Teaching & Learning

Recently we held our Year 4 Outside Visitation Team visit for the Kansas Education Systems Accreditation(KESA) process. Members of our team include educators from Twin Valley, Emporia, Geary County, and Salina. The best part of the visit was when building administrators shared with the team the AMAZING work being done collaboratively through BSEL teams, LFI teams, BLTs, and PLCs. A LOT has been asked of you this year and much has been accomplished in an effort to go from Good to GREAT! The tiredness you feel is well-earned in that it comes from energy being spent on great things with the focus being for all students to become successful high school graduates.

The team members recognized this and were very complimentary. In their report they noted many strengths such as…

• It’s clear that there is a general belief that all students can learn and that the district is here to support the building and teachers.
• USD 489 has a cohesive approach to school improvement that moves the district forward, while still allowing buildings to meet the needs of their individual building and students.
• Continue to celebrate the postsecondary successes your students are experiencing.

As we wrap up this year and look forward to a restful, recharging summer break I want to give you an idea of what is to come next year with our continuous improvement. It will be Year 5 for KESA, so our visit next spring will be more comprehensive with a recommendation going before the Accreditation Review Council for accreditation of our district system. In addition, our work with TASN will continue with support for BSEL as well as academically. The next steps from our Leading for Impact(LFI) work will be taking a deeper dive into PLCs. We will revisit their purpose and better understand the impact they have on student success indicators. As these details become available, they will be shared.

To say I am proud to be a part of USD 489 is an understatement. I hope you too are proud to be part of this GREAT district who is noticed across the state for its excellence. EveryStudentEveryDay489…up to the last day; finish strong! 😊

~Shanna Dinkel

May 2nd-6th: Teacher Appreciation Week!

May 2nd: LETRS Unit 4 - 2nd Grade

May 3rd: LETRS Unit 4 - Hays High ELA & SPED

May 4th: LETRS Unit 4 - Hays Middle ELA & SPED

May 9th: LETRS Unit 4 - 3rd grade & intermediate SPED

May 10th: LETRS Unit 4 - K-1 & Primary SPED

May 10th: VOTE!!

May 11th: LETRS Unit 4 - Grades 4 & 5

May 19th: HHS & HMS last day of school

May 20th: Elementary last day of school

As the year draws to a close, I wanted to pass along a few Frontline reminders!!

• All entries for the 2021-22 school year – New Knowledge and/or College Credit – are to be submitted before June 1st to be eligible for credits/points

• Please note – As long as the activity (PDC Knowledge and/or College Credit request) has been submitted before June 1st the points/credits will be awarded. Administrators will move the activity through the approval chain over the next month or two, so check back throughout the summer on the activity’s progress. It is the first entry by you that has the June 1st deadline.
  

• Be sure to manage your activities by marking them ‘complete’. Instructions HERE

• To receive final approval for College Credit courses, please upload an unofficial transcript or screen shot of your grade(s) to verify course completion. Instructions HERE

• When an activity has completed the process, it will appear in the ‘Recently Completed’ section on your home page. That is how you check to be sure all is complete.

THANK YOU!

Teacher Appreciation Gift Ideas...

Erika teaches 5th grade at Roosevelt Elementary.

Tina is a preschool teacher at the USD 489 Preschool.

Monica teaches 5th grade at Lincoln Elementary.

CLICK HERE!

Your New Super Power Workshop -click for more information

New applications are accepted until funding is depleted. More information here.

If you would like to register, the district will pay. Please click here to complete and submit form. Once a PO is created, you can register yourself.

Grab your second edition copy of Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction and join us to advancing reading comprehension through vocabulary instruction. Moats and Tolman indicate once students learn the alphabetic code, vocabulary is the single most important factor in increasing reading comprehension It is the single greatest factor in closing reading achievement at and beyond the fourth grade.

Join us in text-based learning about how to engage students in robust vocabulary instruction through reading, studying, and discussing Bringing Words to Life, Second Edition by Isabel L. Beck, Margaret G. McKeown, and Linda Kucan. Packed with information on how to teach vocabulary and how to transfer it into student lexicons, this book contains strategies are adaptable to students of all ages. Click HERE to register! Twenty-five registrants will earn a free copy of Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction. Zoom meetings will occur on Wednesdays, running from May 4 - June 1, 2022, at 7:00-8:30 pm.

• Student score reports will be available in Kite on May 11 after 2:00 pm and in the Parent Portal May 17. Results are confidential until the scores are available for view in the Parent Portal. This allows time for changes to be made if necessary.

