Elementary Essentials

Pacing Guides for 2nd quarter

The pacing guides for 2nd quarter are now available on the Elementary ELA Sharepoint in the folder for grade levels. The printed copies of the pacing guides have been ordered and will be in your schools soon.

Wit & Wisdom

Our goals for the implementation of Wit & Wisdom this year are as follows:

• Focus on knowledge building throughout each module.
• Support students when reading complex text.
• Increasing the amount of speaking and listening occurring during comprehension instruction.

Reading Complex Text

We know that the texts that students will be reading are complex. In kindergarten and 1st grade, we do not expect students to read the texts themselves as they are in the emergent and beginning stages of reading. We will be targeting listening comprehension and providing lots of opportunities for students to discuss topics and text.

In Grades 2-5, we want to provide students with opportunities to read hard text independently and engage in productive struggle; however, we know that we will need to, at times, provide more scaffolding for the reading of the text. Teachers can scaffold the reading using different structures:

• Reading Aloud – teacher reads aloud the text to the students.
• Choral Reading – teacher and students read the text together.
• Echo Reading – teacher reads one phrase or sentence at a time and students repeat.
• Partner Reading – students take turns reading aloud to a partner.
• Independent Reading – Students read the text alone.

In addition, the Multilingual Learning Resource (MLR), which Wit & Wisdom provides for each of the modules, has many suggestions for scaffolds in reading, writing, and language. Make sure you use this resource when preparing for lessons.

If you have questions, comments, and suggestions for the use of Wit & Wisdom, submit them here. These questions will be answered and shared through each Elementary Essentials. Thank you to everyone who has submitted questions regarding the use of Wit & Wisdom. A new updated version of the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document about Wit & Wisdom can be found on the Elementary ELA Sharepoint.

Classroom Visits

We are fortunate to have representatives from Wit & Wisdom join us three times throughout the year to do some observations of instruction. More information about these visits coming soon. In addition, I am planning on dropping in to do some observations of the lessons. My main goal is to see how the structure of the lessons are working and how the students are responding. If you are someone that is willing to have me out to observe, I would love to come. Drop me an email.

On-Demand Writing Prompt

Each unit of study should begin with an On-Demand writing prompt. The On-Demand Writing Assessment comes from the Writing Pathways book in your Writing Units of Study kit (pages 19 – 24). This allows the teacher to see what writing the student can do on their own prior to instruction. After asking students to complete the on-demand prompt, move into “Thin Slicing” the writing samples.

Thin Slicing – What is “thin slicing” you ask? The term thin-slicing means making very quick decisions with small amounts of information.

• Read through all the student samples – look at the work overall.
• Quickly sort the papers into piles by common developmental levels.
• Reread and resort the papers for deeper knowledge of the writers.
• Identify the strengths and needs of each pile of papers.

Thin slicing is a great activity to learn about the writers in your classroom. As you begin to start instruction, you have a good idea about where the writers are developmentally in your class which makes planning for instruction more precise.

Mini-lesson Structure

During the 2023-24 school year, we focused on the structure of the mini-lesson – Connect, Teach, Engage, and Link. Continue to develop your ability to keep the instruction “mini”. You want most of the time during writing to be the students writing on their own. While students are writing, that frees the teacher up to confer. What happens during conferring?

Conferring

• Check out the 10 Tips for Conferring with Student Writers Online and this video about conferring from Carl Anderson.
• Conferences should be about 5-7 minutes in length
• Conferences have a structure to them – Research, Decide, Teach, and Link

Technology

If you are having trouble accessing ELA resources digitally, try 3 before asking for support.

1. Make sure you are accessing resources (95Percent, Great Minds (Wit & Wisdom) through ClassLink.
2. Restart your computer.
3. Clear the cache on your computer.

If none of that works, then submit a ticket to technology.

Monarch Caterpillars – 3rd Grade

With the Monarch caterpillars, we are dealing with a late emergence and migration; thus the delay for many schools not receiving these. We are hoping to fill everyone’s request but cannot guarantee it. This would be a great phenomena to share with your students, “What is happening to the monarchs and their population during their migration?” We will keep you informed with the caterpillar status.

CSI – Cool Science Investigations

CSI is our after-school science club to enhance the positive experiences students have with science. Schools may participate in any or all of the 3 sessions. Kits are available for the sessions which include lessons and materials for each of the 7 weeks. Topics include Legos, Science Olympiad, Paleontology, Exploring the Milky Way, Physics of Toys, Science Fair, etc. The first session begins the week of September 16. If you are interested in sponsoring CSI at your school, please contact me.

I hope each of you has had a great week so far. Please check out the 2024-25 social studies newsletter for important social studies related items.

Special Note for 3rd Grade teachers:

Have you registered for the VIRTUAL mock trial, yet? Space is limited. Check out this promo video to learn what you can expect and why your class should join us on September 17th at 9:15am. This year, we have BRAND NEW instructional materials that you'll want to check out in advance. We appreciate your feedback from last year and we worked really hard to make some exciting changes in response to what was shared. In fact, we have shortened the mock trial to only 45 minutes! Therefore, they are designed to prepare your students BEFORE the trial.

Part of this also includes BRAND NEW interactive materials for your use in class DURING the mock trial. For example, after each witness testimony, Judge Wonnell will pause for about 2 minutes to allow you and your class to track and discuss all of the evidence presented. This will pay off when your class deliberates the case and submits their verdict. We have also shared ways that your class can debrief AFTER the mock trial, if you wish. It is our hope that your students get the most out of this amazing experience!

What did teachers think after last year’s mock trial?

• TODAY was AMAZING! I’ll write this on the survey, but my students were incredibly engaged the whole entire time. Thank you for providing such an incredible learning experience for our students!!!!
• We absolutely love this experience. In my 23 years of teaching, this is one of the coolest things we've done. Thank you for the opportunity.
• Thank you so much! The kids are still talking about it!

Thank you for all you do!