Committee+Member+Communication

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 * Committee members should use this page to create dialogue between each other. Ask questions. Write responses. Share concerns. Check out how other members are using the materials. Please add new questions to the top so the most recent questions can be viewed first.**

Fran: Yes! When I first started using the e-book, I was able to click on the Play button on the page and the students could listen to the page being read. Yesterday when I tried to use it, there were no Play buttons on any of the pages. I tried logging off and logging back in, but the Play button was not on any page. I tried again today and it wasn't there.
 * Is anyone having a problem using the e-book?**


 * Is anyone using the One-Stop Planner or the E-Planner? How does it work? Is it extra work since we have to do lesson plans on schoolworksite.com?**

Cheryl: I didn't get the On-Stop Planner and I stopped in to see Mary's. It has some great resources. Plus it has the assessment section we've been looking for. I will be e-mailing Greg again.


 * Has anyone else had a problem with MANY of the links for activities/resources "no longer available"?**

Yes! Rick- Me too!

Fran: I used the Geo Skills CD-ROM. I've used it to introduce a lesson/map skill on the Smartboard. I've also had the students do the activities in small groups or individually on the Smartboard. It would be great to have it in the computer lab so all the students could be on it at the same time. The Make A Map is okay but I prefer the other activities like Explore Skills... (I don't have my CD at home so I can't remember what the other options are called.) I like that the activities(games) that are leveled, but it would work better for students to do it individually so they could go through the levels in proper sequence. Right now, they pick up where the group before left off or have to restart.
 * Have you used the GeoSkills CD-ROM? How are you using it? Any suggestions or concerns?**

Fran- I played a little with the Assessment CD at the beginning. I was a little confused and then got sidetracked with other things. So for the first unit, I used the blackline master of the Unit 1 Pretest and Tests. I want to try to use the Assessment CD for Unit 2 so I can differentiate for the different learners in my classroom. Any helpful hints or suggestions? I also saw a section where I could create a class by entering students' names. I can create the test without creating a class so why would I use this option? It asked for ID numbers. I wasn't sure if I made up the numbers or if I was supposed to enter their school ID number. Has anyone tried the online assessment option? What will you share about the Assessment CD at the grade level sharing meeting?
 * Are you using the Assessment on CD-ROM or the blackline masters? If you are using the Assessment CD, have you had any problems?**

Cheryl-Grade 3: I still haven't receive the Assessment CD. I think it would be very helpful, and I have emailed our contact directly. Still no CD!

//Mary - Grade 2:// I've had a problem using the play button on the ebook as well. It works fine at home, but only works s poradically which can be frustrating when you've prepared the lesson and trying to teach. I'm hoping I have success when I introduce it to my grade partners. Since time is a factor in second grade as well, I do find the leveled readers to be a good source of information to use when the children have centers. I can group my children according to their reading ability while they are all still gaining the same information. They seem to enjoy it too. There are questions at the end of each little book, so I've used those questions as an assessment. Fran: Mary, do you have your struggling readers use the online version on the Smartboard where they can hit the Play button to have it read to them, do you read the book with them, do you have a more-advanced reader read with that group or are they able to read the below-level books by themselves? Most of the first grade below-level readers are Guided Reading Levels H-I which are end of the year for us so my basic skills children and RTI children can't read them independently. You mentioned having centers. Can you share a little more about how you do your centers?

Cheryl: Grade 3 leveled readers are not available online. I would like to read them in centers, also. I have Special Ed. Are you using them for LA/SS integration during LA time?

Roe: am having difficulty getting into kindergarten textbook online (eharcourtschool.com), when i log in i end up at Pam Wheatley's calendar. I wanted to use the site for Tuesday's grade level meeting.

