September 6, 2016

Our Mission:  “Educate students for lifelong learning and responsible living.”

Our Vision:  “Provide a learning environment that promotes and develops academic and

social growth.”
                                          

Congratulations to Landon Hatcher, son of our own Valarie Marcin.  Landon was one of the top 3 readers of MyOn this summer.  He will be recognized at the OKCPS Board Meeting on September 19th.  Congratulations Landon!

Thank you hospitality and Coach Barton for feeding the teachers during Parent Teacher Conference night.  Please remember to turn in your Parent Teacher Conference forms.  I turn in our data downtown later this week.  Please be sure to get all APP forms signed by parents.  These completed forms will become part of the "Green" folder.  The first writing sample should also be in the green folder.

Attaining Learning Outcomes = Higher Achievement

• Monday:  No School - Labor Day
• Tuesday:  PLC bring your common assessment data and information on interventions occurring in your classroom.  One hour faculty meeting:  Infinite Campus how to write a referral (Cramer) and Running Records training (Helmick & Skaggs). Kappel P.D.
• Wednesday:  Begin completing running records for every child in your classroom.  Leadership - Library  Harden P.D. a.m. Keys P.D. p.m.
• Thursday:  Fire drill a.m. PTA meeting 6:00 p.m. Dye out. 
• Friday:  Tornado Drill a.m.  Cramer out, Nelson P.D, Kappel out, Hunt P.D., Dye out, Werito out.  

We are the model for the importance of attendance at school. 

A student is considered chronically absent if they miss only two days of school per month (18 days in a year), whether the absences are excused or unexcused. This is true for children as early as elementary school, when they are at a higher risk of falling behind in reading. Even one year of chronic absence can cause a child to fall behind academically and decrease a child’s chances of graduating from high school, which can have long-term consequences on their financial independence, physical well-being and mental health.

The good news? Attending school every day increases a child’s chances of success in school and in life.  http://absencesaddup.org 

Shout out to Mr. Dye and Ms. Russell for circulating the playground during recess and playing with the children.  Children are less likely to make a bad decision when they are well supervised and engaged in activities.  Plus it is a GREAT way to build relationships with your students.  

PBIS

ABL Lab

The ABL lab is up and running.  It is very exciting to see the children engaged and learning in a different environment.  Shout Out to Coach Baker, Coach Barton, and Mrs. Carden for taking some "frequent flyers" in the morning to start their day off right.  It is making a positive impact on the rest of their day.  Take a look at this ABL lab schedule and see if that works for everyone.  The Red ones are the days you don’t have PE so they Stay, but the others I can change.  Please let me know if it conflicts with anything.  Thank you your help and I hope everyone is having success’s in the lab.  I have heard a couple stories and would love to hear and see picture of your students in the lab.  ....Coach Barton

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
9:00 - 9:20	Metz	Duty	Pearson	Werito	Peake
9:25 - 9:45	Reynolds	Southwell	Davis	Boring	Barnett
9:50 - 10:10	Ivie	O'Shields	Johnson	Scott	Leeson
10:15 - 10:35	Peake	Gill	Opheim	Saxon	Kummell
10:40 - 11:00	Opheim	Hickman	Metz	Burmaster	Christian
11:05 - 11:25	Kappel		Duty	Russell	Navarro
11:30-11:50	Pearson	Burmaster	Christian	Johnson	Reynolds
11:55 - 12:15	Leeson	Davis	Jackson	Keys	Gill
12:15 - 12:35	Keys	Boring	Werito	Reinhardt	Smith
12:40 - 1:00	Harden	BARNETT	Kummell	SOUTH/FERGUSON	Saxon
1:05 - 1:25	Spitzer	Jackson	McNeil	Dye	Harris
1:30 - 1:50	O'Shields	Harden	Russell	Navarro	Kappel
1:50 - 2:10	Goodall	Scott	Ivie	Kelsey	Hobza
2:15 - 2:35	Reinhardt	McNeill	Dye	Harris	Spitzer
2:40- 3:00	Smith	Goodall	Kelsey	Hobza	Hickman

How to Run Literacy Centers

Online Math

Unfortunately we don't have Think Thru Math yet for this school year.  On the bright side, Ms. Opheim has introduced me to Prodigy, https://www.prodigygame.com/.  With this you can set up a free teacher account, create your class, set up a calendar with lessons/activities that support your learning objectives.  Better yet - it is for students in first - eighth grade.  It is quick and easy to set up and use.  

www.problem-attic.com.  You can create a free account and create common assessments or activities for your math class here.

www.mathplayground.com  Online math games that are divided up by grade level.

