated pages stapled to stakes. Visit the link below to learn how to get started.

Learn more: StoryWalk® at Kellogg-Hubbard Library

7. Shoot phonics sounds with hockey sticks.

There are plenty of great reading activities for sports lovers. Use hockey sticks to shoot a puck (or beanbag) toward each phonics sound as it's called out. This works for sight words too.

Learn more: Learn Play Imagine

8. Hop up a sidewalk word ladder.

Teach rhyming skills and introduce word families with some sidewalk chalk. As kids hop up the ladder (or jump forwards or backwards, or twirl, or any activity you like), they read the words out loud for practice.

Learn more: 123Homeschool4Me

9. Stretch and learn with Sight Word Twister.

Grab an old twister mat and label it with sight words (or letters or phonics sounds) and let kids stretch and sprawl as they try to get the correct hand or foot on the right word.

Learn more: Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas

10. Use a Spelling Spinner for vocab practice.

Spelling words over and over can get a little dull. Print the free Spelling Spinner from the link below to mix things up. Kids spin the spinner, then do the appropriate activity as they spell the word. If they get it right, spin again to spell the next one.

11. Jump around on an ABC grid.

Create an ABC grid using sidewalk chalk, or make one indoors using painter's tape on the classroom floor. As you call out letters or words, kids jump from one to the next, using a free space if they need a little help to get there.

Learn more: Buggy and Buddy

12. Have a running dictation relay race.

Kinesthetic reading activities work with older kids too. Post a reading passage on one side of the room and break kids into teams. The first runner heads to the poster, reads the first sentence, then runs back and dictates it to a writer at the table. If they forget, they'll have to run back and do it again! Continue on, giving each teammate a turn at all activities.

Learn more: The Comprehensible Classroom

13. Find and match the rhyming words.

On your next dollar store run, grab some hula hoops and paper plates. Write a series of rhyming family words on the plates, then hide them around the room or playground. Kids run to find them, bringing them back to the appropriate hoop.

Learn more: No Time for Flash Cards

14. Throw a guided reading beach ball.

You can find these pre-made inflatable balls and cubes online, or make your own. They're fantastic for a variety of reading activities with both fiction and non-fiction books.

Learn more: Conversations in Literacy

15. Jump and grab sight words.

We all know kids love to see how high they can jump, so reading activities that incorporate the chance to do just that are sure to be a hit. Hang sight words from the ceiling on cards, coffee filters, or paper plates. Call out a word and see who can be the first to find it, then jump, grab, and pull it down.

Learn more: Hands On As We Grow

16. Weave a spelling web.

This one will take a bit of prep work, but kids will simply love trying to balance their way across the spider web lines as they grab the letters they need to spell each word.

Learn more: No Time for Flash Cards

17. Skip along on sight word hopscotch.

Play sight word hopscotch outside with sidewalk chalk or indoors with colorful cards. (Be sure to tape down the cards if you're playing inside.)

Learn more: Mrs. Kadeen Teachers

18. Bounce a ball and retell a story.

Bouncing a ball makes reading activities for comprehension a lot of more fun and interactive. Students review the main story aspects like setting, narrator, and plot as they bounce a ball along the path.

Learn more: E is for Explore!

19. Run an alphabet obstacle course.

We love using pool noodles in the classroom! Mount these alphabet "beads" on wood craft sticks stuck into the ground. Then send kids off to run them in alphabetical order one at a time. For early learners, keep the sticks in order. For older kids, mix them up and spread them out. Add to the challenge by having them yell out a word that starts with the letter at each, or perform an exercise relating to the letter (touch their ankle for A, bounce up and down for B, etc.).

Learn more: The Educator's Spin on It

20. Dribble and learn with sight word basketball.

Here's another reading activity for the sports enthusiasts. Dribble your way around from sight word to sight word as they're called out, with a chance to shoot and score at the end.

Learn more: Coffee Cups and Crayons: Sight Word Basketball

21. Play word family ball toss.

Use ping pong balls and buckets to practice word families and rhyming. Kids will have a blast tossing the right words into the buckets. Make sure they're reading them out loud before they throw.

Learn more: I Can Teach My Child
Want to inspire more readers? Try putting up one of these 25 terrific reading bulletin boards in your classroom. Many schools are seeing the value of focusing on student wellness. Use our free Wellness Way printables to create a space for kids to move, recharge, and regulate their mood. Looking for more ideas from teachers like you? Join the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.

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21 Kinesthetic Reading Activities to Get Students Up and Moving

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These kinesthetic reading activities teach the ABCs, sight word skills, spelling, rhyming, and reading comprehension with plenty of exercise and movement.

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As we all adjust to offering enrichment activities for our scholars to complete at home, it may be overwhelming trying to figure out which online platforms to use. Our district currently already using Google Classroom and G-suites with its Blended Learning, one-to-one, schools, so it would be the easiest for our school to move to. Below I have attached a video which outlines the basic features that you should know about when creating a class, inviting students, and making assignments. 

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Getting Started with Google Classroom | EDTech Made Easy - GOOGLE CLASSROOM TUTORIAL

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Tips for getting started with Remote Learning?

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Tips for getting started with Remote Learning?

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If you are like me, you are feeling like you are behind the curve when it comes to creating remote learning resources for your scholars. I have found a site created by the Tech Lady which was created with tips for getting started with using online platforms such as Google Classroom, FlipGrid, Google Meet, Zoom,and Wakelet.

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All students, especially those with disabilities, need to have differentiation and/or adaptations to ensure that they are learning. Below are a list of apps that can be used with Autistic, Visually Impaired, Dyslexic, and students with writing disabilities.

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SEL: Don’t forget about the emotional ABCS

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SEL: Don’t forget about the emotional ABCS

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Emotional ABCs Classroom is a research-based Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum providing teachers (K–3) with 20 sequential Workshops and extensive classroom support materials for Teacher-led, in-class instruction. This resource is being made available for FREE for teachers. Let’s not forget that our children’s worlds changed overnight. These lessons will help us teach our students how to navigate and express their emotions. 

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The Free Teacher account offers free access to Emotional ABCs Classroom for Individual Teachers, Educators, and Full-time School Counselors of public schools, private schools, and Head Start programs at "brick and mortar" elementary schools and preschools in the United States, and is to be used for classroom and in-school purposes only.

NOTE: All other uses including Homeschooling, Virtual and Online schools, Private or Professional Counseling, and Non-United States educational programs require the purchase of an Individual or Family account (which includes Emotional ABCs Classroom).

May take up to 24 hours to confirm school information.

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The Free Teacher account offers free access to Emotional ABCs Classroom for Individual Teachers, Educators, and Full-time School Counselors of public schools, private schools, and Head Start programs at "brick and mortar" elementary schools and preschools in the United States, and is to be used for classroom and in-school purposes only.

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Video Conferencing Etiquettee for students

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Video Conferencing Etiquettee for students

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In this time of innovation, have you considered what your new classroom rules will be when using online platforms such as Google FreeConference.com, Zoom, Screen Sharing, Draw Together, etc.
Consider beginning your time with students by sending a message such as this one out to parents:
"Please review the following etiquette or “rules” for students to follow when their teachers schedule in-person video conferences/sessions with them using any platform."

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When I came across this document, I wondered if anyone else was wondering if they were technologically savvy enough to switch to remote learning/digital instruction. Just in case, I thought I would provide our staff with a “cheat sheet” to help us get started. 

