Pruett's AIG Blog for IBJ

Fifth grade has worked a lot with 'close reading' this year! Isn't that right, Mrs. Ewanyk? Close reading refers to really digging into the meaning of what you are reading. Our fifth grade ASGM group today worked with logic puzzles that rely heavily  on close reading. Today's puzzle was "Five Boys and Five Dogs." With just a few carefully worded clues, students had to solve this challenging puzzle.  I was impressed at these intrepid students (pictured) who were able to solve the problem in little time at all! Way to go, young ladies!

Happy Holidays - including the cold/flu season! Here are guidelines from our school nurse about keeping kids home from school. GUIDELINES FOR EXCLUDING A STUDENT FROM SCHOOL 1. Temperature 100.0 or higher (keep at home until fever-free for 24 hours.) 2. Rash with fever or behavior change (until seen by a doctor.) 3. Illness that prevents the child from participating comfortably in program activities. 4. Difficulty breathing or other signs of serious illness. 5. Diarrhea that cannot be contained or has blood/mucus in it.  Vomiting two or more times in previous 24 hours. 6. Pink eye with discharge (until seen by a doctor.) 7. Strep throat (until 24 hours after antibiotics have been started.) 8. Head lice (has separate educational resource.) 9. Scabies (until after treatment is complete.) 10. Chicken pox (until the sixth day of onset of the rash or sooner if all sores are dried and crusted.) 11. Flu (per physician recommendation.) 12. Impetigo (until 24 h

Hola! This from our esteemed Principal, Sarah Cain: Hi Jones Parents, this is Ms. Cain with a school safety message. Our school has grown in size and we now have over 500 students. This means daily traffic to and from Jones can quickly get congested. The safety of children and staff are my  priority. We have worked hard to come up with plans to move traffic as quickly as possible while minimizing disruption in the neighborhood. I have been a part of many traffic studies but the bottom line is we need your help. PLEASE model safe driving by not speeding in our school zone or on Kimberly. Obey traffic directions by staff and volunteers directing traffic, loading/unloading cars.  Avoid using cell phones in the car lines as distracted drivers endanger everyone.. Do not walk through lines of cars. We are very aware of the precious passengers you are delivering - on most days our Safety Patrol serves 130-150 cars. We know it is stressful to get stuck in traffic and wait in car

Third Grade: Asheville City Schools formally qualifies students for AIG services in third grade. All ACS students are screened with input from their second grade teachers and an aptitude (or reasoning ability) measure given in November. Many students also take an achievement test to identify strengths in reading and/or math. The IBJ AIG Services Committee writes plans for students based on this data. The qualification for AIG in third grade continues. Cognitive Abilities Test results are back and have been mailed to all Jones third grade families. Some students will take an additional achievement test in January. This is the Iowa Survey in reading and math. This data will be used to qualify students for AIG services. PLEASE contact me with any questions you may have about this process.

Here is Mrs. Sorensen leading the next generation of coders!

Many of you may have been able to attend restructuring meetings held by ACS across our district. This link will connect you with the ACS Restructuring Initiative website. The site includes a ton of information about four plans for growth and other aspects of ACS's bold move forward. http://www.ashevillecityschools.net/pages/Asheville_City_Schools/Departments/Public_Relations/ACS_Restructuring_Initiative

Here are fifth grade scientists solving ecological disasters around the globe in The Great Ocean Rescue. This team could potentially wrap this work up prior to winter break. 

Fourth grade AIG reading students have been working with reading fluency through the presentation of readers theater plays. You may have noted Rumplestiltskin  in an earlier blog post. Here is a final presentation - this time of The Frog Prince . Enjoy! We will return to Junior Great Books stories after the Thanksgiving break. Have a great break!

Restructuring plans for ACS will be available Monday on a website, if you were unable to attend the meeting at Jones.  Check the ACS website for details: http://www.ashevillecityschools.net/ Here are some snaps of stakeholders discussing options. An exciting time for our schools!

