Coming soon to Arno…

June 3

District School Improvement meeting

NWEA Reward Picnic 11:15-12:30

5th Grade Rehearsal 12:45

June 4

5th Grade Grad Banner, Glitter 5th Grade Graduation Decorations 2024, Boy Girl Kids Fifth Grade Graduation Party Decorations Supplies

5th Grade Graduation 9:15 Center for the Arts

June 5

3rd grade to Greenfield Village

Final District MTSS

June 6

SPED to APMS

2nd Grade to Barney Park

4th grade Greenfield Village

5th Grade picnic

Final Super Cougar lunch 11:15

Honor Choir Concert Center for the Arts

June 7

Field Day is THIS Friday, May 19

APHS Graduate Walk @Arno approx 1:30 (wait for announcement)

June 10

3rd grade to Boccabella

Eskew to Barney Park

ER 11:30 Dismiss

Final Eval Meetings per schedule

June 11

3rd grade to Pretty Family Park

Y5/Kindergarten Picnic to Barney Park

Ad Council 9:30

ER 11:30

Class Lists per schedule

June 12

3rd Grade to Barney Park

Student/Teacher Last Day of School!

ER 11:30

June 13

Summer School meeting 9:00

Summer School lunch meeting 11:30

June 17

Report Cards Released

Summer School Begins (June 17-July 25)

June 19

Regular School Office Hours End (Summer School Office Continues)

Peanuts 1.5-ft W x 3.28-ft H Summer Garden Flag Kit

ARNO MISSION

ARNO ELEMENTARY…INSPIRING STUDENTS TOWARD ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE.

Snoopy Woodstock #4 Kids T-Shirt by Jennifer S Payne - Pixels

ARNO VISION

ARNO ELEMENTARY PROVIDES A SUPPORTIVE HIGH QUALITY ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE TO INSPIRE ALL LEARNERS TO ACHIEVE THEIR PERSONAL BEST.

ARNO COLLECTIVE COMMITMENTS

ACADEMICS ARE STUDENT-CENTERED, WHICH ALLOW FOR VARIOUS LEARNING STYLES TO SHOWCASE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT.
WE WILL DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN A POSITIVE, RESPECTFUL RELATIONSHIP WITH EACH STUDENT BY USING FLEXIBILITY AND ADAPTABILITY TO MEET INDIVIDUAL NEEDS
WE WILL FOSTER SAFE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS THAT ALLOW STUDENTS THE OPPORTUNITY TO ESTABLISH A GROWTH MINDSET

Tearful Goodbyes…

Arno is losing three of our best as Ms. Higgins (5th Grade teacher), Mrs. Mantua (Media Center) and Mrs. Dowd (Student Advocate) have decided to retire this school year. They have all left an immeasurable mark on our staff and students, bringing their positive energy into our building everyday. We will miss them immensely and wish them the best in retirement!

Ms. Higgins

Ms. Higgins has been our 5th grade expert teacher and it will be hard to say goodbye as she makes her way to Allen Park Middle School in a new position. She has been an invaluable leader for all of our 5th grade activities including camp, safeties, and graduation. She has inspired many of our students over the years and will be sorely missed. We wish her nothing but the best in her new post and adventures at the middle school.

Mrs. Mantua

There are many spaces in which she will be missed like outside before the bell greeting our first graders (they love it when she brings out the music!), the breakfast and lunch room where she brings her special brand of energy, but of course her impact will be felt most in the media center where Mrs. Mantua has been a staple for many years. We wish Mrs. Mantua a BIG Congratulations and the very best in retirement! We will surely miss your presence at Arno every day!

Mrs. Dowd

Mrs. Dowd is one of the first faces many of student see when coming into Arno in the morning. Her positive demeanor and nurturing way with our students will leave her position as student advocate hard to fill. She has cared for so many of our Cougars when they are not feeling well, or have a scrape from the playground- and she has always managed to make them all feel better. Caring and Compassion is what Mrs. Dowd is all about, and she will be missed immensely. Congratulations on your retirement as you enter your next adventure!

Chromebooks

K- Please send all chromes to 1st grade to store, except summer school kids who need to take them home. Your students will get new chromes

1- Please send all chromes to second grade to store, except summer school kids who need to take them home.

2-4- Please send all chromebooks home for the summer, except summer school kids who need to take them home.

5- Please collect and store all chromebooks, except summer school kids who need to take them home.

**K and 1 will be getting front opening charging units in the fall as all chromes will stay in school for your grades

Final Eval Schedule June 2024

12:35	Kubik
12:45	Mercer
12:55	Johnson
1:05	Harrison
1:15	Martinchick
1:25	Pushman
1:35	Watson
1:45	Amonette
1:55	Cervates
2:05	Bleau
2:15	Huntington
2:25	Talamonti
2:35	Zuke
2:45	Garza
2:55	Jackson
3:05	Tringali
3:15	Solgot
3:25	Eskew

Remember to place your orders tonight... - Taste of Paradise | Facebook

SUPPLIES

If you have special requests for supplies, please get them to Cathy by Wednesday, June 12

Class Lists Are Up!

CLASS LISTS 2024-2025

We will meet with the entire SPED team and grade levels on Tuesday, June 11.

Class List Schedule

12:45-1:00- Kindergarten

1:05-1:20- 1st grade

1:25-1:40- 2nd grade

1:45-2:00- 3rd grade

2:05-2:20- 4th grade

Class List Folder

The Powerful Tool - Checklist - Graduate & Professional School | Texas A&M University

END OF THE YEAR CHECKLIST

Please be sure to check out with Cathy before leaving on the last day

SENIOR CLAP OUT

Please mark your calendars for the Senior clap out on June 7 @1:30pm (ish). We will start at the 5th grade doors, and walkthrough to the main doors- Kindergarten can join in the main hallway.

Tech Time

Khan Academy for Teachers is Now Free in US

Announced on May 21, 2024, the press release titled “Khan Academy and Microsoft partner to expand access to AI tools that personalize teaching and help make learning fun” by Sally Beatty discusses a new collaboration between Khan Academy and Microsoft to enhance educational tools through AI. The two companies are providing free access to AI-powered teaching assistant Khanmigo for Teachers to all K-12 educators in the U.S., using Microsoft’s Azure AI-optimized infrastructure.

Brief Overview of Khan Academy and Microsoft Announcement

The article highlights how Khanmigo aids teachers by suggesting creative ways to teach abstract concepts using everyday items. Teachers can utilize Khanmigo to generate custom lesson plans, create student groupings, and adjust text difficulty for various learners, potentially saving teachers five hours a week.

Additionally, Microsoft and Khan Academy are exploring the development of small language models (SLMs) like Phi-3, which are more cost-effective and scalable for tasks such as math tutoring. This initiative is part of a broader effort to make teaching more sustainable and to bring personalized learning to more students.

The partnership also involves integrating Khan Academy content into Microsoft’s Copilot and Teams for Education apps, further extending the reach of these educational resources. Teachers and students at Hobart High School have already experienced positive impacts from using Khanmigo, noting its ability to encourage critical thinking without giving direct answers, thus supporting a more inquiry-based learning approach.

The Takeaway

The stated aims of this collaboration are to provide high-quality, personalized educational experiences while addressing teacher burnout and supporting resource-constrained schools globally. The real business aims are more likely to take some of the school market share away from Google and seed the education market for stronger adoption of Khanmigo for Students– and Open AI.

This writer loves the concept of Khanmigo and the idea that each student can have a personal tutor. When Sal Khan did his TedTalk in April of 2023, I had goosebumps!

