Week 2

Great Things I Noticed:

• Teachers being intentional and teaching behavior expectations - Kinder on the playground,  3rd grade walking in line, 6th grade working on transitions... Keep it up!  It will pay off in the end!
• A positive and excited school community - students, teachers, parents and staff!  
• A great cafeteria staff that really takes care of our students!
• Doree's "A Successful Teacher" poster! 
• Staff Shout Outs!  Who can you give a shout out to this week?  

Nuts and Bolts:

Digital Citizenship Curriculum Update

The Department of Innovation and Learner Engagement has revised and updated Digital Citizenship lessons for all students. Information about the update can be found HERE.

The new site with all resources and materials can be accessed HERE for elementary, HERE for middle schools, and HERE for high schools. If you have any questions about the new curriculum, please contact Caryn Sanchez Cmsanchez@rusdlearns.net (Elementary) or Ariana Flewelling Aflewelling@rusdlearns.net (Secondary)

RUSD Knowledge Base

The Department of Innovation and Learner Engagement is proud to announce the release of the Riverside Unified School District’s Knowledge Base. The Knowledge Base is an area where all RUSD staff can go to learn about the technology tools that are available in the District. ILE is currently collaborating with Technology Services and Research, Assessment, and Evaluation to offer self paced information and training on applications like Google tools, Aeries, Illuminate, PowerSchool Learning, and much more. There is also information available on what to do to prepare for the start of the school year and what to do to prepare for Summer. To visit the Knowledge Base, please go to https://kb.rusdlearns.net today!

2019 Lois B. Krieger Water Project Grants for Educators

Receive up to $1000 in classroom funding.  Deadline to apply is November 9, 2018.  This is a great opportunity for schools and teachers to receive some additional funding for science.  Please click here for the website with the application.  

Through the grant program, educators and students have the opportunity to become actively engaged in educational and water-related projects.  This program continues to have a wide-ranging impact on students and educators in Western’s general service area.  The application filing period began on August 1.  The deadline to apply is Friday, November 9.  Teachers in Western’s service area are eligible to apply.  For a list of public schools visit: http://wmwd.com/366/Qualifying-Schools  

 For questions regarding the grant application process email: LDeGrave@WMWD.com

Application for the Lois B. Krieger Water Project Grants for Educators

https://bit.ly/2vWYEgq

K-6 DIBELS INITIAL TRAINING

DIBELS training for new teachers is scheduled for:

     Wednesday, August 22, 2018

     3:45pm-5:15pm

University Heights Middle School, Room 410

Teachers are instructed to bring a charged device

Teachers will be reminded to sign up on the RUSD Professional HUB

8//22/2018 Eureka Day 1 Make-up training

Welcome back! We had approximately 40 teachers unable to attend  the Eureka Launch Training Days that we had between April and July.  We are having one makeup session on 8/22 from 8:00–12:00 at EOC in room S4/S5.  Please remind any new teachers or teachers who were unable to attend to sign up on the PD Hub to attend this session.   There will be no other makeup sessions for this training due to calendar and sub availability.

Any question please reach out to Karon Woolsey (kwoolsey@rusd.k12.ca.us)

Focus: 

Writing to Explain in Math:

When starting to think about how to teach our students to write to explain effectively in math, a good place to start is SMP 6 (Attend to precision).  I found a blog post on Teaching Channel, written by Ryan McCarthy that talks about how to unpack this process of teaching students to write effectively during math time (find the entire blog post here).  

Here are the steps he suggests teachers go through (collaboratively) to design lessons that really get students to write well in math.  

Getting Started with Writing Explanations in Math

Here is a process I recommend for getting started with writing explanations in math, adapted from my own work coaching teachers. It is most powerful when used by a team of teachers who plan together.

