CCSU Summer Youth STEM Programs - Tech It Out 2018!

CCSU is hosting 22 different programs for kids this summer.  All the programs are based in STEAM (STEM with the Arts!) and are designed to spark innovation, fun and learning while on our college campus.  Summer really is coming!

For the complete program listing Click Here

For information call Christa Sterling at 860-832-2277 or email  <csterling@ccsu.edu>

Week of the Young Child - April 24-28, 2017

The Week of the Young Child™ is an annual celebration hosted by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) celebrating early learning, young children, their teachers and families.     

 

We're so excited for a week long celebration of our youngest learners! Start planning your celebration today with event ideas and activities below!

Music Monday!   April 24, 2017 Sing, dance, celebrate, and learn Through music, children develop math, language, and literacy skills - All while having fun and being active! This year, make up and record your own unique version of a song or write your own, and share it on NAEYC's Facebook page or post to Twitter using the hashtag #woyc17. TRY THIS: Find the beat to connect music, movement, and math. Practice clapping, drumming, or stomping to the beat of the music while counting.

Music resources for families and teachers

NAEYC For Families also has a great collection of family-friendly songs and musicians to inspire more ways to learn with music!

Tasty Tuesday   April 25, 2017 Healthy eating and fitness at home and school This fun, food-themed day is about more than just cheese and crackers. Cooking together connects math with literacy skills, science, and more. With the rise in childhood obesity, you can encourage healthy nutrition and fitness habits at home and in the classroom. Create your own healthy snacks and share the recipes and photos of your creations on NAEYC's Facebook page or post to Twitter using the hashtag #woyc17.  TRY THIS: Measure your ingredients while making your snacks! Ask children if they’d like the same or different amounts of each ingredient. For more fun ideas on how to incorporate cooking into your classroom activities, check out how one NAEYC-accredited center prepared for the day! Cooking and nutrition resources for families and teachers Download the Week of the Young Child Taco Cookbook! Work Together Wednesday   April 26, 2017 Work together, build together, learn together When children build together they explore math and science concepts and develop their social and early literacy skills. Children can use any building material—from a fort of branches on the playground to a block city in the classroom, or a hideaway made from couch pillows at home. Build and share pictures of children’s creations on NAEYC's Facebook page or Twitter using the #woyc17 hashtag. TRY THIS: Practice organizing blocks by size! Try building a block tower with large blocks on the bottom and little blocks on top! 'Building Together' resources for families and teachers Artsy Thursday   April 27,2017 Think, problem solve, create Children develop creativity, social skills and fine motor skills with open-ended art projects where they can make choices, use their imaginations, and create with their hands. On Artsy Thursday celebrate the joy and learning children experience when engaged in creative art making. Use any materials—from crayons to paint, clay to crafts! Create and share a photos of your children’s creations on NAEYC's Facebook page or Twitter using the #woyc17 hashtag. TRY THIS: Bring art outdoors! Offer dark and light paper, chalk and pastels, and suggest children create their own versions of the day and night sky! Open-ended art resources for families and teachers Family Friday   April 28, 2017 Sharing family stories Engaging and celebrating families is at the heart of supporting our youngest learners. NAEYC applauds family members’ role as young children’s first and most important teachers.  Share pictures and stories about your family on NAEYC's Facebook page or post to Twitter using the hashtag #woyc17 as we celebrate the unique role families play in their children's learning and development. TRY THIS: Invite parents for a Family Friday breakfast, where children can prepare and share breakfast treats with their families! Resources for engaging and celebrating families

Pi Day! March 14th!

5-minute film festival:  Celebrate Pi Day! Find videos, lesson plans, and activities for every grade level here, by Amy Erin Borovoy (aka VideoAmy) March 3, 2017

Click HERE to register for Math for Everyone:  Strengthening Tier 1 Instruction at the Secondary Level - April 26, 2017 - Radisson Hotel, Cromwell, CT - Keynote speaker - Max Ray-Riek

Welcome to our second Week of Inspirational Math(s)! My name is Jo Boaler, cofounder of youcubed and professor of mathematics education at Stanford. I am also the author of Mathematical Mindsets. Last year we launched our first WiM, which was downloaded 1/3 of a million times and used in every state across the US, as well as many other countries in the world. Teachers and students loved the activities and mindset videos. Of the teachers and students surveyed last year, 98 percent of the teachers said their students were engaged when working on the lessons and 96% of the students surveyed said they now believe they should keep going even when work is hard and they make mistakes. And that is a wonderful thing!
Check out the site HERE.

New LibGuides!

Check out the two newest SERC Library LibGuides!

STEM / STEAM - 2015 

and while still "Under construction" STEM / STEAM 2016

We will continue to added to the STEM / STEAM 2016 LibGuide as the year progresses, so remember to check back in periodically throughout the year!

National Math Month!

FROM NEA:

Math Awareness Month

2016 Theme: The Future of Prediction

The theme for Math Awareness Month 2016 is The Future Of Prediction. Explore how mathematics and statistics are the future of prediction.

Resources for:

• Grades K-5
• Grades 6-8
• Grades 9-12

Also check out these sites:

http://www.ams.org/samplings/math-awareness-month/mam

http://www.mathaware.org/index.html

World Theatre Day - Poetry Month - Spring Resources

World Theatre Day

Bring out your students' flair for the dramatic. Study the works of Shakespeare and act out plays for World Theatre Day.

Drama Resources

Poetry Month

April is Poetry Month. Familiarize students with different types of poetry and encourage them to write their own poems.

