Common Core State Standards

Who's ready for the Common Core State Standards (CCSS)? It's coming and will be here before we know it! Today I went to an all day workshop on the CCSS. I work for an awesome school district that brings in wonderful speakers. Today we had Jan Hoegh from the Marzano Research Lab do the presentation for those who chose to attend. She did a wonderful job of explaining the CCSS and the planning that will be needed in the next few years to get prepared for the new assessments. A great place to start is to unpack all of the standards and break them into the necessary teaching points. A great place to start is by looking to those who have already started the process. North Carolina has done so much work with unpacking the standards. Another great idea to hand out to all teachers is a CCSS flip book. Copy them and put them together with a metal ring or staple together so the standards are easily accessible for all. There are flip books created for grades K - 8.

I've also discovered a wonderful site full of formative assessments created for the CCSS. It's called Mastery Connect (in case you haven't heard of it). You can get the common assessments you need for free.

So, don't be stressed out over the CCSS. Just start preparing now and you'll be a pro by 2014-15.

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SAMR and Google ~ A Beautiful Combination

I've been really investigating the SAMR model lately. If you aren't familiar with the SAMR for integrating technology into the classroom, that's ok. I first learned about it last year at a conference. I went to a breakout session and came out more confused than when I went in. So, I took it upon myself to learn about it through researching it online. The SAMR model is this: Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition The more I investigated, the more I realized that our district needs to really look at where we are on this model. Yes, we are a Google for Education district! Yes, all students and teachers have access to Google Drive! But, NO, we are not redefining education with technology. One day I was inspired by a fellow Google for Education trainer to really look at how we can use Google Drive to redefine our lessons. So, I created the graphic below with ideas on how to use Google Drive and other Google products through the SAMR model.

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This week our first grade team analyzed some Fountas and Pinnell level G books to figure out what needed to be taught in reading to help our students get to that level. We realized that many of the books contained contractions and words with inflected endings. Our first plan of action was to immerse students in a word study of contractions. So, this week I introduced the word "contractions" to my class. I first wrote the word on a piece of chart paper and had them turn and talk and try to tell their partners what the word was. It was funny listening to them talk to each other. After about a minute I had them turn back and tell me what they discussed. I called on one child who then said, "We decided that we don't know what a contraction is." Then, the rest of the class agreed with him. I just had to chuckle at that. It was so cute! Then, I introduced contractions to the kids slowly using paint sample cards that I had made in advance. ~ I got the idea

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The Purple Parade

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