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In response to COVID-19, we will be required to use out of the box strategies to connect and engage our scholars. Have you considered using a digital portfolio. Seesaw is a great resource for collaboration which can be adapted for support teachers and the platform works really well for emergent readers and writers. 

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Scaffolding Strategies that lead to Deeper 
Learning

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Scaffolding Strategies that lead to Deeper 
Learning

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Six Thinking Scaffolds That Can Move Students Toward Deeper Levels of Understanding | MindShift | KQED News

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Grotzer and a team (Nancy Oriol, Stephanie Kang, Colby Moore Reilly, and Julie Joyal) looked at the Harvard Medical School MEDscience curriculum, founded by Oriol, that uses technology-mediated, problem-based learning simulations to enrich the experience of high school biology students.

Joyal - executive director for MEDscience - and the team noticed that as their problem-based curriculum progressed, students changed the way they approached problems. Rather than waiting for the teacher to give them answers, they made hypotheses based on existing knowledge, discussed their thoughts with their teams, and took risks - all signs of deeper-level learning.

To study this shift in classroom behavior, Joyal, Moore Reilly, and Grotzer used a sample of 21 students from a range of public and private schools in the Boston. The research team found that the thinking scaffolds - the prompts and support instructors used to guide students through the curriculum and activities - were instrumental in generating a shift towards more expert-level reasoning.

"We know that experts pay attention to a very different set of patterns than novices often do. Novices get caught up in the surface features and can't necessarily see the deep principles," Grotzer says. "It's really important to think what kind of scaffolding helps people take steps towards greater expertise in their thinking and reasoning."

Taking Students from Novice to Expert

Here are some takeaways from the study that can be used by educators to help move their students from novice to expert level:

Prompt students to include context: Ask questions that prompt students to include what they know already and emphasize the need to seek out further information or clarification. Get them to take a step back from the problem at hand and make connections. "Having students pause to think about the context of the problem - what they already know about it, what questions they have, and with humility, to consider what they don't know - helps them to be open to other patterns and possibilities," Grotzer says.
Try: What information led you to that conclusion? Is there anything that you don't know yet or that you can wonder about?
Ask open-ended questions: Guide students to reconsider an idea without explicitly correcting them. Generic probes work well but more targeted questions also work. "Students are solving [open-ended] problems the moment they come in [to the MedScience simulation space], and I will say that can be a little uncomfortable at first. It's stressful being in this situation. But there's research that [essentially] says if you keep kids on their toes, the information becomes sticky and much more retainable," Joyal says.
Try: What do you mean? Can you say more about that?
Help students transfer knowledge and experience: Have students think back to past experiences and information sources like classroom learning. Also encourage them to consider what is happening in the present moment. "[This is a] pedagogical move that says all of the information and experience you have is useful and you can bring it bear," Grotzer says.
Try: Is there anything that you already understand that might help you here?
Leave room for student ownership: Signal that the choices students make are up to them - the role of the teacher is not to make decisions about what to do next or execute. "Instructors model for students what an expert does but not in a way that takes over," Grotzer says.
Try: That's up to you. I don't know the patient. How are you going to handle that?
Invite and manage risk: Allow students to take risks by not immediately dismissing "wrong" answers. This fosters a strong classroom culture where students are willing to try new methods. "When the kids walk in, we tell them 'This is Harvard Medical School and we have rules. The rules are there are no wrong answers, there's no raising your hand, and if you have a thought, you're going to say it out loud,'" Joyal says, noting that these rules set the tone for the learning environment.
Try: That's a good idea worthy of further discussion.
Encourage reflection: Students need to be reminded that they are not just participants but also learners in this process. "Leaving time for a debrief at the end of each class allows the group to circle back to questions from the class introduction and go deeper," Says Moore Reilly. Instructors can ask students about their performance, thought process, the outcomes, and their feelings.
Try: How did it go for your team? How are you managing your learning?

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Six Thinking Scaffolds That Can Move Students Toward Deeper Levels of Understanding | KQED

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Grotzer and a team (Nancy Oriol, Stephanie Kang, Colby Moore Reilly, and Julie Joyal) looked at the Harvard Medical School MEDscience curriculum, founded by Oriol, that uses technology-mediated, problem-based learning simulations to enrich the experience of high school biology students.

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Jennifer Serravalo's Writing Strategies: Tips for Supplemental Use

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Jennifer Serravalo's Writing Strategies: Tips for Supplemental Use

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Jennifer Serravalo's Writing Strategies book offers an abundance of stratgies, tangible foldables, graphic organizers, and/or anchor chart that can be used with students and by students to help them improve their writing. Our second-nine week's CPL, Cycle of Professional Learning, will focus on Writing. The attached document will provide a guide which outlines how to use this resource as a supplement to the basal.

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What does "Productive Struggle" look like in Mathematics? 

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What does "Productive Struggle" look like in Mathematics? 

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As educators, we often hear terms, but do we really understand what they mean. One of the latest research-based term is "productive struggle". In order to dig deeper into what this looks like in the Mathematics classroom, follow this link: https://www.stmath.com/productive-struggle-math-rigor

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Improving your Practice: Tip #1: Be Reflective

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Improving your Practice: Tip #1: Be Reflective

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After an administrator, colleague, parent, or district leader visits our classrooms, have you ever asked yourself, "I wonder how I did?" I’m here to propose that the question should be posed each and everyday to yourself. Reflective practice is an approach that will give you real-time feedback on your teaching style, practice, and the culture of your classroom. It allows you to see yourself through the eyes of your students. Consider recording a 10-minute snapshot if a lesson. Reviewing it, taking notes of what you see your students doing, your body language, whether you follow the flow of the lesson in the instructional guide, then ask yourself what advice would you give this person if you had been the observer. Then go back and use what you saw and learned and work to improve your own practice. Come on, be bold and try something new.

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Teaching Channel: Using video to improve your lessons.mp4

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Teaching Our Scholars to Read: Techniques You Can Use

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Teaching Our Scholars to Read: Techniques You Can Use

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Currently less than 30% of third graders are reading on grade level. One way that we can help our students is to help them learn the most common words used in the written language. These words have many titles—-sight words, high-frequency words, Dolch words, Frye words, I am going to begin calling them “Reading words”. Whatever you decide to call them, don’t forget to focus on them regardless to which grade you teach. If only 30% of third graders are reading on grade level, how can we as educators ot focus on teaching our students to read.  Remember in order to be avle to read to learn, our kids must learn to read.

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Now we do more repetition on the word, adding spelling to make a deeper cognitive impression. The arm-tapping motions stimulate the kinesthetic sense and provide tactile feedback.

Video: Technique Three: Arm Tapping

Be sure to hold the flash card at arm's length from your body, and at arm's length from the child. The flash card also needs to be held at the child's eye level. We want to make sure that the child is simultaneously focused on tapping out the word and looking at the written word on the card.

The first step of arm-tapping a word is to say the word while slapping your left shoulder with your right hand. Then, as you say each letter, you use two fingers (index and middle finger of right hand) to tap your left arm, gradually progressing down the arm from shoulder to wrist. Then say the word again while sweeping the two fingers along the left arm, from shoulder to wrist, a variation on the "underlining" motion of previous exercises. The child will copy your motions exactly, using their right hand to tap out the word on their left arm.