Unpacking the Standard

1. Begin with the language of SMP 6 itself. First, read the "Commentary and Elaborations" document for SMP 6 (available for grades K-5 and 6-8) developed by Illustrative Mathematics. (You might be interested in checking out the recently published Teaching Channel video series sponsored by Illustrative Mathematics.) This document includes the language of the SMP, and helpful annotations and elaborations that explain what the standard looks like at different grade levels. As you read the standard, underline words and phrases you think are particularly important, and then discuss with a colleague what you underlined and why.

2. Next, make a simple T-Chart with elements of SMP 6 that students can do now, and things that are new or are a challenge for students.

Seeing the Standard in Practice

3. After you have an idea of what the standard asks of students, watch videos of students explaining their thinking to get a better idea of how it looks in an actual classroom. Inside Mathematics has a series of several videos of SMP 6 in action at different grade levels. Use insights from these videos to refine your list from Step 2.

4. Now, brainstorm what a good written explanation in math should contain. Return to your T-Chart from Step 2 and determine how these elements would show up in student writing, keeping in mind it may be a combination of words, graphs, equations, and drawings. These "look fors," based on SMP 6 and developed for a school district in Michigan, are a great starting place. Make a list of the characteristics of an effective written explanation in math for your grade level and create an anchor chart. Then identify characteristic(s) you want to target first.

5. Examine your unit plan for an upcoming unit, and determine content standards that would be a good fit for SMP 6 and writing explanations. Craft an objective targeting a specific characteristic (Step 4) you want to address. Then work as a team to create or adapt existing models of a good math explanation highlighting this characteristic. Share these models with students by doing a think aloud as you write your explanation, to help them see the connection between writing and thinking. Once students get comfortable writing explanations, have them examine examples written by their peers. Make a math explanation rubric as a class and post it so everyone can see!

Assessing Student Explanations

If students are going to be expected to explain their thinking, it helps to have a rigorous task that asks them to do so. The team at Mathematics Assessment Project has gathered a number of assessments that align with SMP 6. Requiring a written explanation of the steps or procedure students took in completing one of these assessments is yet another way to incorporate Writing to Explain in your instruction.

Time to Write!

Asking students to write out an explanation of how they solved a problem can give you unique insight into student thinking that goes much further than “show your work” ever will. After students can write explanations, switch the focus to making arguments about which approach to solving a problem is most effective (SMP 3). It pairs nicely with Writing Anchor Standard 1, but that’s a topic for another blog.

More ideas on how to get your students writing in math can be found at the following sites: 

http://mashupmath.com/blog/2017/3/30/5-ideas-for-writing-in-the-elementary-math-classroom

This one has FREE PRINTABLES!  

https://teachingtoinspire.com/2016/07/students-writing-in-math.html 

This article from Reading Rockets has student examples:

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/integrating-writing-and-mathematics

Pinteresting Ideas

   https://bit.ly/2MDWbRt  

 

https://bit.ly/2vWYEgq

             

                                                                        

Upcoming Events:

8/20 - IEP  - 2:30

8/21 - TRFCC Tuesday (Blue)

8/21 - SST - 8:00

8/21 - IEP - 3:00

8/21 - Band - 8:40, 9:10, 1:35, 2:05

8/22 - Team Meeting - 2:55
8/23 - Principals Meeting - 8:30-12:30 (Carrie off campus)
8/24 - Hawk Shop/Spirit Day
8/24 - Fundraiser Kickoff Assemblies (K-3 :00-2:20/4-6 2:30 - 3:00)

8/27 - Principal Collaborative - 12:30-3:30 (Carrie off campus)

8/28 - Raptor Webinar - 1:30-2:30 (Office - light staff)

8/28 - Strengths Champion Meeting - 3:45 (Carrie off campus at 3:00)

8/31 - Spirit Day

Birthdays: 

8/21 - Tina (6th Grade)

  

8/24 - James (M/S SDC)
8/26 - Ron (1st Grade)
8/26 - Steve (6th Grade)
8/29 - Carol (M/M SDC)
8/29 - Karla (Noon Supervision)