Nov GISD CIA Newsletter

Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment Newsletter N ewswo r t hy, u p comin g even ts & professi onal l earni ng

November 2015 PE/HEALTH

SCIENCE MATHEMATICS TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS

ENGLISH & SPANISH

SOCIAL STUDIES

LANGUAGE ARTS

LIBRARY LANGUAGES OTHER

THAN ENGLISH

ASSESSMENT

Lead4ward Resources

The Lead4ward STAAR Field Guides for Teachers are designed for use by teachers to connect STAAR standards to the curriculum, to build content knowledge, and to plan for more rigorous instruction.

Each of these course guides contains the following components: Steps to Success - How to use the STAAR Field Guides for Teachers Step by step processes for using the STAAR Field Guides for Teachers in a professional learning community setting.

STAAR Readiness and Supporting Standards Analysis Sheets overviews of each of the readiness and supporting standards assessed on STAAR, designed to be used in planning.

STAAR-Curriculum Planning Worksheet reproducible teacher guides in the following content areas/grades:

Quick Reference Sheet for Selected Lead4Ward Resources Instructional Resources I want to…

I can learn more about this from this training video…

… learn more about the design of the STAAR/EOC Assessments

Design of STAAR video

… learn more about the TEKS and their structures, categories, and implications on instruction and assessment

TEKS Study Video

I want to…

The tool I need is …

I can learn more about this from this training video…

… view a snapshot of all of my course/grade TEKS, sorted by Readiness/Supporting Standards

Snapshot

Snapshots Video

… track performance on scaffolded skills from lower grades to the tested grade.

Scaffold

TEKS Scaffold Video

… examine released STAAR/EOC assessment items, sorted by grade level.

Released Tests (IQ)

Released Tests (IQ) Video

… study academic vocabulary for my grade/course by the TEKS and/or released assessments.

Academic Vocabulary

Academic Vocabulary Video

… study a Student Expectation indepth and look at instructional implications, misconceptions, vocabulary, etc.

Field Guides for each grade/course Housed in SchoolNet – See Teacher Resources

Field Guides Video

… unpack Readiness Standards with a guided worksheet or by diagramming the standard.

Unpacking the Readiness Standards

SE Diagram Video

Quick Reference Sheet for Selected Lead4Ward Resources I want to…

The tool I need is …

… provide students with a variety of sentence stems for critical thinking skills. … provide students with a variety of sentence stems for critical thinking skills in Spanish. … have students set goals and track their own learning.

Thinking Stems Thinking Stems in Spanish Student Learning Repots

Data Resources I want to…

The tool I need is …

… see how often a Student Expectation has been assessed overall and by each year. … enter my data to create a chart of students by STAAR Performance Level (Level I, II, or III) at Level II Phase-In. … create a color-coded Heat Map of student performance at the SE level. … create a quintile report to analyze student performance

Frequency Distribution STAAR Performance by Performance Level Template Heat Maps Quintiles

Quicklooks I want to…

The tool I need is …

… view summaries of various topics including…  Assessment and accountability for 2015-2016  Education-related bills passed in the 84 th Legislature  STAAR requirements for special needs students

Quicklooks

Performance Standards I want to…

The tool I need is …

I can learn more about this from this training video…

… view Spring 2015 Raw Score Conversions with alignment to 20152016 PhaseIn

Spring 2015 Raw Score Conversions Grades 3-8 and EOCs (With Alignment to Scale Score Cut Points for Proposed New Standard Progression Phase-In for 2015-16)

Making Sense of Scale Scores and Raw Scores

Accommodations and Assessments I want to…

The tool I need is …

… review a summary of requirements for accommodations on state assessments.

Testing Accommodations – 2015

Lead4Ward offers a fantastic, free app for iPads or iPhones. In the app, you can…  Access Snapshot documents and other resources.  Set a timer that generates a random instructional strategy when time is up!  Watch training videos.

Attention: Economics Teachers

Campuses will need to provide subs for attending teachers.

Registration is available through Region 10.

Click to register. Seating is limited.

For questions or comments, please contact Amy Mount at almount@garlandisd.net or 972/487-3142.

Garland ISD

Mock Legislature 2015

Thank you to the dedicated sponsors for your hard work with our students!

Good Luck at District and State!