Poetry Lessons

Springtime Math Math is in full bloom with this spring-themed workbook that teaches kids to count, measure and add. See Now

Spring Into Spring In this lesson, students will learn about the seasonal changes brought by spring. See Now

Webinars

Closing Math Learning Gaps with Data & Formative Assessment

When combining digital curriculum that provides formative assessment data with everyday instructional practices, educators are equipped to address math learning gaps in real-time.  Join Kristine Tipton, Innovation Coach at DeKalb County Central United School District, Ind., as she shares how she's been able to use digital curriculum like DreamBox Learning Math to support deeper learning at her schools.

This interactive discussion includes:

• Creating a personalized learning environment to enhance instructional practice 
• Leveraging formative assessment data to close math learning gaps

Guest:

Kristine Tipton, innovation coach, DeKalb County Central United school district, Ind/

This webinar will be moderated by Joe Trahan, curriculum designer, DreamBox Learning.

REGISTER HERE



 Formative Assessment:  Balancing grading and a focus on improvement

Many experts say that tasks used for formative assessment should not be graded.  Formative assessment is about gauging progress toward a learning goal, giving feedback, and working with students to fill in the gaps.  Grading can complicate that process, they argue.

But drawing a line between formative assessment and grading can be tough in the classroom setting.  Teachers may get pressure from parents and the district to give grades on student work.  And some students may be more likely to complete tasks when they're scored.  In this webinar, an education research professor and an English teacher will discuss why many people say formative assessments and grades shouldn't mix, and what teachers can do to get around that.

Guests:

Lorrie Shepard, dean and distinguished professor of research and evaluation methodology, the University of Colorado Boulder

Scott Filkins, English teacher at Central High School in Champaign, Ill., and member of the National Council of Teachers of English Task Force on Assessment

This webinar will be moderated by Liana Heitin, assistant editor, Education Week.

REGISTER HERE

Assessment includes a wide variety of methods that educators use to evaluate, measure, and document the academic readiness, learning progress, and skill acquisition of students. But testing alone does nothing. Join us as we welcome special guest Nancy W. Sindelar, Ph.D,  teacher, consultant, and author of Assessment Powered Teaching and Using Test Data for Student Achievement to learn strategies for teachers and administrators to gather and use student test data to enhance student learning and close achievement gaps. During the webinar, Dr. Sindelar will cover: The meaning and purpose of different assessment types and how they complement one another How high performing schools use formative and summative assessments to make sound instructional decisions Strategies to take back to the classroom, including using data to provide effective feedback and motivate students with the results of their learning Tips on implementing peer tutoring based on assessment results

Webinar on Math

Content Provided by: Using Data to Drive Personalized Math Learning Needs Technologies to support data-driven decision-making hold great promise for increasing the effectiveness of teaching and learning activities, accelerating student achievement, and improving organizational performance. To access what students are learning and how they are progressing, educators can now use a continuous improvement framework for data-driven decision-making to organize people and processes to reach education objectives. Join us for this webinar and discuss topics including: Increase student access to technology. Building a sustainable data analysis framework Common challenges involved in establishing data-driven practices Incorporating blended learning environments to meet school goals Guest: Sharnell Jackson, founder and CEO, Data-Driven Innovations Consulting This webinar will be moderated by Joe Trahan, curriculum designer, DreamBox Learning. Register now for this free live webinar.

SRBI Symposium II - Thursday, May 21, 2015

Family Saturdays! - Taking the Learning Outside: Fun with Nature and Math - Grades K-3!

To register for this FREE event, click here!

Family Saturdays! - Having a blast with math - Grades 3-5

For program questions, please contact Barbara Slone, Consultant, at
(860) 632-1485, ext. 340 or slone@ctserc.org

To register and for registration questions, please contact Lauren D. Johns,
Education Services Specialist, at (860) 632-1485, ext. 256 or johns@ctserc.org

Para registrarse en español, por llame a Leticia Garcia Guerra, al
(860) 632-1485, ext. 233 or guerra@ctserc.org

Family Saturdays!

To register for the program - email johns@ctserc.org or guerra@ctserc.org

Check out these workshops coming up at SERC --- Workshops fills up quickly so get your registrations in!

Math for English Language Learners (K-5)

Wednesdays 2/25/15 and 3/25/15 from 9:00 – 3:30 at SERC

Join us for a two day workshop which addresses key issues for ELLs such as language acquisition principles, appropriate scaffolding of content, assessment protocols, and effective use of technology in an effort to maintain rigorous, standards-aligned instruction.

Participants will learn specific math instructional strategies that provide the necessary supports to ensure that ELL students understand and are able to apply appropriate math content.

For further information or to register go to https://15-21-063.eventbrite.com

Math Instruction for Struggling Math Learners

Wednesday, December 10, 2014 and Thursday, January 22, 2015 from 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

This professional learning opportunity will introduce teachers to best practices in math instruction specifically aimed at struggling math learners. It will examine some of the research-based practices in detail and show how they align with the CT Core Standards for Mathematics.

For more information or to register, go to https://15-21-064.eventbrite.com

Science Content Literacy: Grades 6-12

Friday, November 14, 2014 and Wednesday, December 17, 2014 from 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. 

In this two day workshop science educators will learn reading comprehension techniques that will improve outcomes for students, grades 6-12, as well as increase their meaningful participation and achievement in the science content area. Topics include the authentic use of graphic organizers, content-specific vocabulary activities, science notebooks, and reciprocal teaching strategies; receive an overview of differentiation, gradual release, and inquiry-based instructional models; and better understand the commonalities between literacy comprehension skills and science processing skills.

For more information or to register go to https://15-26-092.eventbrite.com