ODE K-5 Educator Newsletter
August 21, 2024
Welcome to the 2024-25 school year, where new opportunities, new relationships, and new growth possibilities are on the horizon. As the 2024-25 school year convenes, students and adults will enter Oregon’s schools with hope and optimism for their goals and futures. Students will walk onto campuses, enter buildings, and step into classrooms with beautiful identities, diverse lived experiences, and abundant strengths and talents. Their curiosities and stories will humanize and illuminate classrooms. This newsletter includes opportunities and resources for educators to inclusively welcome each and every student into the classroom– and to prepare them for an exciting year of learning and connecting.
We hope you will find this newsletter helpful, alongside the newly launched Learning Standards for K-5 website.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
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Educators, we SELute and appreciate you! During the 2024-25 school year, your expertise, strengths, and talents will give way to school experiences that nurture and celebrate the strengths and talents of Oregon’s amazing students. These strengths and talents live in and through diverse identities and unique ways of being.
Transformative Social Emotional Learning (TSEL) is implemented to welcome and support all of these identities and powerful perspectives reflected in student populations. TSEL is designed to ensure that everyone can thrive within ecosystems of compassion, inclusivity, and belonging that support their sense of agency and affirm their personal, cultural, racial, and academic identities. Integrating the CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning) 3 Signature Practices, with current practices and procedures, is an entry point for TSEL to elevate teaching and learning experiences throughout the school day. These practices include an Inclusive Welcome, Engaging Strategies, and an Intentional Close. These practices are relevant, accessible, impactful, equitable, enjoyable, and can be used starting on Day 1 in all parts of the school day.
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Language Arts
Happy New School Year! As students come back to school, educators help them feel seen and heard in the classroom. One way to do that is through building empathy with stories. Children’s Library Lady: There’s a Book for That has a curated collection of picture books that deal with themes of acceptance and belonging as well as thought-provoking questions that keep students engaged.
Second Step provides free unit plans for back-to-school that help foster classroom community and belonging. From lessons that focus on learning classmates’ names, to lessons that help students learn one another’s favorite things, these lessons help cultivate trust and safety and a sense of ownership of the classroom–perfect for back-to-school.
The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) has also launched the new Instructional Frameworks website. On this site, you’ll find professional learning opportunities that are aligned to each of Oregon’s instructional frameworks, along with links to the Early Literacy Framework.
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Social Science
Welcome back, amazing K-5 educators! As we embark on another exciting school year, let's focus on creating classrooms where every child feels they truly belong. A strong sense of community not only enhances learning but also nurtures social-emotional growth and fosters a love for school.
Consider these community-building ideas:
- Start each day with a class meeting or morning circle
- Create collaborative class agreements together
- Implement "buddy systems" or peer mentoring
- Celebrate diverse cultures and backgrounds
- Use team-building games and activities regularly
Building a classroom community is also a fantastic way to integrate social science skills and content. As students work together, they naturally develop an understanding of group dynamics, practice democratic decision-making, and learn about diverse perspectives. These activities help children grasp concepts like citizenship, cultural awareness, and social responsibility in a hands-on, meaningful way.
Social science learning can happen beyond discrete social science time. Exploring literature offers opportunities to develop empathetic, engaged citizens capable of democratic dialogue as students share their personal experiences and interpretations. When students feel connected and valued, they're more likely to engage, take risks, and support one another. Here's to a year filled with growth, laughter, and a classroom family where everyone belongs!
Math
Data Literacy Webinar
Data Science for Everyone (DS4E) is pleased to invite all K-5 educators to an upcoming virtual event: “Demystifying K-5 Data Science: Fostering Data Literacy in Young Learners.” The event will include a panel of experts discussing how data science could be integrated into classroom standards for young learners.
Date and Time: Wednesday, August 28, 4:30 pm ET
What to Expect:
- Explore how data science can enhance early education.
- Learn practical strategies for integrating data literacy across subjects.
- Discover valuable resources from our partners that you can use in your classroom right away.
- Engage with a panel of experts discussing the new K-5 implementation guide.
Sign Up: Webinar Registration
Physical Education
Another school year has started, and many Elementary K-5 teachers are helping to teach physical education in their classrooms. SHAPE AMERICA has some great reminders about the importance of setting students up for success with appropriate practices that apply to physical education. Recommendations include practices that focus on the establishment of the learning environment and support students to develop a positive self-concept. K-5 strategies are named in the furthest left column, including:
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1.1.2 The environment is supportive of all children and promotes developing a positive self-concept.
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1.5.2 Both boys and girls are encouraged, supported and socialized toward successful achievement in all content taught in physical education (e.g., dance is for everyone).
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1.7.3 Children are guided to understand that some students prefer competitive situations, while others don’t; and either preference is acceptable.
As the guidance also describes, within all physical education classrooms, educator enthusiasm for an active, healthy lifestyle is central to student engagement.
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Health Education & Sexuality Education
Just Released: 2023 Health Education Standards K-12 Learning Progressions
The Oregon Department of Education created a new K-12 Learning Progressions document to demonstrate how Health Education subtopics vertically align to ensure that students gain age-appropriate knowledge and skills over the years. This document intends to support school leaders, educators, parents, and caregivers to follow the skills and concepts that students should be learning from one grade level to the next. Health Education, when consistently taught and scaffolded across the grades, works to foster student healthy behaviors, empowered decision-making and an understanding of their role in promoting individual and community safety and well-being.
Science
OpenSciEd is thrilled to announce the official release of their six elementary science units. These lessons are licensed under creative commons to use freely within elementary classrooms. These units were field-tested in hundreds of classrooms and have been designed for ease of use. Each unit is centered on an authentic phenomenon that will ignite students' curiosity and set them on a lifelong journey of scientific exploration. These resources are also located on the Oregon Open Learning Hub within the K-2 and 3-5 Science Groups.
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