We hope that your first few weeks of teaching have brought you joy! Aligned with our MS ELA Vision, the goal of this newsletter is to foster respect, choice, and collaboration. We would love to hear about your success using the resources in this newsletter, as well as feedback on how we can support your teaching goals.

You can find the MS ELA curriculum pacing calendar and curriculum guides on the MS ELA Resources website. Start planning for the second six weeks with the Curriculum Guide for the 2nd Six Weeks!

Click the photos to get a closer look at Jodi Ramos' and Hallie Gelabert's classrooms at Stevenson Middle School.

Are you wanting to increase student engagement and decrease behavioral issues in your ELA classroom? Flexible seating is your solution! An uncomfortable student is a distracted and unproductive student. Flexible seating encourages students to find their best spot to stay focused, calm, and productive. Hallie Gelabert, a teacher at Stevenson MS, describes her flexible seating arrangement as “productive chaos.” When flexible seating is implemented correctly with clear expectations, students feel empowered by having some degree of choice and control over their environment leading to on-task behavior. Click here to learn more about flexible seating.

Unleash your students’ creativity with an app that allows students to create “fake text messages” of real or fictional characters. Learn more with the following Texting Story example.

Texting Story is on the NISD approved App Catalog list. Consult with your campus TSS to complete a work order and get Texting Story installed on your school's student iPads. Also, please let us know how you use Texting Story, and other approved apps, to engage learners and meet learning objectives.

Next month, the testing windows for the Informational Essay CDB and CDB 1 open. Plan ahead by marking the dates dates below and future important dates in the MS ELA 2019-2020 CDB Calendar.

Oct. 15 - Nov. 15- Informational Essay CDB Testing Window

Oct. 21- Oct. 25- CDB 1 Testing Window

Oct. 28- Score Date for CDB 1 Closes

As you know, some of the best professional development sessions come from within our organization. If you are seeking professional growth, we would love for you to present at the Focus on MS ELA District Professional Learning on Oct. 14th. We encourage presentation themes to focus on Informational Texts and/or any of the strands listed on the Google Form. If you are interested in presenting, please submit your proposal by Sept. 20th by using this Google Form.

Have you joined the Literature Search Committee, yet? Come join us! Contact Cathy Callihan and Ana Macias for more information.

Middle School ELA Level Lead Institute

Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019 8:30 - 11:30

Location: NAC

SRN# 284371901

Middle School ELA New Teacher Institute

Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019 8:30 - 11:30

Location: NAC

SRN# 284361901

Connecting CIA in MS ELA

Tue Oct. 22, 2019 08:30 AM - 03:30 PM

Location: NAC

SRN#283071907

Every newsletter, we will bring you organizational tips for an orderly and efficient classroom! Here is our first tip:

"7 Steps to a Language-Rich Interactive Classroom for English Learners" by John Seidlitz provides steps to support our EL students. Practice the first step with your students, today.

SCE Meeting

Date: Tuesday, Sept. 24th

Time: 4:30pm - 6:00pm

Location: TBD

Lexia PowerUp Updates

“Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.” ~Aristotle

TMSFA

Link to TEA’s online Gateway Courses which provides training for administering and interpreting the Texas Middle School Fluency Assessment.

Reading Survey

Instrument to help know your students as readers.

Reading Attitude Survey

Although labeled for elementary, Garfield’s responses provide a quick indication of student attitude towards reading.

By understanding and implementing positive behavioral interventions and supports, we can often help our striving students thrive in their academic setting. You can find multi-tier support at pbisworld.com to help prevent negative behaviors that often get in the way of student learning.

MS ELA Instructional Specialist

Phone: (210)397-4520

E-Mail: eugenia.garza@nisd.net

Twitter: @ginagarza73

Instructional Support Teacher

Phone: (210)397-7885

E-Mail: catherine.callihan@nisd.net

Twitter: @cathcallihan

Communication Applications IST

Phone: (210)391-7817

E-Mail: travis.leech@nisd.net

Twitter: @learningleech

Instructional Support Teacher

Phone: (210)397-7821

E-Mail: analilia.macias@nisd.net

Twitter: @DivaTeacher78

Instructional Support Teacher

Phone: (210)397-7820

E-Mail: jeanette.navarro@nisd.net

Twitter: @teachinitup

Instructional Support Teacher

Phone: (210)397-8877

E-Mail: frances.patterson@nisd.net

Twitter: @FVPattersonSPED

Academic Technology IST

E-Mail: andrea.cabanas@nisd.net

Twitter: @CabanasNISD

ELA Secretary

Phone: (210)397-8651

E-Mail: denise.gonzales@nisd.net