Here is a sample script for you to follow:

Adult: Let's arm-tap the word.
My turn. Ready? SAID. S-A-I-D. SAID.
Again: SAID. S-A-I-D. SAID.
Your turn. Ready?
Child: SAID. S-A-I-D. SAID.
Adult: Again.
Child: SAID. S-A-I-D. SAID.
Adult: One more time.
Child: SAID. S-A-I-D. SAID.
Adult: Good job!
Q: My child is left-handed, and she keeps using her left hand to tap out the word on her right arm. Is that OK? A: No, it is not! Except for the Air Writing and Table Writing exercises, left-handed students should do all of these lesson activities with the right hand. Particularly with the arm-tapping exercise, a child who does it with their left hand will be tapping out the letters backwards, going from right to left instead of from left to right. This can create unnecessary confusion in a child who is in the process of learning to read and write.
Leave a Reply

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Now we do more repetition on the word, adding spelling to make a deeper cognitive impression. The arm-tapping motions stimulate the kinesthetic sense and provide tactile feedback. Video: Technique Three: Arm Tapping Be sure to hold the flash card at arm's length from your body, and at arm's length from the child.

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The Progression of Fractions (1st -5th) 

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The Progression of Fractions (1st -5th) 

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The foundation for fractions begins in first grade when students learn the term “partition”. In addition to understanding the importance of partitioning, our scholars must also grasp the meaning of fractions. This should be shown using various models ( i.e. length, set, and area). This will help our scholars make the connect between fractions and whole numbers. Have you ever thought about having your scholars count with fractions? Learn why we should begin using this strategy and many others as you watch the progression video below.

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The Progression of Fractions (Meaning, Equivalence, & Comparison)

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K-4 The Progression of Addition and Subtraction

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K-4 The Progression of Addition and Subtraction

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If you have ever had students in your classroom who continuously struggle with basic addition and subtraction, then this is a must see video for you. The video below analyzes how to help students make sense out of numbers as they learn to count and join sets, using five and ten frames, when figuring out if they should use a separate or compare model for subtracting or any other strategy.

If our students do not master “unitizing” before they leave first grade, they will continue to struggle in the upper grades as the numbers increase in size.

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K-2 The Progression of Numbers and Counting

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K-2 The Progression of Numbers and Counting

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Have you ever wondered how to build conceptual understanding of numbers and counting? Of course, as Math educators we all have. Below you will find a short video, which breaks down the basic principles that are necessary for students to really understand what it looks like when students really understand "subitizing" in Mathematics.

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K-5 Social Studies (Important Information) 

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K-5 Social Studies (Important Information) 

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All of this year’s Social Studies resources can be accessed online by teachers. Below you will find the urls and log-in information for each grade level. 

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This year, my school’s staff requested a session on scaffolding tasks. During our session, we created a school-wide universal definition for the term “scaffolding”.
Definition: a variety of instructional strategies designed to move students toward a better understanding of the learning and guide them to go beyond the surface level to the highest levels of thinking. This is done by giving scholars additional supports which will build a bridge from where scholars are and move them towards meeting our higher expectations.

For those who were unable to attend or for those who want to review our session materials,  the PowerPoint is posted below.

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This school year, we will be using Mastery Connect to complete district common formative assessments. Attached are a few tips to that will help teachers get their scholars started. 

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The Tennessee Department of Education has published a Differentiation handbook for educators who teach grades 3-5. This handbook was designed by the Tennessee Department of Education to accompany professional learning on differentiated instruction. It features content and strategies from face-to-face workshops, as well as additional content designed to extend teacher understanding and support teachers as they design differentiated lessons and tasks in their own classrooms.

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The Tennessee Department of Education has published a handbook for Differentiation for K-2 Educators. This handbook was designed by the Tennessee Department of Education to accompany professional learning on differentiated instruction. It features content and strategies from face-to-face workshops, as well as additional content designed to extend teacher understanding and support teachers as they design differentiated lessons and tasks in their own classrooms.

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Detroit educators have worked to create PowerPoints that can be utilized during EL lessons this school year. Review the resources found at the attached link to assist you as you plan lessons for each module.

Link to the PowerPoints/Resources:
https://www.detroitk12.org/Page/9721

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Curriculum and Instruction / modEL Detroit

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If you are interested in strengthening the strategies in your Classroom Management toolbox, this is the professional development tool for you. As you work your way through the suggested Behavior Management strategies, remember that the key to turning around any scholars behavior is to find the antecedent or triggers that cause the student to misbehave. The best way to do this is by building a relationship with your scholars.

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Be sure to check out the latest edition of i-Ready Math/Reading so that you can remain abreast of all of the features within the program and additional resources that can be used during our school-wide Intervention block.

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Newsletter: Getting off to a great start with Ready Mathematics

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This school year our school has purchased a subscription to Mystery Science. This website has tons of resources that we can integrate into instruction to help students to see the connection between the cross-cutting concepts and intrigue students as we work to develop three-dimensional lessons based on one of the NGSS's phenomena.

Each of you should have received an e-mail asking you to sign up for an account. If you don't remember, just search for Mystery Science in your e-mail and it should pop us.
Bruce's link to the Mystery Science website can be found here:
https://mysteryscience.com/start?code=school_358454

If you would like to preview some of the lesson materials before getting started, I have provided a link below. If you have any questions, please see Mrs. M. Edwards or Mrs. White.

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In this game, you match animal mothers to their babies. Here's how to play with a group:

Each person gets an envelope.

Open your envelope and look for your match: mothers find their babies and babies find their mothers.

When everyone has found a match, show them to the rest of the class.

See the Extensions at the end of this lesson for variations on the game.

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In this game, you match animal mothers to their babies. Here's how to play with a group: Each person gets an envelope. Open your envelope and look for your match: mothers find their babies and babies find their mothers. When everyone has found a match, show them to the rest of the class.

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SCS schools has adopted a new Science textbook. Books are slated for delivery in late October.  Although we do not have copies of the textbook, we are expected to implement the lessons beginning on August 6, 2018.  Use the attached link to access the website.
Username: TNK5SCIDEMO
Password: TN2018science

Highlights or Things to use while planning lessons:
Teacher's Edition:
Built in lesson plans
Ready-made Presentations to use during instruction
*Access to electronic teacher and student books.

Student books:
Have lesson outlines which should be used with the "Student Curriculum Packets" that the district sends out each week.

Lesson outlines can be found by
1.  Clicking on the student book
2. Pressing the "student lesson link"

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Have you ever considered using an article a day to increase students vocabulary, to build background knowledge, and improve their reasing stamina? Well, if so, Readworks might be just the tool you are looking for. The following link contains a step-by-step guide explaining how to use articles from this website either by projecting them, printing them, or using them on digital devices.

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ReadWorks.org | Solving the Reading Comprehension Crisis

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​Build background knowledge, vocabulary, and stamina in just 10 minutes a day. ​ ReadWorks has done all of the work to curate weekly sets of nonfiction articles by topic. All you have to do is...

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Working as an educator requires deep thought  and continuous reflection of your practice. You must not only be able to explain what you do in the classroom, you must know why what you do is the best method for the students that you teach..

In addition to knowing your students, each student’s instructional level, and the families of your students, you must also stay abreast of the latest research-based strategies in education. This can be next to impossible, but the good news is that this padlet provides a starting point for you.

Keys to navigating this padlet:
Each color represents a specific area:
Black-Resources for Professional Development
Blue- Literacy-based Resources
Orange-Digital/Remote Learning Tools & Resources
Green-Mathematics Research-based Resources
Purple- Science/Social Studies Research-based Resources
Red-Best Practices for Instruction

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Do you have students who need assistance forming arguments, opinions, or making comparisons when writing? If so, consider using these framing paragraphs when modeling, as anchor charts, or as templates to ensure that students answer all questions related to the prompt, remember to cite evidence from passages, and include a topic and concluding sentence each time they write.

