October 2015
Curriculum Team
Dr. Wanda Stewart, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction
Mrs. Mallerina Marshall, Director of Title I and Assessment
Dr. Anita Mathis, Assistant Principal
Mary Jean Banter, BES
Deana Carlson, PCHS
Shaniqua Caldwell, BMS & FVMS
Tameka Taylor, BMS & FVMS
Jessica Funderburk, PCHS
Tamara Kelly, HES
Shawn Ragin, KRES
Georgia Milestones Achievement Level Descriptors
With the implementation of the Georgia Milestones Assessment System, Georgia educators have developed four achievement levels
to describe student mastery and command of the knowledge and skills outlined in Georgia’s content standards. Most students have at
least some knowledge of the content described in the content standards; however, achievement levels succinctly describe how much
mastery a student has. Achievement levels give meaning and context to scale scores by describing the knowledge and skills students
must demonstrate to achieve each level.
The four achievement levels on Georgia Milestones are Beginning Learner, Developing Learner, Proficient
Learner, and Distinguished Learner. The general meaning of each of the four levels is provided below:
Beginning Learners do not yet demonstrate proficiency in the knowledge and skills necessary at this grade level/course of
learning, as specified in Georgia’s content standards. The students need substantial academic support to be prepared for the next
grade level or course and to be on track for college and career readiness.
Developing Learners demonstrate partial proficiency in the knowledge and skills necessary at this grade level/course of learning,
as specified in Georgia’s content standards. The students need additional academic support to ensure success in the next grade level
or course and to be on track for college and career readiness.
Proficient Learners demonstrate proficiency in the knowledge and skills necessary at this grade level/course of learning, as
specified in Georgia’s content standards. The students are prepared for the next grade level or course and are on track for college
and career readiness.
Distinguished Learners demonstrate advanced proficiency in the knowledge and skills necessary at this grade level/course of
learning, as specified in Georgia’s content standards. The students are well prepared for the next grade level or course and are well
prepared for college and career readiness.
More detailed and content-specific concepts and skills are provided for each grade, content area, and course in the Achievement
Level Descriptors (ALDs). ALDs are narrative descriptions of the knowledge and skills expected at each of the four achievement
levels and were developed for each grade level, content area, and course by committees of Georgia educators in March 2015 and July
2015. The ALDs are based on the state-adopted content standards.
ALDs show a progression of knowledge and skills for which students must demonstrate competency across the achievement levels.
It is important to understand that a student should demonstrate mastery of the knowledge and skills within his/her achievement
level as well as all content and skills in any achievement levels that precede his/her own, if any. For example, a Proficient Learner
should also possess the knowledge and skills of a Developing Learner and a Beginning Learner.
For Grade level and content specific information click on the link below:
http://www.gadoe.org/Curriculum-Instruction-and-Assessment/Assessment/Pages/Georgia-Milestones-ALD.aspx
1
Peach County Elementary School News
Differentiation Tidbits of
Knowledge from BES
10 Tips for Differentiating Instruction
1. Get to know your students.
2. Focus on important concepts and skills.
3. Create the right classroom environment.
4. Use flexible grouping.
5. Teach to students’ learning styles.
6. Assess, assess, assess
7. Adjust your questions.
8. Use tiered assignments.
9. Take your time. Do not start by trying to
differentiate every lesson for every class.
10. Have a good attitude
— David Ruetschlin
Differentiation in Kindergarten @ Byron Elementary
One-on-One Assistance
during whole learning
We use differentiation when students are writing sentences. The
students are given Popsicle sticks to use to form appropriate word
spacing.
Newspaper From Hunt Elementary School
Hunt Elementary School Faculty is participating
in professional development training sessions
on small group instruction in the areas of Math
and Reading. Dr. Coley has planned exciting
sessions to discuss the benefits of small group
instruction, the implementation of small group
instruction, and how to use data to drive small
group instruction. There are a number of
benefits of using small group instruction. They
include, but are not limited to:
1. Increasing the comfort level for students,
2. Immediate feedback can be provided to
students,
3. Allowing the needs of groups of students to
be targeted,
4. Helping teachers observe student learning
more carefully,
5. Providing opportunity to individualize
instruction,
6. Instruction can be more easily differentiated,
7. Allowing teachers to match reading levels
and interest levels to students.
There are a number of strategies to use when
planning small group instruction. Some of those
strategies are
Share the knowledge. Copies of
“Differentiating Instruction” may be made
and disseminated (free of charge) without
further permission.
http://www.govwentworth.k12.nh.us/schoolfo
lders/krhs/PD%20Resources/Resources/10%2
0tips%20on%20differentiated%20instruction.
pdf
Combination of strategies….
Assess and then have flexible groups.
“Assessment is today’s means of
modifying tomorrow’s instruction.” Carole
Ann Tomlinson
Use Bloom’s Taxonomy or DOK to vary
your questions and products. (See steps
below.)
KAY ROAD ELEMENTARY
“TEAMING UP FOR SUCCESS”
1. Determine the big ideas of the unit of study
to be taught based on the standards and the
needs of the students.
2. Establish the criteria of success for mastery
of the standards in the unit.
3. Use assessment data to form groups
determined by student needs.