Middle Schools: High Schools: Kristin Pershey, Austin Yvette Richardson, Garland A very special thanks Kevin Thompson, Austin Allison Shepheard, Garland Theresa Liska, Brandenburg to Naaman Forest Sue Troutte, Lakeview Centennial Claire McGlynn, Brandenburg High School and Emily Chris McMillan, North Garland Chawn Cummings, Jackson Haecker for hosting.

Jacka Brandler, Rowlett Rhett Lange, Jackson Terry Reddy, Sachse Karie Anderegg, Sellers David Serene, Sachse

Social Studies

Quick Tips

for Success Immediate, High Yield Strategies for Assessments

At the 2015 Texas Social Studies Supervisor's Association conference, Lynn Franzen, Manager of the Social Studies Assessments at TEA shared that one of the most common problems seen in performance on the STAAR/EOC is that students do not read and analyze the questions. The following is a strategy that Social Studies teachers should implement in all grade levels in order to help students process challenging assessment items.

ERA

Examine the question.

- Carefully read the question. Be sure that you know what the question asks for.

Recall what you know.

- Take a moment to think about what you can remember about the topic.

Apply what you know.

- Try to answer the question BEFORE you look at the answer choices. See if any choices are what you thought it might be. Review all of the choices and choose the best one. Eliminate any that do not make sense.

For more on the ERA technique, see Chapter 1 of the Jarrett Mastering the TEKS books for 8th Grade, WGS, WHS, or USH.

Making Sense of Stimuli

The most challenging stimuli students will encounter on the STAAR/EOC are primary and secondary sources - either written or visual. Equipping students with techniques to approach these "things in a box" will help them process information. Here are two acronyms that help students remember what pieces they need to look for in analyzing sources.

SOAPSTONE For primary/secondary sources. An alternative acronym is APPARTS. S - Speaker TACOS O - Occasion T - Time/Place A - Audience A - Action P - Purpose C - Caption S - Subject O - Objects Tone S - Summary When in doubt, cross it out!

When students encounter words that they can't figure out from their context clues, encourage them to cross it out and keep going! They'll be surprised how much they can do without the word!

Here's what an annotated question might look like.

Click to watch a demonstration of the strategies.

Contact Amy Mount, Social Studies Coordinator, for more information or to schedule training in these strategies for your PLC.

Join the GISD Social Studies team to build strategies that lead to student success in Social Studies. We will demonstrate using tough­to­ teach and tough­to­learn TEKS based on GISD data. Teachers will leave with classroom­ready, student­centered strategies.

Questions? Contact Amy Mount

12 rraaddeess 44--12 G o t n e G OR 1-4 p O Open0t-o 0 OR 1-4 :3 1 1 88:3 :30-11:30

Half­day sessions are offered to allow teachers to share a substitute and minimize cost and lost instructional time. **Subs provided by campuses.**

12/10 ­ AM or PM­ Small Group Strategies in Social Studies 1/28 ­ AM or PM ­ Vocabulary Strategies in Social Studies 2/23 ­ AM or PM­ Reading and Writing in Social Studies 4/14 ­ AM or PM­ Formative Assessment in Social Studies

Social Studies Success Strategies

Discovery Education

Plus All K-12 teachers have access! g n i m a S tr e

Need help with your login? Contact the GISD helpdesk HelpDesk@garlandisd.net or 972-494-8566 Math Techbook

Science Techbook

http://garlandisd.discoveryeducation.com/

What's avaliable?

K-12 Science (Biology, Chemistry, IPC, Earth & Space)

Social Studies Techbook

Math: Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry

Use district credentials

Social Studies: 6th grade World Cultures 9th grade Word Geography US History to 1877 World Geography US since 1877

Want to learn more?

Click for Flipped Learning

Tina Garrett STEM Coordinator

Training Videos

Spotligh

t o n S tr

Kevin Massey Secondary Math Coordinator

a te g ie s

Amy Mount Social Studies Coordinator Mary Shelton Secondary ELAR Coordinator

Board Builder

Literacy Strategies

Aibeth Laugisch BE/ESL Coordinator Myra Crump Intermediate ELAR Coordinator Traci Vickery Elementary Math Coordinator

ELL Strategies

Kelley Steinley Primary ELA Coordinator

Garland Independent School District Discovery Education Newsletter Welcome to the Discovery Education GISD Newsletter! This monthly communication is intended to highlight an instructional strategy, links to upcoming events, student engagement ideas, and updates from Discovery Education that will help you continue to transform teaching and learning.

