January 24, 2026

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, January 26
• Happy Birthday Steph S and Tina E!
• Morning Duty:
• Blacktop/Playground - Fortmann, Arnes, O'Toole
• 4K/5K Playground (meet buses) - Schuett, Braunschweig
• Breakfast - Schulte, Chambers
• Lunch Duty:
• 12:00 - Braunschweig
• 12:30 - CaineB
• 1:00 - Neis
• Afternoon Duty:
• Blacktop/Playground - Juech, Klink
• Circle Drive - OPEN
• 5th Gr. Data meeting 12:35 - 1:15pm

• Tuesday, January 27
• NAEP testing for 4th grade (IMC closed for the day)
• Lunch Detentions for week: Chambers, Juech, Huelsman
• Social Media posts due to Jenny: Fortmann, Huso
• Elementary Staff working Concession stand (Anyone available to help Brenda for all or part of the night?  5pm start time)
• Elementary Newsletter articles due to Patti
• Pop-Up PD in IMC @3:20-3:45pm on Canva: Stepping up Presenting

• Wednesday, January 28
• Workout Wednesday
• Jenny in meeting from 9-11am
• 1st Gr. Data meeting 11:35 - 12:15pm
• Staff Meeting in IMC at 3:15pm

• Thursday, January 29
• Happy Birthday Andrea T!
• Tie Dye Day! Let's Brighten up Winter!
• Report cards sent home electronically!
• 3rd Gr. Data meeting 12:05 - 12:50pm (rescheduled due to NAEP)

• Friday, January 30
• January Citizenship grades put into Semester 2 gradebooks
• 4K Data meeting 11:35 - 12:05pm (SEL only)
• Pyramid Model Meeting (rescheduled) @ 1-1:30 pm in EL conf. rm
• 3K Collab. Meeting @ 1:30-2pm in EL conf. Rm.

• Saturday, January 31
• FFA Alumni Bingo event

Nitty-Gritty

• NAEP Testing
• Our 4th graders were selected to take the NAEP test (National Assessment of Educational Progress) for reading and math on Tuesday, 1/27/26.  There will be proctors in the building that have organized/planned the test, but some of the details are out of our control.  Here is what Elementary staff needs to know:
• The IMC is closed all day on Tuesday for the testing.
• Testing starts at 8:30 and 12:30 and half of the class is testing at each time.
• One group will be testing in the PLTW lab, so please remind kids to be extra quiet when going by the room for specials, recess or lunch.
• The 12:30 testing group of 4th graders will be eating at noon with the 4K/5K/1st grade students.

• Data Meetings
• This week we will start the next data meetings for mid-year assessments.  Please make sure to come to the meetings with any classroom data you have to add to the conversation.  In addition, what universal needs are you seeing you in your classrooms for this second half of the school year? Also, I needed to move the 3rd grade meeting. If this does not work for most of the team, we can look for another date. Please let me know.

• HELP!
• Brad shared with me this week that we are having an uptick of students that are breaking off headphones in their iPads. Can you please review the safest way to remove headphones from their iPads? In addition, please limit movement around the classroom with the headphones plugged in.  I've seen kids get the cords stuck on things or stepped on that sometimes ends up ripping them out of the iPad which sometimes causes this problem as well.  Thank you in advance!

• Referendum Update
• Please make sure to take 15 min. to watch Mr. Greco's video explaining the referendum question and how the money will be used. There is a good chance that parents or community members will ask you questions about the referendum.  By staying up to date, you will be able to give the facts and details to help our community make an informed decision.  Click on the link HERE to watch his video.

• Parent-Teacher Conferences
• Conferences are only about 2 weeks away. (Feb. 11). If you would like me to attend any conferences with you, please let me know as soon as you can so that I can get it on my calendar. If you are thinking about retention, please make an appointment to talk about this with me as soon as possible. My calendly link is HERE.

• Spring Concerts
• The music department met last week and we needed to make some slight adjustments to the dates for the elementary concerts.  Please mark your calendars for the following dates:
• 5K-2nd grade - May 13 @ 6:30pm
• 3rd-5th grade - May 14 @ 6:30pm
• 4K concert - May 14 @ 2:30pm

• Social Media Posts
• It is very important, now more than ever, to continue to share posts for social media that tell our community about all the learning and wonderful things we do inside this building. Telling our story helps our families and community members stay involved and informed about our school.  When you send the posts to me, please make sure that you are also sharing any pics on Google Drive with Sam. When I forward them, he can't always open them to get them posted.  I look through them first, but ultimately, he ends up posting it. If he has access to the pictures, the process goes faster. Thank you! (Feel free to send one even if you are not on the calendar for that week too!)

• Summer School
• Are you on the fence???  Let's chat!  Summer School is a fun time and you get to choose what you'd like to teach!  What could be better?  The session runs from June 3 through July 2, Mon-Thurs from 8-12:30 (Teachers' hours are 7:30-12:30.). Here is the link if you need to sign up!

ML Information

Welcome to the Second Semester! This “3rd Quarter’s” tips will be about Academic Language & Scaffolding for Independence. Thank you again for all of your support and flexibility during ACCESS testing.

Teaching academic vocabulary isn't just about learning new words; it’s about giving our Multilingual Learners (MLs) the keys to unlock complex content. While "Tier 1" words are everyday speech and "Tier 3" words are technical (like isosceles or photosynthesis), Tier 2 words are the "power verbs" and connectors that appear across all subjects.

Mastering these words is central to WIDA Standard 3 (Mathematics) and Standard 4 (Science, Social Studies, and Arts) because they allow students to demonstrate their thinking regardless of the topic.

🛠 Quick Tips for Your Classroom

• Create a "Word Wall" of Power Verbs: Group Tier 2 words by function. For example, put analyze, examine, and inspect together so students see they are related.

• Explicit Modeling: Don't just say "analyze this." Show them! Think aloud: "When I analyze this graph, first I look at the X-axis, then I look for patterns..."

Total Physical Response (TPR): Create a hand gesture for each word. For "Compare," you might hold both hands out like a scale.

TechKnow Tip

We have the opportunity to test out a new resource called Scholastic Teachables. If you are a fan of BookFlix, you will definitely want to check this out! Scholastic Teachables is an online database of printable practice activities and short texts that align with the themes of BookFlix to drive deeper into knowledge and stronger literacy skills. Click this link to see an attached sample activity from Scholastic Teachables—ready to copy and share with students. We get to preview this resource until March 9th, after which I would LOVE your feedback. 

Get Started:
Visit teachables.scholastic.com/freetrial
username:      schteachables180
password:       bake

Friday Funny (on a Sunday!)

This weekend, the girls and I went to see a comedian in Madison named Zoltan Kaszas. I've been a fan of his for quite some time, but this was the first time I got to see him live. (This was my Christmas present from Lexi and it was AWESOME!) He lives in San Diego and he was not a fan of our weather last week! He told us that before he got here, he didn't understand why you would keep counting the temperature once it is below zero. Cold is cold. But his words were, "I have learned that there is a BIG DIFFERENCE between -5 and -20 degrees. I learned that at -20 each nose hair freezes in .3 seconds and I've never experienced that in my life. I also learned that I do not have clothes for this state and weather." The dopamine hit from the night was just what I needed. I'm including a short clip below to introduce him to you if you've never heard of him before. If you have a chance to see him live, I highly recommend!