Elementary Essentials

Olathe School District's Masters Degree Informational Sessions are being held August 22 and 23. Check out the attached flyer for more information.

It was wonderful to see all of you at the August 8th Professional Learning. It was our hope that this day would provide you the opportunity to remind, affirm, and expand your thinking in a variety of areas. We spent the day thinking about how to teach comprehension effectively, participating in a lesson simulation, thinking about text selection, analyzing the Writing Units of Study, preparing for the beginning mini-lessons in writing, and receiving a variety of updates.

One of those updates was related to the teaching of handwriting. I chose to create my first Literacy Brief on this topic. Here is the link to the video: Literacy Briefs_1

As we looked at the survey data from August 8, many teachers asked for titles of quality books. Here are some websites that are a great place to start:

Best Books for Kids 2022

Multicultural Literature

Colorin Colorado! Books for Kids

Reading Rockets Themed Booklists

Coretta Scott King Book Awards

American Library Association Notable Children’s Books

We know that teachers are all in different places when it comes to implementation of the Writing Units of Study. Don’t expect perfection when it comes to teaching writing. Trust in the materials and know that you will get more comfortable using them. Please ask for support through Instructional Coaches and MTSS Support Specialists. They are ready and eager to support you in this area.

In the beginning of the year, students are getting used to the routine of the workshop model and building their stamina for writing. Setting a strong foundation for writing is the key to success. Invest the time that it takes to do this important work. Remember you have access to online resources through Heinemann. I can’t wait to see what the students can produce.

Check out the Elementary ELA website! It is where you will find the resources you need by grade level and by topic.

The directions below will help you set up your 23-24 classroom tracker in Mastery Connect in order to have access to the Premod assessments for Math MTSS Interventions. Your PLC should also set up your grade level’s shared Intervention Tracker and add all PLC members as collaborators. Your Math Support Specialist would love to help you set up your trackers.

Mastery Connect made a few updates so creating an assessment looks a little different (see directions below). Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

Creating a Grade Level and Intervention Tracker Directions

Creating an Assessment in Mastery Connect

Do you know how learning happens? Teachers are often not taught about the science behind how students learn. Join a year-long book study of How Learning Happens, a book describing key findings in educational psychology studies and exploring effective teaching take-aways. Join colleagues, discuss insights, and transform your classrooms. Earn college credit or professional development points while honing the art of teaching! Registration ends August 31t. Sessions begin September 18.

Sign up here. We can't wait to see you there!

Spencer Brown, Kim Dahl, Jenna Kuder, Carrie Stark, & Heather Schroer

In the August Science newsletter from KSDE, you’ll learn about an Elementary Science Series where you bring your favorite thematic unit and walk away with strategies on how to connect it to your grade level science standards. You’ll also find information on safety, upcoming professional development, book studies, interactive graphic organizers, etc. KSDE Science Newsletter

This is the last year of our 7-year contract for Inspire Science with the online access and student consumable workbook. However, we are in the process of finalizing the contract for the online access only. Thus, you may want to keep one unused student consumable workbook for reference and to use as a master for copying in the future.

Please do not recycle or dispose of any consumable workbooks that are not being used within your building. Hold on to these for now, do not send the workbooks to the IRC. If you do not use them, please send me an email with your grade level and school, or send me an email if you want the workbooks for use next year that other schools are not using. If you have any questions, please contact me. jmillerirc@olatheschools.org

There will be some monarch caterpillars available for 3rd grade classrooms, as soon as this week. It is a first come, first serve and I can’t guarantee a date as it is all about the Monarch’s migration. If you are interested in receiving 3 caterpillars for your classroom and have access to milkweed for them to eat, please email me. jmillerirc@olatheschools.org

There are a few plant kits available for 2nd graders to engage in a hands-on plant lab! The Kiewit Engineering Group has again donated plant seed kits to Olathe Public Schools. Each kit has two dirt disks, two containers, pea seeds and full instructions to observe and record how the pea seeds grow in light vs darkness. These kits will have everything needed for the seed growing experience, except for the water! If you are interested in receiving these, please email me with the number of students in your class. jmillerirc@olatheschools.org

Please check out the social studies newsletter for important back to school items. Our social studies contest for great prizes will resume this fall. Stay tuned!

CONGRATULATIONS to Rachel Swearengin, 5th grade teacher at Manchester Park, who was named 2023 Kansas History Teacher of the Year!! She will now be considered for the 2023 National History Teacher of the Year! Congrats and good luck, Rachel!