EE Express Hub

Here’s Your EE Express Hub for KUSD Early Childhood Department Updates!

Fall Parent/Teacher Conferences

This year, we will not hold mandatory elementary conferences on Wednesday evenings. The 2-hour block will be added to the Friday morning time.  Thursday conferences will follow the same format as afternoon conferences and 3-hour evening conferences.  On Friday morning, there is a 4-hour block.  The total time for conferences has not changed, just moved from Wednesday to Friday.

Teachers can offer virtual conferences for parents who work in the evening and cannot get a scheduled time. They should get first preference for Thursday evening.  Parents who work 2^nd and 3^rd shift can be scheduled on Thursday afternoon or Friday morning.

aimswebPlus- Which 4K students did not test?

Please forward all the names and reasons of your 4-year-olds who were not tested during the Fall aimsweb assessment window to Lauren. I am tracking all schools’ 4K/Headstart students for completion.

lkusch@kusd.edu

 

News in Your Area

HeadStart- Turn in to Annette ASAP: The health and safety screeners from your classroom Your signed page from the Appropriate Supervision agreement Your signed family partnership agreements from all your HeadStart families	4K/4KCA- Let Lauren know if you’d like to begin a coaching cycle together. Good things come out of collaboration!	Pyramid Model News- Preparing for the Pyramid Checklist  Pyramid Model Training has begun! Self-Paced Online Module Monday, September 22nd, 2025  – online module In-Person Debrief Session on Module 1 Friday, October 24th, 2025 12:30 PM to 3:30 PM – Chavez
Support for Assessments Aimsweb Assessment Support –Initial Sounds Activities in Small Group	Staying in Compliance in Smart Teach Recertify Yourself: Click here for the Interrater Reliability (Re-)Certification Tutorial 25-26	ACT 20 Instructional Staff- Cox Campus Training Dates for 25-26 October 17, December 12, February 13, March 13 Locations: To be determined soon OCTOBER’S COURSE: Transforming Storytime 3.5 hrs

Links at Your Fingertips

Important Dates for 25-25	KUSD Early Education Curriculum Resources Website	Fidelity Curriculum Expectations Most Essential Standards List (GOLD) Objectives at a Glance Entering New Students into Smart Teach
FAMILY ENGAGEMENT SUPPORT FAMILY OUTREACH  HOME VISIT/LARGE GROUP DOCUMENTATION FORM	UPDATED LINK 9/26/25 Click here for the 25-26 Individual Student Support Plan (ISSP) Request Form (formerly known as Collaborative Conversation Form)	KUSD HEAD START HEALTH AND SAFETY 25-26 regarding Appropriate Supervision of Children

 

COX CAMPUS Reminder from 24-25’s course: Meaningful Conversations

Let’s TALK!
Tune-In: Make the conversations meaningful. Tune in to the child’s world.
• Watch the child and notice what is happening.
• Be patient and wait for the right moment to enter a conversation.
• Make an observation. (I see, I think, I wonder, I noticed…)

Ask: The types of questions you ask will vary based on the level of conversation you are having. Try to raise conversations to Levels 3 and 4 as much as possible.
• Use open-ended questions or comments as much as possible.
• Use closed-ended questions as needed.
• Use forced-choice questions to narrow a child’s choices when s/he needs help
focusing.

Levels of Language (Massey, 2004)
– Language that summarizes, defines, or compares and contrasts
Corduroy was sad when Lisa’s mother said she didn’t want to buy him. Why didn’t Lisa’s mother want to buy him?
– Language that reasons (e.g., making predications, problem solving, and explaining
concepts). How do you know that your ship will float?

Lift Language: The goal is to push in new vocabulary, model correct grammar, and engage children in conversation.
• Engage in parallel talk.
• Use think-alouds
• Use a variety of questions.
• Restate what a child says using a more complex sentence.
• Model correct grammar and rich vocabulary.
• Use synonyms.
• Build on children’s statements by adding more information.
• Monitor children’s use of target vocabulary and reinforce new words.

Keep it Going: Maintain the conversation by engaging in multiple back-and-forth exchanges on a single topic.
• Strive for Five (Dickinson, 2011) … or more!
• Reinforce target vocabulary.
• Allow for “think time.”

Dickinson, D.K. (2001). Large-group and free-play times: Conversational settings supporting language and literacy development. In
D.K. Dickinson & P.O.
Tabors (Eds.), Beginning literacy with language: Young children learning at home and school (pp. 223-255). Baltimore, MD.:
Brookes Publishing. Massey, S.L. (2004). Teacher-child conversation in the preschool classroom. Early Childhood Education Journal, 31,
227-231.