Fran: It sounds like you are logging in as Pam-using the same username and password that was on the sheet we were given at the meeting. You might need to log in as yourself. First, you need to register. Go back to the log in. Instead of typing in the username and password, scroll down to New Users and click on Register. It will take you through the process step-by-step. When you get to the step where you enter the ISBN number of the teacher's edition, you can type in the ISBN # from the back of your teacher's edition or you can type in the Key Code for the E-Book for your grade level. Your key code is 0153472723. (I had a problem when I first tried to register, it kept telling me that my ISBN number was wrong, but it worked for the key code.) It will also ask you to go into your teacher's edition to find a certain word on a certain page. You will need to have your teacher's edition to find the word to type in. Once you are registered, log in as yourself. Let me know if that doesn't do the trick. Maybe we can figure out something else to try. (I tried logging in as Pam. When I clicked on your book, it wasn't linked. I was able to get to my book.)

**Rick Fourth Grade Problems, Concerns, Gripes:** 1. Harcourt has a separate text book just for New Jersey fourth graders, so the standards align really well; however, much of the support material (leveled readers, vocabulary transparencies, document-based questions, social studies in action, etc.) is generic to Harcourt's overall 4th grade curricula: states and regions. Consequently, I can't use a lot of the supplemental materials. Likewise, several links on the Ebook do not work, so I did not have access to materials for my students. The Harcourt representative, and technical support, acknowledged my problem, but never responded or fixed the problem. After I searched Harcourt's site for hours, I found a work around solution. I hope they are more responsive after we purchase their curricula. I also hope Harcourt is working on some supplemental materials for New Jersey's fourth graders.

2. The content seems to focus on BIG ideas and essential questions. However, the unit tests have many questions, particularly the matching questions, which are not BIG idea related. I feel the need to create a test preparation sheet.

3. There are 4 units in the 4th grade curriculum. This works out to about one unit per marking period. This means students take the unit test at the end of the marking period. There are no intermediate tests or quizzes, so I had to create some. Pam: I have also created my own---vocab-type quizzes, review pages, organizational charts, short answer question pages--to help supplement. BUT THEN my fear is that THIS may be making us proceed at SUPER snail pace.
 * Rick Fourth Grade-What's Working:**

1. Unit One chapters on geography and climate integrate nicely with science chapters on weather and landforms. Pam: Agreed--but I feel that I spent WAY too much time on them at the beginning of the year!!!--and will definitely approach it differently next year. Cheryl: Same in Grade 3 Fran: In first grade, I would skip the overview at the beginning and start right in Unit 1. It was very confusing and time-consuming. 2. I found a Harcourt unit test preparation handout (Study Guide) which was really nice for the students to use before the big unit test. Fran: Where did you find the handout that you used? Rick: Turns out the __Study Guide__ is in the Homework and Practice Book. I thought a made a great discovery since I don't have a H&P book, and I found the Study Guide on line. Pam:I really like the chapter review pages in the HW and PB.. Fran: I like the Reading Support and Intervention. The graphic organizers are great to use. We complete the organizers as we are reading the text. The graphic organizers give a nice summary of the lesson. The completed organizers are great to keep to review for the test. Although the page that has students read the vocabulary words in isolation and then read the vocabulary words in sentences is difficult (especially for the below-level readers), it does provide practice in phrasing to help develop reading fluency. My students like reading to a partner. An added plus is that the sentences repeat the key content from the lesson in the social studies text. I like the vocabulary word cards.
 * I also like the Rdg Suppport and Intervention pages for review.

Fran: I used the Study Guide from the H & P B, but found that I had to add to it. It didn't cover all the material/vocabulary that was being tested. The Review and Test Prep in the student edition does a more thorough job in first grade.

3. I like, and I'm using, the activities at the end of each unit. They provide an alternate method and additional resource for assessing student learning. Pam: I have used some from the text and have used others of my own as well. 4. I'm using the Practice Book pages as ocassional homework or for a classwork grade. Pam:The pages in the HW and PB are SO much better related to the chapter than the last series in general. I also use them for a classwork grade occasionally. Fran: I use some of the H & P Book pages for classwork grades. I have not used it for homework. Cheryl: I also have had problems with the Play link. I'm hoping it works for the E-book demo. Also, when Pam and I were looking at 5th grade Ebook, the Play link was reading the wrong chapter. Pam said it happens often. Fran: I had a problem once or twice when the Play button didn't work.
 * Rick Fourth Grade-Need Help:** 1. I can't get the audio link (Play) to work at school. It worked earlier, but now I can't even see the Play link on my computer screen or the Smart Board. They work fine at my home.

