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Norton Park Elementary ~ 3041 Gray Road ~Smyrna, GA 30082 ~ 678.842.5833(Office)

Here at Norton Park Elementary, we follow the America's Choice Design for school reform.  We follow standards set by the Department of Education to ensure that no child is left behind.  Through this research based program we have literacy coaches who support our teachers as they implement the new standards.  With the help of our coaches, classroom teachers set up Readers and Writers Workshops to help meet the need of our students during the daily literacy block.

Another component of this design is the Math Workshop. In all classrooms, our math coaches help implement this design that allows the students to think through math problems using representation, computation, and making a math statement to solve all problems.
 

Amy Gonzalez works with grades K-2 and Angela Mack  works with grades 3-5. These coaches help teachers implement both Readers and Writers Workshops in all classrooms.

Readers Workshop begins with a mini-lesson to teach a a skill, concept or strategy that is needed by many students in the class. This lesson lasts around 10-15 minutes. The students then move into a work period where they will be involved in independent, partner, shared or guided reading. During the forty minute period, the teacher will be conferring with individual students or meeting with groups. After the work period, the class will close Readers Workshop with the Share Chair.

Writers Workshop begins with a focused mini-lesson to teach a particular writing strategy or skill. This lesson lasts approximately 10-15 minutes. After this, the students move into an independent writing time and will be involved in various activities of writing such as, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. During this forty minute work period, the teacher will be conferring with individual students on the writing process. Finally, the class ends Writers Workshop with a celebration of writing through the Author's Chair.

Within Readers and Writers Workshop the students participate in an Author and Genre Study. During the school year, each grade level will spend a few weeks on an author's study in Readers Workshop and a genre study in Writers Workshop. These studies give the students an in-depth look at certain authors and specific forms of writing.
 

Grade	Author Study	Genre Study
Kindergarten	Eric Carle	Narrative
First Grade	Mem Fox	Narrative
Second Grade	Vera B. Williams	Narrative
Third Grade	Allen Say	Report
Fourth Grade	Chris Van Allsburg	Response to Literature
Fifth Grade	Roald Dahl	Report

25 Book Campaign is a school wide incentive to motivate students to read. Each year students are asked to read and respond to twenty-five books on their independent level. If this goal is accomplished, they will be invited to a celebration in May.
 

There are two math coaches, Eko Bhadmos and Natalia Weaver, that serve grades kindergarten through fifth grade.

Math Workshop is an exciting new approach to the way our students learn math. The students are learning to think conceptually by working on word problems and showing their work in different ways. Once the students have completed their assignments they share the work with the class. This allows the students to learn from each other and has been a positive addition to the math class.