Dealing With Anxiety

Dear Deep Creek Family, 

Mrs. McElroy and I  have both received emails, cards, and face to face thank yous from parents of our Cubs.  These heartfelt thank yous have been because of the way our staff tried to comfort and make our Cubs feel safe during our Tornado warning last Wednesday.  I told one of the parents last week when she thanked me that our staff is full of parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles and I never doubted that if we ever had adversity these instincts would kick in and our Cubs would come first.  I see it everyday, it just shows much stronger in a time of crisis.  Thank you all.

Now let's move to another time of anxiety we must help our Cubs through, testing.  We start the FSA Writing for 4th and 5th Grade this week on Tuesday, March 1st.  We of course will be testing in 4th and 5th grade classrooms, but also will have students testing in G-102, A-134, and in the J Building portables.  Please make sure on Tuesday as you travel around campus and take students onto the playground that we make sure our students that are testing can do so without distractions.  Also remember that Kindergarten and First Grade are switching specials times with our 4th and 5th grade.

Here is a link that I found that shows methods and tips for helping students overcome their doubts and anxieties. These tips are great, but just like the Tornado Warning our biggest tool is the teachers.  Be positive and make them feel like they are ready to do outstanding with their writing, or later in the month their math and reading.  "A leader need to show his team the face they need to see" and on Tuesday our Cubs need to see a positive, confident face from his or her teacher.

 http://www.brighthubeducation.com/teaching-methods-tips/12892-teaching-your-students-to-succeed-in-standardized-tests/




Thanks,
James

Children and Grief

Good Morning Deep Creek Family,

Several of our Deep Creek Families have experienced a significant loss in their lives recently. Our students, and their families, may need us more now than ever.  We are a community school, and it takes a community of caring adults to help assist students with the grieving process.  It is important to remember that kids react to grief in different ways...some may want to talk and others may not. Some may be teary throughout the days following the death, and others may be quiet. There is never a right or wrong way to grieve and it is important to allow our students the time they need for healing to begin. Sometimes, we may not know what to say or do. Here are some tools to help guide us....

http://childgrief.org/documents/WordsthatHelpandHurt.pdf

Here are some helpful books for parents and kids. I also have some in my office that anyone is welcome to borrow.  

Berry, J.: Good Answers to Tough Questions About Death 
Grollman, E. and J. Johnson: A Complete Book About Death for Kids 
Heegaard, M.: Coping with Death and Grief
Krasny-Brown, L. and M. Brown: When Dinosaurs Die 
Mellonie, B. and R. Ingpen: Lifetimes 
Romain, T.: What On Earth Do You Do When Someone Dies? 
Thomas, P.: I Miss You: A first look at death Winsch, J.: After the Funeral

Thanks, 
Noelle

Vocabulary!

Good Morning Deep Creek Family,

Vocabulary is all around us-it’s the core of everything! Vocabulary impacts every part of our student’s school experience. They are surrounded with vocabulary in all academic areas which leads itself to standardized tests. As we noticed, on our recent assessments, vocabulary was a struggle across the board.

Every second, minute, or hour we enrich our students vocabulary knowledge it will create a lasting effect! Across the nations studies show that there is a wide vocabulary gap between our at-risk readers and our strongest readers. Students are struggling, they lack the background knowledge, the exposure, or the capability of how to retain the words because the way it was presented. As times passes how do we meet the challenge of improving our student’s vocabulary? With vocabulary being an important part of a child’s education we must to our part to expose them to these words. Research states that when a child makes a connection and has a chance to be exposed to the word numerous times then the word will become part of their permanent memory. Below are a few strategies that researchers have found work to strengthen student’s vocabulary knowledge.

Post-it Vocabulary
Give students a post-it note to put on the cover of the books they are reading during independent reading time. Have them write down words from the book that they don’t know or they feel are important. During conferences with students, you can discuss these words.
Also, you can appoint a word expert. Students enjoy leadership roles, so once a week, assign someone to be the word expert. He or she sits at a special table with a dictionary and students come to the expert to ask about the words they don’t know. Students can share these words with the class during sharing time, add the words to the word wall, or put them in their vocabulary journal.