4. Select specific teaching points for each group.
5. Prepare differentiated lessons to meet the
learning needs of the students in each group.
6. Gather and organize the materials necessary
for the lesson.
We are really excited to learn more strategies to
help our Little Trojans succeed!
https://debbiediller.wordpress.com/2009/08/21/
why-small-group-instruction/
Kudos to Ms. Janine Boone!
She is using a perfect tool to help support her
students as they master standards.
Ms. Boone is using INTERACTIVE
NOTEBOOKS.
The first grade students at Kay Road Elementary
are currently working on standard
MGSE1.NBT.1, where they read, write, count,
and represent objects and numbers to 120. The
activity on this day was called The One Minute
Challenge: the students worked together to
accumulate as many counters or cubes as they
could in one minute.
We have been working
hard in science on standard
S1E1b- investigate weather
by observing, measuring
with simple weather
instruments (thermometer, wind vane, rain
gauge). As an initiative for extra credit, the
students were asked to create their own weather
tool.
Comparing and contrasting has been the focus in
fifth grade during the reading of the novel Bud,
Not Buddy. D. Williams, the fifth grade ELA
teacher has used numerous graphic organizers to
ensure that each student gets a clear
understanding of the focus skill. She uses this
variety of approaches to reinforce what the
students know. Below you will see examples of
student work and if you visit our building, you
will see teacher commentary included that helps
the student take their learning to the next level.
Third grade teacher, Ms. P. Ogletree had her
students bring in a picture of a rock as well as real
rocks to culminate their understanding of the
above standard. They had to bring these items in
and use the Tier 3 vocabulary related to them in
describing and naming them. Shown here is
Ka’Niya Smith with her product for this
assignment. She included a variety of pictures
and found rocks to demonstrate her
understanding.
2
To - Dos
- Attach standard, rubric, and teacher commentary to the student work being displayed
- Make appointments for Instructional Facilitators to model lessons, co-teach, and assist you in any way
- Prepare meaningful, informative, user-friendly parent information for Curriculum Night
- Utilize Google Docs for collaboration and shared information/resources on Google Drive
- Make clear distinction between essential questions and learning targets
-Be sure to access the Differentiated Instruction folder on Google for resources.
Upcoming
Math and Science:
October 13 - Curriculum Night @ FVMS
October 14 - Science District Meeting @ PCBOE Professional Development Room
Workshop Opportunities
RESA - Middle School Math Training (Grades 6-12):
http://www.ciclt.net/sn/resa/recl_application.aspx?CL_ID=102802&ClientCode=mgresa
RESA - Formative Assessment Lessons (FAL) for Middle and High School:
http://www.ciclt.net/sn/resa/recl_application.aspx?CL_ID=102810&ClientCode=mgresa
To - Dos
- Attach standard, rubric, and teacher commentary to the student work being displayed
- Use the Instructional Facilitator menu for classroom support
- Prepare meaningful, informative, user-friendly parent information for Curriculum Night
- Utilize Google Docs and shared information/resources on Google Drive
- Make clear distinction between essential questions and learning targets
Upcoming
ELA:
October 13 - Curriculum Night @ FVMS
October 14 - ELA Middle Schools District Meeting @ BMS
October 26 - GA Reading Association Fall Forum, Macon GA (Professional development
opportunity, contact me for additional info)
SS:
October 13 - Curriculum Night @ FVMS
October 15 - SS Middle Schools District Meeting @FVMS
October 22-23 - Georgia Social Studies Conference, Athens GA (Professional development
opportunity, contact me for additional info)
October 29 - FVMS 8th grade Stone Mountain field trip
3
Peach County High School Academic Focus:
Between first and second periods students report to an academic focus class for extra support. 9th and 10th
graders are placed with students in the same math course and similar 7th grade CRCT scores. These students
focus on math remediation and enrichment two days a week and extended reading passages two days a week.
Each group receives math practice sheets specific to what they are working on their current math course. 11th
grader classes are grouped by Lexile scores and are focusing on increasing their Lexile scores through close
readings and paired texts of nonfiction articles that relate to American Literature and US History. 12th graders
are working with Georgia411 and will be utilizing USATestPrep to prepare for the SAT and ACT.
Sample Math Academic Focus Work:
Sample Cloze Reading Academic Focus Work:
Mr. Derzi from the Middle GA RESA and the Math Instructional Facilitator Jessica Funderburk have been
modeling in the Math EOC classrooms. The lessons have focused on: abbreviated bell ringers, student-centered
learning, formative assessments, and differentiated instruction. Students have enjoyed alternative methods for
learning factoring such as the x-box method and utilizing learnzillion as a video resource in the classroom.
Samples of the x-box method:
4
As a result of the lesson today I:
Know…
Understand…
Need more information on the following……
Teacher uses the information needed as a bell ringer or warm up for the next day. The information can
also be used to differentiate the various levels of need.
A-B-C Summarize
A form of review in which each student in a class is assigned a different letter of the alphabet and they
must select a word starting with that letter that is related to the topic being studied. VARIATION:
Conduct as a Whip Around where subsequent students have to say a key idea that starts with the next
letter of the alphabet (e.g.; Student #1 states an idea starting with A, student #2 states an idea starting
with B, etc…)
5