But it’s a year later and I have many, many reservations about schools adopting the technology and its systemic impacts before any independent research has been completed. When I watch the video below, I’m once again persuaded, as was its intent, to believe that Khanmigo is idyllically transformative in the classroom. However, I’m older and wiser now.

I’d like more proof from sources other than sophisticated marketers– wouldn’t you? Luring teachers to use something unproven with their students and potentially harmful to their own livelihoods seems right on brand for the Silicon Valley crowd, but I am very wary of the entire world being their beta testers. Are you??

AI in Education: SlaySchool

SlaySchool: Another AI in Education Tool with Promise for Your Students

AI in education has brought about many unique and useful tools. As we continue our look at worthy AI in education technologies, today we’ll take a deep dive into SlaySchool.

As educators, our goal is to engage students in the learning process effectively and efficiently. Traditional methods, like handwritten or digital flashcards, have long been a staple in study routines. However, SlaySchool, an innovative AI-powered tool, transforms these conventional approaches by creating interactive flashcards and quizzes from study materials, bypassing the labor necessary to produce a study deck.

By digitizing the flashcard creation process, SlaySchool saves time and enhances the learning experience with features like spaced repetition and active recall. This modern tool can be seamlessly integrated into classroom activities, improving both learning and teaching, and offering a faster pathway to success. In short, it’s a very useful application of AI in education for many of your students, not just another LLM wrapper tool.

Overview of SlaySchool.com

SlaySchool.com is an advanced educational platform that leverages AI technology to effortlessly convert lectures, notes, and multimedia content into dynamic flashcards and quizzes. By simply uploading their study materials—whether PDFs, images, handwritten notes, or videos from sources like YouTube—students can have SlaySchool’s AI automatically generate comprehensive, personalized flashcards. This process reduces the time and effort traditionally required to create study aids, removing a key barrier for many.

Grounded in cognitive psychology principles such as spaced repetition and active recall, the system supports memory retention and understanding. Spaced repetition helps embed information into long-term memory by revisiting it at increasing intervals, and active recall promotes deeper engagement by encouraging students to retrieve information during the learning process. These features make SlaySchool a powerful tool for students seeking to improve their study habits and learning outcomes.

SlaySchool Features for Classroom Use

Self-Monitoring Learning Progress:

SlaySchool encourages both independent and collaborative learning by allowing students to mark flashcards as “still learning” or “I know this.” This feature helps students self-assess their progress and concentrate on areas that require more attention. Additionally, during peer study sessions, students can use this functionality to provide feedback to each other. By marking cards based on their study partner’s responses, they help each other identify strengths and areas for improvement, fostering a supportive learning environment. This dual functionality makes SlaySchool a versatile tool that enriches individual study and collaborative learning experiences.

Integration with Popular Study Platforms:

SlaySchool enhances its functionality by enabling students to export flashcards to Quizlet and Anki, thus leveraging the unique strengths of these tools. Quizlet is renowned for its diverse delivery modes, such as flashcard games and live quizzes, which can make study sessions more interesting and interactive. Anki, known for its spaced repetition system, is ideal for students who need to manage large sets of complex information over longer periods, helping to ensure long-term retention. This integration allows students to seamlessly transition from creating flashcards in SlaySchool to using advanced study techniques on either system, thus personalizing their learning experience and maximizing the effectiveness of their study time.

Suggestions for SlaySchool Classroom Integration

Encourage Personalized Study Sets:

Teachers can motivate students to create personalized flashcards that address their unique learning needs, utilizing SlaySchool’s marking system to track their confidence in the material.

Leverage Group Collaboration:

Implement group projects where students create flashcards for each other, cultivating a collaborative learning environment. Shared flashcard sets can be used across different platforms like Quizlet and Anki, amplifying the collaborative experience.

Facilitate Peer Teaching:

Organize peer learning sessions where students exchange flashcards and explain concepts to each other, deepening their understanding through teaching.

Homework Integration:

Incorporate flashcard creation into homework assignments to reinforce lessons and promote independent study skills.

Continuous Feedback:

Regularly gather student feedback on the usefulness of SlaySchool in their studies to refine teaching strategies and tool utilization. Not all students enjoy studying the same way; let them figure out what works best!

SlaySchool: A Free AI in Education Tool You May Want to Explore

SlaySchool offers a flexible solution that can transform educational practices by making learning more interactive, personalized, and enjoyable. While flashcards might not be the preferred study method for every student, for those who thrive on visual cues and repetitive learning, SlaySchool could be a game-changer. By introducing this tool into your classroom, you can help students take greater control over their learning processes, allowing them to explore and use a method that suits their individual learning styles. This can lead to improved outcomes and increased engagement, making the educational experience efficient and enjoyable for a diverse range of learners as well as a solid application of AI in education.

School is out! | Snoopy school, Peanuts gang, Snoopy

May 2024

Posted on April 30, 2024 by stevez 0

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week May 6-10. Arno is so lucky to have top talented teachers to help our kids excel each and every day!

I am so proud of the work that you all do here to make a better tomorrow for all of our kids!

Coming soon to Arno…

May 2

Cougar Cash Lunch (Steve)

6th Grade Orientation 10:30

ALICE Final drill (Lock down, evac walking to and past the church) 1:30

PTA Meeting 6:30

May 3

ER 11:30 Teacher PD

May 6-10

Pin by mariah .. on gifs | Fireworks animation, Fireworks, Fireworks gif

Teacher Appreciation Week!

May 7

3/4 ELA M-STEP

Super Cougar Lunch

Communication/Attendance 8:00

May 8

5th Grade Jan Richardson testing

PBIS 8:00

Reading 8:00

May 9

Teacher/Staff Appreciation Lunch 11:00-12:00

Bid pool 4:00

May 10

2nd Grade Metro Parks

May 13

3rd Grade JR

Kindergarten Virtual Round Up | Galesburg-Augusta Primary School

Kindergarten Roundup 6:30

May 14

Ad Council 9:30

May 15

2nd Grade JR

3rd grade Metro Parks

SIP 8:00

PBIS District Meeting 1:30

May 16

1st Grade JR

Safety Committee 9:30

May 17

4th Grade Metro Parks

May 21

4th Grade JR

Knudsen Cougar Lunch 11:15

May 22

5th Grade HIV Lesson

Kindergarten JR

Kindergarten Metro Parks

Math 8:00

May 23

1st Grade Metro Parks

5th Grade Puberty Lesson

Staff Meeting 7:45

May 24-27

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No School- Memorial Day

May 29

5th Grade Metro Parks

Cougar Cash Lunch (Steve)

Warneck/Harrison to Roosevelt Lanes

May 30

SPED to APMS

Final Teacher Data Day

SEL 8:00

May 31

Kindergarten to Zoo

Mentor Celebration

NWEA Celebration Assembly

Teacher Appreciation Thank You GIF by Twinkl Parents - Find & Share on GIPHY | World teacher day, World teachers, Teachers week

ARNO MISSION

ARNO ELEMENTARY…INSPIRING STUDENTS TOWARD ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE.

PEANUTS on X: "Thank you teachers for all that you do ...

ARNO VISION

ARNO ELEMENTARY PROVIDES A SUPPORTIVE HIGH QUALITY ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE TO INSPIRE ALL LEARNERS TO ACHIEVE THEIR PERSONAL BEST.

Today is National Teacher Appreciation Day. | National ...

