The Foundational Skills Curriculum Review and Adoption Team Update
- December 2021-Listening sessions with staff, families and community members
- January/February 2022- Development of core beliefs and rubrics
- March/April 2022-Review of eleven curriculums, field testing of four curriculums (opportunities were given for feedback digitally and in-person)
- May 2022- consensus and recommendation to school board (opportunities for feedback digitally and in-person are available)
The committee has come to consensus. The Really Great Reading Program (Countdown, BLAST, HD Word and HD Word Plus) has been recommended for K-5 Foundational Skills. The committee will seek board approval of the recommendation at the May 24th board meeting. Implementation will begin in the 22-23 school year.
Sign up to view materials in-person here. You can also view materials digitally and provide feedback here. Please be sure to sign up for professional learning opportunities here (these meet day 189 requirement, too).
A few things to keep in mind about the adoption and implementation of Really Great Reading:
- It is created and based on the most current Science of Reading research
- When it comes to foundational skills, instructional practices and teacher knowledge are key to student success. Professional learning and collaboration is key.
- We need to make some shifts in our instructional practices based on the latest science on how children learn to read. It is important to keep in mind the following instructional shifts:
- Phonics skills taught both in isolation and in context. Word-level fluency is practiced in decodable text to increase fluency.
- Shift from teaching memorization of high frequency words to teaching what is regular and irregular about each word, supporting orthographic mapping.
- Teach grade-level phonics/morphology skills while meeting students where they are on the scope and sequence
- Advanced phonological awareness instruction is critical in K-1 and in 2-5.
- Spelling is not taught as a memorization exercise but as word study along with dictation.
Math Happenings
ODE Math Materials Evaluation Committee – Please fill out the evaluation committee application if you are interested in serving as an evaluator this summer. Applications are due by 5 pm PDT on May 18, 2022.
The 2022 Early Math Symposium – Free Virtual Symposium! Friday, June 24, 2022 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM pacific time. Register and find out more here.
Oregon Math Leaders Conference August 5-6 at Linfield College. Register here. OML is also seeking speakers! Fill out this form by May 18th if you are interested.
Equitable and Mathematically Productive Engagement will August 10-12, 2 credits – register on Performance Matters and through OSU-Cascade if you want graduate credits.
How Math Teaching Matters will be August 17-19, 2 credits – register on Performance Matters and through OSU-Cascade if you want graduate credits.
STEM Hub & Computer Science
Interested in bringing computer science to your classroom? Check out this CS Fundamentals workshop offered by code.org and the Central Oregon STEM Hub. Tuesday, August 16th. Workshop fee is waived. Lunch and $250 project pay available to elementary teachers attending in-person. Space is limited to 30 participants.
There’s Still Time for Digital Citizenship!
With the end of the school year approaching, now’s a great time to teach some digital citizenship lessons, if you haven’t already. Bend-La Pine Schools use lessons from Common Sense Media. Learn how to access your Common Sense account and explore your grade level’s materials here: BLS Digital Literacy
Inclusive Practices Spotlight
What do INCLUSIVE PRACTICES look like in collaborative partnerships?
- All teachers have opportunities to collaborate and plan with the service providers that support their students.
- Sufficient time is available to support quality planning for all teachers.
- Sufficient time is available for service providers to meet with all planning teams they are a part of.
- All faculty members are knowledgeable of the contents of each student’s IEP for whom they are responsible.
- Service providers (Learning Specialists, OT, SLP, etc) promote the use of their services within the context of the population of the whole school.
Social Emotional & Mental Well-Being
New Units in Harmony: Unit 3 Communicating with Others & Unit 4 Learning from Others
Collaboration Idea:
- Everyone is randomly assigned a number and then must line up in order without talking.
- Possible reflection Questions: What went well? How did you work well together? What would you do differently next time? When discussing the actions that went well or what was challenging, encourage students to discuss actions rather than specific people.
- Quick Collaboration Cards for K-2 and 3-5 – Ideas for fun activities that promote joint problem solving and cooperation