“Visual Walkabout” Instruc)onal Strategy: Have students engage in a new concept by providing them sneak peeks of important components using a series of images. Students can make connec:ons and ask ques:ons that will determine the flow of the unit. This also allows educators to assess prior knowledge and address early misconcep:ons.

UPCOMING EVENTS 5 Ways to Use Discovery Educa=on When: November 30, 2015 6PM CST

1. Materials: paper, pencils/pens, a series of images from Discovery

Education.

Don’t hit play and walk away! Discovery EducaIon is much more than just videos.

Connections and, on the right side of the chart, write Questions. Tip: In this webinar we will showcase five ways You could also display the images on a device and have students complete a digital version of the T-Chart. you can use Discovery EducaIon in your 3. Explain to students they will be beginning a new unit, and today’s activity classroom. From content to tools to will provide a sneak peek of the topics. strategies, we will bring together the 4. Divide students into pairs or groups of three. Have groups visit a Discovery EducaIon Community to share minimum of 5 images. As they visit each image, ask students to the best of integraIng Discovery into your consider how the image may relate to the unit. Each pair or small group everyday classroom pracIces. should add at least one Connection and one Question to the T-chart for each image.

To register for this FREE virtual event visit 5. Throughout the unit, refer back to the here. images and the student’ initial connections and questions.

2. Post a T-chart under each image. On the left side of the chart, write

STUDENT CORNER

Discovery Education Tidbit: Online Entry for Constructed Response Questions

LIVE from the Smithsonian’s NaIonal Zoo on November 18 at 12PM CST, we invite students for the Racing Ex:nc:on Virtual Field Trip to learn why biologists believe one-­‐half of Earth’s higher life forms will be exInct by 2100.

Register here!

Take your assessments online! Discovery Educa)on has added online entry for constructed response items.

Discovery Education has included online entry assessments that can be found on the Evaluate tab of any Techbook concept. Students can use the digital platform to enter and submit their response to constructed response questions. Teachers can read the assessments in their dashboards, grade the assessments using the digital rubric, and even provide feedback to students.

The assessments are also still available to printable PDF form.

November 2015

BE/ESL Newsletter November 2015 Fifth Annual Youth Summit October 29-30, 2015 The Fifth Annual Youth Summit was a tremendous success! On Thursday night, approximately 100 parents and students came to hear Quynh Chau Stone and Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch speak at South Garland High School. On Friday morning, approximately 500 students and GISD staff members gathered at the Curtis Culwell Center to enjoy a day filled with activities and messages focused on promoting positive community interactions. All who attended were inspired to develop a philosophy of service leadership and volunteerism. Both Mrs. Stone and Lt. Colonel Kickbusch (Retired) reinforced the purpose of the Student Leadership classes, which develop the skills necessary to be a successful 21st century leader.

All of the high school leadership classes are currently involved in service projects within our community.

New Online LPAC System November 6, 2015 ESL teachers and administrators met to train on Ellevation, a new online LPAC system, which is being piloted by all seven high schools, eleven middle schools, five elementary campuses, and MPA.

Imagine Learning School board member, Linda Griffin, joined the staff at Golden Meadows for hands-on training with Imagine Learning, an innovative literacy and language software program for ELLs.

#GISD4ELLs

The following assessments are administered at BOY, MOY, EOY following our district testing calendar. K-2 assessments are administered in Spanish. 3rd-5th grade students are first given the English MAP Reading and Math assessments followed by the Spanish Reading and Math assessments if Tier II cut scores are not met. All students who do NOT meet cut scores are to receive intervention.

K-1

2nd

3-5

• Reading: ISIP Español • Math: Spanish Successmaker

• Reading: ISIP Español • Math: Spanish MAP

• 1st-Test with English MAP Reading & Math. If students do NOT meet cut scores, then administer the following: • 3rd Grade Reading: ISIP Español • 4th & 5th Grade Reading: DORA • Math: Spanish MAP Met District Tier II Cut Scores=No Intervention Did NOT Meet District Cut Scores=Intervention Required

Success Maker Spanish Math (K-1) (UPDATED August 2015) BOY

GRADE

MOY

EOY

Course Level

End of Year IPM Level

0.4

.8

1.3

1.7

(end of IPM) Course Level

KN

0.1 (with no IPM)

01 Initial Placement

0.8

Kinder: 0.01 level, with no IPM.

1st Grade: 0.5 level, with IPM.