ARNO COLLECTIVE COMMITMENTS

Academics are student-centered, which allow for various learning styles to showcase student achievement.
We will develop and maintain a positive, respectful relationship with each student by using flexibility and adaptability to meet individual needs
We will foster safe learning environments that allow students the opportunity to establish a growth mindset

Free Employee Appreciation Gif Cards | Online Employee Appreciation Cards

Staff Appreciation Lunch

The staff appreciation lunch will be on May 9th this year from 11:00-12:00 in the Arno Ballroom. Please see the link below for a copy of the hour lunch schedule. The PTA will have many goodies throughout the week as we celebrate all of our wonderful Arno staff!

Staff Appreciation Lunch

Moving Colorful Letters Update GIF | GIFDB.com

Committee Updates

PBIS: The team discussed our most current data and some planning to end the year.

Communication/Attendance: The Team discussed modifications to the current plan for attendance incentives.

SIP: The SIP has submitted our Title I documentation, and well as our MICIP goals for next school year

Math: Continued focus on the math website development

Reading:

The majority of the staff have been trained in UFLI.
Many teachers are dabbling in the UFLI program.
Third- fifth grades are wrapping up all of their M-Step prep.
Staff reminder: You can discard any and all past reading program materials.

Summer reading program does not appear to achieve its intended goals. Perhaps a software subscription, ex. EPIC
Discussed May P.D. pacing guides

SEL:

For May we are discussing Compassion/Self-Compassion. As students are entering the testing season, it is critical for them to demonstrate self-compassion. Studies show that students who practice mindful breathing exercises reduce anxiety and perform better on exams.

“The research about the effects of self-compassion are very similar to what we see about the effects of living a mindful lifestyle. There is less likelihood of anxiety, depression, and fear of failure – and greater reports of well-being, psychological health and overall life satisfaction.”

-Dr. Kristin Roush

Assessing Across Modalities: Strengthening the Intentionality of Curricular Design - OLC

May Assessments

In addition to the ever-popular M-STEP, we have our universal screening going on in May. NWEA is your choice of dates, Beth will let you know on FAST, and JR dates are below- this round is for all students.

Please continue to assess as needed so that your students are getting the proper small group lessons that they need for their current level.

5th Grade May 8

4th Grade May 21

3rd Grade May 13

2nd Grade May 15

1st Grade May 16

Kinder May 22

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Teacher Data Meetings

Our data meeting of the year will be May 30 per the signup schedule. Please remember to bring copies of your final Jan Richardson testing documentation. We will be starting a new format in the fall that will include more in depth discussions on JR testing information.

May signup

FYI- PLEASE BE SURE THIS IS UP TO DATE

School Supply Lists are out and ready to go…

This year we are using Teacherlists.com to post all of our supplies. You can access the lists down below from the click-button, or you can access from our Arno site off the main APPS website. This feature also allows you to choose a store, if you wish, which auto sets up the list for purchase and lets you finish the process without ever setting foot in a store.

https://www.teacherlists.com/schools/31210-arno-elementary-school

SUPPLIES

If you have special requests for supplies, please get them to Cathy by Wednesday, June 12

Class Lists Are Up!

Class Lists 2024-2025

If you can believe it, time to start thinking about those lists for next year. We will meet with the entire SPED team and grade levels on Tuesday, June 11.

Class List Schedule

12:45-1:00- Kindergarten

1:05-1:20- 1st grade

1:25-1:40- 2nd grade

1:45-2:00- 3rd grade

2:05-2:20- 4th grade

Class List Folder

FINAL EVAL MEETINGS/DATA MEETINGS

We will have our combined final eval and final data meeting together on June 10. If we are unable to finish while we wait for final data, then I will schedule something separate with you to wrap this all up.

Final Eval Schedule

The Powerful Tool - Checklist - Graduate & Professional School | Texas A&M University

End of the year Checklist

Please be sure to check out with Cathy before leaving on the last day

Checklist

SENIOR CLAP OUT

Please mark your calendars for the Senior clap out on June 7 @1:30pm (ish). We will start at the 5th grade doors, and walkthrough to the main doors- Kindergarten can join in the main hallway.

Tech Time

AI Chatbots: Free for the Foreseeable Future

AI Chatbots image of items on a desk with LLMs spelled out in cubes

Since December 2022, we’ve seen a big shift in how we can teach, thanks to AI chatbots, also known as Large Language Models (LLMs). These are free tools that can transform teaching and learning so we’re all paying attention, right? You’re probably familiar with how these sophisticated systems, trained on huge datasets, can understand and generate text just like we do. ChatGPT started the trend, and now there are several others, each with their unique strengths. Since it’s likely you’re not as familiar with them, let’s take a quick dive into the LLMs that are currently available and what their advantages are.

ChatGPT: A Game Changer in Education

ChatGPT, from OpenAI, was THE pioneering AI chatbot, opening the doors to AI-assisted education… think “Khanmigo” and how amazing it was when you first saw the Khanmigo TED talk. It’s a star at creating relevant content and offers personalized help in language learning. The Chat-GPT 3.5 version is still available for free, although gaining access can be tricky as there are millions and millions of users around the world. And because its training set is currently cut off at January of 2022, according to ZDNet, it’s not great for current events.

Google’s Bard AI: Your Go-To for Up-to-Date Information

Google’s AI chatbot is Bard AI, although they may may call their rose by other names. Also free, it has the coolest trick up its sleeve – it integrates with Google Search, Workspace apps, and maybe even Classroom (if your admin allows it). Because its results can include contemporaneous information, Bard AI can supplement classroom instruction with accurate, up-to-date information, making it a potent tool for enhancing student research projects and broadening their understanding of complex topics. If you’re a Google user like I am, the infiltration and proliferation of Bard across the Googleverse is much anticipated, albeit somewhat slow…

>>Check out Richard Byrne’s video on using Bard for Quizzes:<<

Claude 2: Elevating Language Skills and More

Claude 2, Anthropic’s Ai Chatbot, is amazing for language arts and communication classes. It understands context and nuance, making it great for advanced language lessons and critical thinking. Founded by former Open AI developers, it may have a lower hallucination rate than other chatbots, possibly making it a little more reliable. Plus, it’s GDPR-compliant, which is a big win for privacy in the EU. Amazon is its biggest backer so developers can expect integrations across the AWS universe.

These AI chatbots/LLMs are giving rise to a whole class of products, often referred to as wrappers, that are rapidly offering targeted AI tools for many academic subjects and grade levels. Though wrapper tools may be free at this time, the companies behind these tools will have to make money at some point. Why? Because they have to pay to use Chat-GPT or Bard or Claude. >>Here’s one we wrote about<<

There are a couple of tools that are built on Chat-GPT that have strategic value to Open AI because they make its LLM smarter. There’s only one that is likely to remain free for the long haul, and that’s Bing Chat.

Bing Chat: Making Research Skills Fun

Bing Chat combines search engine smarts with AI conversation. This tool is perfect for teaching students how to research online, effectively and critically. Plus, it’s free and user-friendly. Microsoft is the largest backer of Open AI. That relationship paved the way for Bing Chat and continues to aid Open AI’s development.

AI Chatbots Are the Ultimate Free Toolbox for Educators

All these chatbots share some cool features that make our jobs as teachers exciting and efficient. They’re fantastic for creating content like lesson plans and quizzes and even tailoring materials for individual student needs. Plus, they’re great for suggesting resources, translating languages, and keeping us up-to-date with educational trends. And best of all, students are mesmerized by them.

Did you try an AI chatbot and think “meh”? It’s time to try them again. Learning to prompt these chatbots is the key to success. It is a skill that you have to develop, but you do so by spending time chatting with one and seeing how it responds. It really is mostly about time in the game, so start playing because… it’s really cool!

While wrapper tools are proliferating like bunnies, knowing how to work with the LLMs directly will enable you to incorporate AI into your teaching practice at no cost.

