Everyone Belongs, Everyone Achieves!

Edison Classroom Newsletter

October 2016

STEM Week

Close Reading at a Glance

by: M. DiPisa

Ms. Robichauds students used color coded

labels to identify the parts of a letter as
they draft to their pen pals at BC College.

7th Grade Inclusion Friendly

Mr. Jourbert asking students to reflect on

their learning as they create a culminating
task.

I was fortunate enough to see STEM week

in action throughout the middle grades.
The excitement around the lessons and
activities was contagious and several
teachers stated that they noticed a whole
new side of some students as they worked
towards their projects. Ms. Halfkenney
shared that the flexible structure allowed
for more self expression and peer
collaboration. Ms Conlon added, students
took advantage of the opportunity to try
multiple strategies to reach one common
objective. Kudos to the students and
teachers!
UDL Mindset
Instead of asking students to respond through
written expression, Ms. Piazza and Ms. Eisntiz
assessed student knowledge through the following
prompt: Draw a detailed picture that show how
animals
survive
in
the
desert.

Picture should include animals, plant life, and

land forms.

As I entered several 7th grade

classrooms this month it was so exciting
to see kids thriving in such an
inclusionary environment. Ms. Shanahan
sought out some OT resources to help
her students focus with wiggle seats,
balance balls, and sensory fidgets. Mr.
Bagas use of station work and blended
learning allowed him and Ms. Murphy to
give close individualized instruction to
pairs of students while they completed
math classwork while they encouraged
students to reason their answers. One of
Mr. Bagas student showed me her work
and exclaimed, I can tell you why I know
this answer is correct! Across the hall
Mr. Jourberts students work in groups
using academic talk to disagree in a
respectful ways. Way to go grade 7!

Please share best practices with me!

mheavey@bostonpublicschools.org

Based on the recent PARCC released

data the Edisons instructional focus
shifted to increase student engagement
and curriculum access in the areas of
written expression and modeling in
Mathematics. Ms. Kelly and Ms.
Sawyers class, along with Ms. Bae, Mr.
Johnson, and Ms. Eistnitz have begun to
dive into close reading strategies
encouraging students to be detectives
when finding text based evidence. With
heavy teacher feedback, the Edison is
trying to align what close reading looks
like through all grade levels. Please
share lessons with me!

Above: Mr. Johnsons students engaged in

an academic discussion about text based
questions by examining specific evidence.
Below: Mr. Phams students participate
in a chalk talk, to generate class
discussions and ideas before answering
questions.