Teacher Newsletter 3-5

April 2022

Welcome to April!

April is one of those months that flies by amidst the hustle and bustle of teaching, learning and of course testing. You and your students are ready for all that April brings.

Please see below for content information, feedback opportunities, and a call for presentation proposals for Together We Learn.

Together We Learn Call for Proposals

Pasco County Schools would like to take this opportunity to invite you to share your expertise with educators from around the county by presenting at our summer learning events happening this July.

Our call for proposals is open to all staff who would like to host sessions to be held during Together We Learn which will take place from Monday-Wednesday, July 25 – 27, 2022 with a target audience of teachers, coaches, school support staff, SRP, and school/district leaders.

View this flyer and submit your proposal to present a session and join your colleagues in exploring integrated MTSS practices happening right here in Pasco County!

Proposal deadline is Friday, April 15, 2022

Click here to submit your proposal!

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Elementary Grading Practices Survey

Please take a few minutes to complete the Elementary Grading Practices Survey. The survey will close on April 1st.

Financial Literacy Workshop

Please sign up for an Everfi - Guest Speaker

April 18 - 22 Financial Literacy Workshop Sign Up

Register for a 45 minute Financial Literacy Workshop hosted by EVERFI, where students will be engaged in digital financial literacy lessons! Space is limited - Click here to reserve your spot.

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English Language Arts

DIBELS

Assessment Window: April 4th through April 22nd. Data entry due date: April 29th

Gating and Discontinue Rules: The End-of-Year (EOY) Assessment will include updated Gating rules for students meeting the Ambitious Cut Score in grades 1-3. Your coaches have received this information during their March 28th coaches meeting and will communicate those rules. If you need a refresher, please reference this PowerPoint. There will not be any Discontinue rules for this final assessment.

Progress Monitoring: Your schools have access to DIBELS measures for Progress Monitoring. Directions for entering data can be found here, Contact a member of the ELA Team and/or Larry Porter if you have any questions.

Pasco Students Speak: April 2, 2022

The Office for Leading and Learning is hosting the second official #PascoStudentsSpeak event for all students. We are excited to invite all schools to listen to your students showcasing their speeches, projects, and positivity. The event will take place at the WCHS Performing Arts Center on Saturday, 4/2. Session times can be found here.

#PascoStudentsSpeak

Module Assessments:

Suggested Pacing Calendar can be accessed here.
To access the module assessments on the HMH platform for planning purposes, please use these directions.

Reminders:

The optional writing prompt on the module assessments has been replaced with the required Performance Task Writing Prompt. The 12 point scoring rubric will be used to score student responses and report data in myProgress. Please be sure to have your students complete all sections of the Module Assessment (Reading, Grammar, Writing, and Foundational Skills, if applicable). Please note: There is not a Performance Task for Module 11 as students will work on a genre study project.
Once all Module Assessment modifications have been made, the assessments and administering guides can be found in the Formative and Summative folder. Please refrain from printing assessments directly from the HMH Into Reading Platform to use for testing purposes.

HMH Into Reading Tips

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Genre Study Projects

In Modules 11 and 12, students will complete weekly genre projects. The students will choose one activity to work on in small groups throughout the week. The linked document Printables: Writing the Genre explains the task and steps students will work on each day.

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Book Club

Book clubs are available by typing in the search bar "Book Clubs". Under the component section, select Focal Text Take and Teach Printables. The discussion guides are provided for each meeting with questions to engage the students in collaborative conversations about the text.

Reading Endorsement

For anyone wanting to pursue an endorsement by taking the K-12 Reading Test, you can register for the Reding Endorsement Prep Course in myPGS section #30847. If you only need a few courses, there is still space in the UF Literacy Matrix, and you can register using this link. Lastly, If you prefer the district online courses, you can access that schedule here. Any questions about the preparation course or reading endorsement classes, please reach out to Danielle Varcardipone.

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Mathematics

It is not too late to join one of our Session 3 Florida B.E.S.T Standards for Mathematics evening PD cohorts. The options are listed below. Session 3 will focus on two learning goals:

How the vertical and horizontal alignment of the B.E.S.T. Standards impacts planning for student-centered learning
How to identify various standard algorithms and how they demonstrate students' mathematical fluency

Instructional participants will receive stipend pay and 2 inservice points for attending one of these sessions. Please be sure to register in myPGS, course and section numbers can also be found below. We look forward to collaborating and learning with all of you as we continue our journey on the B.E.S.T path!