                          MyOn Data

Books Opened:  2,526
Books Finished:  1,666

Coolidge has spent 284 hours and 18 minutes reading on MyOn.  Fourth grade continues to lead the school with number of minutes of MyOn with 131 hours and 33 minutes.

1,666 books have been finished reading so far this year.  Fourth grade has finished the most books with 721 followed by second grade with 406 and third grade with 311 books.  

Quizzes:  NONE TAKEN  Teachers, when checking comprehension those quizzes are a great tool.  Please take advantage of them.

Notation:  Fourth grade has made 1,844 notations.  Second grade has made 884 notations.

I have created a contest on MyOn - the challenge for every child to spend at least 30 minutes a day reading on MyOn and successfully completing the quizzes for books completed during the month of September.

To Develop Every Child Into a Reader:

• Everyday a child reads something they choose to read.
• Every child reads accurately
• Every child reads something they understand.
• Every child writes something that is personal and meaningful daily.
• Every child talks with peers about reading and writing.
• Every child hears an adult reader read fluently.

Coolidge Elementary Academic Goals for 2016-2017

• All Students WILL achieve academically.
• Reading:  Increase reading proficiency by at least one grade level.
• Math:  Increase math achievement by 10% with 80% mastery of math facts on grade level.  
• Writing:  Increase writing proficiency by 15%
• Student Attendance:  Increase student attendance to 98%.
• Increase Faculty Attendance to 98%

OKCPS Literacy Standards

          1^st Grade

          2^nd Grade

          3^rd Grade

          4^th Grade

          5^th Grade

          6^th Grade

OKCPS Math Standards

          Pre-K

          Kindergarten

          1^st Grade

          2^nd Grade

          3^rd Grade

          4^th Grade

          5^th Grade

          6^th Grade

Melissa Brett | Principal

Coolidge Elementary School | Oklahoma City Public Schools

5212 S. Villa, Oklahoma City, OK 73119

(405) 587-2800

(405) 208-1581 (cell)

August 29, 2016

Our Mission:  “Educate students for lifelong learning and responsible living.”

Our Vision:  “Provide a learning environment that promotes and develops academic and

social growth.”

Attaining Learning Outcomes = Higher Achievement

PBIS AT A GLANCE:  Classroom Management  

Classroom Management in Action: Essential PBIS Skills for Elementary Teachers

Week 5:  Students learn how to correct their own Reading and Writing.

• Students learn how to record their own interestes in the "reader's notebook"
• Students learn how to "check their understanding" as they read
• Students learn how punctuation helps them understand what they are reading.

Whole Group - Shared Reading (20 minutes)

       Briefly go over Reader's Notebook guidelines

       Read the Read Aloud Book

       Teach and model for Small Group activity.

Small Group (60 minutes) (2 switches)

        Teacher Station - Introduce book basket

         Station 1 - Response to Read Aloud

         Station 2 - Individual Silent Reading

         Station 3 - Writing (open response topic)

         Station 4 - Word Work (book room packs by level)

Closure (10 minutes)

       Teacher asks students to share reader's notebook highlights.

Shared Reading - Kindergarten

Shared Reading - 1st Grade
Shared Reading - 2nd Grade
Shared Reading - 3rd Grade

 Shared Reading - 4th Grade

Shared Reading - 5th Grade

Week At A Glance:

• Monday - Progress Reports This Week
• Tuesday - PLC meeting.  Bring your data from last weeks common assessment.  Identify RTI students.  I-Pads how to check out using Google Docs. No Faculty Meeting as many teachers will be conducting Parent Teacher Conferences.
• Wednesday - FAC meeting 3:30 p.m.
• Thursday - Smart Start 8:30 a.m. in library.  Parent-Teacher Conferences 3:30 - 6:30 p.m.
• Friday - Parent Teacher Conferences 8:00 - 12:00 
• Monday - No School - Labor Day

Rise N Shine: Lead by Mr. Dye's 3rd Grade Class.
Word of the Week:  Empathy

Practice 4:  Learning experiences are integrated, related to the real world, reviewed consistently, and connected to subsequent curricula.

• The brain innately seeks meaning through seeking patterns. The patterns give context to information that may otherwise be discarded by the brain as meaningless. Hence offering integrated lessons increases the chance that students will make sense of a lesson being taught.

Use MyOn as one of your center rotations...... AND - create project based learning activities....

It’s a simple fact … the more kids read, the better readers they become!

With MyON, students can read in and out of school time, over weekends, holidays and school breaks. Independent, self-directed reading is supported right along with reading of texts assigned by teachers.

MyOn Data:  For the 2016-2017 School Year 4th grade has come to the party Ready to Read!  They have finished 612 books and spent 111 hours reading!  Way to go 4th Grade.

