November 15, 2013

Nelsons Notes
Take 9: Structured Physical Activity
Texas state law requires all students to participate in at least 135 minutes of moderate or vigorous structured physical activity per week in elementary school. To ensure that we are in compliance with Texas law, each student must have at least nine minutes of structured physical activity in addition to P.E. class. At the beginning of the school year, this requirement was discussed and included on our lesson plan checklist. An email was also sent on August 23, 2013. It has come to my attention that some of you are not incorporating the nine minutes of physical activity. Thank you to all of the teachers/grade levels who are incorporating nine minutes or more of structured activity daily. Ive had to ask Mrs. Ludwig to turn down the volume on her brain breaks, which is a good thing! Each teacher in grades K2 must incorporate a Take 9 activity daily. In grades 3-5, your students must participate in a Take 9 activity in at least one class daily. You can choose to do it in homeroom or assign a specific teacher(s) to engage students in a Take 9 activity for the week. This is a grade level decision (grades 3-5). Any teacher not in compliance with this mandatory requirement will be subject to administrative action. This is a state law.

Coming Up:
11/18 NNAT Testing (Kinder) 11/19 NNAT Testing (1st) Fundraiser Ends Last Day of Explorers 11/20 CIT Meeting 3:30 (Library)
Deadline for 5th Art Contest

11/21 UIL 11/22 Kinder Thanksgiving Dinner 11/22 5th Grade Team Mtg, 8:10 a.m. 11/22 4 Grade Team Mtg. 10:00 a.m. 11/25 3 Grade Team Mtg. 8:05 a.m.
(Class coverage provided)
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Home/School Connection
I think we do a great job of communicating with parents; however, I would like to share a few reminders: Please submit all Tuesday Folder documents to the principal for approval. Mrs. Lund will not print copies of any document that was not approved by administration. Additionally, if you run copies yourself, it must be presented to administration for approval before sending home. Communicate with parents during the initial phase of a brewing crisis. Do not use jargon when communicating with parents. Be positive. Make sunshine calls or send sunshine letters. Use the communication sandwich. Always begin and end your communication (verbal or written) in a positive way. The problem or difficulty should be covered in the middle. Dont be overly judgmental. You may find yourself dealing with a family whose attitudes, values and dynamics are at a variance with yours. As a professional, you should always stay calm and be respectful. You do not want a single incident to have a negative, long-term impact on your partnership with the parent.

11/26 Early Dismissal (1:15 p.m.) 11/27-11/29 Thanksgiving Break 12/5 Staff Meeting 3:30 p.m. 12/12 Learning Mtg. 12/18 Staff Holiday Party at Kyoto! Please save the date! 12/19-Orchestra/Choir Program, 6:30 p.m.

Nelsons Notes Power Hour

Intervention is crucial to student success and plays an integral role in closing the achievement gap. Power Hour should be a collaborative approach to meeting the needs of our students with the instruction they need for learning success. The goal of Power Hour is to intervene and remediate. During this structured time, we should be providing small group instruction to the students Power Hour should be a collaborative approach to meeting the needs of our students. who need it MOST, based on the data. As a collective team, we will continue to help each other and provide support for at-risk students, through targeted small group instruction. Each teacher will participate in small group instruction (reading or math). All of our Tier 1 students should be familiar with Think Tanks and have the

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ability to complete these tasks independently. Andrea and I will be meeting with grade levels individually to review student data and create grade-level action plans.

Accelerated Instruction Requirements

TEA requires districts to provide accelerated instruction in the applicable subject area each time a student fails to perform satisfactorily (Level II) on an assessment administered in grades 3-8. Lesson plans for tutorials, utilizing the template provided by the district, must be submitted electronically at the end of each grading cycle. See GroupWise staff calendar for dates.

If it is important, you will find a way. If it is not, you will find an excuse.

Reading Renaissance
The Reading Renaissance program is primarily a tool for motivating students to become avid readers and improve reading skills. Please ensure that communicate and periodically remind parents of expectations and individual student goals. To reach the R.R. goal, students must obtain an average of at least 85%, earn their point goals, and be reading at a level no lower than the lowest level of their ZPD range. A child does not have to receive 85% on a single quiz to obtain points. The key word is average. Per district guidelines, no grade may be taken on AR quizzes. Reading Renaissance information and dates are now available on our website. Additionally, continue to add information to newsletters.

Every child is important.

Page 3 of 3 Taiwanese Exchange Visit

Newsletter Title

More than a dozen teenagers from Taiwan will be visiting our campus on Tuesday, December 10, 2013. They will arrive at approximately 2:00 p.m. to tour our campus and meet our wonderful students and staff members! This group will be accompanied by GISD Executive Administration. Please prepare your students in advance and keep the following things in mind: limit transition during the tour, ensure that your bulletin boards are nicely decorated and up to date with current student work, and incorporate engaging activities into your lesson plans. We will discuss more details at our staff meeting on Thursday, December 5.

Giving Props
Ive heard nothing but wonderful comments about our Veterans Day Program on Monday! Mrs. Kleckner did an AMAZING job planning and working with our students. We should also applaud Ms. Hollingshead for assistance with the music. What a way to recognize our honorable Veterans!

Most Valuable Knight

Be sure to give a great big shout out to Mr. Clarence Walker, this weeks MVK! Mr. Walker is new to Kimberlin and teaches our Behavioral ALE class. Lets read what you all had to say about Clarence.

Mr. Walker has made so much growth with his students! It is evident that he is passionate about what he does. He always has a smile on his face and is friendly to everyone in the building. Mr. Walker has one of the toughest jobs on our campus and continues to work hard to educate. Way to go, Clarence! Keep up the good work.