Week of September 21st - September 25th 

It's a Marvelous Monday Team!!

I hope you had an amazing weekend!!

• Team Central for an outstanding job during our lock-down drill on Sept. 16th. We must conduct, and take, these drills seriously to ensure we are prepared in the event of a true crisis! Thank you all!

• To Mr. Spence for attending the PTA Meeting, and joining the PTA, on September 16th.

As we begin our CHS school-wide literacy journey, I am including an area in our weekly blog that centers around strategies to incorporate literacy skills into your daily lessons .

• In looking at PSAT data, our students struggled with Critical Reading..specifically, with finding the Main Idea of complex passages.

• Students must be given numerous opportunities to read complex text, and taught how to unlock the text for comprehension. Remember, with close reading:

First Read: Get the gist of the text.( circling important ideas/ words; underlining details that explain ideas, making inferences, asking questions, and summarizing the information.)
Ex.
What is this story/article/text mostly about?
Summarize the story/text.
Compare and contrast
What message is the author sharing?

Second Read: For the second reading (or re-reading) of the text, you will read with a purpose in mind.  
Ex.
Explain what [specific vocabulary word from the text] means.
How does the author feel about [the topic]?
What is the problem/solution in the story?
What is the text structure of this [story/ article/text]?

Third Read: The third close reading of a text should go even deeper, requiring students to synthesize and analyze information from several sections of a text, or multiple texts or media. They may record their ideas on sticky notes, graphic organizer(s), or a thinking sheet. Select text-dependent questions that require higher-level thinking:

Continuing with our checking for understanding feature...

Checking for understanding MUST be done numerous times throughout a lesson to check for scholar understanding. Remember:

• Reject Self-Report - Refrain from asking rhetorical questions such as, "Is everyone clear on...," "Everybody got it?"..."Any Questions?" Most likely you will have a number of scholars who say, "Yes," but some may not understand or aren't clear about the skill/concept you are teaching.

• Targeted Questioning - Ask a series of carefully chosen, open-ended questions directed at specific scholars.

INSTEAD OF...

Ok, now that we've reviewed cellular structure, is everyone clear on the difference between animal and plant cells?

REPLACE IT WITH SOMETHING LIKE THIS...

Ok, so let's make sure we're clear on the difference between plant and animal cells. Jason, what does the presence of a cell wall tell me about the cell I'm looking at?...

Good, and what else might tell me I was looking at a plant cell, Kina?... 

And what cells have chloroplasts, Jose?...

Yes, and why do they have them Kevin?...

Good, sounds like we're ready to move on...

• Remember, you are just trying to get a quick data sample to get an overview of the level of knowledge in the classroom.
• Plan your questions in advance of the lesson.
• Sample students strategically and intentionally to get a "pretty"reliable data sample.
• Call on RANDOM students, not volunteers.

*All of the aforementioned information is taken from Teach Like a Champion, 2.0 - Doug Lemov

• Please sign up for the October 2, 2015 County-Wide Professional Development (for your content area). Information can be found on the Staff Portal.

• All SLO's are due in Teachscape by October 2, 2015. See your Department Chair for more information.

• Please complete your Goal-Setting in Teachscape. See your Department Chair for more information.

• Please use the Google Doc LVL 1 Form to document minor student behaviors. Ensure you send the LVL 1 form to all appropriate staff members. Remember, 3 LVL 1 referrals, that show interventions attempted, must be submitted prior to submitting a Google Doc Discipline Referral. See Major Pabalan for more information.

• Please make sure you are lesson planning each day, and using the school-wide lesson plan template. Lesson plans should be in a binder, and in an area that is accessible for visitors.

• ESOL professional development opportunities are available for ALL teachers. The flyers will be uploaded to the blog and Teacher Resource Site. Also, information is available in ERO.

MONDAY, 9/21 "B DAY"

• GV Volleyball vs. Surratsville 6:30PM @ CHS

TUESDAY, 9/22 "A Day"

• Family and Consumer Sciences Collaborative Planning (PD 1A - RM 221)Math Collaborative Planning (PD 2A - RM 212)
• English Collaborative Planning (PD 3A - RM 100)
• Social Studies Collaborative Planning (PD 4A - See Mr. Spence for Rooms)
• French Immersion Collaborative Planning (PD 4A - LIB 1)
• Science Collaborative Planning (PD 5A - RM 219)
• Literacy Team Meeting @ 2:45pm (Media Center)
• New Teachers Academy Meeting @ 2:30pm (Room TBA)
• GV Soccer vs Laurel @ 3:30 PM @ Central Football Stadium
• BV Soccer @ Laurel 3:30PM

WEDNESDAY, 9/23 "B" DAY 

• IEP Meetings (All day) 
• Foundations of Technology Collaborative Planning (PD 1B)
• World Languages Collaborative Planning (PD 1B - RM 201A)
• World Languages Collaborative Planning (PD 5B - RM 204)
• Admin/ABIS/Security/PGC Meeting  - 2:45pm - 3:15pm (Location TBA)
• Admin Meeting 3:30pm (Upstairs Conference Room) 

THURSDAY,  9/24 "A" DAY

• Instructional Leadership Team Meeting @ 2:45PM (Library)
• BV Soccer vs Crossland CHS  3:30pm
• GV Soccer @ Friendly @ 3:30 PM
• GV Volleyball @ Friendly 6:30PM

FRIDAY, 9/25 "B" DAY

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SATURDAY,  9/26 

• (JV) Football vs. Friendly @ CHS 9:00am
• (V) Football @ Friendly 2:00pm

HAVE AN AMAZING, GREAT BY CHOICE, WEEK!