Free Climate Literacy Professional Development for K-12 Teachers- Approved to count toward 3.5 hr contractual requirement.......
The Rhode Island Environmental Education Association (RIEEA) is now accepting applications for their 2021 Professional Development Series, Building Climate Literacy in All Students. ALL K-12 teachers are eligible and invited to apply. Selected teachers will attend the RIEEA Annual Summit, participate in a 2-hour early evening workshop in the spring, and attend a full day of professional development during the summer - all at no cost! Teachers do not have to miss class time and will receive a certificate of participation for 9.5 hours of professional learning units (PLUs) as well as a $100 stipend. All events will be virtual unless COVID-19 guidelines change and we can safely hold events in-person. Learn more and apply at http://rieea.org/teacher-pd-2021/
Jane Daly
GEMS-Net staff will be providing PD for PreK teachers on 1/25, and will also be available for K-8 teachers on the January 25th statewide PD Day. They will be targeting the grade-levels listed below during the given times. Of course, if a teacher is available at a different time than listed for their grade-level, we're glad to accommodate them. Here's our schedule for drop-in support:
Monday, January 25th
8:00-9:00........Grades 6-8
9:30-10:30......Grade 3
11:00-12:00....Grade 5
12:30-1:30......Grades K-2
1:30-2:30........Grade 4
Zoom link for all K-8 drop-in sessions: https://zoom.us/j/96914969207
We'll plan to address topics such as transitioning to the next science course, student engagement strategies, and any science-related questions the teachers might have.
GEMS-Net's Teaching STEM in PreK Workshop
January 25, 2021 (Monday), 8:00-10:00AM
Join us for a 2-hour professional learning session focused on our young learners. You will be introduced to a free, research-based curriculum that supports science and engineering, digital literacy, and outdoor education. We will engage in lessons that were developed for teachers and families and can be used in face-to-face instruction or in a distance learning environment. See J. Gencarelli for registration information.
Jane Daly
Joe Lopes and Rene Rosivach are leading a voluntaryELL Frontiers: Using Technology to Enhance Instruction for English Learners Book Talk for Elementary teachers who have provided instruction or support to ELL students in the last three years (including 20-21 SY). We can support participation of 13 staff, and those who are interested will meet between January-May for three times either during state PD days or afterschool (based on the majority of interested participants responses). An outcome of the book talk will be to share out curated resources and learnings, potentially presenting to colleagues during a school or district meeting/pd this year or next year. Information about the book can be found here: https://us.corwin.com/en-us/nam/ell-frontiers/book246806.
If you are interested in participating, please complete this ELL Book Talk Interest Form.
Jane Daly
Review of Rhode Island’s Literacy and Mathematics Standards
Cohesive and aligned standards, curriculum, and assessment are critical to increasing student achievement. The Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) is committed to working with our educators to achieving this and invites all educators and other interested Rhode Island citizens to participate in a review of the current Rhode Island content standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) which are assessed by the Rhode Island comprehensive assessment system. Much of this assessment system is based on MCAS which is aligned to the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. RIDE is seeking to ensure optimum alignment between the content standards, RIDE’s approved high-quality instructional materials, and the state assessment which will support effective teaching and learning for Rhode Island students. As there is already strong alignment amongst the three, we do not anticipate large changes in the standards to strengthen this alignment.
A public comment window is open from Friday, December 11, 2020 to Friday, January 15, 2021 and takes the form of a survey. The survey allows respondents to offer their opinion on the current set of standards and if or how they could be clarified. Content-specific, grade-level surveys can be found on the RIDE website.
We encourage you to share this information with your networks so we can obtain a broad cross-section of responses.
For additional information, please contact one of our content specialists:
English Language Arts: [email protected] or [email protected]
Mathematics: [email protected] or [email protected]
Jane Daly
A team of K-12 teachers conducted research last year and this fall to establish Chariho Guidelines for K-12 Writing Instruction. These guidelines recommend a consistent writing program of instruction to be taught across the curriculum in Chariho.
We are very excited to share these published guidelines! They will inform our work as we look to adopt a new Gr. K-12 ELA Program in 2021-2022.
These guidelines will be published on the District Website and can be found on the following page: Chariho Regional School District / Teaching and Learning / Curriculum
Thank you to Dana Hall and Giuseppe Gencarelli for leading this work, and our entire K-12 Team:
Kimberly Allen, Stefani Singer Anderson, Jill Burke, Jane Daly, MaryBeth Florenz, Giuseppe Gencarelli, Dana Hall, Shelly McGlinsey, Jenny Parker, Kerry Pastore, Jennifer Schroeder, Russell Venditto, Jean Westcott, and Michelle Whelan.
