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Instructional Headlines:

Onslow County School System’s Assistant Principal of the Year for 2012/2013 is

Tim Joines from Bell Fork Elementary School

The interview panel thoroughly enjoyed having the opportunity to talk with each ofthe APOY nominees as they shared their views on career goals, instructionalleadership, the direction for education in the next four years, and rewarding

situations in the Assistant Principal role. The selection committee was comprisedof a district instructional staff member, the principal of the year, the teacher of the

year, and a community member.

Mr. Joines has been at Bell Fork Elementary as an assistant principal for fiveyears. On an interesting note, Mr. Joines was also a student and a teacher at Bell

Fork. Mr. Joines is an incredibly hard-working advocate for public education.Onslow County is fortunate to have Mr. Joines as an ambassador for the districtas he moves on to compete in the National Association of Elementary SchoolPrincipals’ recognition program for the National Assistant Principal of the year.

In addition to Mr. Joines, the Onslow County School System is home to many trulyoutstanding assistant principals. The following administrators were recognized as

finalists for Onslow County Assistant Principal of the Year:

Michelle Baker, SWHTeah Bulris, CFE

Leanne Ervin, RESAngie Farneth, SBM

Denise Gartner, CEEMBridget Grady, SREEllice Oeser, NWPM

Congratulations to all of our outstanding assistant principals.

Onslow County

School System

Instructional Friday FocusVolume XI – November 16, 2012

Upcoming DatesMark Your Calendar!

Friday, November 16System Involvement Team Mtg

8:30-9:30TECC

Quality Council Mtg11:00-1:00

System Involvement Team Mtg3:30-4:30

Thursday, November 29Instructional Coaches

District Training1:00-4:00

MR2

“Going the Distance, because We’re In It To Win IT!”

Department of Instructional Services & Continuous Improvement

HS 6 WK

E/M 9 WK

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ACADEMIC INNOVATION SERVICES – Michael ElderAt the NCCTM Math Conference, Shelly Alford and I had a chance to attend a workshop that focused onSingapore Math Strategies. These strategies can be especially useful for ESL students who can draw themodel, may still struggle with computation as well as gifted students who have difficulty explaining howthey came to a solution. The Singapore Math philosophy always follows seven steps and can work withabout 80% of word problems:1) Read the entire story2) Write the answer sentence (leave a blank for the answer)3) Answer who is the story about? or What is the story about?4) Draw starting line and unit bars5) Read each sentence 1 at a time...

Add information to the drawing...Think where to put the question mark

6) Write the equation and solve7) Write the answer in the blank (from step 2)We were reminded that despite the temptation we should not teach math using a “Key Word” approach.For example, does “in all” really mean to add?John has 10 toy cars. Tom has 4 more toy cars than John. How many toy cars do they have in all?

STEM TRAINING AND RESOURCE SUPPORT (STARS) – Pat CurleyUsing Citizen Science as a framework for integrating STEMCitizen science is an excellent framework for integrating authentic STEM projects in your school. Thesecan also be an excellent senior project. There are many Citizen Science projects appropriate for grades K-12. Citizen science networks are often involved in the observation of cyclic events of nature (phenology),such as effects of global warming on plant and animal life in different geographic areas, and in monitoringprograms for natural-resource management. Many citizen-science projects serve education and outreachgoals engagement in scientific research. To learn more about Citizen Science projects please visithttp://citizenscience.wikispaces.com/ ,For additional information contact [email protected]

Special Interest Story: Divisional Updates

thanksgiving.

W.T. Purkiser

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Continued . . .Special Interest Story: Divisional Updates

As we expressour gratitude,

we must neverforget thatthe highestappreciation

is not toutter words,but to liveby them.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

ACCOUNTABILITY & TESTING SERVICES – Lisa ThompsonThe Accountability and Testing Services Division will provide schools, administrative leaders and keystakeholders with information, research and resources to facilitate data-driven decisions for improvingstudent performance.SHOUT OUTS:Thank you to all of the principals who were able to attend one of the four EVAAS Teacher Effectiveness PDlast week. Great participation – great questions!Summersill 3-5 teachers participating in a hands-on data analysis exploration afterschool this week – beforethe session was over all participants successfully exported, conditionally formatted and began to analyzetheir students’ results before heading home!