EduEase: A Free AI Quiz from Any PDF

Hey Educators, Check Out This Free AI Tool!

We’ve all been there – drowning in paperwork, lesson plans, and the never-ending quest to make our classes more engaging. Then comes another buzzword – AI in education. But before you roll your eyes about another technology you don’t have time to explore, hear me out. Because EduEase.ai is a real time-saver, and let’s face it, who among us isn’t looking for a shortcut now and then?

Generate a Quiz Off of Any PDF

EduEase is like that cool gadget you didn’t know you needed. You’ve got a PDF? Boom – it’s now a quiz. Sign up (for free, yay!), upload your PDF – and sit back. The AI does its thing and creates a multiple-choice quiz. No more late-night question framing!

Fast and Easy – Just How We Like It

This tool is speedy. In just a couple of minutes, you get an interactive quiz that you can give to your students online. This is great for those times when you need something quick for your class, like a low-stakes quiz to keep them on their toes.

A Pinch of Customization

Sure, the AI does most of the work, but you’re not totally hands-off. You can add your twist to the questions, tweak them a bit, or throw in a few of your own. And be sure to read over everything… because you never know when an hallucination might occur.

Share and Care

Once your quiz is ready, share the link with your students. Pop it into your LMS, send it via email, or however you like to communicate with your class. And there’s a preview option, so you can see what your students will experience beforehand.

The Real Talk – Pros and Cons

Okay, let’s break it down. EduEase isn’t perfect. The quizzes are multiple-choice only, which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Also, the grades don’t come in a super convenient format, and let’s be real, students could find many ways to cheat.

But here’s the good stuff – it’s a massive time-saver, it’s super easy to use (no need to become an AI expert), and it’s free – at least for now. It’s perfect for those quick, low-stakes quizzes you want to throw into your course without spending hours on them.

See It In Action

So, while it’s true that EduEase won’t revolutionize your teaching, it will give you a bit more time to breathe. And in your busy world, that’s a win. Watch Richard Byrne of Practical Ed Tech on his YouTube channel showing you how easy it is to get started.

Animated Greeting Card You Are Awesome GIF - Animated Greeting Card You Are Awesome - Dis… | You are awesome gif, You are awesome, Happy birthday quotes for friends

March 2024

Posted on February 26, 2024 by stevez 0

Coming soon to Arno…

March 2

Spring fever

March 4/5

Steve/reading coaches @Kalamazoo

March 5

PBIS District meeting 9:30

March 6

Teacher Data Day

March 7

Reminder Tomorrow is Spring Picture Day

Spring Picture Day

Super Cougar Lunch

PTA Meeting 6:30pm

March 8

End of 2nd Trimester

March 11

Magic of Stories Assembly

Y5-2 12:30-1:10
3-5 & CI 1:30-2:10

March 12

Ad Council 9:30

March 13

PBIS 8:00

March 14

Bingo For Books! – Mrs. Stortini's Preschool Class News

Bingo for Books

Staff Meeting 7:45

Safety Committee 9:30

March 15

No School- Teacher PD

Report Cards Released

March 17

March 18

1st grade to Dearborn

March 19

Math meeting 8:00

Officer Knudsen Cougar Lunch 11:00

March 20

Reading meeting 8:00

SIP 8:00

Mr. Peace Assembly

K-2 9:00
3-5, CI 10:00

Tornado/Severe Weather Drill 1:20

March 21

SEL 8:00

Fire Drill 2:40

March 23-March 31

No School – Spring Break – Silverton High School

Spring Break

March 31

Happy Easter with Clipart

Happy Easter!

April 1

Class resumes

The Pagan Origin Of Painted Easter Eggs

ARNO MISSION

ARNO ELEMENTARY…INSPIRING STUDENTS TOWARD ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE.

Peanuts Snoopy Easter Bunny Vinyl Decal

ARNO VISION

ARNO ELEMENTARY PROVIDES A SUPPORTIVE HIGH QUALITY ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE TO INSPIRE ALL LEARNERS TO ACHIEVE THEIR PERSONAL BEST.

Think Spring | Snoopy, Snoopy love, Snoopy pictures

ARNO COLLECTIVE COMMITMENTS

Academics are student-centered, which allow for various learning styles to showcase student achievement.
We will develop and maintain a positive, respectful relationship with each student by using flexibility and adaptability to meet individual needs
We will foster safe learning environments that allow students the opportunity to establish a growth mindset

JOSH REEVES GLOBAL REALITY 11 YEAR ANNIVERSARY AND OPERATING COSTS | GoGetFunding

Tutoring

Another call for anyone interested in doing tutoring before or after school. Before school tutoring will be for whole group tech (like Edmentum) @$30 per hour. After School tutoring can be either tech at $30 for one hour OR small group at $60 per session (includes planning period. We have a number of 3rd grade students who would benefit and this is a great opportunity to help them increase their scores.

35+ Funny data science memes that will make you laugh - forms.app

Data Dive

Our next Data Dive is coming up on March 6, the signup is below. In the meantime, now is a great time to review your quadrant chart from the latest testing. It will give you a great idea of where your growth is at, and who needs to accelerate to get into that high growth, high achievement grid area. Below are some questions to ponder about your chart:

In reviewing your Low Growth, Low Achievement Quadrant (Pink). How many students are there and how will you adjust your instructional program to meet their needs (i.e. alter groups, use resources from Scholastic book room, new strategies, etc)
In reviewing your Low Growth, High Achievement Quadrant (Yellow). How many students are there and how will you adjust your instructional program to meet their needs (i.e. alter groups, use resources from Scholastic book room, new strategies, etc)
In reviewing your High Growth, Low Achievement Quadrant (Peach). How many students are there and how will you adjust your instructional program to meet their needs (i.e. alter groups, use resources from Scholastic book room, new strategies, etc)
In reviewing your High Growth, High Achievement Quadrant. How many students are there and how will you continue to support their growth? (i.e. increase text levels using the Scholastic Book Room)

March Sign-up

Unify All Communication Tools - ParentSquare

Parent Square

A reminder for goals to accomplish on Parent Square. Remember, we want Parent Square to be that one stop communication tool moving forward in the future. Please let me know if you have any questions on how to do something, and we do now have a number of staff who have explored the many facets of the platform that can help as well. If you have an upcoming field trip, try using Parent Square to create and send the permission slip.

Our monthly goals:

Make one Parent Square post about academic learning.
Create one upcoming calendar event (spelling test, testing, field trip, due date, etc.)
- If you need help making an event: Click Here to Learn!

Kindergarten Registration – Independent School District 31

Kindergarten Registration Fall 2024

Kinder2024-25

March is Reading Month!

Teacher information for this year’s MIRM plan:

Bingo for Books — Lake Oconee Life

Bingo for Books

M-STEP

The M-STEP is fast approaching again! The state calendar is below, our school schedule can be viewed through the link

M-STEP SCHEDULE 2024

Congrats! [GIF] by Yondr Studio on Dribbble

Congratulations to all of our 2023-2024 Founder’s Day Winners at Arno!

May be an image of 8 people

May be an image of 5 people

PTSA Spring Fever Coming Up!

May be an image of text

YEARBOOK SALES
Yearbook sales are now ready and did not include a yearbook if you would like to send this link out

Yearbook sale information:

https://inter-state.com/YearbookEntry/83981H

Spring Picture Day

Spring picture day will be coming up on March 7.

This event’s Order Code is 85382PF.

https://inter-state.com/FlyerEntry

Tech Time — OCRL.ORG

Tech Time

EduEase: A Free AI Quiz from Any PDF

Hey Educators, Check Out This Free AI Tool!

