https://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=948
Hello Everyone,
I hope you all had a good Spring Break and were able to relax and wind down from our very busy school year. I’m getting about four hours of sleep a night, but have had a Spring Break I wouldn’t trade for anything.
Seven items of note for this week.
• Monday April 2nd Professional Development, 8:30-10:30 – A quick reminder that Monday April 2nd from 8;30-10:30 will the professional development portion of the day for both schools. Staff from both schools will meet in the Corridor Library. Remember to bring your laptop (fully charged) and also a class list of student user names and passwords.
• Em-azing Reading Incentive Program Assembly Time Change, April 5th, COR 8:30-9:00 and YG 9:10-9:40 – Another quick reminder if you missed the email about the time change for Thursday’s Em-azing Reading Incentive Assembly. Corridor’s assembly will be in the gym from 8:30-9:00 and YG’s assembly will be from 9:10-9:40. See previous announcements for details about the program.
• Facing History Launches Official Educator Guide for BULLY – If you haven’t heard about it, there is a major documentary titled “Bully” coming out soon. This topic has received a lot of attention in the media over the past few years and this film will likely bring the issue even more to the forefront for the public and for our families. Principals were asked to share this resource form the Safe School organization, which has information on the film and resources on how to address bullying from the perspective of schools, parents and students.
• 4J Spelling Contest – 4J is hoping to send students to participate in the Oregon Statewide Spelling Championship. Here is how it works:
1. The Divisions are Grades 1-5, 6-8, and 9-12 (Yes, First graders are in the same category as fifth graders but last year the Lane County winner was a 3rd grader!)
2. Each school chooses its two top spellers (How you do this is up to us. For example, a grade-level teacher could use their own method for choosing the top speller(s) in their class for a school-wide competition. If people are interested, 4J will send us a spelling list for a school-wide contest.)
3. 4J will hold a District competition to determine the top two spellers in each division. This is scheduled for May 9, 6:30-7:30, in the 4J District Auditorium.
4. The two winners from each division in the 4J District will compete at the county level hosted by the Lane ESD on May 23.
5. The format for the contest is a 25-word written test. The tester says the word, then uses it in a sentence.Attached are a brochure and informational sheet on the event. Please let me know by Thursday, April 5th if any of your are interested in taking this on. This could be a great activity for our TAG students.
• Florida Center for Reading Research – The Florida Center for Reading Research was shared at several of the IIPM meetings a couple weeks back, but here is a link to the site for everyone. It is an incredibly resource rich site for staff looking for reading intervention materials. Just click on the “Instructional Materials for Teachers” link for your grade level and there will be many specific, ready made resources your can use right away with students in areas your are needing, including Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary and Comprehension. Definitely bookmark this site!
• “Colorblindness” is Denial – Here’s a great article about how people claiming to be “color blind” when it comes to race is really a denial of the profound impact regarding the social, political and economic realities of the lives of people of color.
• Josie Chinn – Last but not least, here’s a link to the hospital baby photos of Josie. They changed it since last time I was there with Gracie. Now they have a professional photographer come in to take the photos and they are put onto their website. Enjoy!
Have a great week back!
Allan