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ELA-The Power of Making Thinking Visible

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ELA-The Power of Making Thinking Visible

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Our school recently purchased a subscription for AR360. Our Accelerated Reader subscription comes with a student set of AR books and quizzes and a database of informational articles for teachers.

If you would like to explore the site on your own, Renaissance also has professional development videos.  All you have to do to access this professional development is register your account. Here is the link to the PD portion of AR:

https://z99.renlearn.com/RPPortal/RenU/RenUHome.aspx?i=084c4bb4-5880-4192-ba56-a096a8fcce36
Our subscription ends on February 1, 2018, so be sure to log in and access these key resources before this date.

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Shelby County Schools requires teachers to use the lessons in the i-Ready toolbox when conducting face-to-face intervention lessons. Below is an overview that details how to access the toolbox, navigate to resources, and shows samples of the downloadable and interactive resources that are available.

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Conducting a Close Read-Aloud (Grades K-2)

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Conducting a Close Read-Aloud (Grades K-2)

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As we begin implementing Expeditionary Learning in grades K through 2, it is important for educators to understand how to conduct a close read using a book that is read aloud to students. The following video illustrates three of the five types of read aloud lessons that teachers using EL will be required to conduct. This video series contains two parts. The second video illustrates the last two types of lessons. If you are interested in watching the second part of this series it can be found here:
https://vimeo.com/213193741

Total Participation techniques are also used by the teacher in the two segments. If you are interested in learning more about the how to ensure 100% participation of all students, see Mrs. White or watch the Behind the Practice: Close Read Aloud video where the teacher explains how she planned for instruction of the lessons show in the two-part Close Read Aloud series:
https://eleducation.org/resources/behind-the-practice-close-read-aloud-in-the-primary-grades-with-sara-metz

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Close Read-Aloud in the Primary Grades, Part 1: First Read, Focus Question, and Interactive Analysis

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This is the first video in a two-part series that features Sara Metz and her Kindergarten class at Explore Elementary in Thornton, Colorado. Using the EL Education Language Arts Curriculum and its Close Read-Aloud guide, Sara and her students engage in analysis of the text, Come On, Rain!, as part of a module on the topic of weather.

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There are many protocols embedding within the Expeditionary Learning curriculum that teachers will be expected to use while teaching. Teachers are encouraged to begin incorporating these into so that the transition to EL during Reading is easier for them and their students.

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It is important to remember to include a plan for transitions within lessons. Students need to be provided with instructions for everything that occurs in the classroom.  The video below shows Teach 7 in action. As you watch, decide if there are some things thst you can do to tighten up your transitions and increase your students time on task.

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Transitions: Management in the Active Classroom

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Efficient transitions save valuable time (and effort) and prepare students for learning

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Understanding Mathematics through Grappling and Discourse 

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Understanding Mathematics through Grappling and Discourse 

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Mathematics Practice #1 requires students to be able to make senses of problems and persevere in solving them. As a teacher, you might be asking yourself what does this look like in a classroom.

According to the TN Revised State Standards, "mathematically proficient students start by explaining to themselves the meaning of a problem and look for entry points to its solution. Mathematically proficient students can also explain their work and check their answers to problems using a different method, and they continually ask themselves, "Does this make sense? and make adjustment if they need to."

The video below shows this practice in action. When you have time, watch it to see if there are any instructional strategies that you can add to your current instruction to ensure that your students become proficient in this mathematics practice.

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Understanding Mathematics through Grappling and Discourse

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In Mona Iehl's third grade class at Polaris Charter Academy in Chicago, Illinois, students are developing a conceptual understanding of the commutative property of multiplication. Rather than providing direct instruction, Mona is using a process of grappling and student-centered discourse, which promotes deeper mathematical understanding, and builds powerful habits of learning.

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Visualizing Theme with Evidence-Based Collages - The Literary Maven

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Visualizing Theme with Evidence-Based Collages - The Literary Maven

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How do you help your students connect with the text? One way to do this is through the use of Evidence-based Collages. If you are interested in trying a new strategy, click on the link below to learn how to add this to your teaching toolbox.

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Theme is a concept that students struggle with even at the ninth grade level so I'm always looking for new ways to teach it. This year I came up with the idea of having my students make theme collages to reinforce the idea that themes should be messages about life, which are general enough to apply to situations outside of a text.

The first step in creating a theme collage is figuring out the theme! Students used this graphic organizer to collect information from the text that would help them to determine a theme. I gave students a choice of two short stories, but you could use a variety of fiction or nonfiction texts.

Students answered the following questions: Who is the main character? What are the conflicts? How does the main character react to them? What does the main character learn or how does the main character change as a result of the conflict and its outcome? Answering these questions will help students begin to think about the theme, or message, of the text.

Students will then identify universal themes present in

the text, circling as many as apply. Universal themes are the "big ideas" present in literature across cultures and throughout time periods. Identifying these universal themes will help students to craft a thematic statement, which must be general (it cannot name a specific person, place, etc.), a message about life (true in the text and in real life), and written in a complete sentence.

If students are struggling to come up with a thematic statement, I encourage them to try to connect two or three of the universal themes they selected. For example, if a student circled family, nature, and beauty, a possible thematic statement might be: the beauty of nature brings family together. I also ask students, "if the author or character could give you advice or impart some words of wisdom at the end of the story, what would he/she say?"

Once students have gotten the check of approval from me for their thematic statement, they can move on to brainstorming words and images that they want to include in their collage. Their collage must also include their theme and two quotations from the text to support their theme.

Brainstorming is key because otherwise students will just endlessly look through my stack of magazines. Their list of words and images keeps them focused on what they are looking for. Then it is time to bust out the scissors, glue, and magazines. I put a time limit on this activity because even ninth grade students love to play with scissors and glue.

At the end of the activity, I have students do a gallery walk of their classmates' work so they can see other examples of themes. I know that all of their final products will be exemplars because students had to support their theme with evidence from the text as well as related words and images (my check of approval is more of a formality).

If you are interested in doing this activity with your students, you can find the directions and handout here. You could also easily do a higher tech version of this activity by allowing students to put together their collages in PowerPoint and then post them on a class website or share them using Google Drive.

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The Literary Maven: Visualizing Theme with Evidence-Based Collages

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Theme is one of the concepts in literature that students struggle with most. Use this simple graphic organizer to help students determine the theme of any piece of writing and then create a collage of text and images to reinforce their theme's message about life.

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Are students keeping a "Rolling Vocabulary" for each text set/TWAG/ EL Module?

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Are students keeping a "Rolling Vocabulary" for each text set/TWAG/ EL Module?

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A "Rolling Vocabulary" is a protocol that will help your students determine the most important information in each text that is read during a TWAG or text set. Consider asking teachers to add this protocol to each text that is read with students and watch them learn to pick out essential vocabulary on their own and begin using these words in their writing.

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The following resource contains information on the new standards for educators and parents. It also has sample lessons for each grade level which illustrate how students can demonstrate mastery of the NGSS Standards. With your team or in vertical teams, examine the resources on this site and discuss the implications for Science instruction.

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The NSTA Next Generation Science Standards Hub offers information, resources, news, professional learning opportunities, and expert advice in understanding and implementing the Next Generation Science Standards - NGSS

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Are you integrating these "core actions" during instruction in Reading, Science, or Social Studies??

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Are you integrating these "core actions" during instruction in Reading, Science, or Social Studies??