New Item types and items: Mathematics: gridded response itemsHere is a sample of a gridded response (math grades 5-8): Are you smarter than a 5th grader?GuidelinesWrite only one digit or symbol in each box. Spaces are permitted before or after your answer, but not withinthe answer. Darken the corresponding circle below each box. The computer scores based on the darkenedcircles.Do not use symbols such as commas or dollar signs. See Examples D and E. Use only symbols that areprovided in the circles.If an answer is a mixed number, it must be changed and entered as an improper fraction or a decimal.Example C has the mixed number four and one-half, which is 9/2 as an improper fraction or 4.5 as adecimal.Examples: Enter the numbers below into the grids. (See the notes for more guidance.)

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CTE/CAREER/TECHNICAL EDUCATION SERVICES – John Shannon &Madeline Tucker


What doMath Teachers

do onThanksgiving?

(Count their blessings!)

CRD/CURRICULUM, RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT SERVICES – Ken Reddic,Louise Burner, & Janae Copeland

www.artnc.orgUsing Visual Art to Aid Collaborative PlanningCollaborative planning can sometimes be a challenge for our teachers because they may struggle tofind a common ground from which to begin their planning discussions. The North Carolina Museum ofArt has developed a new website, artnc.org, that allows teachers to use works of art as a catalyst forplanning collaboratively and teaching conceptually . On the site, teachers can access virtual works ofart from the Museum’s collection and explore conceptual themes that permeate through the works.Works can be searched by concept and many pieces have collaborative lesson plans connected to theart work that have been written and taught by teachers from all content areas and grade levels here inNorth Carolina. There are even Concept Mapping Tools and Portfolio features that allow teachers tosave their plans, ideas, and most used pieces of art in one location for future access. There is eveninformation on Professional Development offered through the museum that all teachers can takeadvantage of. Please take a few moments to check out the website for yourself and to share it withteachers that may benefit from it. If you would like more information about the North Carolina Museumof Art’s Education program and resources, contact Janae at [email protected] or atext 20122.

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Thanksgiving,after all,

is a word ofaction.

W.J. Cameron

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION SERVICES - Dwayne Snowden

The Big Ideas in Mathematics: By Stuart MurphyHigh quality teaching begins with the teacher’s deep subject matterknowledge. Our teachers’ subject matter knowledge and teaching practicesare fundamentally different than those of teachers in higher achievingcountries. Research is beginning to identify important characteristics ofhighly effective teachers. Effective teachers ask appropriate and timelyquestions, they are able to facilitate high-level classroom conversations

focused on important content, and they are able to assess students’ thinking andunderstanding during instruction.A Big Idea is a statement of an idea that is central to the learning of mathematics, onethat links numerous mathematical understandings into a coherent whole. Any number,measure, numerical expression, algebraic expression, or equation can be representedin an infinite number of ways that have the same value. What makes a “big idea” is thatit is an idea central to the learning of mathematics.Because Big Ideas have connections to many other ideas, understanding big ideasdevelops a deep understanding of mathematics. When one understands Big Ideas,mathematics is no longer seen as a set of disconnected concepts, skills, and facts.Develop chapter, unit, and individual lesson plans by starting with Big Ideas. Generatemathematical understandings specific to the content and grade levels of interest.

AVID StarsDixon Elementary School Template in student reflection logs, “Questions to ask and answer before, during, and after

reading. Activity to get students to re-examine their study habits. Three column notes in Math. Column 1-Writing numbers in standard form. Column 2-

Writing numbers in word form. Column 3-Writing numbers in expanded form. Written response in math class to the following Essential Question, “How do we divide

decimals?”

Bell Fork Elementary School One-pagers in Science with the water cycle. Literacy collaborative groups. Students discussed and answer level 1, 2, and 3 questions

based upon the works of Scott O’Dell, Katherine Peterson, and John Reynolds Gardiner. Questions answered about the story “My Father’s Dragon” were level 1, 2, and 3. Writing to learn activity. Students write on a variety of topics in their probe books. Reading to learn activity. Students compare/contrast elements of “The Feast of Gold” and

“The Magic Lake”.

