Awesome Resource: Watch Know Learn

Here is a wonderful video resource that you can add to your bag of tricks. I'm including a video I found in under 1 minute. There are literally thousands of videos to search and use. Many of them are imported from YouTube, but are presented on this site in a format we can use in our rooms. Check it out!

Video Duck for President

 http://www.watchknowlearn.org/Video.aspx?VideoID=40183

 Website
 http://www.watchknowlearn.org/

Rigor Again- New CCES Math Processes

You don't have to wait to start implementing Common Core in Math.  We can begin adding rigor and practicing using Common Core math process standards now.  Our Math department has said to us that we should  be infusing our instruction now with the following 8 processes or habits of mind.  Try to add these into your lesson plans for every lesson.  Have a discussion at one of your PLC meetings about these standards and what they would look like in the classroom. 

The following  taken from :

http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards/mathematics/introduction/standards-for-mathematical-practice/

1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.

Mathematically proficient students start by explaining to themselves the meaning of a problem and looking for entry points to its solution. They analyze givens, constraints, relationships, and goals. They make conjectures about the form and meaning of the solution and plan a solution pathway rather than simply jumping into a solution attempt. They consider analogous problems, and try special cases and simpler forms of the original problem in order to gain insight into its solution. They monitor and evaluate their progress and change course if necessary. Older students might, depending on the context of the problem, transform algebraic expressions or change the viewing window on their graphing calculator to get the information they need. Mathematically proficient students can explain correspondences between equations, verbal descriptions, tables, and graphs or draw diagrams of important features and relationships, graph data, and search for regularity or trends. Younger students might rely on using concrete objects or pictures to help conceptualize and solve a problem. Mathematically proficient students check their answers to problems using a different method, and they continually ask themselves, “Does this make sense?” They can understand the approaches of others to solving complex problems and identify correspondences between different approaches.

2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.

Mathematically proficient students make sense of quantities and their relationships in problem situations. They bring two complementary abilities to bear on problems involving quantitative relationships: the ability to decontextualize—to abstract a given situation and represent it symbolically and manipulate the representing symbols as if they have a life of their own, without necessarily attending to their referents—and the ability to contextualize, to pause as needed during the manipulation process in order to probe into the referents for the symbols involved. Quantitative reasoning entails habits of creating a coherent representation of the problem at hand; considering the units involved; attending to the meaning of quantities, not just how to compute them; and knowing and flexibly using different properties of operations and objects.

3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.

Mathematically proficient students understand and use stated assumptions, definitions, and previously established results in constructing arguments. They make conjectures and build a logical progression of statements to explore the truth of their conjectures. They are able to analyze situations by breaking them into cases, and can recognize and use counterexamples. They justify their conclusions, communicate them to others, and respond to the arguments of others. They reason inductively about data, making plausible arguments that take into account the context from which the data arose. Mathematically proficient students are also able to compare the effectiveness of two plausible arguments, distinguish correct logic or reasoning from that which is flawed, and—if there is a flaw in an argument—explain what it is. Elementary students can construct arguments using concrete referents such as objects, drawings, diagrams, and actions. Such arguments can make sense and be correct, even though they are not generalized or made formal until later grades. Later, students learn to determine domains to which an argument applies. Students at all grades can listen or read the arguments of others, decide whether they make sense, and ask useful questions to clarify or improve the arguments.

4. Model with mathematics.

Mathematically proficient students can apply the mathematics they know to solve problems arising in everyday life, society, and the workplace. In early grades, this might be as simple as writing an addition equation to describe a situation. In middle grades, a student might apply proportional reasoning to plan a school event or analyze a problem in the community. By high school, a student might use geometry to solve a design problem or use a function to describe how one quantity of interest depends on another. Mathematically proficient students who can apply what they know are comfortable making assumptions and approximations to simplify a complicated situation, realizing that these may need revision later. They are able to identify important quantities in a practical situation and map their relationships using such tools as diagrams, two-way tables, graphs, flowcharts and formulas. They can analyze those relationships mathematically to draw conclusions. They routinely interpret their mathematical results in the context of the situation and reflect on whether the results make sense, possibly improving the model if it has not served its purpose.

5. Use appropriate tools strategically.

Mathematically proficient students consider the available tools when solving a mathematical problem. These tools might include pencil and paper, concrete models, a ruler, a protractor, a calculator, a spreadsheet, a computer algebra system, a statistical package, or dynamic geometry software. Proficient students are sufficiently familiar with tools appropriate for their grade or course to make sound decisions about when each of these tools might be helpful, recognizing both the insight to be gained and their limitations. For example, mathematically proficient high school students analyze graphs of functions and solutions generated using a graphing calculator. They detect possible errors by strategically using estimation and other mathematical knowledge. When making mathematical models, they know that technology can enable them to visualize the results of varying assumptions, explore consequences, and compare predictions with data. Mathematically proficient students at various grade levels are able to identify relevant external mathematical resources, such as digital content located on a website, and use them to pose or solve problems. They are able to use technological tools to explore and deepen their understanding of concepts.