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As we continue to implement the shifts in Literacy instruction, we want to be sure that we are working to include the following core actions as well. The attached document describes each core action and qualities that should be present during instruction and as students work through the instructional tasks each day.

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TN Read to be Ready: Foundational Skills Lesson Exemplar

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TN Read to be Ready: Foundational Skills Lesson Exemplar

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The TN Department of Education posts exemplar videos which show what instruction should look like during the Reading block. The video below is from the Read to be Ready series. It illustrates what a foundational skills mini-lesson should look like in the classroom.

As you watch, think about your current foundational skills instruction and decide if there are strategies from this mini-lessons that you could integrate into your current instruction to help ensure that your students are building a solid foundation which will help them become proficient readers and writers.

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Foundational Skills: Word Study Exploring Homophones

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NASA's live viewing of the Solar Eclipse

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NASA's live viewing of the Solar Eclipse

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Click on the link below so that your students can watch the Solar Eclipse as it passes through the United States. The link will go live at 11:52a.m. and end at 2:50p.m.

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2017 Solar Eclipse News and Articles

Aug. 21, 2017 marked a unique opportunity for scientists in the contiguous U.S. - for the first time in nearly a century, a total solar eclipse would sweep coast to coast, providing scientists under the path of totality with a rare chance to study the Sun and Earth in uncommon ways. Read the articles and news releases pertaining to this historic event.

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2017 Solar Eclipse News and Articles - NASA

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Aug. 21, 2017 marked a unique opportunity for scientists in the contiguous U.S. - for the first time in nearly a century, a total solar eclipse would sweep coast to coast, providing scientists under the path of totality with a rare chance to study the Sun and Earth in uncommon ways.

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Each teacher is asked to complete the following survey to assist us with accreditation. Each teacher will receive an email from eProve after your account has been set-up. After you receive the e-mail, then you will be able to access the survey by clicking on the link below. Thanks in advance!!!!

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TEM Evaluation Rubric (Teacher Evaluation)

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TEM Evaluation Rubric (Teacher Evaluation)

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The TEM rubric for the 2017-18 school year is attached below. Be sure to look at the expectations for levels 3,4, and 5 to be sure that you are meeting these qualities. Remember that this year the focus will be on student outcomes.

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If your students are having trouble logging into their Clever account, please follow the steps in the guide below to assist them.

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This school year we will be implementing the "Show the Rule" Protocol to teach Grammar. Below I am attaching a sample lesson template which will outline the expectations for instruction during this 15-minute mini lesson. Other examples can be found on the Engage NY website at the following link: https://www.engageny.org/resource/foundational-reading-and-language-standards-resources-package-for-grades-3-5
If you would like a handout or poster to post as you get used to integrating nag this Protocol into your instruction, please see or email Mrs. White at fowlerwhitejj@scsk12.org.

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Talking about Math & Discussion Strategies

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Talking about Math & Discussion Strategies

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It is important for our students to understand the importance of being able to compute problems mentally and have a toolbox of strategies to choose from when solving math problems. The video below has examples of each one. Let's work towards having Math discussions like this in our classrooms this year.....

This site contains resources that could be used with parents and students as we implement Eureka Math this school year:

https://sites.google.com/a/wfsd.k12.ny.us/parentmathresourcescc/home/elementary/first-grade

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Mental math, student-led solutions and class culture in 3rd grade classrooms. Learn how one teacher gets students to participate and present Math solutions to the class. Covers Common Core Standards for Math.

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Tennessee will begin using the NGSS standards and practices next school year. Below you will find an article that explains what each practice looks like during instruction.

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Do you need  assistance with Achieve 3000?

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Do you need  assistance with Achieve 3000?

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The Quick Start workshop materials below will help ALL teachers, new and veteran, raise student engagement and strengthen discipline. In this third session, teachers will work with the Teach Like a Champion strategy called “Strong Voice,” which will help teachers communicate an expectation of agreement and action from students.

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Incorporating Writing into All Content Areas

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Incorporating Writing into All Content Areas

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Teachers across all disciplines will learn writing-to-learn and writing-to–demonstrate-knowledge strategies to enhance the learning of students in all disciplines.

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What steps are needed to create engaged, independent, and proficient readers? How can I get my students to want to read and discuss without my assistance?  If you have asked yourself any of these questions, then Literature Circles might be a good strategy for you.

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Curriculum Building and Assessment Writing in Mathematics

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Curriculum Building and Assessment Writing in Mathematics

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With the revisions to the Tennessee State Standards, we must revisit what we know about creating Math assessments. The information provided will give educators access to the tools and resources necessary begin creating curriculum that is aligned to the newly revised TN standards.

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This PowerPoint contains information that will assist teachers as they dig deep into the math standards to ensure understanding of what the standard calls for students to say, think, and do.

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How do we measure our progress to standards? What elements must be present in a lesson to drive to full mastery for ALL students? How do I know who has and hasn’t mastered the standards?  How will I track mastery?  This PowerPoint will explain the connection between the standards and assessments while providing techniques to track standards mastery.

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Building character and trust through positive framing

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Building character and trust through positive framing

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Building character and trust through positive framing is intended to  help ALL teachers, new and veteran, raise student engagement and strengthen discipline. In this first session, teachers will work on the Teach Like a Champion strategy called “Positive framing,” allowing teachers to provide behavior narration that maximizes on-task behavior.

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The University of Arizona - Progression of Common Core Math Standards

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The University of Arizona - Progression of Common Core Math Standards

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The University of Arizona has published various resources to assist with the progression of skills/concepts taught in Eureka Mathematics.

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Cathy Kessel wrote an article with Liping Ma that discuss "unit fraction" vs "fractional unit" and has added a remark to the appendix about this.

Here is the new version.

Hi everybody, Cathy Kessel has compiled all the suggestions that people have made here and other places over the years to produce a final version of the progressions. Here is the compiled document of all the progressions.

And here are two documents outlining the major changes from previous versions.

Note that the University of Arizona has deleted the website that used to host the progressions. I am working to have that url redirect here.

Hi everybody, in order to deal with the spam problem I have deleted all users regarded by WordPress as spam users. These are defined as users who have never posted. Unfortunately this seems to have caught some legitimate users as well. Their content is still on the blog, with the author marked as anonymous.

Cathy Kessel is working on editing the progressions documents into final versions, incorporating comments from this blog and elsewhere and filling in gaps. Here is the fractions progression. We will be rolling out the others over the next few months. Comments welcome!

With the high school writing work in full swing, I've been remiss in posting here lately. I do have some ideas saved up! Meanwhile, Kate Nowak and I have a piece about instructional routines over at the IM blog.

I've been meaning to let you know about the Illustrative Mathematics blog, which launched a few weeks ago. It has blog posts by members of the IM community about our grades 6-8 curriculum and about teaching practice, including a whole series on the 5 practices framework of Smith and Stein. Also, we will be cross posting any IM related posts I write here over there as well. I hope you find our new blog useful!

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Tennessee has revised the standards for Math. These standards will be implemented and assessed during the 2017-18 school year. Please take the time to read the introduction for each of strand and examine not only the standards for your grade level., but be sure to look at the expectations for the previous and subsequent grade level to be sure that you have a good grasp on what effective instruction looks like.  Don't forget to examine the glossary at the end of the document. It will help us create school-wide definitions for each term that students must master.