Generate a Quiz Off of Any PDF

Fast and Easy – Just How We Like It

A Pinch of Customization

Share and Care

The Real Talk – Pros and Cons

See It In Action

Harnessing the Power: Creating Images with Canva’s AI

In the ever-evolving world of design, Canva stands out as a versatile tool, offering a plethora of options for creating stunning visuals. However, its capabilities extend beyond mere templates and elements, delving into the realm of AI-powered image creation. This feature is a game-changer for those struggling to find the perfect image. Here’s a guide on how to utilize Canva’s AI Image Creation tool to bring your visions to life.

Stepping into the World of AI Image Creation

When the extensive library of elements and pictures doesn’t meet your needs, Canva’s AI Image Creation tool comes to the rescue. Located in the apps setting on the left-hand side, the ‘Text to Image’ option allows you to create bespoke images. Simply type in a description of what you’re envisioning, such as ‘a happy person with a puppy,’ and let Canva generate unique images for you.

Exploring and Selecting Generated Images

Once you initiate a search, Canva presents multiple image options, crafted based on your description. If the initial options don’t resonate with you, regenerate until you find the one that aligns with your vision. Select your preferred image and integrate it seamlessly into your design.

Enhancing Accessibility: Adding Alt Text

Inclusivity is paramount in design. Canva enables you to add alternative text to any image, catering to individuals using screen readers. Right-click on your chosen image, select ‘Alternative Text,’ and type in a descriptive, concise representation of the image, such as ‘a woman holding a brown and white puppy.’ This step ensures your creations are accessible to all, fostering a more inclusive design environment.

Conclusion

Canva’s AI Image Creation tool is a revolutionary feature, allowing users to transcend the limitations of available pictures and elements. By generating images based on descriptive text, it empowers users to actualize their creative visions, while also promoting inclusivity through the addition of alternative text. Whether you’re designing a presentation, a social media post, or any other visual content, this tool enhances your creative process, ensuring your designs are not just ‘good enough,’ but precisely what you envisioned.

For a more in-depth look at using Canva’s AI Image Creation tool and other innovative features, consider spending a few minutes with Richard Byrne’s latest video:

happy-easter-greetings-cute-bunnies-eggs-animated-gif-7.gif (500×273) | Happy easter banner, Happy easter sign, Happy easter gif

April 2024

Posted on February 12, 2024 by stevez 0

Coming soon to Arno…

April 1

Class resumes

April 4

Cougar Cash Lunch

Fire Drill

PTA meeting 6:30pm

April 8

4th grade to metro parks

District MTSS meeting 8:45-12 (8 week update)

April 9

Communication/Attendance meeting 8:00

Ad Council 9:30

April 10

PBIS 8:00

Reading 8:00

April 11

Staff Meeting 7:45

Super Cougar Lunch

Knudsen Cougar Lunch

April 16

Spring 2016 Michigan M-STEP Guide to Reports

5th Grade M-STEP -science

April 17

SIP 8:00

April 18

Spring 2016 Michigan M-STEP Guide to Reports

5th Grade M-STEP S.S.

Safety Committee 9:30

Fire Drill 2:40 pm

April 22

File:Rotating earth animated transparent.gif - Wikimedia Commons

Earth day

April 23

Spring 2016 Michigan M-STEP Guide to Reports

5th Grade M-STEP ELA

K-1 Spring Concert 6:30

April 24

Teacher Data Day

April 25

Math 8:00

SEL 8:00

April 26

Geneseo Park District | Daddy daughter dance

PTA Daddy/Daughter Dance

CI bowling 9:30

April 30

Spring 2016 Michigan M-STEP Guide to Reports

3,4,5 M-STEP Math

May Month Images – Browse 143,113 Stock Photos, Vectors, and Video | Adobe Stock

May

May 2

Cougar Cash Lunch

6:30 grade counselors at Arno 10:30am

ALICE Drill- walkabout 1:30

PTA meeting 6:30

May 3

E.R. Teacher PD pm

Snoopy - Welcome, April! | Facebook

ARNO MISSION

ARNO ELEMENTARY…INSPIRING STUDENTS TOWARD ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE.

Snoopy Umbrella Digital Art by Lil Boy - Pixels

ARNO VISION

ARNO ELEMENTARY PROVIDES A SUPPORTIVE HIGH QUALITY ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE TO INSPIRE ALL LEARNERS TO ACHIEVE THEIR PERSONAL BEST.

Happy Earth Day! | Snoopy, Snoopy love, Charlie brown and snoopy

ARNO COLLECTIVE COMMITMENTS

Academics are student-centered, which allow for various learning styles to showcase student achievement.
We will develop and maintain a positive, respectful relationship with each student by using flexibility and adaptability to meet individual needs
We will foster safe learning environments that allow students the opportunity to establish a growth mindset

M-STEP is on its way!

Please be sure to review the schedule for dates and prep switches. I will be providing a snack once again for the first primary date of testing only for each subject area. Please let me know upon delivery if you have any allergies in your classroom.

**We will be doing the ELA clap out for the first day of the ELA test for 3,4,5

Training Slides

M-STEP schedule

M-STEP State Website

Dates:

April 16- 5th grade Science

April 18- 5th grade Social Studies

April 23/24- 5th grade ELA-CLAP OUT

April 30/May 1- 3rd, 4th and 5th grade Math

May 7/8- 3rd and 4th grade ELA- CLAP OUT- we will clap 3rd grade first, then I will come back for fourth grade

You get data! And you get data! And you get data! EVERYBODY GETS DATA! - Oprah Winfrey - You Get a Car Meme Generator

Teacher Data Day

We will meet on April 24 for our next day. We will look at ongoing progress monitoring as we prepare for universal screening in May.

April Signup

Save The Date Launch Sticker by Erstwilder

Save the Date

Please mark your calendars for the staff appreciation lunch on May 9. We will host an hour special lunch that day with the normal hour long schedule from 11:00-12:00 for all grades/staff. More details soon

Assessments

Our Jan Richardson dates will be coming up soon in May. Please continue to assess as needed so that your students are getting the proper small group lessons that they need for their current level.

5th Grade May 8

4th Grade May 21

3rd Grade May 13

2nd Grade May 15

1st Grade May 16

Kinder May 22

ALICE Drill

Our next ALICE drill will be coming up on May 2, around 1:30pm. This will be a full boot lockdown drill first, then all clear, then proceed for a walk by (not going inside) of our evacuation site. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Green Team Awesomeness

Congratulations to our entire Green Team, they have once again earned Arno Elementary an Evergreen Designated School, which is the highest honor among Michigan Green School recipients. Each year, we provide students with the knowledge necessary to become environmental experts. Continue to stay up to date as Earth Day is approaching.

Daddy/Daughter Dance

FYI- It is that magical time of year- the Daddy/Daughter Dance is fast approaching! Please stay tuned for all of the magical information from the PTA on this special night, Friday, April 26.

KINDERGARTEN ROUNDUP

We are pleased to be having our kindergarten round up this spring for all incoming kindergarteners. This year’s event will be on May 13 starting at 6:30 p.m. Parents will attend in the gym, all future Cougars will attend within the 3 different classrooms.

Spring Concert

We are excited to invite you the upcoming concert for grades kindergarten-first grade! The event will take place at the Allen Park Center for the Arts on April 23 @6:30pm. Hope to see you there!

