Congratulations to our GRE Apple award nominees! 

Thank you Tammy & Gail for all you do!

January

This Week
Monday
* PLC Day - Bring your phone with one picture from break.

Tuesday
* iReady probe open

Wednesday
* SD: Supporting Social/Emotional Needs in the Classroom

Thursday
* Kindie plan day

Friday
* 2:00 Spelling Bee in the gym for grades 3-5.

Reminders
* We will begin our RtI behavior team Monday, January 13. Click here for the paperwork.

* Please sign up for your mid-year evaluation. If Jenny is your evaluator, her days are 1/13 & 1/22. If Libby is your evaluator, her days are 1/14 & 1/21. A sub will be provided. Please review your mid-year evaluation two days prior and come with specific questions if you have any.

* Students in grades K-3 who fell below the iReady diagnostic cut score will need to take the probe January 7 - 17.


* January 6 PLC Day Agenda



Happy Birthday
Hays Padrnos - December 25th
Kym Koford - January 1st
Shari Hokanson - January 2nd
Linda Pettinger - January 10th

Go For the Gold
* Thank you everyone for a fabulous first half of the year!
* Thank you Gail for hosting our staff party!

Golden Nuggets
Morning Announcements: Burggraff
Lounge Duty: Fleet/Dazzio

I Spy...

An amazing Specials Team!

DECEMBER

This Week
Monday
* Wear plaid
* Chick-Fil-A lunch

Tuesday
* Wear green, red or blue
* Mad Greens lunch

Wednesday
* Ugly sweater
* SD: Holiday Cheer

Thursday
* Sparkle, shimmer & shine
* EPRs due
* 4:30 Holiday party

Friday
* Winter break!

Reminders:
* Release EPRs between 2:00-3:00. Click here for GRE expectations.

* Chloe Berge's family will be providing lunch from Chick-Fil-A on Monday.

* We will provide lunch from Mad Greens on Tuesday.

* Please remember to send in your family picture by Monday.

* We are having an influx of students coming to the office for snacks. Please remind your students to bring a snack from home. Please also remind them to not bring personal items out to recess.

* Our Holiday Party is right around the corner at Gail Golish's house - 8235 N. Sunburst Trail. There will be good food and great company!  Don't miss it!  And most importantly - the Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament finale will be at the party.  If you have not been working on your bracket, get going!!  We must be to the final round by next Thursday!  That super cool shirt is waiting for you!

* Our PLC day is the morning of January 6th. Click here for the agenda. The afternoon is your workday.

* Access testing will be January 15-17 and January 21-24th

 9:40-10:45 am

1:20-3:30 pm

Please do not schedule special events during these times.

DISTRICT BOUNDARY SURVEY

The Douglas County School District launched its School Capacity and Boundary Analysis survey on Monday, December 9. The survey will remain open through Friday, January 3.  This survey will provide DCSD with critical community input on potential strategies to optimize school facility space in DCSD.  See additional information below.

Calendar Clarification
* In April, we have students on the 16th. There is no school on the 17th as it is a conference comp day. Our PLC day is Monday, April 20th.

Happy Birthday
* Krista Hardin - December 16
* Amy Fugier - December 17

Go For the Gold
* Thank you Mandy Miller for allowing us to video tape you and share your expertise!
* Thank you Megan Fleet, Maren Bell, Kristi Barta and Jenny Brown for subbing!
* Thank you Kristi Barta for facilitating our Guided Reading class! You are amazing at what you do!
* Thank you Maya Bethea for giving up your sub! It was truly appreciated!
* Thank you Karen Warner for teaching two classes at a time! You saved us!
* Thank you Gail Golish for hosting our staff party!

Golden Nuggets
Morning Announcements: Rayens
Lounge Duty: Brown/Anderson

Technology Co-Teaching Rotation #2 Intermediate

3rd Grade Rotation #2

Content: Rocks & Informative Writing

Tech Tool: Google Slides & Screencastify

Third graders published their learning of rock content through a Google Slide. While building their slides they learned about organizing nonfiction information with boxes and bullets and how they can use their voice to expand upon a bulleted key idea. Students were introduced to Screencastify as a way to capture their voice and make their teaching movie come to life.





Student Sample #1


Student Sample #2

4th Grade Rotation #2

Content: NonFiction Reading Synthesizing, making a claim & Defending with evidence

Tech Tool: Researching, digital annotating & Google Apps; documents & slides

Fourth graders solved a mystery! They were given a mystery scenario where they could only use six digital resources to make a claim and determine where the mystery fossil was found. They annotated their findings on a google document and then created a google slides presentation that outlined the clues from each resource and defended their claim of the specific continent and habitat the fossil was found in.

Student Sample #1

Student Sample #2

Student Sample #3

5th Grade Rotation #2

Content: Renewable/NonRenewable Energy Sources & Argumentative Essays

Tech Tool: Google Slides, Screencastify, & Abcya Animation

Renewable Energy sources guided our co teaching work together. Students utilized what they were learning in writing argumentative essays to make a claim on where they should place a new company and what renewable energy source would be utilized in that location. Students analyzed all of the energy sources and then created an animation showing the machinery and item requirements to harness and convert renewable energy into power.