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2017-18 TN Reading Language Arts State Standards (Revised)

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2017-18 TN Reading Language Arts State Standards (Revised)

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Tennessee has revised the standards for Reading Language Arts. These standards will be implemented and assessed during the 2017-18 school year. Please take the time to read the introduction for each of the five strands and examine not only the standards for your grade level, but be sure to look at the expectations for the previous and subsequent grade level to be sure that you have a good grasp on what effective instruction looks like.  Don't forget to examine the glossary at the end of the document. It will help us create school-wide definitions for each term that students must master.

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The Tennessee Department of Education has created a document that gives a detailed description of each test item question/type. Think about ways that you can construct questions that mirror these item types. How often will you incorporate them into your instruction, work stations, and/or tasks?

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Below you will find the 2017-18 Testing Time Breakdown for each Subpart of next year's TNReady test. Think about ways that we can practice taking timed assessments with students to prepare them for next year's test

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As we prepare to implement the NGSS, or New Generation Science Standards, we must work to ensure that we fully understand what our students are expected to know and be able to do. Below you will find information that outlines each standard and gives examples of what students are expected to be able to do, and lists at least one resource to assist us in making sure that our students are prepared.

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Lan School (Monitoring Students when they are on the computer). 

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Lan School (Monitoring Students when they are on the computer). 

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Our IT tech has placed LanSchool on the teacher laptop in our second computer lab. This program allows you to monitor each student's activity on all of the computers. Below is a link to a tutorial which shows you how to navigate the program. Please watch the the video and let me know if you need additional training on how to use this program.

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Sign in now to see your channels and recommendations!

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The document below describes the types of items that students will be asked to complete on the TN Ready test. In addition to the description, it also explains how each type of item will be scored. Please review these item types with your students.

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TNGov has resources that show the aspects of writing that should be mastered at each grade level from K-5. This chart should be used as a guide to help teachers ensure that students are making appropriate progress. Examples of student writing at each grade level along with a checklist of expected components is also included in the attached document. Please review the items with your students, so that they know the expectations that you have for them when they write.

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Please review the format for each of the testng items on the TN Ready test.

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TNReady Assessment Design and Logistics Overview copy

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The Common Core Companion books come with extra resources that can be accessed using a special code found inside of your book. Click on the link below and use the code to access more Common Core State Standards materials which can be used to help us raise student achievement at Bruce.
Link to access resources:
https://studysites.corwin.com/thecommoncorecompanion/

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Corwin Companion Site: The Common Core Companion, Grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12 and Booster Lessons - Jim Burke

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K-2 Task on the Table-Writing Task Templates

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K-2 Task on the Table-Writing Task Templates

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The Literacy Design Collaborative has created templates that can be used to construct tasks in Grades K-2 for all types of writing. These teaching tasks are provide teachers with partially built tasks that are aligned to College and Career Readiness Standards. The LDC task templates offer teachers great flexibility in selecting the content, texts, and student products they want to teach. Click below to access the templates for your grade level.

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3-5 Task on the Table-Writing Task Templates

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3-5 Task on the Table-Writing Task Templates

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The Literacy Design Collaborative has created templates that can be used to construct tasks in Grades 3-5 for all types of writing. These teaching tasks are provide teachers with partially built tasks that are aligned to College and Career Readiness Standards. The LDC task templates offer teachers great flexibility in selecting the content, texts, and student products they want to teach. Click below to access the templates for your grade level.

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The i-Ready Instructional Grouping Profile does some initial grouping into five profiles based on the Diagnostic Assessment. They provide a good starting point with instructional foci and lesson plans. Teachers will cross check the suggestions with classroom behaviors and observations.

Profiles:
This report will recommend 5 small groups, called profiles, based on the diagnostic results.  It groups students who have similar needs in two domain areas so that you can pinpoint your small group instruction.There are 5 profiles.  The key is on the right-side of the tab.For reading: Profile 1 students have below level phonics skills and they have a limited vocabulary whereas Profile 2 students also have below level phonics, but they have a larger vocabulary.  As you can see, these profiles are very specific, and so the instructional guidance is going to be very targeted and efficient when paired with classroom observations.
Instructional Priorities are provided for the group of students in each profile.These Next Steps for Instruction give you specific, detailed, instructional guidance for teacher-directed instruction that will help to guide your lesson planning.

Tools for instruction are provided as well. There are actual lesson plans with which to provide that instruction. Click on any pdf that you’d like and take a look.  These lesson plans  were selected for this report based on what this specific group of students need, at the level that they need it.

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Thanks to those of you who attended the Mathematics Task on the table session. I am attaching a revised template that many of you requested, so that it can be used to create mini-tasks that mirror the items on the TN Ready practice test. It is a word template, so feel free to revise it to fit the needs of your students.

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Students will be taking the Tripod survey soon. Be sure to speak with  students about the purpose of the survey, the importance of its administration, and sample questions from each of the seven C's that will be measured.

Remember that the 7 C's:
1. Care: Showing concern for students' emotional and academic well-being.
2. Confer: Encouraging and valuing students' ideas and views.
3. Captivate: Sparking and Maintaining students interest in learning.
4. Clarify: Helping students understand content and resolving confusion.
5. Consolidate: Helping students integrate and synthesize key ideas.
6. Challenge: Holding students to high academic standards by insisting they persevere and do their best work.
7. Classroom Management: Fostering respectful, orderly, and on-task classroom behavior.

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Overview

Tripod's 7Cs™ framework of effective teaching and associated survey measures capture essential elements of instructional practice. Student survey results aligned with the 7Cs framework offer a streamlined way to provide actionable feedback for teachers and school leaders. Better survey results on the 7Cs components predict higher student achievement, engagement and motivation, as well as success skills and mindsets (Ferguson & Danielson, 2014; Ferguson et al., 2015; Kane & Cantrell, 2010; Kane et al., 2013; Stuit, Ferguson, & Phillips, 2013). Strategic use of Tripod surveys together with the 7Cs framework supports reflection, goal-setting, professional learning, and instructional improvement.

The 7Cs framework groups components into three conceptual categories: personal support (care and confer), curricular support (captivate, clarify, and consolidate); and academic press (challenge and classroom management). This guide provides details about the 7Cs framework, including indicators of exemplary practice, reflection questions, and sample strategies, as well as sample survey items related to each of the 7Cs components.

Personal Support

Cultivating teacher-student relationships and a classroom climate where students feel valued and welcomed

Show concern for students' emotional and academic well-being

Build relationships

Address learning needs

Encourage and value students' ideas and views

Respect perspectives

Promote discussion

Invite input

Curricular Support

Teaching in ways that make the curriculum engaging, accessible, and coherent

Spark and maintain student interest in learning

Design stimulating lessons

Facilitate active participation

Help students understand content and resolve confusion

Explain clearly

Check for understanding

Provide constructive feedback

Help students integrate and synthesize key ideas

Review and summarize

Connect ideas

Download 7Cs™ Guide

Academic Press

Fostering classroom conditions that require students to stay focused on achieving their full potential

Insist that students persevere and do their best work

Press for rigorous thinking

Press for quality work

Press for persistence

Foster orderly, respectful, and on-task classroom behavior

Manage activities

Manage behavior

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Tripod's 7Cs™ framework of effective teaching and associated survey measures capture essential elements of instructional practice. Student survey results aligned with the 7Cs framework offer a streamlined way to provide actionable feedback for teachers and school leaders.

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RLA Task on the table: Have you taught all of the standards?

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RLA Task on the table: Have you taught all of the standards?

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The K-8 charts below organize the relationships between the literacy standards that students are expected to master in each grade level. Print the standards for each of Reading/LA for your grade level. Highlight the standards that they have covered and create a plan for ensuring that the other standards are taught by the time your students take the TN Ready test.

