Tier 2 ELA News

BUES Grades 4 and 5 students received an introduction to Tier 2 ELA and the Google Classroom. Information was also sent home with students and an email was shared with families with frequently asked questions about Tier 2.  The fourth and fifth graders are adjusting well to life in Tier 2 ELA Gateway.  We have started our extensions and enrichment activities on the Reach for Reading stories in the first units.

Tier 2 Grade 4 ELA

Students have had the opportunity to research and read about Gabon, a land rich in music, culture and natural resources, learn more about folktales through extension activities, and extend their skills for  analyzing and comparing characters within a trickster tale.  

Tier 2 Grade 5 ELA

Fifth graders have had an opportunity to take a virtual trip from Mexico to California with Amara, the main character of My Diary from Here to There.  Students could complete choice activities  to extend and enrich the skills taught in this story, as well as the themes and setting.  The extension activities ranged from researching food items, such as pan dulce and tamales, to using google earth to track Amara’s journey from Mexico to California and finding landmarks along the way.  In addition, they could research immigration, dig deeper with myths, and use imagery to develop an illustration.

Tier 3 Advanced ELA News

We are in the process of hiring a new Gateway Teacher for Advanced ELA pull-out classes.  More information will follow.

Tier 2 and 3 Math News

The focus of 4th and 5th grade GATEWAY for the month of September has been to get our Tier 2 Google Classroom up and running. All Tier 2 and Tier 3 GATEWAY Math students now have access to the Tier 2 Math Google Classroom. This is an opportunity for all GATEWAY Math students to receive enrichment and extension in math. For both grades, there is always a topic for extending the unit they are learning in class, as well as enrichment activities that are not necessarily related to their unit of study. Tier 2 is not an actual class period.  The tasks in the Google Classroom are optional.  Students may be able to work on the Tier 2 tasks during the instructional blocks and when they finish assignments in their other classes. Classroom teachers will determine the best time for working on Tier 2 assignments. The more students do in Google Classroom, the better I get to know their commitment, ability, motivation, and perseverance.  After seeing all students several times during September, they should be very familiar with the classroom and how to access, complete, and turn in assignments. 

The first week in October is when Tier 3 pull out groups for Math and STEM began. You should have received notification if your child is in either Tier 3 class. In the December newsletter you will learn all about the investigations in STEM.