• All KAP student score reports will be available with the exception of 10th Grade Mathematics. Student score reports for 10th grade math will not be available until late fall, after standard setting this summer.

• DLM score reports will be available June 17.

Formative assessment is the process (not a test!) by which teachers plan and continually adapt their instruction to respond to their students’ academic progress; formative assessment does not necessarily include traditional tests or quizzes, nor is it necessarily graded.

The mini-tests are designed to be used frequently during instruction to provide feedback to help students, to evaluate students’ learning, and to aid teachers in adjusting instruction. In its most helpful form, the formative assessment uses classroom activities and discussions that require students to not simply answer questions but also reveal their reasoning that led to those answers.

In turn, teachers can immediately analyze their observations of these activities to determine individual students’ strengths and weaknesses so that they might help students address the specific mistakes they may be making or misconceptions they may hold.

(link PDF attached – Creating a Mini Test)

(Link to Interim Guide - https://ksassessments.org/sites/default/files/documents/interim/Interim_Guide_for_Educators_and_Test_Coordinators.pdf

When educators ask, what is the one action we can take to improve student learning, my answer is universal no matter the grade level or domain; Increase the Opportunities to Respond...

Read more here

Teachers,

I have witnessed, and had reported to me, several issues with audio loading properly for the AutoReading test on FastBridge.

If students are working on an AutoReading subtest and either don’t have sound or have scratchy/muffled sound, this means their page did not load correctly. They need to close the tab and log back into FastBridge. If they close the tab in the middle of a subtest, they will start back at the beginning of that subtest. Doing this has been successful with every student I have worked with (some did have to do it more than once – 4 is the winner right now).

If they don’t tell you they couldn’t hear until they finish, you will have to delete their score before they can redo it. The steps to delete a score are linked below and have been added to the Canvas/Seesaw courses.

https://fastbridge.illuminateed.com/hc/en-us/articles/1260802484609-Deleting-a-Score

~Allison Kitchen

• USD 489 - FastBridge Assessment Overview 2021-22
• Logging into FastBridge for the First Time
• Forgotten Password
• FAST Assessment Estimated Administration Times
• Quick Sheets, Student Materials and Demo Videos can be Accessed on the Assessment Page HERE
• How To Access the List of Student Usernames & Passwords for Your Building
  

A Teaching and Learning SeeSaw (elementary) and Canvas (secondary) page has been created and shared with teachers throughout the district. The goal for creating these courses is to share resources, dates, and general information in a one-stop-shop method. In the course you will find a calendar with PD dates, assessment windows, days off, early releases, etc. You will also find resource folders/modules with several tutorials or info for FastBridge, eduCLIMBER, ELA, Math, Progress Monitoring, and more. If there is anything you would like to see added to this page let Allison or Marie know.

Creating an Incident in eduClimber

USD 489

For more information and FAQ's, click here

The KSDE Teacher Leader Team is excited to announce the kick off dates and locations for the HGSS Regional Professional Learning Communities.

JOIN US!

We know how busy your social studies teachers are and

how hard they're working.
(And maybe they need some help with KSDE's
state assessment!)

We also know that their need for professional learning and college credit never goes away.
So we've developed a series of self-paced online learning opportunities designed just for social studies teachers. And the first four courses in the series are available now!

Hosted on ESSDACK's Teachable platform and available anywhere anytime, each course provides a variety of resources, strategies, and tools all focused on increasing their impact in the classroom. Adaptable across grade levels and content areas, your teachers are sure to find just want they need!

Let me know how I can help!

Glenn Wiebe

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Grades 5-12 Options

Acing the Kansas State Classroom-Based Assessment:
All You Need to Know About the Social Studies Classroom-Based Assessment
0.5 graduate credits / $49

The Kansas State HGSS standards supports the ability to think historically, make claims using evidence, and solve problems. The required Classroom-Based Assessment is designed to measure a student's ability to demonstrate those skills. But what can the newly designed CBA actually look like? This video based course has the answers.

Get signed up

Teaching With Your Mouth Shut:
Integrating Inquiry Into Your 6-12 Social Studies Instruction
1.0 Graduate Credits / $99

Inquiry-based learning is at the foundation of high-quality social studies instruction. In this course, you'll explore the research more deeply, play with a variety of effective integration strategies, and uncover materials and resources that will help you as you integrate an inquiry-based instructional model in your classroom.

Get signed up

Using Fiction & Nonfiction Literature in the Secondary Social Studies Classroom
1.0 Graduate Credits / $99

We know how powerful fiction and nonfiction stories can be in creating connections between our content and students. But what can it look like when we integrate literature into our social studies instruction? Using the work of Essdack Literacy Consultant Carmen Zeisler, local librarian Megan Yoder, and Essdack Social Studies Consultant Glenn Wiebe, this course can help answer that question.