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Questar Online or Printable Sample Tests for Grades 3 and up:
https://ms-practice.nextera.questarai.com/student/Webclient/PracticeTest/

Sample Tests in ELA Writing Prompts and Math Practice with questions by standard:
https://districtaccess.mde.k12.ms.us/studentassessment/Public%20Access/Forms/AllItems.aspx?RootFolder=%2Fstudentassessment%2FPublic%20Access%2FStatewide_Assessment_Programs%2FMAP-Mississippi%20Assessment%20Program%2FMAP-Testlets&InitialTabId=Ribbon%2EDocument&VisibilityContext=WSSTabPersistence

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Below you will find a template of things to remember to discuss with your parents during your individual conferences. Although these conferences are similar to typical Parent-Teacher Conferences there are a couple of differences. Watch the video below to view these differences.

During your individual  data conferences with parents,  be sure to do the following:

1. Welcome and Thank the parent for coming
2. Share/Review data from that nine week period and/or a progression of data for that particular student so that parents will understand about their child’s progress.
3. Update the parent on their child's progress on that skill.
For example, if their child originally was able to answer 6 questions, on a recent test, the child might have answered 20 questions correctly. You would let the parent know that  their child has mastered 14 facts since the first meeting.
4. Ask/Teach at-home activities/Provide resources that the parent can use at home to help their child.
5. Review/Write/Update their child's SMART Goal.

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In order to ensure that our students are receiving intervention in their greatest area of deficit in Math, consider turning off the domains. For example if your students need help with foundational numeracy, leave only the Number and Operations Domain on. Instructions for completing this task can be found on pages A13-A14 in the manual below.  The directions include turning off domains for one student or all students in a class.

For enrichment, consider challenging Tier 1 students by turning off all domains except for the one that you are currently teaching. This will push the students and give them extra practice on the day-to-day content. This can also be done by adding extra lessons, but turning off domains takes less time.

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During our TWAG professional development session that our SCS District Instructional Facilitators conducted at the school. A couple of teachers mentioned that the links to the Florida Center for Reading Research were not working. Below you will find a link to a Dropbox folder that contains all of the activities for K-1. I hope that by downloading them and placing them here, it will make it easier for you to plan work stations that help your students master phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, high-frequency words, and comprehension skills.  The file is very large. You might just want to bookmark it or just continue to access it from here. I hope that it helps!!

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Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and share them easily. Never email yourself a file again!

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Phonemic Awareness & Phonological Awareness: The Foundation For Literacy | Sight Words: Teach Your Child to Read

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Phonemic Awareness & Phonological Awareness: The Foundation For Literacy | Sight Words: Teach Your Child to Read

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Sightwords.com is a FREE tool that can be used to by parents and teachers to ensure that every child learns to read fluently.

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Learn about phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, and phonemes and why they are so important for learning to read. More

Phonemic awareness is the ability to think about, analyze, and manipulate the sound structure of individual words. This pre-reading skill, also called phonological awareness, will make phonics that much easier for your child. It is the foundation of a child's reading ability - if a child can't hear the individual sounds in a word, he will always struggle to figure out the letters in that word. More
Phonemic awareness is the skill of hearing the difference between bat and mat and understanding that changing the /b/ sound in bat to an /mmm/ sound can create a different word.
↑ Top We at SightWords.com have created a comprehensive curriculum for phonemic awareness instruction. It is intended for parents to use with one child in the home as well as for preschool teachers to use in the classroom. The curriculum is divided into eleven sections, each containing about ten activities and games. All the activities are designed to be short and engaging. Just go through the curriculum in order, as later exercises will build upon the skills learned in earlier exercises. Refer to our Teaching Tips for suggestions on planning lessons and tailoring activities to your child. How long will this take? For typically developing four-year-olds, it takes about ten months, or one school year, to go through the entire Phonemic Awareness Curriculum. More↑ Top Phonemic awareness makes learning to read easier. A child with phonemic awareness can already blend sounds into words, and so she finds phonics more intuitive. When a child can separate words into sounds, spelling (breaking words into letters) becomes easier.
"Teach[ing] phonemic awareness...accelerates reading and writing growth of the entire classroom..."Ingvar Lundberg, "Phonemic Awareness in Young Children"
A typical child entering elementary school with high phonemic awareness is almost certain to become a skilled and confident reader. A child with low phonemic awareness is likely to struggle with phonics and reading. ↑ Top
Leave a Reply

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Phonemic Awareness & Phonological Awareness: The Foundation For Literacy | Sight Words: Teach Your Child to Read

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Learn about phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, and phonemes and why they are so important for learning to read. More Phonemic awareness is the ability to think about, analyze, and manipulate the sound structure of individual words. This pre-reading skill, also called phonological awareness, will make phonics that much easier for your child.

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The following site has model lessons in all content areas by grade level. One suggestion that I have is to watch the grade 1 Reading lesson. It shows a teacher connecting her whole group mini lesson, with her small group instruction and how she implements work stations. There are Math, Science, and Social Studies content on this site as well. If it asks for a login, setting up an account is FREE. I hope that it helps.

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Search - Ayers Institute for Teacher Learning & Innovation | Lipscomb University

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Lipscomb University is a faith-based, liberal arts institution dedicated to challenging students academically, spiritually and as global community citizens.

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If you only have two TEM observations this school year. Your observer will look for all 7 Teach Indicators during your lessons.

The following videos shows a teacher integrating all three Common Core shifts during a reading students are reading from an informational text. Reading, Science, and Social Studies teachers might find these strategies useful.

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ELA.RI.2.1

Common core State Standards

ELA: English Language Arts

RI: Reading Standards for Informational Text K-\x80\x935

2: 2nd Grade

1:
Ask and answer such questions as who, what,
where, when, why, and how to demonstrate
understanding of key details in a text.

Download Common Core State Standards (PDF 1.2 MB)

|

ELA.RI.2.5

Common core State Standards

ELA: English Language Arts

RI: Reading Standards for Informational Text K-\x80\x935

2: 2nd Grade

5:
Know and use various text features (e.g.,
captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries,
indexes, electronic menus, icons) to locate key
facts or information in a text efficiently.

Download Common Core State Standards (PDF 1.2 MB)

|

ELA.SL.2.1a

Common core State Standards

ELA: English Language Arts

SL: Speaking and Listening Standards K-\x80\x935

2: 2nd Grade

1a:
Participate in collaborative conversations with
diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts
with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

a. Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g.,
gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to
others with care, speaking one at a time about
the topics and texts under discussion).

b. Build on others'\x80\x99 talk in conversations by linking
their comments to the remarks of others.

c. Ask for clarification and further explanation
as needed about the topics and texts under
discussion.

Download Common Core State Standards (PDF 1.2 MB)

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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

How does Ms. Gavin help her students own the learning goal of the lesson?

What strategies does Ms. Gavin use to scaffold the learning?

How does this lesson build students' academic language?

School Details

William Paca Elementary School
200 North Lakewood Avenue
Baltimore MD 21224

Data Provided By:

Teachers

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Informational Texts: Reading for Inquiry

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Students in Nicole Gavin's second grade class ask and answer questions about key details in informational texts. First, Nicole and her students take time to discuss the lesson's objective. Next, Nicole models how to ask questions of a text. Then, students move to their cooperative groups where they read texts and write questions on sticky notes.

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Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and share them easily. Never email yourself a file again!