Student Sample #1

Student Sample #2

I Spy...

Incredible Kindie teachers!

December

This Week
Monday

Tuesday
* 7:30 - 8:15 Book Study

Wednesday
* 8:00 Spelling Bee practice in the Gold Mine room
* Administer iReady diagnostic
* SD: OYO - EPRs
* 3:45 - 4:30 Book Study

Thursday
* Jenny admin meeting
* Administer iReady diagnostic

Friday
* Administer iReady diagnostic

Reminders
* Please administer the iReady diagnostic between Wednesday, December 11th - Friday December 13th.

* Please enter DRA/F & P data into IC and on your GRE data doc.

* Don't forget to send Kristi your 'family photo' by December 16th at noon!

* Please let Libby or Stephanie Brown know if you are interested in serving on our behavior RtI committee.

* Please release EPRs between 2:00 & 3:00 on Thursday, December 19th. We will make an announcement to remind you! Click here for our EPR expectations.

* The calendar designated a workday on January 6th and a PLC day on February 14th. Leadership agreed to trade our full PLC day in February to half in January. We will meet as a staff half of January 6th and half on February 14th. The other half of those days will be your workday.
Our focus on January 6th will be math. 

Happy Birthday
Danielle Pearson - December 9th

Go For the Gold
* Thank you to Christy Dismang and her wonderful family for helping during Kindergarten Registration!

Golden Nuggets
Morning Announcements: Hagerty
Lounge Duty: Evans/Fitch

Technology CoTeaching
Below you will find examples and information snippets from the first technology co-teaching rotation in kindie, first and second grades.

Second Grade Rotation #1

Content: Roles, Rights, Responsibilities, and Conflict Resolution in School Communities

Tech Tool: Spark Video

Student Sample #1

Student Sample #2

Second graders analyzed a school community and identified what their Role, Rights, and Responsibilities are within that community. In addition, they brainstormed common conflicts that happen in those specific communities and gave various solutions on how to resolve those conflicts. 

First Grade Rotation #1

Content: Non Fiction Text Learning

Tech Tools: Camera editing tools & Spark Video

Student Sample #1

First Graders became an expert on their non-fiction book. They recorded their learnings on sticky notes in their books. Then using the camera feature on their iPad they cropped pictures to ensure their pictures enhanced what their words were

Kindergarten Rotation #1

Content: Going for the Gold

Tech Tool: ChatterPix

Student Sample #1: Favorite Center

Student Sample #2: Going for the GOLD
Student Sample #3: Spookly Pumpkins

Kindergartners used ChatterPix to take a selfie and describe what it means to Go For The Gold. In addition, they highlighted their favorite centers in their kindergarten class. Students utilized oral rehearsal to organize their thinking and determine what key ideas should be conveyed to connect to their main idea.

December 2019

This Week
Monday
* 7:45 Leadership Team Meeting
* iReady Reading Diagnostic Opens

Tuesday
* Libby Admin Meeting
* 7:30 Book Study

Wednesday
* SD: Order Books
* 3:45-4:30 Book Study

Thursday
* Jenny Admin Meeting
* Kindie Round-Up

Friday


Reminders
* Please know, if we have unfilled sub jobs in December and it is your DRA/F & P day, we might need to pull your sub. Thank you for being flexible!

* Don't forget to send Kristi your 'family' photo by December 16th at noon!

* The iReady winter diagnostic window is December 2 - 18. All students will take the Reading diagnostic within this window. Please remember to enter progress monitoring data in Alpine for those on READ plans.

* Students in 4th & 5th grades who are interested in participating in the Spelling Bee should go to the Gold Mine room on Friday, December 6th at 8:00 am for the pretest. 

Happy Birthday
Kristi Barta - November 25th
Anita Rudman - November 27th
Christy Schwalick - December 5th

Go For the Gold
* Thank you for an amazing Celebration of Learning! Parents truly appreciate all of your hard work!
* Thank you office staff for all of the work you put into making our feast run smoothly!
* Thank you Josh for setting up for the feast and keeping the cafeteria clean!
* A huge thank you to everyone who listened to students who did not have a parent at Celebration of Learning!

Golden Nuggets
Morning Announcements: Broecker
Lounge Duty: Braden/Villani

November

This Week
Monday
* 7:30-4:30 Book Fair
Tuesday
* 7:30-6:30 Book Fair
Wednesday
* Celebration of Learning
* Digger's Family Feast
* 7:30-4:30 Book Fair

Thursday
* 2nd Grade Plan Day
* 7:30-6:30 Book Fair
* SAC Meeting

Friday
* 7:30-2:00

Reminders

* Please remember that DRA / F & P data needs to be entered into IC. 

* Please check the expiration date on your teaching license. It is important to maintain a valid teaching license, and apply for renewal prior to the expiration of your current license. Each teacher is responsible for monitoring the status of his/her own license.According to CDE, teachers may apply to renew Professional, Interim, or Initial licenses any time within 6 months of expiration, but no sooner.

* Teachers grades 3-5, please fill out the form for students who need accommodations.  Click here for the form.

