Issue 3 - Sept. 28

Curriculum Connections...
Happy Friday to everyone as we close out the first month of the school year - its amazing how quickly one month has flown by as we prepare to usher in October on Monday! I hope everyone has a wonderful upcoming weekend. If the weather is cooperative, please stop by the 5th Grade Car Wash Saturday morning from 9:30am to 11:30am - I will be there washing cars and helping raise money for our fifth graders!

I want to thank everyone for their hard work in getting most of our WRAP testing done over the last two weeks. I know it has been an intense time with the start of the school year but I really feel that assessing our kids this early allows us the opportunity meaningfully launch the reading workshop experience and meet each of our kids at their entry point. The data from the WRAP results should help guide upcoming mini-lessons, independent reading conferences, flexible small group conferences and guided reading groups based on similar readiness levels. Our children have become amazing readers and writers due to all the incredible instruction taking place in our building and I am firm believer that our stringent assessments are a TRUE and ACCURATE reflection of our children as readers - thank YOU for making that happen! Although the Common Core Standards and APPR supposedly mean that the work keeps getting "harder" and that our kids are expected to do more, I don't think that applies to us at Cantiague - HECK NO! The Standards and APPR merely represent the "floor" but here at Cantiague we are consistently reaching for the "ceiling" and are always exceeding expectations! By the end of this year, our kids will be where they need to be - both academically and developmentally and I am 1000% confident in the instructional expertise that permeates this building!

It has been almost two weeks since I have been able to share all the awesome learning and teaching I have seen taking place in our building so please indulge me as spotlight just SOME of the awesomeness! First off, let me say that spending time in the different classrooms brings me to one conclusion - I wish I was that good of a teacher when I was in the classroom. Yesterday I had the chance to spend time in Nancy and Carly's room and I got to watch Carly lead the Envisioning portion of the weekly Shared Reading experience. They were using a nonfiction text about lemonade and Carly was explicitly modeling what she pictured in her mind as she was reading the text (check out the picture below). The children then went back to their seats and illustrated the image they pictured after reading the text. This was a wonderful way to practice an important skill but also incorporate nonfiction texts. Melanie and Janine also completed similar experiences with their students where they had them sketch what they envisioned after reading a text. I also had a chance to spend time in Kim's room during a second grade group where she used the book Mossy by Jan Brett (check her out in action below) to help the students refine their listening skills while also practicing how to make a statement about a text while using evidence from the text to support their thinking. The skill was a sophisticated one but Kim offered the appropriate amount of support to help all the children meet with some level of success. Then I had a chance to watch Lisa (twice this week) with a second grade group where she was working on building fluency by reading dialogue with expression (see the picture below). The children practiced basic skills, such as the appropriate placement of quotation marks, and then more sophisticated skills such as reading dialogue with expression.

I also had a chance to spend time in Rosanna and Alex's class where they participated in a writing workshop experience where they challenged the children to write about a special family holiday or tradition. Rosanna and Alex each read aloud from a mentor text (Fig Pudding and Halloween) and then they each read an excerpt from their own personal writer's notebooks - talk about awesome modeling and scaffolding! I also had a chance to watch Laurie in the Science Room with a 4th grade class and the children were challenged to create an earthquake-proof structure, that was at least two levels high, using only paper cups and tape. The kids were so excited about doing the activity that as soon as Laurie was done giving directions, the children jumped to work (see the great shot below of them in action). Additionally I had a chance to watch both Joe and the Montonelli's work on place value skills where Joe had the children create a Human Number Line (see the picture below to get an image of this cool hands-on/kinesthetic activity) and Christine and Donna implemented station teaching activities that were beautifully differentiated and tailored to meet the needs of all learners. Finally, I had a chance to watch our awesome kindergartners in Mandy's class work in the Literacy Lab where they were writing (drawing and writing) about the many things that are important to them and what they like to do. While drawing, they were challenged to label their illustrations and write a sentence if possible (see the pics below)!

Additionally, I would to spotlight two of our amazing teacher aides - Jen B. and Adam. They have been working in first grade classrooms with children who exhibit very challenging behaviors and are easily distracted and regularly off task. By implementing personalized behavior plans that emphasize the positive, collaborating closely with the various team members and relying on a tremendous amount of patience, they have literally transformed the behaviors of their assigned students in three short weeks. Granted, we have not attained perfection and there are still many things that need to be addressed, but the growth since August 29th is TREMENDOUS! Thank you Jen and Adam!

Finally, I would like to thank Jill for her hard work dedicated to data collection on one of her students to assess how often and for how long this child was not attending. By dedicating a week to collecting data and pinpointing the issue, which was recommended at last week's team meeting, now the intervention for this child can be targeted and specific! The success with data collection is all about FIDELITY and Jill successfully dedicated the necessary amount of time and energy to this process in the best interest of the child- BRAVO!

Tech Tip of the Week...
If you have not done so yet, create a Twitter account because it is the BEST and most PERSONALIZED Professional Development you could ever experience! You can start small (follow me) and then check out the people I am following to see who tweets about the things that most interest you. This is a free and powerful resource that can change the way you view teaching and learning - CHECK IT OUT!  :)

If you dont believe me in all my Twitter Madness, check out the following links...

Because of Twitter

100 Ways to Use Twitter

Schedule of the Week...

Saturday, September 29

5th Grade Car Wash Fundraiser - 9:30am to 11:30am

Monday, October 1
PTA Joint Open Council

Tuesday, October 2
Faculty Meeting for Teachers Only - 3PM in the Computer Lab

Wednesday, October 3
CST at 1:2opm

Thursday, October 4
Weisblack - Trip to Safety Town

Friday, October 5
PTA Executive Board at 9:45am
Kindergarten Hot Lunch Begins Today with pizza from the PTA!


Kids' Korner...
While picking a birthday prize from my office the other day, one of the kids said to me, "Mr. Sinanis if this was my office, I would want to keep all the birthday prizes for me - how do you control yourself?" LOL!!  :)



Pics of the Week...

              
                    Kim doing a read aloud while           Lisa working on various skills
                    practicing listening skills


        
     Joe had the kids make a Human        Carly leading the Envisioning portion
     Number Line                                       of the Shared Reading experience

 
                      
                  4th Graders building an                      Math Stations in the Montonellis
                  Earthquake Proof Structure                practicing place value & rounding
                  using only cups and tape!



                  
                                 Awesome Kindergarten Writing Samples 

Upcoming Board of Education Meetings...

• Thursday, Oct. 18th
• Thursday, Nov. 15th
• Thursday, Dec. 13th
• Thursday, Jan. 17th
• Thursday, Jan. 31st
• Thursday, Feb. 7th
• Thursday, Mar. 14th (this one is at Cantiague)
• Thursday, Apr. 18th
• Thursday, May 23rd
• Thursday, June 13th