6. Attend to precision.

Mathematically proficient students try to communicate precisely to others. They try to use clear definitions in discussion with others and in their own reasoning. They state the meaning of the symbols they choose, including using the equal sign consistently and appropriately. They are careful about specifying units of measure, and labeling axes to clarify the correspondence with quantities in a problem. They calculate accurately and efficiently, express numerical answers with a degree of precision appropriate for the problem context. In the elementary grades, students give carefully formulated explanations to each other. By the time they reach high school they have learned to examine claims and make explicit use of definitions.

7. Look for and make use of structure.

Mathematically proficient students look closely to discern a pattern or structure. Young students, for example, might notice that three and seven more is the same amount as seven and three more, or they may sort a collection of shapes according to how many sides the shapes have. Later, students will see 7 × 8 equals the well remembered 7 × 5 + 7 × 3, in preparation for learning about the distributive property. In the expression x² + 9x + 14, older students can see the 14 as 2 × 7 and the 9 as 2 + 7. They recognize the significance of an existing line in a geometric figure and can use the strategy of drawing an auxiliary line for solving problems. They also can step back for an overview and shift perspective. They can see complicated things, such as some algebraic expressions, as single objects or as being composed of several objects. For example, they can see 5 – 3(x – y)² as 5 minus a positive number times a square and use that to realize that its value cannot be more than 5 for any real numbers x and y.

8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

Mathematically proficient students notice if calculations are repeated, and look both for general methods and for shortcuts. Upper elementary students might notice when dividing 25 by 11 that they are repeating the same calculations over and over again, and conclude they have a repeating decimal. By paying attention to the calculation of slope as they repeatedly check whether points are on the line through (1, 2) with slope 3, middle school students might abstract the equation (y – 2)/(x – 1) = 3. Noticing the regularity in the way terms cancel when expanding (x – 1)(x + 1), (x – 1)(x² + x + 1), and (x – 1)(x³ + x2 + x + 1) might lead them to the general formula for the sum of a geometric series. As they work to solve a problem, mathematically proficient students maintain oversight of the process, while attending to the details. They continually evaluate the reasonableness of their intermediate results.

Curriculum Notes 1/10/12

DIBELS

Dibels Middle of Year Assessment window is 1/22-2/6. You will be recieving more information very soon. We will be using our same Sweep process. Stay tuned.

Before the Dibels MOY assessments (as you are completing your progress monitoring) if you run into any battery issues on your Nokia's please let me know. The school system is aware that our Nokia's are slowly passing away. We need to make sure that we have enough operational devices at the school level to complete the MOY process. Also, go ahead and plug in your device when your return it if there is any room.

I will be sharing the MOY reminders with the SWEEP team and all K-2 teachers.

Foundational Skills (not just K-2 anymore)

With the approaching Common Core standards, we all need to be aware that

ALL Teachers K-12 WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR TEACHING READING!

The Common Core ELA is broken down into the following areas:
Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, Language

Foudational Skills fall under the first area: Reading.

*Foundational Skills do not include comprehension and vocabulary.
*DIBELS assesses many of the foundational skills.
*In order for scaffolding to take place, we must firmly teach foundational skills.
*Foundational skills impact comprehension. Focus of reading without firm foundational skills turns into painfully slow decoding.  The reading looses meaning because the focus good readers use to think while reading is concentrated on decoding with readers who lack foundational skills.

The following skills are Foundational Skills- These are critical skills for ALL of our students.  There is good information about each of these areas on-line.  You will be hearing a lot more about Foundational Skils and the areas listed below specifically.

Print Concepts
Phonological Awareness
Phonics and Word Recognition
Fluency

Science Updates

February 14th District Science Fair
a. Over 3,000 in Scholarship and Prizes to be awarded
b. Focus is on getting back to Student Voices, schedule includes Edutainment and more student activities


RC Days will mirror 3rd and 4th Quarter Standards, so training should mirror 3rd and 4th Quarter Standards

One of the components of the RC days will be sharing and exchanging of ideas and lessons among teachers.

Grade	Third Quarter	Fourth Quarter
Kinder.	Matter: Properties and change	Earth Systems, Structures and Processes
1st	Earth in the Universe	Forces and Motion
2nd	Matter: Properties and Change	Forces and Motion
3rd	Earth in the Universe, Earth Systems, Structures and Processes	Structures and Functions of Living Organisms
Fourth	Forces and Motion, Energy: Conservation and Transfer	Matter: Properties and Change

District is offering afterschool Science workshops privately for teachers who would like to gain more insight into science on their grade level. Please see the staff development offerings for January.

                    Math Updates

K-2 Quarter Tests are in my office ready to distribute.  I will put them in your boxes as soon as I can.

