WEEK OF OCTOBER 12TH - OCTOBER 16TH

IT'S A MARVELOUS MONDAY TEAM CENTRAL!

WELCOME BACK! 

• Ms. Kaplun for her hard work in getting over 90 Juniors to sign up for the PSAT! A 50%+ increase from last school year!!!
• Mr. Nichols, Dr. Fuller, all Sponsors, and the entire SGA Team for a very organized and fun Homecoming Week!!
• Ms. Warner and her team of Senior students for assisting with Homecoming Week and decorating the cafeteria for the dance.
• Ms. Claggett and Ms. Holston and the AWESOME Central High School BLUE THUNDER MARCHING BAND! They were OUTSTANDING!
• All staff members who attended the Homecoming Game and Dance!! Thank you for your assistance!!
• Dr. Jones for sharing a parents' compliments regarding Mr. Nichols tutoring a student, in need of additional Math support, after school! We support each other!!!!
• Ms. Hogans for bringing Dwayne Myko and his Team to help us kick-off PSAT Testing!!
• Ms. Chavez and the ESOL team for providing us with information about prominent Hispanic men and women as we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month!
• The entire staff for your support during Homecoming Week!! Teamwork makes the dream work!!!

5 Ways to  Incorporate Literacy in the Classroom

A CHS Blog Series

This Week.... 
Speaking

Students having academic or high-level conversations in small and large group settings does not happen overnight. It takes time -- and scaffolding -- to create a Socratic Seminar setting in your classroom.

In order for our students to engage in academic conversation, or accountable talk, they need plenty of practice with informal conversation in pairs and triads. Use the following strategies frequently for building students' oral skills: 

• think-pair-share
• elbow partner
• shoulder share
• chunk and chew
• Kids should be talking and not sitting passively in their seats. 

For every 5-8 minutes you talk, give them 1-2 minutes to talk to each other. You can walk around and listen, informally assessing and checking for understanding.

Conversation helps immensely when processing new content and concepts. Students also will surely have more fruitful answers to share (be sure to always provide wait time when asking questions of students).

*Alber, Rebecca. "How Important is Teaching Literacy in all Content Areas?" Edutopia.15 January 2014.
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/literacy-instruction-across-curriculum-importance. 11 October 2015.

• WE ARE BACK IN UNIFORMS THIS WEEK! PLEASE ENFORCE THE UNIFORM POLICY, INCLUDING JACKET COLORS BEGINNING MONDAY, 10/12!
• No hall passes should be issued the first 15 or last 15 minutes of each class period! During the class period, passes should be issues for EMERGENCIES only!
•  Student Services Videos should have been watched and the assessments completed by October 9, 2015. If you have not done so, please complete ASAP.
•  All SLO's are due in Teachscape by October 19, 2015. (REVISED DATE) See your Department Chair 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. 

MONDAY, 10/12 "B DAY"

• Girls V Volleyball vs. Largo @ CHS - 5:00pm

TUESDAY, 10/13 "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 (U.S. His - RM 312; LSN Gov - RM 105; World History - RM 118)
• French Immersion Collaborative Planning (PD 4A - LIB 1)
• Science Collaborative Planning (PD 5A - RM 219)

• Literacy Team Meeting @ 2:45pm Rm. 100
• New Teachers Meeting  @ 2:45pm
• Boys Soccer vs. Forestville @ CHS - 3:30pm
• Girls Soccer @ Forestville - 3:30 pm

WEDNESDAY, 10/14 "B" DAY 

• PSAT 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) 
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• THURSDAY, 10/15 "A" DAY
• CHROME OS TRAINING DURING ALL PLANNING PERIODS - MEDIA CENTER

• Instructional Leadership Meeting @ 2:45pm Media Center
• Boys Soccer vs. Parkdale @ CHS
• Girls Soccer @ Douglass @ 5:00pm
• Girls V Volleyball @ Douglass @ 5:00pm

FRIDAY, 10/16 "B" DAY

• NO SCHOOL FOR SCHOLARS
• NO SCHOOL FOR 10 MONTH EMPLOYEES
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SATURDAY,  10/17

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

MAKE IT A GREAT WEEK...BY CHOICE!!

Week of September 28th - October 2nd 

It's a Magnificent Monday Team Central!!

Welcome Back!! 

•  Ms. Hall for receiving a literacy grant which allowed the English Department to receive free novels!!!
• Ms. Gibson for celebrating her students and giving "Student of the Week" certificates!!!
• Ms. Fingal for receiving a note from a parent thanking her (Ms. Fingal) for showing professionalism and kindness during the parent's visit to Central!!
• Ms. Clark and Dr. Berry for working with a parent volunteer to begin a partnership with the University of Md. Agriculture Team. They will be working together to fix up our CHS Greenhouse.
• Mrs. Lorditch for spearheading CHS's Breast Cancer Awareness T-Shirt sales!!!
• Ms. Walker for spearheading our Parent University Night and Ms. Booker, Ms. Hogans, Ms. Kaplun, and Ms. Warner for volunteering to lead presentations.

5 Ways to  Incorporate Literacy in the Classroom

A CHS Blog Series

This Week.... 

