Each morning between 8:35 am and 8:40 am, we have student-led announcements. This is an opportunity for our students to take a risk and practice their oral speaking skills. They also celebrate birthdays and share important information (for both teachers and students) about the day ahead. It is an important part of community-building. It has been communicated that many classes are not settled and ready to listen to the announcements by 8:35 am.
As it is important for all students, assistants and teachers to hear what is being shared, please ensure you build 'morning announcement' time into your daily schedule. To accommodate teachers who feel 5 minutes is not enough time to settle their students so they are able to listen to the announcements, we will not start the announcements until 8:40 am. If a student from your class is announcing, please do not send them to the office until 8:35 am.
3:45-6:00 pm -Dinner available for Elementary Faculty who are staying for BTSN
3:45-4:15 pm -EAL Presentation (MPR)
4:30-5:05 pm -Specialist Presentation (Theater)
5:15-5:50 pm -MA- Gr. 2 Presentations
6:00-6:40 pm -Grade 3-5 Presentations
*When you are not presenting, please make yourself visible in the hallways to direct parents and support your colleagues. If you have not already done so, please share your presentation with Krista and Stacy. Please refer to the BTSN checklist for further details. Erika and Agi are preparing a handout for parents that will be available in the reception area as well as in front of the theater. Please be sure to get a copy for yourself, so you can support parents as needed.
Please be reminded that Grade level and class websites need to be up to date this week. Please see your Important Information Booklet for further details. Parents already have access to your sites as the Parent Update Blog now appears within Weebly. It was communicated to parents (in last week's Parent Update) that Grade level, class and specialist sites would be up to date with this year's class information by September.
Click on the Weebly checklist (including the links to site layout guidelines and class site guidelines) to ensure your site meets the consistent communication expectations of the school. Please see your Tech team if you have any questions or need any support.
MAP Testing will begin very soon. Here is information that will help the process run smooth.
DATES:
- MS/HS Testing- September 2-8
- ES will Testing- September 9-15
- Make-ups- September 16, 17, 18
Testing will occur from approximately 8:30- 2:15pm for MS/HS AND 8:45-12:55 for ES
There will be 1 proctor & the core teacher in each session.
MAP Resources and Info:
The schedules can be located, here, on the Faculty and Staff Portal under MAP. If you would like me to add anything else, please let me know. The schedules are live, so please be sure to check them regularly.
Support Services
ES EAL Policy (LINK)- If a student is reading below a Level J in the Fall, they will not be assessed with the MAP for that year in ALL tests.
Accommodations - Counselor and LRC teachers will work together to provide accommodations for those students who need them.
Schedules & Labs:
MS/HS- SCHEDULE
ES- SCHEDULE
Make Up Schedule
Report Reading- Professional Development opportunities regarding the new reports and platform will be provided during the weeks of September 14 and 21.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to ask you division principal or myself.
Resources
Universal search is our new platform for the library catalogue. Please copy and paste this URL- https://aisbudapest.follettdestiny.com/common/welcome.jsp?site=100&context=saas38_8501978 and then bookmark it in your browser. This will give you access not only to the print collection, but also to the e-books and interactive books.
Just a reminder that you can find subscription usernames and passwords, on the Faculty Porter in the Elementary section under the Library & Tech tab. For your convenience, we have printed A4 posters with this information. They are in your mailbox. Please post in your classroom.
There are numerous new professional books to support teaching and learning. To help you browse what's available, I put a new tab on the library website for professional books. If you'd like to check one out, you can send me an email or come pick it up.
Literacy Assessments
Reading
During the month of September, we will be completing Fountas and Pinnell Reading Inventories with all students (K-2 Fiction, 3-5 Non-fiction). Leigh will be providing training for Kindergarten and grade 1 teachers and a refresher for all core teachers K-5 after school on Sept. 8. Each teacher will be provided with 6 periods of coverage to complete these assessments. In order for the ATs to be paid for this time, all teachers should submit a leave form to the office and teachers in grades 3-5 should submit a grade level schedule to Erika. All scores should be recorded in the Reading Database by the end of September.
EAL students reading below a level J do not take the MAP test. This means that you will need to complete an F&P assessment with any EAL student that you have questions about before Sep. 9. If you do not know who you have questions about yet, please have a discussion with your EAL teacher and they can recommend students that will need to be tested next week. As in the past, it is important that you, as the classroom teacher, administer the assessment so that you have a good understanding of their strengths and needs.
Writing
Both formative and summative on-demand writing assessments will occur within the units of study this year. Please determine by grade level when you will administer the formative and summative writing on-demand assessments for narrative, informational, and opinion writing. Prompts and rubrics for the on-demand assessments can be found in the ES Writing Resources folder. Only summative assessment scores will be recorded in the Writing Database.
Leigh will address all questions regarding assessments at the Sept. 8 meeting.
International Literacy Day is September 8
Did you know that 775 million adults in the world illiterate and two-thirds of them are women? This means that 1 in 5 adults cannot read.
Did you know that 52% of illiterates live in India and China?
Did you know that the population of Africa has a literacy rate of less than 60%?
Why is literacy important? The answer is simple. When people learn to read and write they have the power to change their own lives. To help solve problems facing society, we must start by building a more literate population. People who know how to read and write are more likely to lift themselves out of poverty, improve their family’s health, and keep long-term jobs.
Today is International Literacy Day - a day set aside to promote awareness of illiteracy with the hope of decreasing this ongoing human rights violation.
Here is a link to some suggested activities for International Literacy Day.