Movin' on up... to 2nd Grade!

For our last Teacher Meeting of the year (we have no Teacher Meetings in May and the last two in April are part of a Math Book Study), we invited two second grade teachers to come and share what they felt were weaknesses when their second graders entered this year. First grade teachers want to spend this last nine weeks really honing in on the skills that will make their children more successful as they begin second grade. This is what was shared and discussed:

Reading

• Susanne Shall shared a skill sheet of 2nd grade skills where she highlighted the skills that should be covered in first grade. She noted that 2nd grade teachers felt the students were weak in identifying nouns, verbs and adjectives. Guess why? We don't have that on our first grade Pacing Guide so it's no wonder the kids don't know it coming into second grade! That's something we can certainly do something about!

Writing

• Second grade teachers felt like they had lots of kids coming in that had handwriting that was not readable. First grade teachers do handwriting the first nine weeks but don't usually revisit it again, but this year they will make sure to do a few mini-lesson on being able to read your handwriting!
• Second grade teachers also felt that narratives going into second grade were weak - weaker even than the narratives in the first grade portfolios. During discussion first grade teachers felt that it might be because first grade teaches narrative at the beginning of the year. However, this year first grade teachers will revisit narrative at the end of the year again to pull a portfolio piece from the end of the year instead of the beginning of the year. This should help close that gap.

Math

• In Math second grade teacher Lynn Patterson talked about a few misconceptions about the Open Number Line. In showing teachers where children are going with the strategy, she helped first grade teachers understand their responsibility.
• Lynn also mentioned how important it is for students to have fluency with the combinations of ten leaving first grade. The teachers talked about games that they could do this last nine weeks such as "10s Go Fish" with Uno cards to reinforce fluency. Suzanne Shall promised to copy a group of new games with 10 combinations that could be practiced this last nine weeks and then sent home for parents to practice over the summer. 
• Math vocabulary was another area that we discussed. We cleared up the difference between a number sentence or expression (5+5) and an equation (5+5=10). Lynn also cautioned the teachers about transitioning from the cutesy names such as the alligator munchy mouth to the more mathematically correct "less than" and other cute names that we may have used to introduce new concepts.
• Giving more advanced students strategies is also not recommended. Students should come up with the strategies themselves and they will, when they are ready. Often a teacher has taught a strategy before students are ready, but the child doesn't really understand it and can't really explain it. Second grade teachers would rather first graders not be given new strategies if they are not ready.
• Lynn also recommended chetsmath.blogspot.com for teachers to check and to share with parents who are interested in knowing what is to come.

This conversation of vertical articulation makes a difference as we close the gaps and help to make our students successful as they transition from one grade to another.

Friday Share

We recently met as a grade level to talk about how our year is going - what we are proud of so far (and there certainly is a lot to be proud of!), what we hope to accomplish for the rest of the year, and changes we might like to make. Jim Collins tells us that we cannot move from good to great unless we are brutally honest about where we are today. With that in mind, I really tried to listen to what teachers want the rest of our year to look like. One of the things that teachers felt like they needed was more time to share. We have 15 teachers on our grade level and it is difficult for everyone to have a voice and to get their questions answered in our once-a-week meeting time. It is always a difficult balance to meet the needs of such a diverse group of teachers.

In order to provide more time to share, we are going to try eight Friday morning sharing times in addition to our weekly Teacher Meetings. Teachers volunteer to host and they get to name the topic. Other teachers on the grade level have the option to come or not, but each teacher is asked to bring something to share. This past Friday, Maria Mallon and Cheryl Dillard offered to host our first "share and serve" (breakfast). The topic was "Sleepover." Each teacher was asked to bring at least one thing to share about "Sleepover" which is our full day first grade tradition in January.

Another struggle for us has been to address things before they happen so that teachers have a little more time to prepare. As usual most teachers brought something to share, but not all, and the ideas were creative, fun, and really got teachers thinking about the event. Questions were asked and answered. Some teachers were relaxed and social while others were on a tight schedule and really worked to keep the conversation on topic and on time. It is always interesting to see the variety of personalities that make a grade level successful!

Make sure to check out the first grade wiki under "Sleepover" for all of the parent communication, hints about the day of Sleepover, the Parent Night pillowcase-making, and curriculum suggestions that go with this traditional event. As our teachers find new activities, they will be encouraged to post and share them on this collaborative wiki. The picture above is what Maria Mallon brought to share. She keeps all of her unit packed in a suitcase, ready to sleep over!

At-risk Discussions

Today the principal met with each grade level during their traditional Teacher Meeting time. She asked each teacher in turn about the children in her Progress Monitoring notebook that were"at-risk." She has a notebook for each grade level. She looked at each child's Diagnostic scores, she wanted to know if a PMP (Progress Monitoring Plan signed by the parent) had been written, if a retention note had been sent, if the child had ever been retained, if the child had been referred to the  Intervention Team and what the teacher was doing to make sure that the child would be as successful as possible. The Guidance Counselor also attended the meetings all day making notes of children who need to be seen because they are going through a hard time or whose parents need a call or families who may need help with repeat head lice causing repeated absences or children who just need motivation or maybe a mentor. Next week teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals, office staff and custodians will be asked to step up and "mentor" one of these identified children.

In kindergarten we discussed about 30 children, noting that many of them were siblings of those identified earlier in the day. What sets these discussions apart is that teachers bring their data. They know their children and can quickly list the interventions - Reading Mastery with Julie, a parent volunteer coming in to drill letters and sounds, multiple parent conferences, small group or one-to-one work, Target interventions - that they are using to make a difference. You cannot hide in these meetings because you are held accountable, but the conversation is also not threatening. The other thing you feel in these meetings is that teachers really care about children. You don't hear sarcasm and snide remarks. The teachers don't spend time blaming parents or making excuses. They are reflective. They ask questions. They ask for help when they need it... and I hope they leave with a more cohesive plan of action. That, after all, is what this day is all about!