2. I'm still having students maintain a notebook, and my tests are usually open notebook. What are some other options? Pam: My students keep a notebook to use to study, review, and organize, but my tests are not open notebook. As another form of review, I have had them work in teams to "make their own test questions"--and answers--then use them, and some of my own---in some kind of review game---Baseball, or Battleship,Jeopardy, etc.. Fran: There is a great review activity called //Quiz, Quiz, Trade// that I learned at a recent workshop on differentiation. You write 1 question on the front of an index card and the correct answer on the back. You will need an index card for each student. (If you have an odd number of students, the teacher needs to play the game, too.) The questions should be various levels of difficulty. Review directions ahead of time. Stress positive comments. Model appropriate positive responses like "Great Job! You were correct!" "Good try. The correct answer is _." Pair up students. Give each student an index card. (Give the more advanced students the questions with a higher degree of difficulty.) Student A reads the question. Student B answers. If Student B gives an incorrect answer, Student A tells the correct answer. Then Student B reads the questions. Student A answers. Then the students trade index cards and raise their hands. They look for a new partner. Throughout the game, they may get their original index card back. That is okay. This is a great review activity for shy students who are afraid of giving the wrong answer in front of the whole class. If a student answered incorrectly, he is given immediate feedback by his partner. When the students trade cards, the student then gets that questions card to ask the next partner. Again, reinforcing the correct answer. I've been able to use this activity to review vocabulary, practice basic math facts... I even had students practice counting different sets of coins and telling time by using flashcards. The possibilities are endless. There is one warning-the noise level can get high.

Pam: Great idea! Thanks Fran!. I look forward to trying it, Many possibilities! Cheryl: I like this activity too! At a higher grade level, the students could add some questions of their own. I like this! 3. I have experimented with several techniques to help students become better non-fiction readers, and to be more responsible for their learning: jigsaw groups; read, talk, write; read, cover, remember, retell; and read and retell. So far, I haven't found one I really like. What works for you?

Cheryl: I tried breaking the chapter into sections and assigning small groups of students a section to teach to the class. I gave them large post-it pages and large lined chart pages to use. They worked well in their groups and I was pleasantly surprised with the results. I've used this technique in LA a few times and it works well. Some of them drew illustrations, outlined the sections, used a sequence chart, organizers, and colors to help present their material. I had to keep the groups to three and made sure that everyone was participating. It worked well for all students. Pam: When we were working on early Indians tribes, I did a similar activity---assigning seperate groups to be "experts"on each tribe--then briefly present to the rest of the class. I gave them topics that they had to cover--and they made/drew a home representing each.-BUT AGAIN!--very time consuming !!! BUT this was a review--after covering the material together already-Is that what you meant, Cheryl? Cheryl; I assigned the students sub-sections in a chapter to teach to the class. They explained the vocab. and taught the information for their section. It's part of discovery learning, and we used the large post-its as reference sheets. I kept them up in the class until we completed the unit. The best part is Post-it paper can stick anywhere. I have some up in the hallway now for fables from our LA series. Rick: I like this idea. I will give it a try. Thanks for sharing. Cheryl: I like jigsaw, but I wasn't sure it would work with my age group. I may give it a try with a simple activity. I also used sentence strips folded into small square sections as a storyboard for a chapter. I could guide the storyboard for learning the Big idea and cover the questions for the test. It makes a great study-guide and the kids like to add illustrations. Rick: This sounds great, but I don't understand how the sentence strips make a storyboard or study guide. I guess I need visuals.

Cheryl: I folded the sentence strips into the number of sections I needed for the lesson information. Each square contained information for the test: Vocabulary word with defintion, type of landform, definition, and picture. When it was folded according style, it could easily slide into SS folder and be pulled-out to add more. I used the front and back.

