Middle School Social Studies Update
October 2016
Fall is in the Air...
and if you have end-of-the-day planning, so is the essence of middle schoolers after gym class! The struggle is real and I am so appreciative of all the hard work you guys put into doing an awesome job for your students each day. It is a joy to work with such amazing people!
It is with great celebration that I tell you that WSFCS Middle School Social Studies EVAAS was BLUE at all three grade levels!!! This means that as a district, our growth at all three grade levels exceeded expectations. I am so proud of you all and the work you poured into last year. Time spent designing lessons, creating assessments, and collaborating with your peers paid off for our students as they showed strong growth across our district. As we continue to keep the bar high this year, please remember that I am available to support you on this journey and I'd be thrilled to come work with you on a skill, a strategy, a project idea, or any other piece of your instruction that will help elevate SS instruction across the county. Keep up the good work, my friends, and celebrate that we are seeing the results of all of your efforts!
Social Studies In Action
Kernersville Middle archaeologists hard at work!
Notice that Exciting Learning is Taking Place Inside!
Wiley Students Explore a cave
If you'd like to see your students featured, send your cool photos to me via email!
Discovery Education Techbook Tidbit... How to make PDF Graphic Organizers Interactive
Most of you have had the foundational training for Discovery Ed Techbook and hopefully you are finding bits and pieces that can help you design engaging lessons for your students. Many of us asked the trainers if there was a way to make their graphic organizers "interactive" so that kids could type directly into them and submit electronically. If this is something that interests you, this LINK will show you how that can happen. Slides 6-10 give you the steps students need to take. If you would like to incorporate the PDFs into your Powerschool Learning (Haiku), the opening slides will help you with that process. If you are having trouble with Discovery Ed techbook or would like some help with how to use it with your students, please don't hesitate to email me. (ctuck@wsfcs.k12.nc.us)
Data Analysis Got You Down??
Let PowerSchool Learning do it for you!
As Sweet Brown would say, "Ain't nobody got time for tally marks on a data form after a test!" I agree. That is a time consuming process that can now be eliminated! The assessment items from PowerSchool Learning have been added as assessments in the Library of the site. You can add the assessment to your class and push it out to your students to take online. Once they take the assessment, PowerSchool Learning does the data crunching for you and will show you results almost instantly. Since each question has been tagged with the corresponding objective, you will have a clear picture of how well your students have mastered each one. If this option is one that your PLT would like some help with, let me know. I'll be glad to come by and help you get things set up so that you can kiss those tally marks goodbye!
Breakout EDU- Economics Edition
Breakout Edu is a marriage of Escape Room to the Classroom. Exciting learning with an edge of competition... all centered on a locked box. Students complete puzzles and tasks in order to receive codes and keys in hopes of unlocking the box before time runs out. We have written a $5,000 grant that would provide each WSFCS middle and high school with a set of equipment and pre-designed games related to the economic standards for each grade/course to use with your students. Please help us by voting every 12 hours between now and 5:00 PM Friday, October 7th.
https://www.truliantfcu.org/About-Us/Community-Involvement/Financial-Education-Grants
Professional Development Opportunities
Event Information
Creating and Using Text Dependent Questions in Social Studies- Literacy Credit
Teachers will learn how to write and use text-dependent questions to use with students as they read in social studies. You will earn .15 literacy credit for attending the workshop and have the opportunity to earn .15 additional literacy credit for designing a series of questions for a piece of text that you plan to use in your classroom and submitting it by the deadline. If you plan to attend, please register on My Learning Plan. We will meet in the IRC Mobile Lab.
When?
Tuesday, Oct 11, 2016, 03:30 PM
Where?
4801 Bethania Station Rd, Winston-Salem, NC, United States
Event Information
Ever-Fi- Future Smart ... Online Personal Financial Literacy program
Meet with Yvette Medina from Everfi to discuss implementation of FutureSmart in your classroom. This new online program will help teachers with the PFL economic objectives and provide immediate data on student learning and mastery. Please register in My Learning Plan. We will meet in room 223.
When?
Wednesday, Oct 19, 2016, 03:30 PM
Where?
4801 Bethania Station Road, Winston-Salem, NC, United States
Event Information
Inquiry Design Process- 4 part series
Teachers will learn how to create an inquiry project for their students that aligns with the NC Essential Standards. At the completion of this series, they will have produced a complete project. There will be 4 face-to-face sessions, but teachers will create parts of an inquiry project on their own between sessions. Participants who complete the 4 sessions and the finished product will receive 1.5 credits. Additional sessions will be held on 12/6/16, 2/28/17, and 4/26/17 from 4:00-5:00. Please register in My Learning Plan. For the 1st session, we will meet in Room 233.
When?
Thursday, Oct 27, 2016, 04:00 PM
Where?
4801 Bethania Station Road, Winston-Salem, NC, United States
Event Information
Vocabulary Strategies for Social Studies
This session will focus on how to incorporate vocabulary into Social Studies classes in fun and engaging ways. Please register in My Learning Plan. We will meet in Room 223.
When?
Wednesday, Nov 16, 2016, 04:00 PM
Where?
4801 Bethania Station Road, Winston-Salem, NC, United States
Rewards for those who read to the end...
So for the three of you who made it all the way to the end, I have a few things to give away. For the first person to email me with "NEWSLETTER" in the subject line, I have a $5.00 Starbucks gift card to help you drink away a stressful day in the weeks to come. For the second and third people to email, I have a prize bag of school supplies to brighten your day. In addition to those goodies, I have a box full of Our State magazines that might make an 8th grade classroom library a little more interesting. If you would like these, send me a note in your email and I'll drop them by your school. I hope that each of you has a great rest of the week and that you know how much you are valued and appreciated!
Courtney Tuck- Middle School Instructional Coach
Please let me know how I can support you this year as you do one of the world's most challenging jobs.
Email: ctuck@wsfcs.k12.nc.us
Website: https://wsfcs.haikulearning.com/ctuck/socialstudieselementary/cms_page/view
Phone: 336-407-6401