BOY (Beginning of Year) decisions:  Kinder- at end of BOY window (Sept. 30, 2015), look at “Cumulative Performance Reports” and identify “Current Level” make Tier II decisions based on cut score table. NOTE: It is important to place the kinder students in the program as much time as possible, in order to collect data/information.  1st- At end of IPM, identify “IPM Level” to make Tier II decisions based on cut score table.

NOTE: IPM is composed of 300 problems and, on average, students do 40 problems in a 20 minute session. IPM requires teachers to monitor that students are engaged and also look at reports to see how students are pacing. Also, if some students require extra time to get through IPM, please consider placing them on the program whenever possible in classroom computers or have them spend extra time before or after school

ISIP Español* Cut Scores 2015-16

Spanish MAP Math Cut Scores 2015-16

BOY (Sept)

MOY (Jan)

EOY (May)

Kindergarten

<629

<649

<658

Grade 01

<699

<699

<731

Grade 02

<802

<809

<825

Grade 03

<855

<868

<886

*Use monthly ISIP scores for progress monitoring

BOY (Sept) Grade 2nd – 5th Grade

≤20% ≥21 %

MOY (Jan) Did NOT meet district recommended cut score.

Met district recommended cut score.

EOY (May) Tier II Intervention is required Tier II intervention is not required

Spanish DORA Cut Scores (August 2015) GRADE

HFW

(high frequency words)

WR

(word recognition)

PH

(phonics)

PA

(phonic awareness)

SP

VO

CO

(spelling)

(vocabulary)

(comprehension)

3.0

3. 0

Below 3.0 (Tier II) 3.0-3.75 (on level tutoring) 3.75 + (on and above level)

0 04

3.83 (max score)

4.83 (max score)

3.83 (max score)

05

3.83 (max score)

4.83 (max score)

3.83 (max score)

(Should not have a score. Unless the program saw a need to address this basic literacy skill.)

0 (Should not have a score.

Unless the program saw a need to address this basic literacy skill.)

3.5

3.5

Below 3.5 (Tier II) 3.5-4.25 (on level tutoring) 4.25 + (on and above level)

Spanish DORA Decision-Making Process

Comprehension - will be the initial indicator to help make Tier II decisions.  Did the student score above the Tier II level in “Comprehension.” o Yes-Student does NOT require an intervention plan. If the teacher , based on data, is still concerned abuout the student, the teacher can always tutor or intervene, but intervention documentation is not requried. o No-Student requires and intervention plan. Teacher may also need to look at other literacy component scores (vocabulary, spelling, etc.) to analyze weak skills and develop a plan of intervention.  How will the students be progress monitored? o Once the student has been identified as Tier II and the intervention plan has been put in place, the teacher/staff working with the student will use the results of resources they are using to monitor progress. As the student demonstrates progress, or not,t he teacher will go on to the next weakest skill or make changes to strategies to improve success. Since comprehension is the ultimate goal, most monthly progress can be evaluated by checking for comprehension with reading passages.  At MOY and EOY, the student will take Spanish DORA again to evaluate growth and make data-informed decisions.

Spotlight FIRST CYCLE

Bussey Middle School STEAM Saturday

MAKERS

Click here to check it out...

Emily Gathman 6th Grade Science

Hosting a Virtual Experience

VEX Robotics

VEX Robotics Competition October 31, 2015

::

Official Rec Competition

Team 7504X competed at the Berkner mixed HS/MS tournament on Saturday, October 31, 2015. It was a great day for Austin Robotics! The team made it to the finals but lost in the final match. Nevertheless, the team finished third in programming skills and second in robot skills. Their impressive performance, engineering design notebook, sportsmanship, and a great interview earned them the Excellence Award which is the highest honor given out at VEX competitions.

Where will you be January 30, 2016?

Garland is set to host an official REC VEX competition at the Curtis Culwell Center January 30, 2016. All GISD competitive VEX teams are encouraged to participate.

Register today!!

STEAM Publication: Students and Teachers Energizing Active Minds

Roll out the red carpet! #gisdSuperStar

Congratulations Barbara McCoy 8th Grade Science Teacher at Webb Middle School

Communities Foundation of Texas and Educate Texas have partnered with the Teaching Channel to produce a series of short films highlighting best practices in teaching middle school students. The films feature local teachers and school leaders from CFTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s middle school Community Impact grantees, and will be available online at the Teaching Channel website as a professional development resource for teachers across the country.