Fran: I am not familiar with jigsaw. What is it? Is it something I can do with my first graders? Pam:I am not familiar with Jigsaw either.

Cheryl: The way I've used it is.......Students are in groups and given a letter or number. All groups will start in their group with all the same letter or number, they will answer a question. Simple example: each group has a vocab term. The group will work together to define the term, illustrate etc. Then the groups will jigsaw so that there is an A,B,C,D in each group. Each person will then teach their vocab word to the group. By the time they are done, each person should have recorded information about every term and taught other people. Is this how you use it Rick?

Rick: Yes. However, I found that students that give minimum effort impact students that give a good effort. Plus it is time consuming. 4. I would like to try centers in social studies. What type of centers have you successfully used?

Pam, Mary, and Cheryl discussed using the Ebook on the SmartBoard to demonstrate what is available through the online text source plus display all the materials for teachers to examine and discuss the options available for assessment, as well as integration.
 * What will the committee members share at the February 16th Grade Level Meeting?**

Rick: I plan to use the Ebook for my grade level presentation as well.

Fran : I plan to display all the materials I have and use the Smartboard to show what is available on-line and CD/DVD. I want to give teachers an opportunity to go through the materials. I want to share what I am currently doing in Unit 2. We will want to look at the assessment options. Time is a big concern at my grade level so I want to discuss how we might integrate with other subject areas. Fran: Has anyone used the leveled readers? If so, how have you used them with your class? For first grade, the leveled readers are difficult-even the below-level readers are hard for most of the students in my class. I have to read the books to/with my students. Cheryl: I would like to have the AR tests for the leveled readers. I think it would be good to use the computer lab to assess students on the leveled readers. I found that the below leveled reader is very close to the text in the chapter. It really doesn't seem like it's below level. It could be used for an online assessment. (21st Century) Problem: We only have 6 class copies for students who don't have computers to read the Ebooks.
 * How are you using the leveled readers?**

Pam: I have used the leveled readers a few diffferent ways: I've read and discussed them with my whole class, have given them to a group to read and discuss--then share with the rest of the class. I have also used the ebook version of the leveled readers and use the Play mode and discuss after. I have used the Advanced Level to differentiate for my one Advanced Studies student as well. Our librarian tells me that she arrange for them to be AR tests as well---so I am looking forward to that. Fran: Pam, have you tried the e-mail option to send the book to students? Pam: I have not tried emailing themIs there a link or a way they could be put on our web pages? Fran: I'm not sure. I haven't e-mailed it. From what I read, it sounded like you e-mail the link to students. The link is available for 30 days. The students have the option of downloading the book and saving it on the computer. I'm not sure if there is a way to put it on our web pages. That would be nice.

Pam: I JUST e-mailed one to myself at home--pretty cool--Would be great for a student who is absent, etc...But there MUST be a way to link it to our websites! We need to look into that! ** How are you using centers? ** Fran: I wasn't able to make the one meeting. I saw in the committee meeting notes that someone commented that he/she was using centers. How are you using your centers? Is it working? Is it a lot of extra work? When you say that you are using centers, do all your centers have to do with social studies or are you integrating social studies with other subjects through the centers? How much extra time are you spending to create the centers/gather materials?