Cohort 1

Date: 4/13/2022

Time: 6:00-8:00 pm

Location: District Complex, Building 2 Oak

myPGS: Course #4245, Section #30920

Cohort 2

Date: 4/20/2022

Time: 6:00-8:00 pm

Location: Virtual

Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88104937633

myPGS: Course #4245, Section #30923

Cohort 3

Date: 4/27/2022

Time: 6:00-8:00 pm

Location: Virtual

Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83612863828

myPGS: Course #4245, Section #30926

Session 1 & 2 Florida B.E.S.T Standards for Mathematics Recordings

Session 1: Florida B.E.S.T Standards for Mathematics Overview

Session 1 Recording

Session 2: Mathematical Thinking and Reasoning Standards (MTRs) & Fluency with Arithmetic Operations and Automaticity with Basic Arithmetic Facts

Session 2 Recording

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Science

NEW Science Superhero Academy (replacement for Olympiad)

The Science team shared the new Science Superhero Academy with coaches before Spring Break and with teachers at the Life Make and Take Academy night. This is an optional review tool that was designed to replace the Science Olympiad Standards review. The SSA has the same flexible format as Olympiad to allow grade 5 teams to select the content that their students most need to review ahead of the Science Standards Assessment. The 2022 Missions are completed for Nature of Science, Physical Science, Earth, Space and Weather. Missions 1-20 are ready to use. Missions 21-28 include the life missions. This is content that was just taught. We will be finalizing the missions in the next few weeks for Life.

Science Superhero Academy SSA Review 2022

The missions include a complete PPT with embedded videos, text, task directions and quick writes. Each mission’s folder has a student guide with practice multiple choice questions and teacher guide with answers. There is also a study guide that reviews all of the annually assessed standards and a full mock practice assessment. We have also added 12 context dependent questions so that students can practice with the extended question scenarios.

The Science team will host two Zoom ‘office hours’ after Spring Break that teachers can join to see an overview of ask questions about the new Science Superhero Academy: April 11th 4:30-5:30pm and April 7 8:00-900 am. Zoom links will be sent in email reminder on April 7th.

We are also providing a feedback form that can be used for any teacher/coach to provide feedback or suggestions for any of the missions. Since this is the first year we are using them, feedback will help us refine the missions.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=aaJT4khSVE6bZ7duOoYiINQfq20kRP1HsoAS2JjznUxUN0ZKNlVNVDFaQ1UyTVIySVZPSDFMUjJGNi4u

Keep in mind that all the Olympiad resources will remain accessible for all.

Review and Intervention Resources (including Olympiad and SSA)

2022-2023 Science Curriculum Work

If you are interested in serving on the 2022-2023 Science curriculum team, please review and complete the form linked HERE.

Science Academy

We hosted the final 3-5 Science Academy for the 2021-2022 School year on March 9th. The evening included make and take opportunities for upcoming units for 3rd-5th grade. To access the digital resources highlighted that night, visit the Academy folder HERE

Annual Water Poster Contest

The FGUA and Pasco County Utilities, in cooperation with Pasco County Schools, presents the 13th Annual Water Awareness Poster Contest. This STEAM program educates students on where water comes from, the importance of keeping our water clean, how utilities help protect and care for water, and the importance of water conservation. Students awarded 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, in each grade level K-5, will receive a prize package from local sponsors. All students who submit a poster will receive a certificate of participation.

Winning posters will be displayed in Pasco County Government Centers and online.

Please visit WaterContest.org for more information and program resources, or contact us directly at info@watercontest.org.

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Social Studies

April is Financial Literacy Month. Which is a great opportunity to highlight the importance of financial literacy and teach our students how to establish and maintain healthy financial habits. To celebrate the month and encourage our students to be financially smart citizens in our communities, Pasco County Schools, in partnership with our valued community partners will offer virtual experiences and opportunities throughout the month. These events are designed to help parents/guardians, employees, community members and students with financial planning matters and getting more information for starting a financially successful future. Fun facts and resources will pop up throughout the month in myLearning to encourage Money Matter Mondays.

Teachers will also have the opportunity to sign up for virtual learning opportunities for themselves, as well as to have the opportunity to sign their classes up for guest speakers that will support the learning of the month.

To help celebrate the month with lessons, tasks, texts and ideas to spark discussion, please visit our district Financial Literacy webpage.

TBT - NIE Financial Literacy Resources

There are new April resources available under the Calendar tab on our website.

Please also check out the NIE publications that help support the required instruction around Financial Literacy Month. Class sets of the print materials may be ordered or you may also find digital PDFs of the publications that may be embedded within your Canvas course.

Financial Literacy Month

The Gus A. Stavros Center for Free Enterprise and Economic Education at the University of South Florida created resources aligned to the Florida Financial Literacy Standards: Financial Investing, Saving, Using Credit, Earning Income, Protecting and Insuring, and Understand the fundamental concepts relevant to the institutions, structure, and functions of a national economy. Click here for the online materials.

In a partnership the Tampa Bay Times NIE and the Florida Press Educational Services, the Gus A. Stavros Center for Free Enterprise and Economic Education at the University of South Florida created a blog that includes lesson ideas that use news texts (articles, videos, cartoons, images). CLICK ON the images below to access the texts and standards-based questions. (For more, check out the archives on the right side of the page).