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Continued . . . .Special Interest Story: Divisional Updates

Abraham Lincolnbegan the tradition

of an annual nationalThanksgiving

in 1863.The story of the

Pilgrims andWampanoag

sharing a harvestcelebration

remainsan inspiration

to many.

Not what we sayabout our blessings,

but how we use them,is the true measure

of our

MIT/MEDIA & INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY SERVICES – Ross Friebel &Shari Estep

Media Center Spotlight: Dixon High School Media CenterTechnology and research make the world spin in the media center. Seniors kickedoff the research revolving door with their papers for Graduation Projects. Juniors arefocusing on cause and effect papers related to American history and culture.The Sophomore research theme is world focus on global issues; Freshmenresearched pros and cons of issues for oral presentations, short papers anda philosophical chair discussion period. Biology is getting ready to start theirevolution projects, having just completed their science fair projects.The media center has been the set for video class productions. Photographystudents created book title photos by stacking books to form a phrase or sentence.Students come in to edit film and work on music theory programs.Technology tools rotate out regularly. On any given day, students are using tabletsfor in-class research and music projects, digital cameras to film CSI projects andcampus news, uploading photography class images for critiques and editing papersin the computer lab. Having a completely wireless campus has enabled teachers touse multiple technology formats in their classrooms in one-to-one or small groupactivities.Students are still checking out books for leisure reading. Current favorite authorsare Sarah Dessen, James Patterson, Meg Cabot and Anne Schraff. As we areweeding out-dated books, the art classes are turning some of the discards in to bookart projects. We are turning “recycling” into an art form.Sheila Calloway, Dixon High School Media SpecialistMorton Elementary School Media Center

The first nine weeks have been a flurry of activity here in the Morton Elementary media center. This year we arehosting monthly Morning Joe meetings with parents. The purpose of these gatherings is to increase parentawareness and involvement at MES. Parents are also encouraged to share ideas and voice concerns. Our fallBook Fair brought in just under $1000 profit. Plans are underway to order several class novels, as well as, expandour eBook collection. We are currently offering the opportunity for one classroom to become Tier 3. Our Battle ofthe Books team is eagerly reading the selections for our March 8th competition. We are promoting digital citizenshipand studying animal adaptations, fire safety, celebrations in other countries, government and elections, solarsystem, and weather. Our most popular books continue to be the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.Penny McGowan, Morton Elementary School Media SpecialistTier IIIThe Tier III application process is now in the review phase. The call for proposals ended on Friday, November 9th,with a total of 75 online submissions. The proposals have encompassed an impressive variety of grade levels,instructional focus areas, technology integration strategies, and creative implementations. We are about to beginthe review and selection phase, and hope to announce winners in the next few weeks.Bright IdeasGeocaching activities were the focus of three winning Bright Ideas Grants in Onslow County Schools this fall.Richlands Elementary, Trexler Middle, and Jacksonville Commons Middle schools will all be receiving grants topurchase GPS units to be used by students to take their learning outside. This mobile technology tool is a powerfuldevice for motivating learners and bringing them together to collaborate and solve problems. It can be used acrosscurriculums and grade levels to support and reinforce learning that takes place in the classroom. Congratulationsto RES, TMS, and JCMS!If you are interested in learning more about how to use geocaching as an instructional tool, please [email protected].

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Courtesiesof a small andtrivial characterare the ones,

which strike deepestin the grateful

and appreciatingheart.

Henry Clay

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT SERVICES –Michele Halley

Science Safety/Chemical Hygiene TrainingOCS Science Safety/Chemical Hygiene Training is scheduled for Monday,November 19, 2012 at JHS media center from 3:45pm – 5:30pm. This is a train-the-trainer session where participants will engage in relevant, up to date scienceinformation. Activities will include general overview of science safety, lab procedures,lab activities and knowledge of chemical hygiene rules and regulations. Sessions willinvolve participants being divided into appropriate grade groups. It is the expectationthat each school will send one person to this training. This person will then providethe training to their school. Please plan to have your school Science Safety contactperson attend this training.

Modules 2012-2013The NC Modules for the 2012-2013 school year are: (16 hours – 1.6 CEUs)

Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy (1.5 hours according to website). NC FALCON, Module IV. Student Ownership of Learning (No CEUS – Pilot

Module requires a key to enroll. This module will be open in the springfor everyone to use. It is designed as a student involvement module;therefore, it does not come with professional development credit. ).

Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects (3 hoursaccording to website).

Connecting with our 21st Century Learners (10 hours according to website).***1.5 CEUs for additional requirements/activities

There are 3 additional modules that can be used as need: Understanding Young Student Behavior in the Classroom (5 hours according

to website). Introduction to Data Literacy (4 hours according to website). Digital Literacies in the K-12 Classroom (12 hours according to website).

BIG 20 StrategiesThere is an ever growing request for classroom strategies to increase studentengagement and motivation. Marcia L. Tate has written several books citingways/strategies for teachers to use in their classroom. Below is a list of thosestrategies to share with your teachers.Marcia Tate’s BIG 20 Strategies

Discussion Drawing/Artwork Games Graphic Organizers Music, Rhythm, Rhyme, Rap Manipulatives Mnemonic Devices Movement Projects

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Small cheerand greatwelcomemakes a

merry feast.

William Shakespeare

SAFE, CIVIL & CARING SCHOOLS SERVICES – Judy Yeager

“Complete other duties as assigned…”

Get Into It is an interactive, age-appropriate

service-learning curriculum, provided free of charge bySpecial Olympics, and designed to advance students'civic knowledge and skill development, promote acceptance and understanding ofpeople's differences and to motivate them to become advocates for and together with allpeople. https://getintoit.specialolympics.org/

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Stand up,on this

Thanksgiving Day,stand uponyour feet.

Believe in man.Soberly and with

clear eyes,believe in your

own time and place.There is not,

and there neverhas been abetter time,

or a better placeto live in.

Phillips Brooks

SECONDARY EDUCATION SERVICES – Brent AndersonINNOVATION ● TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION ● TRANSITION The Department of Secondary Services will provide high quality support to the secondary schools ofOnslow County in the areas of communication, instruction, and policies as they prepare students to besuccessful in the 21st century.

Examining the Holocaust – December 4, 2012Sponsored by the Southeast Education Alliance

The North Carolina Council on the Holocaust, in collaboration with the Southeast Education Alliance, ispleased to sponsor a workshop on Examining the Holocaust to be held on December 4, 2012, atJames Sprunt Community College, Williams Building, Highway 11 South, Kenansville. Registrationwill be 8:00 – 8:30, with the workshop running 8:30am – 3:30pm. Lunch will be on your own.

Examining the Holocaust will be of particular interest to social studies teachers teaching AmericanHistory or world history and sixth grade teachers teaching about Eastern Europe. It is also of interest toEnglish Language Arts teachers teaching the Diary of Anne Frank in the middle grades or Elie Wiesel’snovel, Night, about the Holocaust, or other literature of the Holocaust at the high school level. Allworkshop participants will receive copies of the resource guide The Holocaust: A North CarolinaTeacher’s Resource, published by DPI in cooperation with the NC Council on the Holocaust. Thisworkshop has become a valuable component of diversity education, focusing on the dynamics ofprejudice, peer pressure, and prejudice reduction as it relates to this key historical event in World War II.The workshop is open to middle and high school teachers only.

Featured speakers will be either Morris Glass, a survivor of the Auschwitz death camp or Hank Brodt, aHolocaust survivor of several labor camps in Poland, including Ebensee, built to hold 8,000 prisoners,but contained 15,000 people. In addition, participants will hear from Holocaust scholar Dr. KarlSchleunes, former chair of the History Department at UNC-Greensboro, and author of The TwistedRoad to Auschwitz and Legislating the Holocaust: The Nuremburg Laws.

Substitute pay will be provided by the Council for middle/high public school teacherparticipants.

There is no registration fee, but the Registration Form must be submitted due to limited space.Registration needs to be completed by November 20, 2012. For more information contact BarbaraSharpe, Southeast Education Alliance, PO Box 250, Kenansville, NC 28349 – Phone: 910-296-0228;Fax: 910-296-0664.

