Over the summer, many of the teachers at Pioneer Central came together to work on designing their curriculum, improving instruction and creating common assessments. All of them deserve recognition for the work they accomplished, but the teachers in 5th grade really caught my attention. Not only did they re-design their common core math units, but they consistently displayed the qualities of a great team. As a group, they set clear and demanding performance goals. Each of their math units include “big ideas”, essential questions, Common Core Standards, goal sheets, problem sets, exit tickets, student note sheets, power vocabulary and “I can” statements. They incorporate Thoughtful Education tools and strategies and use a combination of direct instruction and gradual release to help their students learn together and succeed independently.
Their work environment was comfortable and relaxed. I witnessed several discussions in which everyone participated and it was obvious that the teachers felt comfortable expressing their feelings as well as their ideas. There was laughter as well as serious moments when disagreements occurred, but in the end everyone worked together and the group produced student workbooks that will be shared and used in all of the Grade 5 classrooms. “Our job is to teach students how to think, and not just put a workbook in front of them” states Julie Gates . . . “Everyone is humble and everyone gives ideas. It makes you want to work for your team, when you are supported”. Colby Rehrauer added “There is so much to do, and it’s always changing . . . you have to be unselfish – you have to be willing to share. We are professionals. We are in it together.” The 5th grade team is made up of Julie Gates, Michelle Kline, Jessica Kamats, Colby Rehrauer, (all pictured above) as well as Eric Kramer and Jessica Kleinschmidt. In addition, Yvonne Gillette and Ellen Farrell will assist in the classroom as Special Education consultant teachers, and RTI specialists Stephanie Jordan (math), Mark Mitrowski and Cheri Ludwick (ELA) will be working with struggling students. By Mary Morris, CA BOCES and Pioneer Central School The motto at Delevan Elementary is “We are in this together and better collectively than we are separately.” The Common Core Learning standards have been a guiding force in instruction as well as a learning process for ALL K-4 teachers including special area teachers, who have made a significant contribution to the movement. “Common Core and the six instructional shifts methodology does not silence the creative voice; it enhances the aesthetic process and provides opportunity for higher level thinking skills” (engageny.org).
The special area teachers at Delevan have seamlessly and consistently integrated both the Common Core ELA and Mathematics standards into their curriculum. In both art and music classes, students create, explore, build vocabulary, and complete written reflections/self-assessments aligned to the CCLS Writing standards. To hook the students into a new unit, visuals and technology resources are used along with historical background that aligns to the CCLS Informational Reading standards. Students are provided with weekly experiences that provide Career and College Readiness skills along with the 4 C’s in 21st Century Learning; critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity. “The Common Core Learning standards act as a thread that helps knit together a well-rounded learning experience for every student while supporting colleagues cross- curricular” (www.engageny.org). In the library media center, lessons are aligned to appropriate grade level Common Core Reading and Writing Learning standards. Students in Grades K-4 are exposed to reading and writing across a variety of genres including narrative, expository, and persuasive text. Students learn about author’s purpose, characteristics of nonfiction and fiction, text features and text structures. Students in the class learn how to collect information from multiple sources and compile it into a short research paper. Physical Education is a place where students bodies are participating in physical activities, while their minds are critically thinking at the same time. Students participating in physical education classes are engaged in literacy infused lessons on a daily basis. Students are responsible for problem solving and peer collaboration. Thematic units that align with school wide literacy efforts are implemented. For example, K-4 students participated in an Olympic games unit that correlated with the school’s reading celebration, titled “Go For the Gold”. Also, students in K-4 had a reading competition. For each book read and Accelerated Reading quiz completed, students earned a gold, silver or bronze medal. Each grade level chose a country and created a flag to display in the gymnasium. All medals earned were displayed near the flag. The physical education teachers were instrumental in making this school wide literacy effort fall into place. When students attend special area classes, they are” rocking the Common Core” by participating in the arts as readers, writers and thinkers! By Colleen Root, CA BOCES and Pioneer Central School Meeting the Demands of Common Core with Reading and Writing Workshop at Pioneer Central School6/6/2014
Students are meeting the demands of CCLS with the work being done in reading workshop as well. Like the writing workshop, during reading teachers are developing targeted and rigorous mini-lessons, selecting texts that challenge all learners, and including student choice in leveled reading materials designed to build a lifelong love of reading. Units often are built around a central text supplemented by relevant, nonfiction materials that build students’ background knowledge base on the topics or themes of the central text. Opportunities for students to engage in text-based conversations both in whole groups and small groups reinforce the skills being taught at the time, and those skills are then applied to the students’ independent reading selections. Ultimately students’ time with eyes on print is greater than ever, and that time will pay off as they progress through school. Teachers who are looking for the right fit for their classrooms may very well find that reading and writing workshop is an instructional approach worth pursuing. A workshop model provides a balance of structure and flexibility that responds to student needs while targeting the various standards. http://www.amyludwigvanderwater.com/ By: Amy Windus, Pioneer Central School and CA BOCES Students and teachers (of COSER 501 member districts) can access hundreds of thousands of digital resources using CABOCES Digital Kids.
www.cabocesdigitalkids.org Users may login to CABOCES DIGITAL KIDS to search clips and images or pass through to: Brain Pop (Jr., ESL, Espanol),Discovery, Learn 360, Sylvan Dell eBooks, Teaching Books, Tumblebooks, Soundszabound, Gale Cengage, Regents Review (Lisa Byers, a Kindergarten teacher at Arcade Elementary School confers with her students)
This past October, I had the opportunity to attend a week at the Writer’s Workshop Coaching Institute at Columbia University Teachers College. One of the highlights of an exceptionally informative week was attending a workshop with Carl Anderson. For those of you that haven’t heard of Carl Anderson, he is an author and literacy consultant who has written several books that give useful ideas for effectively conferring with students about their writing. Two books in particular that provide useful, effective, and practical tips and strategies are: How’s it Going? A Practical Guide to Conferring with Student Writers and Assessing Writers. |
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