Classroom Accommodations Pre- Reading Strategy: -Exploring prior knowledge that is relevant to the text -Setting a purpose for reading -Contextualizing the text -Previewing to get a sense of the structure and content -Providing students with â&#x20AC;&#x153;tipsâ&#x20AC;? before reading

Classroom Accommodation: Pre-reading-The teacher introduces a new book to a struggling reader prior to reading it aloud or independent reading. The topics discussed might include major concepts, difficult words, setting, characters, or prior knowledge of the subject.

Embedded STAAR A Accommodation: Pre-reading Text: Preview text before reading to activate prior knowledge, draw conclusions, and set a purpose for reading.

So, what does this look like?

Advanced organizers

Visual Aids

Book Club Events

Mind Mapping

Pre-reading

The largest learning event in history During Computer Science Education Week, December 7-13, 2015

The Hour of Code is coming, again!

Computer science is a foundation for every student. Join us to help millions of new learners start with one Hour of Code. Sign up at hourofcode.com What is the Hour of Code?

A one-hour activity. Students of all ages can choose from a variety of self-guided tutorials, for kindergarten and up. Tutorials work on any modern browser, tablet, smartphone, or even with no computer at all.

Code.org’s own tutorials feature Disney’s Frozen, Scrat from Ice Age, Angry Birds, and Plants vs. Zombies.

New tutorials are coming to kick off the 2015 Hour of Code!

A spark to keep learning computer science. Once students see what they create right before their eyes, they’re empowered to keep going.

No experience needed from teachers and students.

A global movement with more than 100 million learners in 180 countries.

Anyone, anywhere can organize an Hour of Code event. Tutorials are available in 40 languages.

“ I challenge girls in every single country to learn one Hour of Code” — Malala Yousafzai Nobel Peace Prize winner

Why computer science?

Every 21st-century student should have the opportunity to take part in creating technology that’s changing our world. The basics help nurture creativity and problem-solving skills, and prepare students for any future career. But most schools still don’t teach computer science.

Get involved

Host your own Hour of Code.

Spread the word with #HourOfCode!

The incredible Hour of Code movement: 1 in 3 students in US schools have tried an Hour of Code.

Over 100M students have participated at 77,000 events worldwide.

More girls have tried computer science than in the last 70 years.

Celebrities, tech visionaries, and even the President • Every Apple Store in the world hosted an Hour of Code.

• President Obama wrote a line of code with students at the White House.

• The movement has been featured on Google, YouTube, Yahoo!, Bing and Disney homepages.

• Celebrities Ashton Kutcher and Jessica Alba and tech leaders Sheryl Sandberg, Bill Gates and Jack Dorsey talked with classrooms in live video chats.

Together, we can fix the diversity gap in computer science By exposing both girls and boys to fundamental computing concepts on a level playing field, starting with the earliest learners, we can inspire today’s generation of students to build technology.

Almost half of all Hour of Code participants are girls. 35% of participants are black or Hispanic*

VS

On average, computer science classes are only 18% female and 8% black or Hispanic

Over 300 partners have come together to support this grassroots campaign, including DonorsChoose.org, The College Board, Microsoft, Google, Salesforce, The Walt Disney Company, Target, Teach for America, Khan Academy and more.

Prizes for EVERY organizer • Every organizer will receive $10 to Amazon.com, iTunes or the Windows store as a thank you gift!

• One lucky school in every US state (+ Washington, D.C.) will win $10,000 worth of technology.

More prizes coming soon!

Mark your calendars for December 7-13, 2015!

Start at hourofcode.com The Hour of Code is organized by Code.org, a public non-profit dedicated to expanding access to computer science and increasing participation by women and underrepresented students of color. The Hour of Code is celebrated during the annual Computer Science Education Week in December.

Code.org®, the CODE logo and Hour of Code™ are trademarks of Code.org. *demographic estimates are sourced from surveys sent to registered Hour of Code organizers in December 2014.

“ I have never, ever seen my students so excited about learning.”

— Michael Clark Teacher

!

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24/7!online!video!training.!Training!on!Microsoft!Office,!Adobe!Creative!

Cloud,!Blackboard,!Research!Paper!Basics,!and!much!more.!The!best!part!is!

Garland!ISD!offers!this!online!resource!free!to!students,!teachers,!staff,!and! even!parents!! !

TO%LOG%IN:% Visit!www.atomiclearning.com/login/garlandisd!!!

Simply!enter!your!district!username!and!password!and!! youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re!in!! !

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