Friday Focus - January 5, 2018

Great Things I Noticed this Week:

• 1st graders reading non-fiction books, stopping to record key terms on to post-it notes that they recognized as important about their topic to become an expert on.
• 2nd graders reading non-fiction books, stopping to record important details to highlight about their topic as they prepare to be a an expert "museum guide" to share what they know about that topic and to make it interesting for those that will tour their museum (in their classroom!).
• Students in multiple classrooms creating academic, social and personal goals for 2018 to finish the year strong.
• Many students who were SO excited to be back in school, because they know this is a safe place with people who care about them! (Yes, I also noticed some who struggled, because we know this is the only place where there are expectations and structure placed on them, but together, we will work to get them back on track with success!)

Events Next Week:
Wednesday - I will announce students of the month (please add your students to the google doc)

MAP testing window is January 9-26th. I'll send out a specific MAP reminders email with details.

A future event to add to your calendar- Wednesday, Jan 31st Energy Conservation Theater performance (K-3 10:00-10:30, 4/5 10:45-11:15)


"Nuts & Bolts" Notes: 
*Reading Logs follow-up - thank you again for your discussion this week. In our DES Staff team drive I created a folder called "Lucy Literacy-idea share for assessing students." Within that folder is one document started just to share any ideas (and please do!), but you can also add any documents to that folder as well. As I stated in our meeting, I think this is just the beginning of many future discussions at grade levels and whole staff about how we are assessing and determining where are readers are.  I know that as you read Lucy it can be overwhelming, but remember that it is mean to be a source for professional learning for you to build your toolbox of literacy wisdom and help guide you in your decision making as you decide not only how to teach your mini-lessons, but also to differentiate and meet your readers' needs individually and in small groups.

Blogs, Tweets & Pins...Oh My!!!
*This was already in the packet shared with you at our meeting, but here's the online post: Reading Logs are Valuable Tools.