Time is a big concern in first grade-especially at my grade level. The guidance counselor takes one of my social studies periods every other week to do a lesson with my class. RTI (Response to Intervention) started this year. I have several students who are pulled during one social studies period a week to receive interventions so it is a problem keeping those students caught up. At my grade level, we do not teach social studies every day. When it is scheduled, it is for a half hour block of time. The lessons in this program are time-intensive. It seems like the program is built on a 5 day a week 45 minutes a day schedule. Even when I follow the Express Path, it generally takes longer than I anticipated. Sometimes I need to create my own lessons to prepare students before I do the lessons in the manual. The program assumes that my students have a certain skill set which they don't have. It is a rigorous program with tough vocabulary. For the teacher, there are so many materials to go through when planning that it is overwhelming at times. I don't use all the pages in the Homework and Practice Book. I found that it isn't developmentally appropriate in its design. It doesn't take into account the fine visual motor skills of first graders. For example, my students had to color our state green on a map of the United States which was placed vertically on the page. Then they had to put a red dot to show where our community was-an almost impossible task for most students especially when you consider the size of crayon they use. I was thankful that we didn't live in Rhode Island. The H & P book is okay when students have to write a one word response. It does not provide enough space or set of lines when longer responses are required like a sentence or an explanation. Unit 1 Project-Performance Assessment is unrealistic and too time-consuming for the beginning of the year when first graders are not independent. I used the Unit 1 Pretest as a quiz. I have to modify the Unit 2 Option 2 Assessment-Writing (Write a Letter) and the scoring rubric. My students' writing skills are developing, but we haven't worked on writing a friendly letter yet. Rick: Initially, I also thought the Unit Projects were too complicated and time consuming. The explanations and rubrics make them sound complicated and time consuming. Then I saw a picture of an example in the teacher's text: a very simple poster with a heading and brief explanation. The example looked like something a student could produce in one or two periods. I don't think the word picture Harcourt paints matches expectations.
 * Fran-First Grade General Comments/Concerns:**

Time is always a problem for teaching social studies and science: 3 periods a week with 30 minutes each period, so I've started using LA times to keep up. I have so many LA grades with a story each week that missing a story has no effect on grades, and probably no effect on learning. Plus I think students should be reading more in the content areas of science and social studies. My solution is to take a break from reading the Harcourt "Story of the Week" and concentrate my reading instruction on the content areas of science and social studies. Cheryl; I would like to use LA time also, but I have 8 Special Ed. students. I'm not sure this would work. Any ideas?? Cheryl: The vocabulary is difficult. I thought the idea was to introduce them to the same vocabulary through-out the grade levels so they would eventually be comfortable with the terms. I introduce them and try to use them, I just pick a few to include on the test. I like that the vocabulary is vertically aligned.

Fran: I didn't know that the vocabulary was vertically aligned. Maybe I am spending too much time and worrying too much about the vocabulary.

Pam: Time is a MAJOR concern for me in fifth grade. We seem to be moving soooo slowly. The suggestions for speeding up the pace on the Fast Track in the text do not seem practical---they skip WAY too much.... With half of my class Basic Skills, we HAVE to move slowly and review a LOT. My kids would never get the whole picture with the Fast Track. I would love to have more advice on integrating? I always feel that I am missing too many basic concepts from one area or another.

Has anyone found anyplace in all of the materials we have where the NJCCCS are specifically aligned with our series?Lesson by lesson, chapter by chapter?
 * STANDARDS???**

Rick: The planning guide at the beginning of each unit has objectives and CCCS for each lesson.

Fran: The first grade planning guide has objectives, but no CCCS for each lesson. I use the drop down menu when I do my lesson plans. For the first unit, I mapped out the lessons on paper and handwrote the CCCS in for my own use. Pam and I were talking. Are there different versions of the teacher's edition? At the meeting in November, some teachers had an edition with tabs and others didn't. Does the teacher's edition with the tabs also have the CCCS in the planning guide? Pam: I, too, can only find the objectives and the Big Idea--but no NJCCC. Rick: Yes the CCCS are found on the tabs in the teacher's edition if your teacher's edition has tabs. Hey Cheryl, how did you discover the vocabulary is vertically aligned? Like Fran, I spend a lot of time on vocabulary as well.
 * Also-I discovered that when I sign with my user name and password that I registered--I only have access to the Leveled Readers---NOT the e-text book.....I can only get the text by signing in as pennsville/teacher. I tried to re-register the text---and is won't take it?? Couldthis have anything to do with registering the Science Textbook? I've asked Mark and Julia about it --but they don't seem to know? I'm wondering why I have access to the Science text, but not the Science Leveled Readers?--I was hoping to discuss this at the Science Committee meeting---but ot was cancelled due to snow.