Electronic Registration for this event can be found here:http://bit.ly/examiningtheholocaustregistration


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TITLE I SERVICES – Mark BulrisK-5 ELA Common Core●As discussed last week, the Common Core places a heavy emphasis on Close Reading. Directly related to this emphasis is the focus on Text-Dependent Questions within the Common Core Standards. Fisher and Frey (2012)define Text-Dependent Questions in the following manner:Generally speaking, text-dependent questions require that students have actually read the text. Theyare questions that are answered through close reading of a complex and worthy text. Text-dependentquestions require that the evidence comes from text, not information from outside sources. That doesnot mean that they are simply recall questions. Although some text-dependent questions do requirethat students demonstrate an understanding of the factual information found in the text, the questionsshould also require an understanding beyond basic facts.It makes sense that when reading, we ask questions based on the texts that the students have read. However, it hasbeen found that, “80% of the questions students in grades kindergarten through twelve are asked to answer did notrequire them to go back to the text.” (Hank, 2012) So, how can ensure we are asking questions that are text-dependent? Achievethecore.org provides the following characteristics of text-dependent questions:●Typical text dependent questions ask students to perform one or more of the following tasks:

Analyze paragraphs on a sentence by sentence basis and sentences on a word by word basis to determinethe role played by individual paragraphs, sentences, phrases, or words

Investigate how meaning can be altered by changing key words and why an author may have chosen oneword over another

Probe each argument in persuasive text, each idea in informational text, each key detail in literary text, andobserve how these build to a whole

Examine how shifts in the direction of an argument or explanation are achieved and the impact of those shifts Question why authors choose to begin and end when they do Note and assess patterns of writing and what they achieve Consider what the text leaves uncertain or unstated

●What do text-dependent questions look like? As illustrated in the figure below, Fisher and Frey outline several types/levels of text-dependent questions rangingfrom general understanding of text and the word and sentence level to opinions,arguments, and connections made across texts.Achievethecore.org also provides the following exemplars, trivial example, andnon-examples of text-dependent questions for 3rd grade based on Because ofWinn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo.

Exemplars Trivial Examples Non-ExamplesWhy was Miss Franny so scared byWinn-Dixie?Why was she “acting allembarrassed?”How did the Herman W. BlockMemorial Library come to get itsname?Opal says, “She looked sad and oldand wrinkled.” What happened tocause Miss Franny to look this way?What were Opal’s feelings when sherealized how Miss Franny felt?Earlier in the story, Opal says thatWinn-Dixie “has a large heart, too.”What does Winn-Dixie do to showthat he has a “large heart”?

Opal and Miss Franny have threevery important things in common -What are these?

What book was Miss Frannyreading when the bear came intothe library?What did the men say when theywere teasing Miss Fanny?Why was Miss Franny sitting on thefloor when Amanda met her?What did Miss Franny say whenAmanda asked if dogs were allowedin the library?

Was there ever a time where ananimal scared you?Should Ms. Franny have feltembarrassed?Can bears really eat people?In Because of Winn-Dixie Opal tellsabout her experiences after movingto a new town. Think about a timethat you were a newcomer to a placeor situation. Now use vivid words towrite a memoir about thatexperience.

For additional information on Text-Dependent Questions, please see the following web resources:http://www.achievethecore.org/steal-these-tools/close-reading-exemplarshttp://www.achievethecore.org/steal-these-tools/text-dependent-questionshttp://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=297779 (click on text-dependent questions tab)


Let usremember that,as much has

been given us,much will be

expectedfrom us,

and that truehomage

comes fromthe heart

as well as fromthe lips,

and shows itselfin deeds.

Theodore Roosevelt

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Back Page Story:From the desk of LFE . . .

Today was another great day in the Onslow County School

System. We conducted System Involvement Team Meetings

and a Quality Council Meeting. Thank you for the

outstanding representatives that each of our schools have

nominated to serve on these district teams. It is truly an

honor to facilitate these positive and engaged groups.

Our agenda today included excerpts from the Excellent

Schools Act focused on the K-3 literacy program changes for

2013-2014 and school performance grades. Our parents,

community members, teachers and parents will serve as

outstanding advocates for our school system as our state

legislators prepare to do their 2013 work.

We were also able to share the National PTA resources on

Common Core for parents. The link is below and can also

be accessed through the Onslow County website.

National PTA Parent’s Guide to Student Success

http://pta.org/CCSSIsummary.pdf

http://pta.org/4446.htm

On another but important note, best of luck this weekend to

SWHS and JHS as they enter the State Soccer

Championships!!!! GO ONSLOW!!!!!

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