Shifting to Academic Writing

Team:

Selah Bryan, our Literacy CSS, came to support our school yesterday in the area of academic writing. You received a hard copy of the presentation yesterday. Below please click the image below to download a PDF of the DRAFT of the document for your review.

https://sites.google.com/site/belairecoachscorner/academic%20writing%20ppt%20pdf.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

It is important that we understand this shift in order to tailor our instruction to prepare our students for the demands of the FSA.

As always, please see Ms. Chapman if you need assistance in implementing academic writing in your classroom.

iReady PPT and Webinar for Viewing

As you are all aware, the district has purchased iReady for both Reading and Math. It is being highly recommended that you view the training webinar in order to ensure proper implementation of the diagnostic assessment as well as the program itself. The district has made available to PPT presentation and webinar for you to view.

Click the link below to download. You will need to be on the dadeschools network:

DOWNLOAD

Anchor Chart Presentation

Literacy Team:

Our CSS, Selah Bryan, created and shared with our school a PPT presentation on anchor charts.

To download the document, click here. Enjoy!

Division of Language Arts & Reading Website

Reading teachers:

It is being strongly recommended from the district that you utilize the Division of Language Arts website. There is a lot of great information on there. It is being updated and overhauled to be even more user friendly. Add this great resource to your favorites if you haven't already.

http://languageartsreading.dadeschools.net/resourcesandlinks.asp

PACING GUIDES ARE NOW AVAILABLE

Reading/Language Arts Teachers:

Pacing guides are now available on Learning Village. It is important that you read through them thoroughly as they have been revised to reflect the Florida Standards.

Any pacing guides you have pulled previously were outdated. Please make sure to use only the updated documents published 8/5/14.

As always, we will be diving in to these documents together, but I just wanted to give you a head start!

Promethean Boards: Just The Basics

Now that the Promethean boards are installed throughout our school, it is recommended that you attend one of the District provided PD sessions on how to use them. However, this is not the only way to learn more about these Interactive White Boards. YouTube has TONS of tutorials on how to use the boards. Below you will be able to watch the basics of this technology. The possibilities for use of this technology in the classroom are endless, but hopefully, this will get you started. Leave a comment if you found this to be helpful.

Stay in the Know: READ YOUR WEEKLY BRIEFINGS

Please see the weekly briefing below regarding the FSA (Florida Standards Assessments).

Briefing ID #: 15862 ALL SCHOOL PRINCIPALS: ITS - Information regarding the Online Portal and Resources for the Florida Standards Assessments Category: For Your Information

Audience:	All Principals/APs
Post Date:	Jul 03, 2014
Due Date:	n/a
Meeting Date:	n/a
Master Calendar:	n/a
Attachment(s):	15862_-_ATTACHMENT_-_CBT_Transition_Chart.pdf

To notify principals and assistant principals with information regarding the Florida Standards Assessments (FSA) online portal as well as the release of some FSA resources.

• The Florida Department of Education has released information on the new FSA online portal available at  http://www.fsassessments.org/.   Districts, schools, students, parents, and the general public can access this site for information on the new assessments. 
• In addition, this portal will serve as the primary location for schools and district administrators to access resources for test administration and to conduct activities related to computer-based testing (CBT), test management and reporting.
  • TIDE is American Institutes for Research (AIR’s) online test management system and Online Reporting System (ORS) is AIR’s test results delivery system.  Both sites will require a username and password.  More information regarding these systems will be provided in early fall. 
• The memorandum by the Commissioner of Education may be found at this LINK outlining the following resources now available on the portal:
  • Training Tests are intended to provide students, parents, and educators with an opportunity to become familiar with the item types and functionality of the new CBT platform produced by AIR.
    • Sample items for different grade levels and subject areas are available for the following: 
      • Grades 4-11 FSA English Language Arts (ELA) Writing Component  
      • Grades 3-11 FSA ELA (Reading, Language, and Listening)
      • Grades 3-8 FSA Mathematics
      • FSA End-of-Course (EOC) Mathematics
    • Please note the following important information regarding the training tests:
      • The new platform allows users to select new features such as color contrast/print size, zoom, and audio that were previously only available as an accommodation for students with disabilities on the FCAT and EOC assessments.
      • CBT accommodations, such as text to speech for students with disabilities, are not available on these training tests at this time. Information on the CBT accommodations will be provided when it becomes available.
      • Assessments for students in Grades 3 and 4 will be paper-based in 2014, 2015, however sample tests are provided for these grades as well which illustrate the types of items that will be available once each assessment moves to online delivery (please refer to the attached CBT transition chart). 
      • The ratio/percentage of items of each item type in the training tests is NOT representative of the ratio/percentage of items of each that will appear in the operational tests.
  • DRAFT Test Design Summary/Blueprints provide more detailed information about the assessments, including the percentage of items in each content category, cognitive complexity and appropriate number of test items.
  • DRAFT Test Item Specifications guide the development of statewide assessment items and define the content and format of the test items for each grade level and subject.