Dr. Baldwin, ACS board members, and stakeholders from across Asheville met at IBJ tonight to discuss restructuring of Asheville City Schools. 

You may have seen fourth grade videos of the awesome new Makerspace (thanks Mrs. Sorensen and Page!) from this blog from October 28. Well, here's another set of Jones fifth graders working with the same challenge. Enjoy!

Our fifth grade advanced subject group for math has been working with challenging pattern drawing. These activities require not only the following of patterns but also a steady hand.

Much to my delight, I happened upon a cafeteria filled with the most beautiful quilts! Then discovered that they were all made specifically for Jones students! It was amazing to see students choose their quilts today. Not a dry eye in the room! Way to make a wonderful and lasting impression on children IBJ!

Before the Veteran's Day holiday, I sent home some work from our fourth grade readers. We have been using Junior Great Books (JGB) to hone our reading skills. The first story we read was Thank You Ma'am by Langtston Hughes. In this story, a boy (Roger) receives some unexpected help from Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones - whose purse he had tried to steal! In JGB, students read stories repeatedly for deeper understanding and have open ended discussions about them. My role in these discussions is as a facilitator, asking questions to encourage student understanding. This method of Socratic questioning has been a major focus for IBJ this year - specifically through the National Paideia Center - which is and awesome, national organization that promotes this method of learning. Students processed their understanding of the story by writing a thank you note to Mrs. Jones - something Roger couldn't manage in the story. Lots of great responses were written. Here's one

So, with some days missed due to professional development, our fourth grade ASG Reading students have taken a break to work with Readers Theater. In Readers Theater, students show the action of the play through the tone/inflection of their voices. Here's an example of one groups presentation of Rumplestiltskin. Enjoy!

Here's a shot from last year that inexplicably didn't make the blog. There's Ms. Cain in her element, surrounded by adoring students! I love this shot!

Completion of the story Charles by Shirley Jackson included a writing exercise to demonstrate student understanding. These writings went home with all but one student today. The exception involved a Google issue that we are resolving. At any rate, look for some writing - and other information - from fifth grade readers today! Thanks! Here's a sample of one student's writing: Dear parent/ guardian, Laurie, also known as Charles, began the school year with an unacceptable behavior. Some bad language and violence are some of the things your child is doing in class. you should plan to work with your child on behaving better. I´m sorry to tell you this, but Laurie´s bad behavior has resulted in my spanking him. Also, Laurie has refused to do exercises and/or his work. However, we are working with him and he is becoming a wonderful helper. I am looking forward to working with your child this year. Sincerely, Kindergarten Teacher That last sentence rem

Fourth grade readers are taking a break from JGB this week and next to prepare and present a readers theater play. Students will be working on reading fluency with our end goal an electronic presentation of the classic fairytale Rumplestiltskin ! Stay tuned!

Mrs. Sorensen and Mrs. Page wrote a grant to install Jones' new Makerspace Laboratory. I'm sure you'll hear more about the specifics of this way-cool place for students to work together to create, build and learn. However, I would like to add that after working with AIG CSG groups today, I was very impressed! Here are a couple of brief videos of students describing the experience! Enjoy! And thanks a million to Mrs. Sorensen and Mrs. Page for their great work!

Recently, someone asked about lists of literature for students to consider. Here's a list that's organized by topic or genre. Check them out! There's some new and interesting titles! It's a long one!! ADVENTURE The Cay by Theodore Taylor. Blind American boy and an old West Indian native are stranded on a Caribbean island.1969. Hatchet by Gary Paulson. Following a plane crash, a boy survives 54 days in the Canadian wilderness. 1988. The House of Dies Drear by Virginia Hamilton. A family tries to unravel the secrets of their new home which was once a stop on the Underground Railroad. 1968. The Illyrian Adventure by Lloyd Alexander. Vesper Holly and her guardian set sail for the tiny country of Illyria in search of treasure only to find themselves in the middle of a war. 1986. Julie by Jean Craighead George. In this sequel to Julie of the Wolves, Julie returns to live with her father in their Inuit village. 1994. My Side of the Mountain