Vocabulary Journal
Give each student a spiral steno book to record words they gather from independent reading, content area reading, read-alouds, or videos watched in class. On one side of the page, they write the word. On the other side, they put a representation of the word or tell something about the word. This could be a picture, sentence, student-friendly definition, synonym, or antonym. Students take ownership of the words like they’re small treasures. The words they put in the journal become a permanent record and celebration of the words they are learning.

Vocabulary Stories
Do you remember having to write a story with all your spelling words? Well this strategy takes that activity to an all new level—it improves students’ vocabulary and encompasses multiple learning styles.

First identify five to ten key words from a story or chapter that you plan to read with the class. Give students a copy of the words and have them cut them apart or have them write the words on index cards. Give students a few minutes to work with a partner to sort the words into categories that make sense to them. Sorting the words is important because students discuss their prior knowledge of the words, make connections between the words, look at word parts, and talk about the words. Allowing students to work with a partner helps generate thinking. Students may use dictionaries or thesauruses, but it is not necessary. 

Then, lead the students in a discussion of their thinking about how the words are connected and help them develop kid-friendly definitions.

Next, give the title and genre of the story they are about to read, but do not read the text yet. Guide the class in writing a group story in that genre using the title and vocabulary words. At first students will be afraid of saying something wrong, so remind them that this is a shared writing exercise and that everyone’s input is welcome. Encourage students to be creative with their story and use all the words. Finally, read the actual story and have students compare their vocabulary stories with the actual story. You’ll be amazed at the level of thinking and laughing this strategy encourages.

Word Webs
This activity helps students teach one another new words. When you introduce new vocabulary words, put each word on an index card. Have each group (or each partner) select a word and put their word in the center of a large sheet of paper. Working together the students research their word using dictionaries or the computer and create a graphic organizer to teach the word to the other students. Students love using poster board or large sheets of paper for this project. In each corner of the paper students “illustrate” the word, by drawing a picture depicting the word, writing a sentence using the word, listing synonyms or antonyms of the word, and writing a student-friendly definition. The power of this activity lies in the collaboration of students who want to find the best way to teach their word to their peers.

Showcase for Abstract Terms
To teach abstract concepts like independence, conservation, or friendship, introduce the word in context and discuss it with students. Ask the class to think of pictorial representations of the word. Encourage them to bring pictures, photographs, and artifacts to represent the word and have them create a bulletin board to showcase each word. Give students time to explain how the object or picture they bring in relates to the essential concept.

Vocabulary Parade
At our school, kids love having a vocabulary parade. Students choose a word to depict through costume and they stage an actual parade to showcase their words. You can set parameters for the words by using, for example, only words with multiple meanings or words dealing with a certain period in history. Each child wears a costume depicting his or her word and poster board sign with definitions, part of speech, or other ways to describe the word. Our school has done this parade for several years and it has made learning new words a memorable experience.

Thinking Maps...which we all use ;)

These activities stretch student’s vocabulary knowledge. All of which are fun and engaging that help students of all learning styles and level. When we build students vocabulary knowledge it improves their reading comprehension and broadens their conceptual and background knowledge. If we focus on students having a strong vocabulary development it can level the playing field for students, regardless of their background. It’s our job to devote the time and effort in helping students learn new words so our students are successful in school and in life!

-Kristina

 http://www.nea.org/tools/52083.htm

One school, one team, one vision....Student Success!

Good Morning DCE Movers and Groovers,

We have been digging deeply to find what every child needs at DCE. It might be an enriched assignment, behavior plan, speech therapy, interventions or special education. While working closely with the core team, special educators and general educators, I have realized that we all have the same vision. We want all students to "get" what we are teaching. Teaching is figuring out how to "reach" every child. 

Three words that we hear, see, and use interchangeably have become part of our daily vocabulary.

    1. Accommodation- a change that gives a child equal access to learning.

    2. Intervention- systematic process of assessment and planning to remediate or prevent a problem.

    3. Strategy- a set of methods or activities to teach. 

Please watch this quick video that illustrates a school's approach to differentiated instruction. 

OUR GOAL: Each child will be able to demonstrate the standards with at least 70% accuracy.

Here is a link to a great article and video:

http://www.edutopia.org/practice/improving-learning-all-students-multi-tiered-approach

Please take some time to view the video and reflect on your differentiated instruction. We have the same goal as the school in the video: Student Success! Our students are well on their way. Thanks for all you do to make this happen. 

Thanks, 

Jodie