There are 4 WSFCS Math CCSS Professional Development Modules

1. CCSS Math Wiki- 1st look at the standards

2. Module A- Standards for Mathematical Practice

3. Module B- Unpacking the Standards- this includes looking at the standards and identifying mathmatical tasks to correllate to those standards, January 23rd staff development will continue this area, K-5 Febrary  20 staff development will complete this process. Again, the focus is on the mathmatical tasks.  Please see the staff development offerings for January.  The next step will be a focus on Depth of Knowledge, which will be the focus on how deeply students need to understand the Math Common Core, that training will be a 1/2 day in March.

4. Module C-Common Core In Action

Do you know CCSS Vocabulary?

Domain

Cluster

Standards

Unpacking

Here is a wonderful explanation of the new standards.  Click the link, go to page 5.

http://www.corestandards.org/assets/CCSSI_Math%20Standards.pdf

Check out the updated Unpacking Documents at DPI when you get a chance.

http://www.ncpublicschools.org/acre/standards/common-core-tools/#unmath

January Staff Development

Happy New Year!  Here is a list of staff development offering for January.  Be sure to sign up online for these if you plan on attending.  ***You do not have to sign up for Common Core if you signed up for the last training in November. 

Title	Who	Date/Time	Place
EC SBS Teacher	SBS Teachers	Jan. 4/3:30-5:00	Admin. Center/EC Conference Room
EC/SLP’s Staying Current	EC SLP’s	Jan. 18/ 2:30-4:30	Education Building Room 223
PLC School Facilitators Monthy Support and Training	Elementary PLC Facilitators	Jan. 19/ 3:30-5:00	Union Cross ES Media
CCES: Music Education K-12	Music Ed.	Jan. 23/8:00-3:30	RJR  High
CCES: Math	K-5 Math Reps.	Jan. 23/8:30-3:30	Meadowlark Middle School
CCES: Social Studies	K-5 Social Studies Reps	Jan. 23/8:30-3:30	Kimmel Farm Elementary
CCES: EELA	K-5 EELA Reps	Jan. 23/8:30-3:30	Clemmons Middle School
CCES: Healthful Living	K-5 Phys. Ed	Jan. 23/8:30-3:30	Mineral Springs Middle
CCES: Science	K-5 Science Reps	Jan. 23/8:30-3:30	Sherwood Forest Elementary
Curriculum Connections Meeting	Optional 3-5 Social Studies Teachers	Jan. 25/3:30-5:00	Moore Elementary
Curriculum Connections Meeting	Optional 3-5 Social Studies Teachers	Jan. 28/3:30-5:00	Meadowlark Elementary

Collaboration? 21st Century Learners? Look here for more information.

Teachers, I have heard you loud and clear. Many of you are not comfortable with developing collaborative activities for your children. As you begin to research and implement ideas to make your classrooms more collaborative, you can start here! As we move deeper into our new evaluation model, it is imperative that all teachers implement collaboration in the classroom.  Check out the video and resources below. 



There are additional resources about Mr. Opitz's method here---free and downloadable! Thank you Edutopia!

http://www.edutopia.org/math-social-activity-cooperative-learning-video

This video is inspiring. How much do children learn from creating?



Thanks again to Edutopia!


Here are some other resources you can access for free. 
This site has wonderful resources, and shows video of teachers actually teaching cooperative learning at different levels. Linda-Darling Hammond does and introduction, and several experts provide commentary. This will give you a basis for developing cooperative learning plans.

http://www.learner.org/courses/learningclassroom/session_overviews/social_context_home7.html?pop=yes&pid=1864

http://www.learner.org/workshops/socialstudies/pdf/session6/6.CooperativeLearning.pdf

Common Core Video's

Are you tired of reading about Common Core?  Well, you can watch these short videos and still learn about it!  Hey, at least you are not reading it. 

Common Core General









Common Core ELA








Common Core Math

Science Infomation

Hello wonderful Speas Teachers.  I have uploaded several science documents on the S drive in the 'science' folder.  Take a look when you get a chance, there are some K-2 rubrics, a STC correllation, and a powerpoint that may be helpful.


The Science Department has created a livebinder for each grade level to use. 

The links are below.

Kindergarten:

Key is:

wsfcsksci

CC/ES 2011-2012 Science Kindergarten

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play_shared_binder?id=226870

2nd Grade

Key is:

wsfcs2sci

CC/ES 2011-2012 Science Second

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play_shared_binder?id=226890

3rd Grade

Key is:

wsfcs3sci

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play_shared_binder?id=228111

4th Grade:

Key is:

wsfcs4sci

CC/ES 2011-2012 Science Fourth

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play_shared_binder?id=226891

5th Gade

Key is:

wsfcs5sci

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play_shared_binder?id=228127

Also, DPI has created a Science Wikispace.  Here is the link to it:

 http://scnces.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/