Coming Events for 5th graders | Windsor Elementary School

5th Grade End of Year

The 23-24 school year is flying by! For planning purposes, here some important dates for 5th grade:

May 22/23 HIV/Maturation Video

June 4 5th Grade Graduation AP Center for the Arts 9:15am

June 6 5th Grade Picnic @Boccabella Park

Mr. Peace

There was some great messaging that Mr. Peace delivered to our Cougars, please try to occasionally have your students reflect back on this day to really build this in to their mindset. You will also have the doc from him to make this a more living message in our building.

National Youth Motivational & Bullying Speaker

Tech Time

ActiveLearningLabs.com – Free Simulation Platform

The era of passive learning is waning, slowly giving rise to a demand for something more engaging, more challenging. Today’s students seek not just information but experiences that spark curiosity and foster active participation.

In a world where attention spans have shrunk, the team at ActiveLearningLabs.com has a FREE interactive simulation platform for teachers who want to create interactives that engage students as they manipulate variables and watch the impacts in real time. It can be used in most subjects– science, math, personal finance… even history!

Dynamic Worksheets – A Game-Changer?

Unlike conventional digital or printables, ActiveLearningLabs’ dynamic worksheets go beyond mere input and scoring—they actively respond to user interactions by showing computed results, checking student entries as they work, or updating graphs in real-time.

Through a range of interactive controls such as sliders, spinners, drop-downs, and drag and-drop features, students can manipulate variables and witness immediate changes, from calculated results to real-time graph updates.

Browse through ALL’s dynamic worksheet library here. 40 of the 99 activities are FREE.

Real-Time Teacher Console:

The platform offers teachers the tools needed to enroll students and assign activities, track the student’s progress instantly, provide feedback, view score reports, time spent reports, evaluate any writing activities etc.

Don’t want to sign up for a totally free account?? Use the anonymous mode.

Invitation to Content Creators:

ActiveLearningLabs is also extending an invitation to educators with a zeal for creating dynamic and engaging content. After trying out the ALL platform, reach out upesh@activelearninglabs.com if you would like to be a content creator and get in on the ground floor of the future!

When AI Gold Rush Passes: Magic School AI Will Still Be Here

Magic School AI logo for AI Gold Rush article

Magic School AI is packed with over 40 nifty tools. Let’s peek at some that are total game-changers:

Rubric Generator

Wave goodbye to rubric woes! This tool is like your personal rubric wizard. Input your assignment, and voilà – a custom rubric pops out, ready to roll on your favorite platform like Word or Google Docs.

Science Assessment Generator

Science teachers, this one’s for you! Aligning with NGSS standards, it’s like having a mini Einstein to help craft those perfect assessments. Though Magic School AI sticks to the basic question types, like most generative AIs do, it’s still better than writing your own assessments from scratch, right?!

Academic Content Generator

Need content that ticks all the boxes for your curriculum? This tool is like having a mini-me to create engaging lessons in any subject you teach.

Student Support Tool

IEPs can be a handful, right? This tool helps you draft them up in no time, tailored just right for each student’s needs.

Many More Tools in Magic AI

There’s a whole world of additional AI tools in Magic School AI. From creating exotic science labs to crafting the perfect math spiral review, these tools are like having a whole team of collaborators at your fingertips.

Unlike most of the AI wrappers focused on educational content generation, Magic School has a huge diversity of offerings making it useful for most teachers, regardless of the courses you teach.

Email to Parents Made Easy

We all know communication is a key aspect of teaching– and also very time-consuming. Magic School AI gets it– and offers a unique solution:

The Email Responder Tool is your personal secretary, crafting responses to parents or colleagues. And it does it well, so you actually get back some time in your evenings.

And for some fun, the Colleague Song Generator lets you whip up a catchy tune to celebrate your awesome co-workers. Who says teachers can’t be songwriters?

Raina: Your Chatbot Pal

And then there’s Raina, which is Magic School’s chatbot. It’s been trained specifically on educational topics and data. It can have an intelligent conversation with you about lesson plans, teaching strategies, or just about anything school-related.When your spouse is weary of more school talk, turn to Raina as your personal sounding board.

Wrapping It Up

Magic School AI is more than just another entry in the AI Gold Rush; it has more gravitas because it has spent its investment dollars wisely. It has focused on truly assisting the education community, not just exploiting it for a quick profit. By using these AI-powered tools you can make many of your teaching tasks more efficient, create high-quality content, enhance communication, and provide meaningful support to your students.

The free account has limits, but they’re easy to understand and it’s a great way to dip your toes into the AI waters, like I’ve been urging you to do!

Magic School Free Version

The Magic School Free version offers:

Access to 60+ tools, Raina, and the Chrome extension.
The Raina chatbot is limited to the “translate” feature.
Output history is limited to the last 5 generations.
No integration with Microsoft/Google/LMS
No “Export” feature, only “Copy” option.
Support through the Facebook group.

Check it out today at: https://www.magicschool.ai/

April in Motivational Quotes - #AtoZChallenge - O - My Random Musings

February 2024

Posted on February 1, 2024 by stevez 0

Coming soon to Arno…

Feb. 1

Cougar Cash Lunch

NWEA Rewards Assembly

Middle School Band visit (5th grade)

PTA Meeting 6:30pm

Feb. 2

Cougar Cash Lunch w/Officer Knudsen

NWEA Student Goal Meetings

Feb. 6

Communication Committee 8:00

Feb. 7

District MTSS

NWEA recess- weather permitting

Feb. 8

Staff Meeting 7:45

American Heart Association Assembly

9:15 K-2

9:55 3-5

Super Cougar Lunch

NWEA reward movie 1:30

PTA Family Fun Night 6:30

Feb. 9

No School- Teacher PD

Feb. 12

Allen Park Schools Wellness Week

MEMSPA building tour (Steve)am

Board Strategic Plan Update

Feb. 13

Ad Council 9:30

Feb. 14

84,400+ Happy Valentines Day Text Stock Illustrations ...

Valentines Day

PBIS 8:00

Reading 8:00

Feb. 15

Crisis Team Meeting 8:00

Feb. 19 & 20

No School November 9-10 | Reynolds School District - Oregon

No School- President’s Day Break

Feb. 21-23

5th Grade Camp

Feb. 21

SIP 8:00

Founder’s Day Dinner

Feb 23

Kindergarten to Ann Arbor

Feb 27

Math 8:00

1st Grade to Dearborn

Feb 28

Cardiac Drill 8:00

Feb. 29

Cougar Cash Lunch

SEL 8:00

Think Spring | Snoopy, Snoopy love, Snoopy pictures

March 2

PTSA Spring Fever

How to Write a Mission Statement (With 27 Examples) | Built In

ARNO MISSION

ARNO ELEMENTARY…INSPIRING STUDENTS TOWARD ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE.

Snoopy Valentine's Day Medium Die Cut Sticker

ARNO VISION

ARNO ELEMENTARY PROVIDES A SUPPORTIVE HIGH QUALITY ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE TO INSPIRE ALL LEARNERS TO ACHIEVE THEIR PERSONAL BEST.

Second Life Marketplace - #008 GIF ANIMATED canvas Heart Sparkles Valentines Love Framed Picture Moving Greeting Card, copy/mod 1 prim

ARNO COLLECTIVE COMMITMENTS

ACADEMICS ARE STUDENT-CENTERED, WHICH ALLOW FOR VARIOUS LEARNING STYLES TO SHOWCASE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT.
WE WILL DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN A POSITIVE, RESPECTFUL RELATIONSHIP WITH EACH STUDENT BY USING FLEXIBILITY AND ADAPTABILITY TO MEET INDIVIDUAL NEEDS
WE WILL FOSTER SAFE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS THAT ALLOW STUDENTS THE OPPORTUNITY TO ESTABLISH A GROWTH MINDSET

FOUNDER’S DAY CELEBRATION

The annual Founder’s Day awards celebration takes place on Feb. 21 as our amazing winners get to shine! Congratulations to all of our award winners this year- you represent the very best of our Arno Cougars!!

