Happy May Day/ Cinco De Mayo

Happy May Day and Cinco De Mayo

 The Exceptional Children's Department held their third and last meeting for the Continuous Improvement Plan Committee (CIPP) for 2011-2012 on April 24, 2012. The minutes were as follows:

Mrs. Peele welcomed everyone and opened the meeting at 3:30. 

Reviewed progress toward improvements:

• accommodations schart aaccessible to teachers in Google Docs
• improved communication with support services(speech, OT, psychologist, etc.)
• improved record keeping at NCS and CECAS
• improved communication between EC and eachers
• designated SAT Team and referral process
• better parent/EC communication
• communication with State Monitor
• quarterly EC district meetings

Suggestions for improvement:

• minimize distractions in areas used for pull-out testing(eg. media center)
• students need t know test location prior to tst
• more immediate communication with new teachers
• communicate betwwen teachers and subs if testing is planned
• communicate to teachers as schedules change and as IEP's change

Mrs. Beaumont and I will be attending the area wide district EC meeting with the state tomorrow in Rocky Mount. We will receive training and updates about pertinent and important information concerning our department.

I hope you all have a great week,
Mrs. Peele
peelencs@gmail.com

On Written Expression

Some students have difficulty with written expression. The writing process is so complex. We rarely think about all that is involved in writing a story but for a student with a writing disability writing steps don't come together easily. PBS has a great page called Misunderstood Minds where you can go to different pages and see what it is like for a student with a specific disability. Go to http://www.pbs.org/ and type in Misunderstood Minds. It is very informative and I hope will be of help to many of our parents with students with disabilities.

As we continue to prepare our students for EOG's, I will be trying to instill in them a love for learning despite the dryness of the testing situation. They all know so much about so many things. It is just amazing. The testing vocabulary is very tricky and many times we, as adults, can assume that our students understand all that is asked of them in the instructions. Parents, you can go to the NC Schools website and get samples of EOG questions and see what your student will be asked in general. For example, the word selection is used many times instead of story and that would be a good word to make sure your child understands depending on their age.

I hope you all have a great week and don't forget about the Talent Show!

Mrs. Peele

PS  Another great website for organizing and for writing is http://www.readwritethink.org/
Also please don't forget about http://www.spellingcity.org/ for fifth grade spelling,vocab, and science words.

Looking for Excellence!

This spring in the EC Department we are looking for excellence in our students and finding it too!

The fourth grade students have been working hard on finding the Main Idea in selections using the tool of a graphic of a hand - who, did what , where , when , why.

The 4th graders have also been busy studying EOG vocabulary. Often we take it for granted that studets know and  understand all the words in the directions given on any test and that is just not so.

Many of the 5th graders are also reviewing the meaning of different genres. It is so easy to get the meaning of  fiction and non-fiction reversed. We have been looking at different books, titles of books, actual books that are fiction and non-fiction. We have been talking about ways that will help all students remember how to keep them straight. One idea was to remember a title of a fiction book and a title of a non-fiction book to put with each genre.

5th grade is studying area and perimeter. One activity that helps assess the students' understanding of measurement is to give them a ruler and see what they know about measuring objects such as their desks. We will continue to explore measurement using a ruler and calculator this week with my 5th grade math students.

In science, the 5th grade is continuing to study ecosystems with Ms. Rennie. I will be uploading their vocabulary into www.spellingcity.com/peele  where they can study for their tests on WEDNESDAY.

I will be looking for excellent grades from each of my students. Parents and students just go to the spelling city website and look for the science list.

Thursday 4/5 will be "Break the Code" day to raise money for Relay for Life. If your student decides to dress out of code they will have to give up $2.00 for breaking the code which will go to Relay for Life.

I hope everyone has a great week, a blessed Easter/and or Passover, and vacation.

Mrs. Peele