Mr. Elkins' Weekly Wrap: Week of 9/19

Hey Panda Family,

I love to laugh, have fun at school, and have fun in life. I more love watching you have fun and laugh with your students. There is something to be said for being able to laugh at yourself, find something funny/humorous in tough situations, and laughing with a friend that needs it. It helps the soul. I hope your weekend is full of love and laughs. You deserve it!

Here are the Weekly Wrap updates for this week:

New Updates

iReady/Mclass Color Copies: If you would like to send home color reports to your student's families of their iReady or Mclass BOY results, please email Mr. Elkins the PDF of the report and he will print it for you.

Ms. Jones National Board Project (from Ms. Jones): As part of my National Boards renewal, I'm coordinating ready-made, at-home family learning experiences for all Piney Grove students. As a school/PTA, we were able to fund 450 copies of the book The Mouse and the Motorcycle so we can send home one with EVERY family to read aloud together as our first activity which will be the basis for the later activities. We'd also LOVE to have copies of the book in Spanish to send home with our dozens of families who speak Spanish at home. This Donors Choose project would fund that part of the effort. So far, my only donation is from Mr. Vorborker :) so if you'd consider sharing it with your own friends and family and/or the parents of your students, I'd greatly appreciate it!

https://www.donorschoose.org/project/libros-para-familias-books-for-familie/6836336/

MTSS/Tier 2 Planning (from Ms. Balint): Each grade level will meet in the PLT room on October 3rd during specials. During our meeting, we will be creating/updating Tier 2 plans. If a new plan needs to be created please bring the following pieces:

Teacher referral to MTSS folders should include:

work samples relating to specific concern
exit tickets relating to specific concern
weekly assessments relating to specific concern
DIBELS report
i-Ready reports
PAST
Core Phonics Survey
Number knowledge

Make sure to communicate with parents about the academic concern before presenting the concern to the MTSS team.

If you have a student in Tier 3, referral, or a Tier 3 plan needs to be created- let me know in our meeting, so we can set-up a meeting. Thank you!

Wedding Shower: Please join us for a Wedding Shower for Suzi and Samuel on Wednesday, October 5 after our Early Release PD. Here is their registry link: https://www.zola.com/wedding/samandsuzi/registry

SEL PD: The SEL Team has developed asynchronous Canvas courses in SEL to help you and your fellow staff members expand their SEL knowledge and practice. Currently, we offer 2 courses: SEL 101 and Self-Awareness. We will continue to add more courses throughout the year. Staff receive .4 Digital CEUs for these asynchronous courses. Each of the courses will add up to a total of 2.0 CEUs. Please share with your staff so they can also take advantage of this professional development. We hope many of you will join us for this valuable learning opportunity! Click here to register through Kick-Up.

Newsela: Here is an awesome Nonfiction resource if you're interested - Winston-Salem-Specific Newsela Workshop Menu

Guidance Updates (from Ms. Ceglowski): Here are the updates from Ms. Ceglowski.

Regarding Guidance Lessons: I am going to see each class before the year is over through the specials rotation in media. In September, I saw Kinder and in October I will be seeing first grade and so on. In addition, please reach out if you have a specific topic you would like me to cover in a mini-lesson for your class. Possible topics: tattling, lying, stealing, friendship, respect, kindness, cooperation, empathy, and bullying. These are just suggestions and I can be very flexible.

Please don't forget to tell me about your class and the Masterpieces you are working on for me to highlight on Masterpiece Monday. I loved having Mrs. Tomlinson's class and Mrs. Rempe's class show off this past week!

Don't forget to send me jokes for Joke of the Week!

Media Updates (from Ms. Epperley): Here are the updates from Ms. Epperley in the Media Center.

Chromebook info: Please fill out this form to let me know how many of your students are using Silver Dot Chromebooks with HP on the front. These are going to be replaced but I need to submit our numbers ahead of time. Thank you!

Forsyth County Public Library Bookmark Art Contest I put forms in your mailbox for students to turn in by next Friday, Sept 30.

Core Book Standards These are your grade level core books with standards that we worked on last year. The books are still arriving, but we are checking them out to each teacher as they come in. There will be a colored dot sticker with your grade level on the spine. The only time you will need to turn them in is if you change grade levels.

This weekend is the Bookmarks Books and Authors Event!

Shout-Outs: From Ms. Panico - Shoutout to EVERYONE involved in helping me with my special girl! While it has been a challenge, it has been quite a group effort to make sure she gets EXACTLY what she needs. It takes a village and I am grateful for the support of mine!

From Ms. Ceglowski - Shout out to Mrs. Tall for letting me join her class for her team-building lesson on Friday. She had students group themselves based on the color of the sticker we put on their forehead without talking! They were so engaged and really were forced to work together for a common goal. So cool!

Important Items from Last Week

Eagle Scout Projects: We have two new outdoor learning areas for you and your students to enjoy! The canopy benches in the center courtyard were done by Max Mason & the outdoor classroom area near the nature trail was done by Avery Sherrill. Thank you to both Scout Groups! We have created a sign-up for the outdoor learning area by the nature trail. Please use this sign-up to reserve your spot!

Outdoor Learning Area @ PGE

Outdoor Classroom Sign-Up

Dental Screening: Dental screening is Thursday, September 29. Grades PreK, K, 3rd, and 5th. Click on "dental screening" for the schedule.

Recess Shed: There are three new ball racks for the recess shed. The ball racks are to stay inside the shed. Recess helpers are to collect all the balls from the playground and place them on the ball racks.

Curriculum Updates: Please see the Curriculum Updates below.

mClass/ DIBELS - window closes on 9/26.

Please send any invalidation requests to Mrs. Gardner.
Sync your devices often
Gardner will look at our completion rates early next week

The i-Ready BOY Benchmark for K-3 Reading window has been extended. The new window is September 6 - 26, 2022

Sub List: Here is the most up-to-date substitute list, Pam Mason's availability, and the direct link to Frontline. Please use these resources to find a sub in case you have to be out. Please reach out to Ms. Owens if you have any questions.

Substitutes

Pam Mason's Schedule

Frontline