Teach Vocabulary

• SELECT SPECIFIC WORDS - When planning your lesson, pre-select words that are critical to students' understanding of the content. 
• RANK WORDS - When considering which words need the most instructional attention, let's turn to Isabel Beck's practical way of categorizing vocabulary words into three tiers: Tier One: Basic words that rarely require instructional focus (door, house, book).
  Tier Two: Words that appear with high frequency, across a variety of domains, and are crucial when using mature, academic language (coincidence, reluctant, analysis).
  Tier Three: Frequency of these words is quite low and often limited to specific fields of study (isotope, Reconstruction, Buddhism).
  Beck suggests that students will benefit the most academically by focusing instruction on the tier two words (since these appear with much higher frequency than tier three words, and are used across domains). Go ahead and select some content-specific words (tier three) but only those directly related to the chapter, article, short story, or whatever you are about to read.
• TEACH WORDS - If you haven't heard of him, I'd like to introduce Robert Marzano. This guy is pretty amazing, having spent countless hours observing students and teachers. An education researcher and teacher, he stresses that in all content areas, direct vocabulary instruction is essential and suggests six steps: Step one: The teacher explains a new word, going beyond reciting its definition (tap into prior knowledge of students, use imagery).
  Step two: Students restate or explain the new word in their own words (verbally and/or in writing).
  Step three: Ask students to create a non-linguistic representation of the word (a picture, or symbolic representation).
  Step four: Students engage in activities to deepen their knowledge of the new word (compare words, classify terms, write their own analogies and metaphors).
  Step five: Students discuss the new word (pair-share, elbow partners).
  Step six: Students periodically play games to review new vocabulary (Pyramid, Jeopardy, Telephone).
  
  *Alber, Rebecca. Doing it Differently: Tips for Teaching Vocabulary.  January 16, 2014. Edutopia. September 28, 2015. <http://www.edutopia.org/blog/vocabulary-instruction-teaching-tips-rebecca-alber>
  
  
  
   Continuing with our checking for understanding feature...
  
  
  
  EXIT TICKETS
  
  
  • An exit ticket is perhaps one or two questions or problems for students to answer quickly at the end of class.
  •  Not only are exit tickets a great way to assess what students learned, but they are also a good tool for teachers to see how well they taught the material.
  •  An important aspect of exit tickets is that you need to make sure that they are short and simple, and also usually focused on the main points of the lesson, not small details. 
  •  Make sure that you have the exit ticket questions ready before class begins, so that you don't waste time at the end of class trying to come up with questions. Either write  them on the board or pass out a slip of paper so that the students can visually see the questions.
  •  Allow students to get used to the routine of completing exit tickets upon the dismissal of each class period.
  
  *Thompson, Jordan. Exit Ticket. Teach Like a Champion. September 28, 2015.  <Teachlikeachampionjordan.weebly.com/exit-ticket.html>
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • Please sign up for the October 2, 2015 County-Wide Professional Development (for your content area). Information can be found on the Staff Portal.
  • Please view Student Services Videos and complete assessments by October 9, 2015.
  •  All SLO's are due in Teachscape by October 19, 2015. (REVISED DATE) See your Department Chair for more information.
  •  Please use the Google Doc LVL 1 Form to document minor student behaviors, and students with attendance concerns.  Send the LVL 1 form to all appropriate staff members. Remember,  three 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.
   
  
  
  
  
  
  

   

  MONDAY, 9/28 "A DAY"

  • Value Teachers @ 11:00am in Staff Lounge
  • Smart Board Training - Periods 2-5 (Location TBA) 
  • Department Meetings @ 2:45pm
  • Volleyball vs. Potomac @ Central - 7:00pm
   

  TUESDAY, 9/29 "B Day"

  • Foundations of Technology Collaborative Planning (PD 1B)
  • World Languages Collaborative Planning (PD 1B - RM 201A)
  • World Languages Collaborative Planning (PD 5B - RM 204)
  • Literacy Team Meeting @ 2:45pm Rm. 100
  • Boys Soccer @ Highpoint - 3:00pm
  • Girls Soccer vs. Highpoint @ Central - 5:00pm

  
  WEDNESDAY, 9/30 "A" DAY 

  • IEP Meetings (All 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 (U.S. His - RM 312; LSN Gov - RM 105; World History - RM 118)
  • French Immersion Collaborative Planning (PD 4A - LIB 1)
  • Science Collaborative Planning (PD 5A - RM 219)
  • Admin/ABIS/Security/PGC Meeting  - 2:45pm - 3:15pm (Location TBA)
  • Admin Meeting 3:30pm (Upstairs Conference Room) 
  • Parent University Night - All Grades @ 6:00pm
  •  
  • THURSDAY, 10/1 "B" DAY

  • Girls Soccer @Eleanor Roosevelt @3:00pm

    Boys Soccer vs. Eleanor Roosevelt @ Central @ 3:30pm

  • Volleyball @ Forestville @6:30pm

   

  FRIDAY, 10/2 "B" DAY

  • NO SCHOOL FOR SCHOLARS
  • PGCPS TEACHING AND LEARNING CONFERENCE
  •  

  SATURDAY,  10/3

  • (JV) Football @ Douglass 9:00am
  • (V) Football vs. Douglass @ Central @3:00pm
  
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  

  THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK!!

   

  HAVE AN AMAZING, GREAT BY CHOICE, WEEK!!!

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!