	Books            Finished	Reading Time                   Hours
Pre K	0	0
Kindergarten	0	0.03
1st Grade	49	4.53
2nd Grade	155	14.51
3rd Grade	164	24.91
4th Grade	612	111.65
5th Grade	48	13.13
6th Grade	69	25.48

 TOTAL:  194 hours and 14 minutes.

(click on the link) Projects with MyOn.... Essential Question: Which myON book would make a great movie?  

A Letter to Teachers From "That Kid"

Dear Teacher,

I’m that kid. The kid who gets under your skin. The first grader who colors on your walls and spits on my table partners. The high school junior who mouths off and smirks from the back row. The child who knows exactly how to push your buttons, and does. Regularly.

I taunt. I terrorize. I hit. I destroy. I curse. I abuse. I roll my eyes. I talk back. Maybe I’ve even made you cry a few times.

Don’t take my behavior towards you personally. I know that doesn’t make any sense, since it’s mostly directed at you. But you know that old saying about having a bad day at work and going home and kicking the dog? Well, you’re the dog.

(I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.)

I really am a good kid deep down. I care about things. I have skills and strengths that I want to use to help other people. In fact, I secretly want for you to know all these good things about me. 

But unfortunately, you don’t get to see these good things. I am afraid. I am in pain. You know how if you put oil and water in a container together, the oil will float to the top? It’s like my fear and pain are the oil, and all the good things about me are water. Every once in a while, you might shake me up and see just a glimpse of those good things on the surface, but no matter how hard I try, the fear and pain will bubble up and cover everything again. It’s easy to think that the way that I react to fear and pain—the anger, the defiance—is the real me. In fact, I’ve even started to believe it.

The fear and pain I feel is different than what you may think. It’s not always actual physical fear or pain (though sometimes it is). I might be afraid that I’m not worthy of love, since my dad left me and my mom after I was born. I might be afraid that I will grow up to be like my mom, who is an alcoholic and misses all my baseball games. I might be in pain because my family and culture say I’m not manly enough since I cry a lot and am not really into sports. I might be in pain because someone who is supposed to love and protect me said something deeply hurtful that I won’t ever forget.

Maybe you look at me and think there’s no excuse for the way I behave. You might think, “This child has a stable family, loving parents and a secure environment. I know kids with a lot less who behave perfectly fine.” But please remember that there is always more than what you see. What you might not know is that the pressure to be perfect or different than who I am is so intense and crushing that I believe I’m a failure, and I’m too scared to tell anybody that.

Or maybe my home life is fine, but I’m learning a very dangerous message—that I’m inadequate, unlovable or not worthy of belonging—in some situation outside of home, or inside my own head. Maybe something is going on, or has happened, that nobody, not even my parents, know about but me, and I do a really good job of faking that I’m happy or that I don’t care.

I know that I’m making things hard for you. I know you don’t deserve it. But I feel like you should know this:

Somewhere, on a level I’m not even aware of, I’ve chosen you to behave this way towards because I know you’re a person who can help me.

This is a cry for help.

I want the same things everybody else does, but I’m asking for it in the most confusing and unflattering of ways.

I don’t know how to fix all of this (or I would have already). And I don’t think it’s necessarily your responsibility to fix me. But here’s how you can help me.

Start small. I’m fragile and I’ve been hurt. Because I’ve got so much junk at the surface, maybe don’t try to remove it all at once or ask me to open up right away about my fear and pain.

Show me that you notice me—not my behavior, but something about me.

Ask me questions.

Don’t give in when I try to rile you up.

Maybe, slowly, I will learn to trust you. Or maybe I will take a long time and you won’t see any progress in our time together, but your patience and kindness towards me will plant a seed that will sprout many years later.

But please, please, please don’t give up on me.

Love,

That Kid

by Love Teach

To Develop Every Child Into a Reader:

• Everyday a child reads something they choose to read.
• Every child reads accurately
• Every child reads something they understand.
• Every child writes something that is personal and meaningful daily.
• Every child talks with peers about reading and writing.
• Every child hears an adult reader read fluently.

Coolidge Elementary Academic Goals for 2016-2017

• All Students WILL achieve academically.
• Reading:  Increase reading proficiency by at least one grade level.
• Math:  Increase math achievement by 10% with 80% mastery of math facts on grade level.  
• Writing:  Increase writing proficiency by 15%
• Student Attendance:  Increase student attendance to 98%.
• Increase Faculty Attendance to 98%

OKCPS Literacy Standards

          1^st Grade

          2^nd Grade

          3^rd Grade

          4^th Grade

          5^th Grade

          6^th Grade

OKCPS Math Standards

          Pre-K

          Kindergarten

          1^st Grade

          2^nd Grade

          3^rd Grade

          4^th Grade

          5^th Grade

          6^th Grade

Melissa Brett | Principal

Coolidge Elementary School | Oklahoma City Public Schools

5212 S. Villa, Oklahoma City, OK 73119

(405) 587-2800

(405) 208-1581 (cell)

August 22, 2016

Our Mission:  “Educate students for lifelong learning and responsible living.”

