Hear Ye, Hear Ye
- It's looking festive around here! I can't wait to see all of the door decorations and some of our students are VERY secretive about their plans. The suspense is killing me!
- 2nd graders were working on stretching out sounds to make words with blends and short vowels and adding in some phonemic awareness skills as well as science of reading skills in phonics! Way to go!
- A teacher shared with me some good news she received about a student who has moved away. The connections we make with families stay with them forever and they remember how we supported them and even if they need to move from here, they are changed and benefit from our work and can take those skills and feelings wherever they go. Never underestimate your influence!
- Shout out to Teresa who has been running from place to place all week, including pivoting with indoor recess and bus duty. Thank you for your hard work Teresa!
What's Happening at Dodgeland?
- Saturday, December 6
- Happy Birthday Natalie!
- Monday, December 8
- Packer Day! Wear your Packer attire.
- Morning Duty:
- Blacktop/Playground: Zastrow, CaineB, Miller
- 4K/5K Playground: Wagner (meet buses), Donovan
- Breakfast: Vertz, Bingen
- Lunch Duty:
- 12:00 - Stampfl
- 12:30 - Vertz
- 1:00 - Tietz
- Afternoon Duty:
- Blacktop/Playground: Huso, Lucht
- Circle Drive: Rollins (anyone available to help out on Tues/Wed?)
- Concert Rehearsal for entering and exiting stage and getting on risers (see below for schedule)
- Jenny in meeting from 1-2pm
- Pop-Up PD 3:20-3:45pm in IMC on Swank Streaming
- Special Board Meeting @ 6pm in the IMC
- Tuesday, December 9
- Jenny will be at a conference for Tues-Wed
- Concert Rehearsal with sound check on stage (see below)
- 4K- Schuett's class on a walking field trip to Piggly Wiggly 8-9am
- Winter Concert for grades 5K-2 @ 6:30
- Wednesday, December 10
- Jenny will be at a conference for Tues-Wed
- 4K - Wagner's class on a walking field trip to Piggly Wiggly 10:30-11:30am
- Staff Meeting CANCELED! Watch for a video to watch instead.
- Winter Concert for grades 3-5 @ 6:30pm
- Thursday, December 11
- Happy Birthday Broedy!
- Friday, December 12
- Purple Pride Friday!
- Miss Ashley's last day here with Reading Corps. :-(
Nitty-Gritty
- Dodgeland Exchange
- Below is a graphic that I'd like you to add to any newsletters and/or event programs that you create for your classroom or events. The purpose of this site is to help give our community a quick place to go for quick and most recent information about our district.
- Concert Rehearsal Schedules
- Our 5K-5th grade students will be performing next week for their Winter Concert. To help them prepare, they will have two rehearsals on Monday and Tuesday morning. The first day they will meet in the choir room to line up and will be practicing entering and exiting the stage only. On Tuesday morning, they will be rehearsing their part of the concert including practicing their songs with the sound check. The times are the same for both days.
- It will probably affect other specials.
- @Courtney & Rob - Please check to see how it affects your classes. You will need to help Carrie with supervision/behavior during rehearsals if this coincides with your schedule.
- @HR teachers/Sp. Ed teachers - Please check in with Carrie if you have questions about the plan for the concert if you have prep during these rehearsals.
- See below for the schedule:
- 8am - 5th grade
- 8:30am - 4th grade
- 9:30am - 5K
- 10:30am - 1st gr
- 11am - 3rd gr
- 11:30am - 2nd gr
- 4K - your music class will remain the same on Monday.
- Digital Citizenship
- As we talked in the Tuesday PD meeting, the new lessons from Common Sense Media are out and as Christina explained, they are shorter, well-written and have changed for many of our grades. If you have already taught the lessons with the lessons that were out at the beginning of the year, no worries. If you haven't taught them yet, I would consider the new ones, but please decide this as a grade level.
- Second, please be aware that Christina will be contacting you in the coming weeks to join a grade level planning meeting to talk about how she can continue to support your students and you with integrating technology and digital literacy and well-being.
- The next step in this process will be in planning on Feb 16 PD for next school year. Please make sure that you have looked through the lessons before then so that this process will be easier and quicker for your level. If you have questions, please let me know!
- Newsletter articles
- If you have any newsletter articles or photos, etc that you would like in the January newsletter, please get them to Patti by Monday, December 15. Our goal is to have this out before we go on Winter break.
ML Information
It’s been such a busy week for our ML students as they kick off their ACCESS testing! At our last meeting, Jenny Huelsman shared a great perspective: our ML students are the only population required to tackle these extra assessments on top of everything else.
I know you are already their biggest cheerleaders, but let's give them a little extra high-five or word of encouragement this week. Thanks for the reminder, Jenny!
(Just a nudge to check your inbox for the emails I sent earlier with all the specific dates, times, and assessment types. Let me know if you need me to resend anything!)
TIP OF THE WEEK: Incorporate Technology.
Here are high-impact tips and tricks to help you incorporate technology for language support in your K-12 classroom. These strategies are designed to be low-prep and high-reward for both you and your students.
A "Golden Rule" for Translation
"Translate for clarity, not for cheating."
Remind students that translation apps are tools to help them learn, not to do the work for them. Encourage them to try reading the English sentence first, then use the tool to check their understanding.
1. The "Magic Wand" Tools: Translation Apps
Best for: Quick communication, parent messaging, and "in-the-moment" clarity.
Google Translate (The Camera Trick):
The Hack: Don’t just type! Use the camera feature in the Google Translate app. Point your phone or tablet at a worksheet, textbook page, or classroom poster, and it will overlay the translation in real-time.
Classroom Use: Great for newcomers who need to understand directions on a handout immediately.
Microsoft Translator (The Conversation Feature): My personal favorite. I call it “The Green App”
The Hack: Use the "Conversation" mode for parent-teacher conferences or group work. It creates a shared room where you speak English, and the parent/student sees the text in their language on their device (and vice versa).
Classroom Use: Project the code on the board during a lecture. Students can follow along in their own language on their iPads.
2. The "Vocabulary Boosters": Online Dictionaries & Visuals
Best for: Building independence and deepening understanding.
Collins COBUILD Dictionary (The Context King):
Why it helps: Unlike standard dictionaries, this one defines words using full sentences (e.g., "If you are happy, you are feeling good.").
Teacher Tip: Bookmark this on class devices. It’s often easier for students to grasp than abstract definitions.
Visual Dictionary Online (The Picture Method):
The Hack: For concrete nouns (science equipment, animals, food), skip the text definition. Use Google Images or The Noun Project (great for simple icons).
Classroom Use: Have students create a "Digital Word Wall." They find an image of a vocabulary word, paste it into a slide, and label it in English and their home language.
Rewordify (The Text Simplifier):
The Trick: Paste a complex paragraph (like a history source or news article) into Rewordify.com. It instantly simplifies the difficult vocabulary and highlights the changes.
TechKnow Tip
IMC News!
Friday Funny
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