Jane Daly
Professional Development Information for Freckle (Gr. 1-4) and STAR (Gr. 1-11):
A Freckle Overview live PD Session has been planned for all Chariho Gr. 1-4 teachers for Monday, January 25, 2021 (State PD Day) from 8:30-9:30 AM. A link will be sent out prior to the event.
Statewide, there will also be free Freckle 201 live PD sessions on January 25th at 10 AM and 2:00 PM, for those who are interested.
Further information can be found at this link, you must register in advance for these statewide sessions.
At the link above, there is also information on recorded Renaissance (STAR) webinars available on the Renaissance U tile in the platform, and live PD sessions on the 25th.
Jane Daly
1) Community Engagement Sessions Planned for New Social Studies Standards
In partnership with the Rhode Island History and Social Studies Advisory Committee (RIHSSAC), RIDE has launched the development of new social studies standards K-12 education in Rhode Island. The first stage of this process is to engage with the community about social studies education and collect feedback. To that end, the RIHSSAC is working with community organizations statewide to set up virtual feedback sessions culminating in a statewide survey. RIDE has also set up three virtual sessions for educators and community members to engage in the process:
At these sessions, participants will receive an overview of the project, have opportunities to reflect about social studies education, and discuss their ideas in breakout rooms before being provided the survey link to complete. The feedback will be used to inform the first draft of the social studies standards and other supporting materials. There will also be an opportunity in early 2021 for community feedback on the draft of the standards.
A pre-recorded presentation, the introductory slides, and the survey are posted on the RIDE website.For more information, please contact [email protected].
In 2021-2022, the Chariho Social Studies Curriculum Task Force will be reviewing and updating our SS Curriculum!
2) Write Rhode Island is Open for Submissions
RI students in grades 7-12 can submit one original work of fiction, 2500 words or less, incorporating Rhode Island in some way. Winners will be selected in February 2021 and will receive publication, prizes and awards. Visit School One's website for guidelines and a link to submit. Submitting is free. www.school-one.org.
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3) RWU Law Presents: How has Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg (RBG) Inspired me?
Essay Contest.RWU Law Announces RBG Contest for K-12 Students - Rhode Island elementary, middle and high School students are invited to submit drawings, essays on how iconic U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has inspired them. Details may be found here. Contest Deadline:Friday, January 15, 2021by 5:00 PM ET. Questions may be directed to [email protected].
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Jane Daly
Question: How can a student login to Performance Matters if they are learning remotely?
Answer:
1) The link for students logging in to Performance Matters may be found on most of the school websites as well as in the Chariho Links [If they login to the Chrome browser (even at home)}. Here is a direct link: https://ola.performancematters.com/ola/ola.jsp?clientCode=ricrsd
2). Teachers can also add the link in their Google Classroom. Students would then type in login information and password. It could be added as a topic with the link to Performance Matters Student Login as the assignment or material, to make it easier for DL students to find. Contact our DL Fellow if assistance is needed.
Jane Daly
11/30/20
Our RIDE Interim Assessment application was approved for Gr. 1-11. This means RIDE will support funding for STAR (this school year only), and in turn RIDE will be able to use our aggregate results along with results from other cities and towns in the state to assess learning during COVID.
Due to RIDE’s approval of our application, Renaissance/STAR has activated “STAR 360”. STAR 360 also includes other products and types of assessments which you are welcome to use, but arenot required to use. Please be reminded that STAR 360 (compared to what we have had in the past), will only be available this school year. Chariho’s expectation for teachers in Grades 1-11 is to administer the MOY (Jan 4– Jan 22) and EOY (Beginning in May) assessments in STAR Reading and STAR Math, and continue progress monitoring for selected students as has been done in the past. Here is a link to an updated Draft Assessment Calendar, once finalized it will be posted on the District’s Website. In addition, for Grades 1-4, we also will receive licenses for “Freckle”, again this will only be for the 2020-2021 school year. We hope these tools may provide additional resources for you during this challenging year.
Grade 11 teachers may be receiving sign-in information to create an account in the next week, and Gr. 1-4 teachers may be receiving Freckle sign-ons. If you already had a “free” Freckle account with your Chariho email address, it will “merge” any of your records. When a Gr. 1-4 student signs in to STAR, they will see a Freckle Icon.
Watch for more information in the coming weeks about related professional learning opportunities. In the meantime, on the Renaissance Platform you will see a link to “Renaissance-U”, where you can find many professional learning resources.
Jane Daly
Save time! Reuse PM Tests by simply setting an updated test window......
For tests already entered in the platform from last year, to administer this year all you have to do is update the Testing Window, and the test is ready to administer.
If you need to edit the test, you can simply make a copy, then just add or delete individual questions as needed.
Jane Daly
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