We Don’t Need No Stinking Goals!

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

We Don’t Need No Stinking Goals! —

The district put together some reading goals and I need to share them with you. There are 2  specific literacy goals. One is about Kindergarten and the other about Second grade. They are specific to these two grades but really affect all grades.

1. By May 21, 2020, Washington County School District will increase the percentage of kindergarten students at or above benchmark as measured by the Acadience Reading composite from Beginning of Year (BOY) to End of Year (EOY) by 5%. 
2. By May 21, 2020, in Washington County School District, 37% of 2nd grade students who scored well-below benchmark at BOY, as measured by Acadience Reading, will no longer be well-below benchmark at EOY.  

These are doable goals and I think they will be met by our school by January. We also have a goal for Arrowhead Elementary. One is specific to K-3 and the other for all grades. We hope we can add 4th and 5th to the Acadience goal soon.

1. With us concentrating on Phonemic Awareness and Phonics this year our goal is to have at least 90% of students in all grades that scored below grade level on Phonemic Awareness and Phonics skills at BOY will be on grade level by EOY, as measured by Phonemic Awareness and Core Phonics tests.
2. We will have an increased percentage of students at or above benchmark from Beginning of Year (BOY) to End of Year (EOY) by 10% in Kinder, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade, as measured by Acadience Reading. 

This will bring our students at below grade level on EOY Acadience to below 10%. That will bring our school to below 10% of students at the below or well below grade level on Acadience. The work you and aides have been doing will make a huge difference in reaching these goals. But the main reason for the goals is to help each student realize their potential and build self-confidence in their reading skills as they get better at reading. This will provide them with endless opportunities. It will also increase their abilities in science and math. When these goals are met, we will not play catch up so much as differentiating and scaffolding Tier 1 lessons. That is where we should be with around 10%, hopefully less, needing interventions. 

Quote I’m pondering —

"Having a positive mental attitude is asking how something can be done rather than saying it can't be done." -- Bo Bennett

What’s Happening —

This Coming Week	In Two Weeks
Tue. Oct. 15 - Picture Retakes Wed. Oct. 16 - TAT Kindergarten 8:00 am Oct. 14-16 & 21-25 - No rotations  Oct. 17-18 - Fall Break	Oct. 22 - Storytelling Festival Oct. 23 - Intervention Meetings Oc. 25 - Meet the Masters Oct. 25 - Aide Training 9:00 am
	Oct. 28 - Teacher Training Afternoon Oct. 28 - Nov. 1 - Red Ribbon Week Oct. 31 - Halloween Parade 3:00 pm

Favorite Article This Week —

Why Not Teach Reading Comprehension for a Change?

This is an interesting article about Comprehension from Timothy Shanahan. Pretty bold in it concept. A reminder that comprehension is more than just answering questions on paper.  

A Big Thank You —

Thank you, Crystal, Amy L., and Heather L. for taking the time to be a part of the PTA and Community Council. These are important jobs to help our community see and hear about what is happening in our school. It also gives the community to learn more about what our needs are and how they will help our students. PTA does so much for our school and Crystal helps them as they find activities and opportunities for our students. Amy L. And Heather L. Help with Community Council as the council decide what the money and programs we need for our school are decided upon. They help relay how the programs are working and if changes need to be made. Community Council helps us with programs and Items that will help our school. Thank you for helping with these councils. It really makes a difference for our school and for the students. Thank you for taking the extra time. Thank you for all that you do. Thank you.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work.

Bonus: I just saw this today. Inktober. Artists draw single pictures each day of the month of October. Here is a list of prompts for the month. it looks like a fun 5 minutes morning or after lunch activity. Have fun.