Link for tickets: https://apptacouncil.memberhub.com/store?limit=21&live=true&category=Founders%20Day%202024

2023-24 PTA Founders Day Winners

MTSS Update

The district will be coming out of Feb. 7 to conduct our MTSS meetings. After that, we will ID any student that will be looked at closer and let staff know that information.

Keys to Understanding AEDs

Feb. Staff Meeting

This month’s staff meeting will feature Meaghan Rourke conducting a short training on our new AED units. After that date, the crisis team will be meeting and planning our cardiac drill that will happen before school on Feb. 28 at 8:00. This is all part of our application process for MI Heart Safe Schools. We will also discuss the upcoming bond work slated to start on spring break.

Board-update - PuSh Festival

Strategic Plan

All three committees will be presenting the new strategic plan update to the Board on Feb. 12. This would not be the adoption meeting, which would come at a later date.

M-STEP

The M-STEP is fast approaching again! The state calendar is below, our school schedule can be viewed through the link

M-STEP SCHEDULE 2024

Update GIFs | GIFDB.com

Committee Updates

PBIS

~planning date in February

Review reward dates and organizers

Officer/Principal Lunch

~more lunches offered each week?

~budget concern?

~staggering when to put out the certificates

~look at list to see who has received before

Cougar Store

~water bottles

~April bucks

~dumdums

Club Ideas

~lower el

~Zumba?

~Kaleidoscope

Mentors

~May 31st appreciation

~ice cream and recess

~2 more meetings

~11 mentors currently; one-to-one ratio

Reading

Reading Goals Meeting with Dr.Chuby

Dr. Chuby will meet with students if 3-5 teachers would like assistance with goal meetings.

M-STEP Prep

Grades 3-5 should all be using ReadWorks story by now.
M-STEP Quizzes and Homework packets are in full swing.
Charms have started.
SBA should start by 1/29/24 if they haven’t started yet.
Edmentum Challenges have been VERY productive! Lots of monthly rewards. “Most Trophy” winners really like the bracelet and smarties!

Concerns

Some teachers are struggling with doing the grammar workbook pages from the end of the Journeys series.

Math

*Number Talks Website continued – fixing and creating links w/in Google Slides

*Discussion over being able to utilize premade slides from Soranno

SEL

Monthly Topics

September/October	Courage/Bullying
November/December	Gratitude
January	Forgiveness
February	Black History
March	Women’s History/Neurodiversity, 3/13 Down Syndrome
April	Emotion Management/Problem Solving/Communication
May	Compassion in action/Empathy

Agenda for Meeting 11/7/23

Mindful Monday
Black History Month Pages – I will print new bios, will give each SEL member 5 to get filmed? Need 20 total
SEL Question of the Day TPT Purchase
Katie Jensen – check in about books for bhm and whm and neurodiversity
Make a SEL shared drive

School Improvement

Met and discussed the survey results from Parents and Staff
Student survey will be given at the end of January
Created some slides to share from the survey results at the next staff meeting

NWEA Coming Soon

Reading NWEA Conferences with Steve on Feb. 2nd

Students who finished in under 40 minutes (The Reading NWEA has 40-43 questions, no one should have been done in less than 40 minutes).
Students who received the sloth.
Students who did not reach his/her personal growth goal.
Students who had 10% rapid guessing or higher.

*If a student has rapid guessing of 30% or higher, then NWEA recommends retesting the child due to misrepresentation of the score due to rapid guessing.

Assembly Guidelines

Winter NWEA (Updated)

Winter Assembly on Thursday, February 1st, 2024.
1 grade level at a time in the gym.
Students who reach their personal growth goal or the grade level proficiency rit score earn a charm, certificate, and an extra recess with Mr. Zielinski.
If students don’t reach their Winter growth goal or the grade level proficiency rit score, tell students they could earn the rewards in the Spring.
Students with the top ten reading and math scores, in each grade level, will get a movie reward with Mr. Zielinski.
If a student doesn’t reach their personal growth goal OR the grade level proficiency rit score, they DO NOT get anything.
Teachers-Students need to wear his/her necklaces to the assembly. Please hand out the charms in your own classroom after the assembly if they earned a charm.
60th percentile on the MSTEP = proficiency on the MSTEP.
- 3rd Grade Reading Proficiency Rit Score: 198
- 3rd Grade Math Proficiency Rit Score: 200
- 4th Grade Reading Proficiency Rit Score: 207
- 4th Grade Math Proficiency Rit Score: 210
- 5th Grade Reading Proficiency Rit Score: 213
- 5th Grade Math Proficiency Rit Score: 219

NWEA-presentation-2024

CAMP

Our 5th graders get the awesome opportunity to head back to camp again this year. Camp will run from Feb. 21-23. Hoping for good weather!

Black History Month: A time to celebrate accomplishments past and present > Hill Air Force Base > Article Display

CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH: 10 WAYS YOUR STUDENT CAN LEARN ABOUT BLACK HISTORY AND CULTURE IN AMERICA

By Valerie Kirk
January 31, 2021

February is Black History Month, a time to celebrate the impact of African American heritage, culture, and achievement in our country. While most K–12 schools incorporate Black history activities into their curriculum, Black History Month offers a wonderful opportunity to extend your child’s learning at home or enhance your homeschool curriculum. Here are 10 ways your student can learn about Black history and culture. You don’t have to wait until February—these activities and resources can be used throughout the year!

1. Celebrate with Cross-Curricular Activities

Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher of children’s books, has developed 13 cross-curricular activities for teachers to celebrate Black History Month, broken down by elementary, middle, and high school. While these ideas are intended to be done in a traditional classroom, they can all be adapted to online school or homeschool students. While you’re on the Scholastic website, check out their reading list of young adult books written by African American authors.

2. Read a Book About the African American Experience, History, and Culture

Educators recommend that students spend at least 20 minutes a day reading. Celebrate Black History Month by having your student read a book that features African American culture, shares the story of a great African American figure, or brings the African American experience to life. For inspiration, here are 10 terrific books for students in elementary school.

3. Watch a Documentary

Documentaries bring the past to life, connecting us to significant times in history. PBS offers this list of powerful documentaries exploring Black history and culture in America. Relive iconic moments, like the 1963 March on Washington, or join the Freedom Riders on their journey through the Jim Crow South. These documentaries are appropriate for middle or high school students.

4. Plan a Full Lesson on Historical Topics

PBS also offers their Learning Media series, with several lessons that honor Black History Month, including lessons on the Emancipation Proclamation, the Great Migration, and the civil rights movement. These lessons are designed to support teachers and homeschool families but are an excellent resource for parents looking to help their student have a deeper understanding of these important topics.

5. Virtually Visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture

The National Museum of African American History and Culture is part of the Smithsonian Institute and devoted exclusively to the documentation of African American life, history, and culture. They have a wealth of online learning resources to help you enrich your student’s learning experience, including recommended reading resources for elementary, middle, and high school students and Smithsonian Learning Labs, which are free, interactive lessons where students can explore both well-known and not so well-known moments in history.

6. Watch a Movie Showcasing African American History or Experiences

Celebrate Black History Month with family movie night, watching movies that celebrate the African American experience or that highlight historical events. Movie casts have become more diverse in recent years, so choosing films that feature actors of color is a way to celebrate achievements. Need inspiration? Check out this list of 50 African American children’s movies for a special family movie night.