Get signed up

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Want lots of learning? Need lots of credit?

You need the Success Series Bundle!

Get access to all three courses and 2.5 graduate credits for just $199 saving you 20%.

Grab the bundle

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Grades 2-6 Option

Using Fiction & Nonfiction Literature in the 2-6 Classroom

1.0 Graduate Credits / $99

What does it look like when we intentionally integrate picture books, fiction, and nonfiction stories into our social studies instruction? Explore the research, browse book lists designed for ELA / social studies, play with a variety of effective integration strategies, and dig into all sorts of materials and resources. The course incorporates the work of Minnesota Historical Society expert Jessica Ellison and Elementary Social Studies Teacher of the Year Lori Rice.

Get signed up

• How to Strengthen Tier 1 Phonics? Ask your ELASS for help in implementing effective instructional routines.
• LETRS Professional Learning Overview
• LETRS FAQ
• K-3, Morphology Scope and Sequence Drafts - Scope and Sequence drafts
  

FHSU Science of Language and Literacy Flyer

Teachers College Phonics Videos - https://vimeo.com/showcase/6802092

Teachers College Entire Vimeo Video Collection - https://vimeo.com/tcrwp/videos

The best phonics instruction is explicit, systematic, and engaging. The recent national conversation around Science of Reading clarifies the important role of phonics in early reading development. Download these three research eBooks by Wiley Blevins, author of From Phonics to Reading for Grades K–3, and discover the importance of strong phonics instruction.

The Effects of Using Decodable Texts with Systematic Instruction

Learn what Wiley Blevins found in his research study on the potential impact decodable texts have on early reading and spelling growth as well as motivation to read

Phonics Instructional Guide: Multiple Tiers for Success

The phonics instruction we deliver must be based on our awareness of grade-level reading demands while simultaneously meeting students where they are.

The Phonics Instructional Guide: Multisensory/Multimodal Instruction

Effective and efficient phonics lessons incorporate multimodal instruction. Activities should engage a student’s multiple senses, yet focus on a direct connection to authentic reading and writing experiences.

In order to better support the needs of Kansas Science teachers we are so pleased to announce the opportunity of science content based VIRTUAL PLCs. These Professional Learning Communities are open to anyone who is interested in learning more about how to best implement the NGSS routines.

Come once, or come every month.

Biology: (Register Here) Chemistry: (Register Here)

Physics: (Register Here) New Teacher: (Register Here)

KSDE STEM Grants

Middle School Perkins Reserve Grant: Searching Career Opportunities through Research and Exploration (SCORE) Grant #06080. This grant will provide funds ($22,000) for the specified teacher groups to develop course STEM based unit supports that align, integrate and elevate multiple career pathways and work based connections. A total of 10 districts will develop 3 units a piece with the intent of making 30 STEM units widely available for statewide use at the completion of the projects.

Link to Grant Application / Information (Link)

State Assessment- CALL FOR REVIEWERS

Have you ever been curious how assessment items are developed? Have you ever wondered how you might help make sure they are aligned? THIS IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY!

This paid opportunity, the KAP External Review of Items and Passages for Science is planned to be a live event held in July 25-29 in Lawrence.

We are looking for participants who

• have experience working with a wide variety of students and student needs.
• are current practicing educators, former educators, community members, scholars, or professional representatives of diverse populations.

We want to ensure we have

• representation from each of the 10 Kansas educational districts.
• a mix of urban and rural districts represented.
• a demographically diverse group of participants.
• a cadre of educators with experience teaching science content, as well as educators with experience teaching EL students, students with disabilities, and students with diverse experiences.
• If you are interested in participating in one or more of these events, select the following link to complete the interest survey by Friday, April 15, 2022.

2022 KAP Summer Interest Survey

Once we have collected information from interested individuals, KSDE staff will select participants and KAP staff will notify you by email using the kap@ku.edu email account. Thank you for your interest in KAP events!

Email kap@ku.edu if you have any questions.

Best regards,
KAP Staff
785-864-006

KS Department of Education: https://appspublic.ksde.org/TLL/SearchLicense.aspx

Speech/Language Pathologist: https://www.ksha.org/licensing.php

KS Board of Nursing: https://www.kansas.gov/ksbn-verifications/search/records

KS Board of Healing Arts: Link does not work. Go to website.

KS Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board: https://licensing.ks.gov/Verification_BSRB/Search.aspx