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At Bruce, we utilize the Response to Instruction and Intervention framework. It is a three tier model that provides an ongoing process of instruction and intervention for students which enables them to get the support they need at their instructional level. This leads to students making progress and helps to move all students to meeting grade level proficiency expectations. Based on the results of our universal screening, Illuminate Fastbridge, we are able to identify two things. The first is the instructional skills that students are ready to learn. The other is the percentage of students who are achieving at either one or two or more levels below their enrolled grade level in Reading, Language Arts, and Mathematics. In order to assist these students, we have set aside time in our master schedules for students to receive intervention on a daily basis. The students who fall into these categories are placed in tiers and given intensive interventions for forty-five minutes each school day. Tier 2 students, or those who score one grade level below their enrolled grade level, receive intensive small group instruction twice a week during the intervention block. The other three days they are placed on a web-based intervention programs such as iReady and Illuminate Fastbridge. Students who are placed in Tier 3, or those who score two or more grade levels below their enrolled grade level, receive intensive small group instruction three times a week during the intervention block. The other two days these students are placed on the web-based intervention programs to get practice in their greatest area of need in Reading and/or Mathematics. Since this is only the second year of implementation, our goal is to work towards managing our instructional time to ensure that students are receiving the appropriate amount of time in intervention each day and planning activities that are based on students greatest area of deficit.

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Evidence-based Writing (Reading: Shift# 2)

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Evidence-based Writing (Reading: Shift# 2)

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As we continue to implement the instructional shifts in Reading, it is important that students have opportunities to practice speaking, reading, and writing using evidence from complex texts. Below you will find links by grade bands to plans that will help you teach students to do just this when you write.

Grades K-1 Plan for Implementation:
https://www.literacyta.com/literacy-skills/argument-writing-plan-discover

Grades 2-3 Plan for Implementation:
https://www.literacyta.com/literacy-skills/argument-writing-plan-soar

Grades 4-5 Plan for Implementation:
https://www.literacyta.com/literacy-skills/argument-writing-plan-elementary

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Test Prep Practice Links (Comprehension Work Station Materials)

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Test Prep Practice Links (Comprehension Work Station Materials)

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Below you will find links to practice testing materials. Consider adding a work ststion that contains questions with stems that look similar to the questions found on these sample tests. I will continue to add links as I find them.

Question stems by grade level can be found at the following links:
Grade K:
http://kidsatthecore.com/QuestionStems/GrK-CCSS-RLRIQS.pdf
Grade 1:  http://kidsatthecore.com/QuestionStems/Gr1-CCSS-MathQS.pdf
Reading: http://kidsatthecore.com/QuestionStems/Gr1-CCSS-RLRIQS.pdf
Math:
Grade 2:
Reading/LA: http://kidsatthecore.com/QuestionStems/Gr2-CCSS-RLRIQS.pdf
Math: http://kidsatthecore.com/QuestionStems/Gr2-CCSS-MathQS.pdf
Grade 3:
Reading/LA: http://www.kidsatthecore.com/QuestionStems/Gr3-CCSS-RLRIQS.pdf
Math: http://kidsatthecore.com/QuestionStems/Gr3-CCSS-MathQS.pdf
Science: http://kidsatthecore.com/QuestionStems/NGSS/NGSS3rdQuestionStems.pdf
Grade 4:
Reading/LA: http://kidsatthecore.com/QuestionStems/Gr4-CCSS-RLRIQS.pdf
Math: http://kidsatthecore.com/QuestionStems/Gr4-CCSS-MathQS.pdf
Science: http://kidsatthecore.com/QuestionStems/NGSS/NGSS4thQuestionStems.pdf
Grade 5:
Reading/LA: http://kidsatthecore.com/QuestionStems/Gr5-CCSS-RLRIQS.pdf
Math: http://www.kidsatthecore.com/QuestionStems/Gr5-CCSS-MathQS.pdf
Science: http://www.kidsatthecore.com/QuestionStems/NGSS/NGSS5thQuestionStems.pdf

Sample tests:
1. Questar (our new testing publishing company):
https://ms-practice.nextera.questarai.com/student/Webclient/PracticeTest/

2. PARCC practice testing items:
https://parcc.pearson.com/practice-tests/

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TEM evaluations have begun for this school year. Please review the attached document. It connects the district's CLIP components, TEM characteristics, and Instructional shifts. These look-fors should be present in each lesson that you teach.

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In addition to showing evidence of all three instructional shifts. You must also ensure that all students understand what mastery of a standard looks like consider using "criteria for success." The video below illustrates how to ensure that all students know the expectations for learning

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Targeting Learning with Success Criteria

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Why setting criteria for success for your students will help them achieve learning targets. Video also goes over how to implement criteria for success in lessons.

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The quality work description template is attached below. Be sure to complete each section on the form and post it next to the student work that you are displaying inside and outside of the classroom. Just for clarification, the Quad D section refers to the highest level of the Rigor and Relevance quadrant/Depth of Knowledge. More information will be shared during PLC meetings over the next couple of weeks. If you would like to learn a little bit on your own, click on the link to hear from the author of the Rigor and Relevance Framework, Mr. William Daggett. Link to video: https://youtu.be/S6o2tf_A63A

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Is your classroom task aligned to your grade level Common Core Standard?  

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Is your classroom task aligned to your grade level Common Core Standard?  

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As we revisit the CCSS this school year, we will be working to make sure that our tasks on the table are aligned to our grade level standards. Below you will find links to Common Core Bookmarks in Literacy and Mathematics. Please note that although Science and Social Studies standards are not available in the bookmark format. Links to Science and Social Studies standards are available in the document as well.

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This school year, all intervention programs (iStation, i-Ready) will be accessed using the link at clever.com/in/scs . In order to learn how this new system works, please watch the short video below.

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Jefferson Parish on Clever Instant Login

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How to log into your learning apps in Shelby County Schools for the 2016-17 school year

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A quick overview of Clever and how to log into the district's single sign-on portal (clever.com/in/scs), where teachers and students will access their accounts for Achieve3000, i-Ready, and other learning applications for the 2016-17 school year.

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As you continue to study the Eureka Math curriculum this school year and teach it to your students. We hope that you find these resources helpful. In the attached document, you will find links to tutorials for each lesson that you will teach this year in Math. You will also find a link to resources that you could give to parents so that they can help their children at home.  Click on the link below and go to "create a free account". After you create your account, I suggest adding these materials to your cart: "Eureka Math Print Materials" and the Parent Tip sheets" so that you can download and print them.

Resources can be found at the following links:
Eureka Math PowerPoints and
Teaching Resources:
https://sites.google.com/a/lpssonline.com/lpssmath/

Eureka Math/Engage NY Resources:
http://campbellusdmath.weebly.com/curriculum.html

Link to FREE Eureka Math resources on GreatMinds:

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Beginning this school year, our task is to include the first three shifts in Mathematics in our instruction each day. During the session today, we discussed the shifts as well as the eight mathematical practices and strategies that students should learn in order to be able to solve complex problems. The attached PowerPoint explains in detail and gives examples of what the three shifts, Rigor, Coherence, and Focus, should look like in a Mathematics classroom.

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It is essential that we prepare our students to be College and Career-Ready. This can be done by incorporated the first three Instructional Shifts. These shifts include building background knowledge for our students by have a 50-50 split between nonfiction and fiction texts. Shift two states that we must engage our students with complex texts which includes academic vocabulary on a regular basis. The last shift involves us allowing students to regularly practice reading, speaking, and listening that is grounded in both information and literary texts. Examples of how this can be incorporated in the attached PowerPoint.