Our Vision:  “Provide a learning environment that promotes and develops academic and

social growth.”

Attaining Learning Outcomes = Higher Achievement

Week 4:  Students learn how to use their Readers Notebook.  (This link will take you to a variety of responses for Readers Notebook.  It has differentiation for different levels.)  

It is the expectation that you have taught your students the foundation for balanced literacy including classroom procedures, selecting "just-right books", and creating a readers notebook,

This week focus is students using their Readers Notebook. During walk thru's we will be looking for evidence of readers notebook use.  

• Students learn procedures around how to respond to letters in their "reader's notebook from their teacher.
• Students learn how to proofread letters they write in the "readers notebook"
• Students learn how to process their own thinking so they can "write about it" and "talk about it".
• Whole Group (Read-Aloud) 15 minutes
• Briefly go over Reader's Notebook guidelines
• Read the Read-Aloud Book
• Teach and model for Small Group activity
• Small Group (60 minutes) (2 switches)
• Teacher Station - Introduce book basket
• Station 1 - Response to Read-Aloud
• Station 2 - Individual Silent Reading
• Station 3 - Writing (open response topic)
• Closure (5 minutes) and Shared Reading introduction (10 minutes)
• Fiction and Non-Fiction Review (Shared Reading)
• Teacher asks students to share reader's notebook highlights

“All doors open to courtesy.”   - Thomas Fuller

A positive teacher is committed to excellence! 2. A positive teacher is focused on short term and long terms goals! 3. A positive teacher is confident and enthusiastic! 4. A positive teacher is responsible and trustworthy! 5. A positive teacher is organized and on time! Please be on time to Rise N Shine daily.

• Monday - Ms. Harden to lead Rise N Shine this week. Ms. Jenks from TFA will be in the building.  
• Tuesday - PLC's.  Be prepared to discuss lesson plans, this weeks standard and your content embedded objective.  
• For example: We can describe how the Virginia Colony was settled.  We can describe the relationship between English settlers and Native Americans. UNIT Learning Goal Example:  4 - I can analyze motivations and outcomes of early English settlements.  3.  I can explain motivations and outcomes of early English settlements.  2.  I can describe some motivations and outcomes of early English settlements.  1.  With help I can describe some events and people from early English settlements.  
• Wednesday - Common Sense awards due in the office
• Thursday - Regular school day.
• Friday - Common Sense awards during Friday finale.

In addition to checking lesson plans on the Google Drive I will begin running a grade book check with Infinite Campus.  It is the district expectation that a minimum of 2 grades per week be posted.  During Parent Teacher Conferences parents will be given information on how to sign up for parent alerts with I.C.  One of the tools includes checking their child's grades.  Be sure yours are up-to-date.


The folder to share photo's for potential yearbook shots is located on our Google Drive.  Click here for the link.  

F & P Benchmark Assessment Sample

What does Foss Science look like in a first grade classroom?  Click here to find out.  - First Grade from Mrs. Keys classroom.  

The Action Based Learning Lab in action?  Click Here:  ABL 

To Develop Every Child Into a Reader:

• Everyday a child reads something they choose to read.
• Every child reads accurately
• Every child reads something they understand.
• Every child writes something that is personal and meaningful daily.
• Every child talks with peers about reading and writing.
• Every child hears an adult reader read fluently.

Coolidge Elementary Academic Goals for 2016-2017

• All Students WILL achieve academically.
• Reading:  Increase reading proficiency by at least one grade level.
• Math:  Increase math achievement by 10% with 80% mastery of math facts on grade level.  
• Writing:  Increase writing proficiency by 15%
• Student Attendance:  Increase student attendance to 98%.
• Increase Faculty Attendance to 98%

OKCPS Literacy Standards

          1^st Grade

          2^nd Grade

          3^rd Grade

          4^th Grade

          5^th Grade

          6^th Grade

OKCPS Math Standards

          Pre-K

          Kindergarten

          1^st Grade

          2^nd Grade

          3^rd Grade

          4^th Grade

          5^th Grade

          6^th Grade

Melissa Brett | Principal

Coolidge Elementary School | Oklahoma City Public Schools

5212 S. Villa, Oklahoma City, OK 73119

(405) 587-2800

(405) 208-1581 (cell)