AVID Newsletter

Hello AVID Families and Community!

Our AVID classes all had an amazing first quarter filled with learning, planning, team-building, and HAVING FUN! The second quarter is underway with a lot of fun units and projects planned to help all of our students to continue making progress toward reaching their goals and being college and career ready.

If any of you have any successes that you would like to tell me about, I would love to share them in our AVID newsletters.

As always, thank you for your continued support of our AVID program. Please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns at anytime.

Respectfully, Heather Dyke

Every year on October 1st, the FREE Application for Federal Student Aid opens and seniors can begin to complete and submit their application to be eligible for grants, scholarships, and federal student loans as they begin college next school year. This is a HUGE step toward their future!!!

On Monday, October 24th, our AVID seniors took a bus up to Flagstaff for a tour of NAU. They were treated to lunch, a guided tour of the campus, a presentation about how to apply for NAU, and a trip to the bookstore for some NAU swag!

Friday, 11/18 - AVID Freshmen tour Chandler Gilbert Community College

3rd quarter - AVID Sophomores tour Arizona State University

3rd quarter - AVID Juniors tour the University of Arizona

Sometime 2nd semester - I will be coordinating a tour of Grand Canyon University - availability will go by seniority (seniors, then juniors, then sophomores, then Freshmen)

On September 22nd, the Chandler Unified School District hosted a district wide college fair at the Chandler Center for the Arts. There were presentations from NAU, ASU, and U of A, tables from over 25 colleges and post-secondary educational institutions, and branches of our US military. I was so happy to see so many AVID families in attendance!

Our AVID classes end each quarter with a “campfire” circle. We sat together and shared our responses to questions and had a great class discussion… and of course S’mores!!!

Each AVID Sophomore was tasked to research their DREAM college, TARGET college, and SAFE college and create a poster comparing the three to each other. They presented their posters to the rest of the class and shared their research with their classmates.

Our AVID club joined the Chandler Buddies club and passed out candy for our Chandler Buddies members that were trick-or-treating in the classrooms. We dressed up, played Halloween music, and decorated the classroom.

Each quarter, our AVID students look up their grades and calculate their weighted grade point average. They submit them to Mrs. Dyke, who then calculates the class average. The class with the highest class average GPA wins donuts! 1st quarter, the prize went to our amazing AVID Juniors with a class average GPA of 3.61!!!

During 1st quarter, our AVID Freshmen spent a lot of time learning about the steps of tutorial process and the purpose of our weekly tutorials. This quarter, they are now ready to actively engage in small group tutorials. AVID Tutorials are a collaborative environment in which students use the inquiry process and Socratic dialogue to address Points of Confusion from their content classes in order to come to a more complete understanding of what they are learning. BOTH AVID 9 classes did a great job with their first attempt at tutorials. The students were actively engaged and they all worked hard to help each other solve their Points of Confusion.

1. Claim-Evidence-Reasoning model (Writing & Inquiry & Organization):

Claim-Evidence-Reasoning: A WRITING STRATEGY TO HELP STUDENTS MAKE CONNECTIONS WITH SCIENCE CONCEPTS AND LABS

Have you ever had students respond, “I don’t know. It just did,” when asked to analyze and interpret their classroom lab results? We all want our students to “think like a scientist,” but often they fall short in connecting the dots between the lab results and the science concepts. Claim-Evidence-Reasoning or CER is a writing strategy that can develop a student’s analytical thinking and argumentative writing skills to turn that “I don’t know” into “aha, so that’s why we got those results in the lab.”

Article explaining how to use it in your classroom: https://www.modelteaching.com/education-articles/writing-instruction/claim-evidence-reasoning-cer

CER Graphic Organizer: https://sites.levittownschools.com/ckind/Documents/Claim%20Evidence%20Reasoning%20Graphic%20Organizer.pdf

2. Name Tents (Collaboration):

Name tents are a simple way to improve student relationships and create connections. Something special happens when you are on a first name basis with your students. Saying “hey buddy” or “hey sweetie” is just not quite the same. Name tents are a lifesaver for remembering names and learning more about your students.

Article for using name tents in the classroom: https://thecounselingteacher.com/2018/10/student-relationship-building-with-name-tents.html

Sample lesson using name tents: https://www.saravanderwerf.com/week-1-day-1-name-tents-with-feedback/

Email: dyke.heather@cusd80.com
Phone: 480-812-7828
Twitter: @AvidChandler