* We will have our November fire drill either Monday or Tuesday.

* The iReady winter diagnostic window is December 2 - 18. All students will take the Reading diagnostic within this window. Please remember to enter progress monitoring data in Alpine for those on READ plans. 

Here is the schedule for our Thanksgiving Feast & Celebrations of Learning on Wednesday, November 20. Please see Jenny's push out and team leaders for additional information.

Happy Birthday

Kim Layton - November 20th

Kristi Barta - November 25th

Anita Rudman - November 27

Go For the Gold

* Welcome back Krista Hardin!

* Thank you Fat Friday team for the delicious spread!

* Thank you for an amazing PLC day!

* Thank you Ann & Bree for presenting on Monday!

Golden Nuggets

Morning Announcements: Burggraff

Lounge Duty: Simpson/Brakefield

Early birds get the worm!

November

This Week

Monday

* PLC Day 

Tuesday

* 7:30 - 8:15 Book Study

Wednesday

* 8:00-10:00 Libby Meeting

* 4th Grade Plan Day

* SD: Team Agendas

* 3:45-4:30 Book Study

Thursday

* 3rd Grade Plan Day

* Jenny Admin Meeting

Friday

* Crazy Hair Day

* Fat Friday - Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice

Reminders

* We will have crazy hair day on Friday to raise money for Kits For Kids. If you did not receive your three bags, you can get them in the office conference room.

Student Council is also organizing a pj day for students on Friday, November 22. Students can bring in any amount of change and wear their pjs. All proceeds will go to Denver Rescue Mission's Turkey Drive.

* Click here to sign up to preview the Book Fair with your class.

* Below is the agenda for the November 11 PLC. Here are the things you need to bring to the meeting:

     * Printed pictures of classroom celebrations and your photo album.

     * The Lucy book that contains the upcoming lesson chosen by your grade level.

     * Identify your grade level's December DRA/F & P benchmark.

     * Grades 3 - 5, bring your Lucy's Reading Pathways book.

     * Grade level planning document.

     * Computer at the closing

Here is the schedule for our Thanksgiving Feast & Celebrations of Learning on Wednesday, November 20. Please see Jenny's push out and team leaders for additional information.

Happy Birthday

Michelle Sweet - November 11th

Go For the Gold

* A HUGE thank you to Kristi Barta for teaching 3rd grade!

* Thank you Karen Petty and Jenny Brown for a fabulous Veteran's Day assembly!

* Thank you Megan Fleet, Stephanie Brown and Justin Brakefield for helping with the assembly!

* Thank you Gail Golish for supporting Literacy Week and helping GRE win $1,000 towards books!

Golden Nuggets

Morning Announcements: Rayens

Lounge Duty: Hagerty/Rayens

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

November 2019

This Week
Monday
* 9:30-12:30 3rd Grade To Legend

Tuesday
* 7:30 - 8:15 Book Study

Wednesday
* Staff Development: Finish CITE 6, EPR & Team Agendas
* Libby Admin Meeting
* 3:45-4:30 Book Study

Thursday
* Jenny Admin Meeting

Friday
* 9:00-9:20 Veteran's Day Assembly

Reminders
* By Friday, November 8, all CITE 6 formative and goals must be set in InpsirED.

* Please remember that students can take their devices to specials if the teachers need them for a project/activity.

* Our Veteran's Day assembly on Friday, November 8th will be from 9:00-9:20. Teachers, please practice these songs with your class so they are prepared. Click here for the lyrics.

* Click here for information to support the Turkey Drive for the Denver Rescue mission. We would love to see a great turnout from our GRE community!

* Below is the agenda for the November 11 PLC.  Please see the right hand side for things you need to bring to the meeting.




Here is the schedule for our Thanksgiving Feast & Celebrations of Learning on Wednesday, November 20.  Please see Jenny's push out and team leaders for additional information.




Social Committee
Looking for ways to connect and get to know your colleagues? Here are some opportunities:
1) Join the staff for Happy Hour this Friday at Hilltop Tap House (19878 Hilltop Rd). Visit and enjoy a beverage after a long week!!
2) This Monday, our 2nd annual Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament will begin! This is a fun and low-stress way of getting to know people. The tournament bracket will be in the lounge. Find the person you will compete with on your first round and do a "best of 3" round of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Be sure to write the winner on the bracket. Have fun!
3) Put the evening of December 19 on your calendar for our GRE Holiday Party. This is the perfect night to celebrate together since it is our last day of school prior to holiday break. The finals of our Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament will be held that night as well. Get excited!! You won't want to miss it!

Happy BirthdayKelly Broecker - November 3
Leslie Stoops - November 3
Cindy Bell - November 7
Linda Dziura - November 7

Go For the Gold
* A huge thank you to everyone who helped with the 'Slow Release' on Tuesday!
* Thank you everyone for a successful Halloween!
* Thank you Josh for removing snow all week!
* Thank you social committee for the Friday afternoon drink cart!

* Thank you to our car loop friends for braving the cold!

Golden Nuggets
Morning Announcements: Hagerty
Lounge Duty: Broecker/Burggraff