Transitioning to FAIR-FS

Florida is transitioning to an updated version of the FAIR to be known as the FAIR-FS. The assessment will reflect the new Language Arts Florida Standards and will provide a Probability of Literacy Success (PLS).

The state of Florida will be providing training to select personnel throughout the summer, however, you can get a head start on learning what the new changes to the assessment are and what this means for your instruction.

Download the Webinar Training PPT

Download the FAIR-FS Fact Sheet

Stay tuned for additional information as it becomes available!

Language Arts Florida Standards (LAFS)

After a short (or not so short) hiatus, the Common Core Campaign is back in action! Check back through the remainder of the year and summer for updates and information to stay in the know.

Florida is now using the Language Arts Florida Standards. These include slight modifications and changes from the Common Core Standards. To view the standards (including the highlighted changes), visit the following:

http://www.fldoe.org/pdf/lafs.pdf

View it. Save it. Print it. Know it. :-)

DOK Question Stems

DOK Question Stems

 

 

Download the DOK question stems by clicking here. Ask yourself: Are your students given the opportunity to move beyond DOK1? We will be taking a closer look at HOT questioning and the DOK Question stems during upcoming grade level planning sessions.

Oh SNAP! Making students Serious aNd Accountable for their Progress...

Reading teachers in grades 3-5 met today to establish our learning community's data wall (photos to come!). I encourage you to develop a "student friendly" version of this tool for your classroom in order to help make students accountable for their progress.

A Pinterest search revealed some creative, classroom friendly ways to display data respectfully in your classroom. Take a look and see if you get inspired!

Click HERE to visit Ms. Chapman's Data Wall board on Pinterest!

Common Boards Configurations v. 2013

The 4th Grade team showcase elements of their Common Board Configurations in their respective subject areas. These CBCs are used as teaching tools in the classrooms as they help students take ownership of their learning. Sentence strips or creative labels and simple electrical tape (available at the Dollar Store) help define the space. How do you utilize a Common Board Configuration? Leave us a comment and let us know.

 

Textbook Adoption 2013-2014

IMPORTANT!!

Teachers,

Miami Dade County has selected McGraw-Hill Reading Wonders as our core series. You can log in to a demo account to begin checking out all of the resources that this series has to offer. You will be given your own access code for this site in the future. There are a myriad of resources available online so it is worth taking a look at including a Professional Development tab that offers videos that provide a comprehensive overview of the program.

To log in:

http://connected.mcgraw-hill.com/connected/

Username: flwonders
Password: wonders2014

Please note that you will be given assistance in implementing this series. This information is meant to give you a heads up and chance to take a "sneak peek" of our new core program.

Common Core Tools Courtesy of North Carolina



North Carolina has unpacked the Common Core Standards for ELA and Math!

Please visit the tools that they have to offer to add to your "Common Core Toolbox"  including: crosswalks, unpacked standards, exemplar documents, and graphic organizers. There are documents available for both ELA and Math.

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

Thoughts? Questions? Leave a comment below.

Novel Study

Students at Bel-Aire are enjoying novel studies in their Reading classrooms. Head over to the Campaign Snapshots by clicking the photo below to sneak a peek at some of the awesome activities going on with these units!

ELA Common Core Simplified

We all know that the transition to the Common Core can seem overwhelming. Luckily, there are a lot of useful tools from around the country that we can utilize to help make planning and implementation a little bit easier.

The Tulare County Office of Education has put out templates for the each of the ELA Common Core Standards from grades 1-5. Each template provides a comprehensive breakdown of the standard including: the standard, anchor, essential skills, academic vocabulary and Spanish cognates, teaching notes and strategies (with performance tasks pulled directly from Appendix B), question stems, and the correlating standard for the grade above and the grade below.

This is a very helpful document as we try to navigate through the Common Core. To download the template for your grade level, click on the link below.

Common Core Templates at Common Core Connect

Did you find this document helpful? If so, let us know in the comments!

Assessment with Exit Tickets

Check out this fantastic video from the Teaching Channel on assessment with exit tickets.

Teaching the Core: Close Reading

Teachers:

This is just a reminder that on Thursday, February 28, 2013 Ms. Thompson will be holding a professional development from the Teaching the Core series.

Teaching the Core: Close Reading will be held immediately following intermediate dismissal. Location is to be announced.

Don't forget -- registration closes two hours before the start of the session so please register ASAP if you are interested in this professional development opportunity.

Make it HOT: Developing Higher Order Questions

Reading teachers have been working hard at developing higher order (HOT) questions to stimulate student thinking and develop deeper comprehension of a variety of texts.

Here are some additional resources to assist you in developing these questions for your lessons! Please see Ms. Thompson if you have any questions or need additional assistance utilizing these tools.

1. Reading Stems From ISAT Sample Test (2012) -- Download

2. Reading Stems From ISAT Sample Test (2013) -- Download

3. Inferential Question Maker -- Download

4. Literal Question Maker -- Download

5. What Questions Would a Common Core Teacher Ask? -- Download

Exploring the Gradual Release Model

Source: The Teaching Channel