7. Honor African American Veterans

Did you know that nearly 200,000 African Americans served in the US Army from 1863 to 1865, making up nearly 10 percent of the American soldiers who served in the US Army during the Civil War? It all started with the formation of the 54th Massachusetts regiment. From service in the Civil War to the Buffalo Soldiers and Tuskegee Airmen, African American men and women have a long history of serving in the United States military. Your student can honor their contributions in both times of war and peace by learning more about their service.

8. Learn About African American Inventors

The first African American to be awarded a US patent was Thomas Jennings, who in 1821 invented a way to dry-clean clothes. The first African American woman to receive a patent was Judy Reed for her dough kneader and roller in 1884. Have your student research other African American inventors who made contributions to science, industry, business, agriculture, transportation, and communications.

9. Listen to a TED Talk

If your high school student walks around with earbuds in all day, have them spend some time listening to TED Talks that celebrate Black History Month. TED Talks are designed to share knowledge through short talks and presentations. Their Black History Month playlist includes talks about the migration of African Americans out of the Jim Crow South, an introduction of the woman Martin Luther King Jr. called “the architect of the civil rights movement,” and how speaking openly about race makes for better business and society.

10. Explore African American Musical Influencers

Celebrate Black History Month by listening to the great African American musicians. Have your student read about the 50 most important African American musical artists and learn more about their lives and music. Use this opportunity to introduce your student to musical genres that were heavily influenced by these talented artists, including jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, gospel, doo-wop, and hip-hop.

Activities and Resources for Preschool to Third Grade

Audio and Stories for Preschool to Third Grade

Listen along as James Earl Jones reads “To Be a Drum,” a story of rhythm, history, and freedom.
Enjoy the African Folktales With Miss Jo Jo podcast to hear stories that originated in Africa and were passed down through generations.

Videos for Preschool to Third Grade

Let this mother-daughter team, the hosts of Kids Black History on YouTube, teach some facts about Africa in a video that’s sure to make you smile. (Grades pre-K-1)
Watch this YouTube video from Nickelodeon to find out how Suzan-Lori Parks became the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for writing dramatic plays.
Learn about the first Black pilots in this YouTube video from Sesame Studios. What would it be like to build and fly your own plane?
Find out about the inventor of the modern traffic light and what else he created in this YouTube video from Kids Black History.
Check out Craig Thompson’s alphabet of amazing Black inventors to revisit some who are familiar and discover others you didn’t know.
This YouTube video from Nickelodeon highlights the brilliant and driven Alexa Canady, the first Black woman to become a neurosurgeon in 1981.

Hands-On Activities for Preschool to Third Grade

Follow along with this YouTube video and use your body to play the Hambone — an African drumming technique with historical significance.
Try this George Washington Carver-inspired craft that just requires a paper plate, paper, and some paint!

Activities and Resources for Third to Fifth Grade

Audio and Stories for Third Grade to Fifth Grade

Listen to this episode from The Past and the Curious podcast about blues and folk musician Elizabeth Cotten, whose catchy songs traveled all over the world and even influenced the Beatles.
Journey into the world of Latin American music with this podcast episode (via YouTube) from Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls and learn about the life of Celia Cruz, the Cuban Afro-Latina singer known as the Queen of Salsa.
Hey Black Child: The Podcast features lesser-known African American Heroes and is hosted by kids!

Videos for Third Grade to Fifth Grade

Find out about the African American inventor Lewis Latimer, who contributed to the creation of the light bulb, telephone, and more in this YouTube video from the Fab Lab.
Check out this video and article on Dorothy Vaughan, the supervisor of a group of boundary-breaking African American women whose calculations got astronauts into space.
Through this Smithsonian video and article, get a feel for the sounds and movements, and a sense of the rich history, behind Afro-Peruvian music, a unique result of the African diaspora.
Let Flocabulary introduce George Washington Carver’s life, the challenges he faced, and his accomplishments as an inventor and innovator. Then, ask students to consider how his ideas changed life for us all today.
From The Kid Should See This, learn about science educator and graduate student Adania Flemming, who studies marine life at the University of Florida. Or discover the trailblazing accomplishments of Matthew Henson, who broke boundaries as an Arctic explorer and African American.
Listen as the kids from Global Citizen share what they know about Black history.

ChatGPT Glossary: 41 AI Terms that Everyone Should Know - CNET

Tech Time

EduEase: A Free AI Quiz from Any PDF

Hey Educators, Check Out This Free AI Tool!

Generate a Quiz Off of Any PDF

Fast and Easy – Just How We Like It

A Pinch of Customization

Share and Care

The Real Talk – Pros and Cons

See It In Action

Turning Text into Educational Videos with AI-Powered Tools

In this post, we’re looking at AI tools that let you turn text into videos. In some cases, it will even write the text for you! We all know that it’s challenging to keep students engaged in an increasingly digital world. Using videos more often is one way to capture their attention.

Exploring AI Video Creation Tools for Educators

AI-powered video creation platforms are a game-changer for teachers– and there are a lot of tools to choose from.

Each AI video creation platform offers unique features that can aid in different aspects of teaching. Here’s a rundown of some of the best tools out there.

Simpleshow.com

Simpleshow makes video creation as simple as typing out a lesson plan. Its AI-driven interface helps educators create animated videos that explain complex concepts in simple terms. Whether it’s a tricky math problem or a historical event, simpleshow can help you break it down into easily digestible visuals.

Richard Byrne did a an in-depth video on how simpleshow.com works using the free version. Click to watch him in action.

Animaker

Animaker is a user-friendly platform that empowers teachers to create animated videos effortlessly. Its robust library of animations, stock footage, and images means that creating a video is as easy as dragging and dropping elements into place. This tool is excellent for crafting animated timelines or science experiments, bringing them to life for students.

Kapwing

Kapwing’s AI Video Generator specializes in converting text descriptions into draft videos. This feature is particularly useful for literature and social studies teachers who want to visualize storylines or historical accounts, providing a foundation for further class discussion and analysis.

Invideo

Invideo’s full AI video generator is designed for ease from the get-go. Unique and tailored videos can be generated for any topic, making it perfect for bespoke educational content, like personalized story problems in math or hypothetical scientific scenarios that challenge students to think critically.

Canva

Canva allows for high customization in video creation, enabling educators to create multilingual content using a vast selection of AI voices. This is a fantastic resource for language educators, allowing them to produce interactive scenarios in which AI avatars engage in dialogue in the target language, thus enriching language acquisition.

Synthesia

Synthesia shines with its quick text-to-video conversion and a multitude of AI voices across different languages, ideal for diverse classrooms. This tool can help teachers create instructional videos in multiple languages or provide summaries of lessons for students who need them.

Steve.AI

Steve.AI offers animated videos with lip-syncing avatars, excellent for visual storytelling or explaining abstract concepts in a more tangible way. English teachers, for instance, could animate a piece of literature, providing a visual and auditory representation that could lead to better retention and understanding.

Putting AI Video Tools to Work for You, the Teacher

Incorporating these AI tools into your educational toolkit is straightforward. Begin by pinpointing a lesson that could be enhanced by a visual element. Select a platform that aligns with your objectives and use the resources available to create content that will engage your students. The aim is to supplement—not replace—the invaluable human element of teaching. With these AI video tools, you can bring lessons to life– along with your students!

Funny February Memes to Make You Laugh - Lola Lambchops

January 2024

Posted on January 8, 2024 by stevez 0

Coming soon to Arno…

Jan 8

Welcome Back! Happy New Year!

Jan 9

Communication comm meeting 8:00

Lockdown Boot training 8:00 (those staff that indicated they needed it only)

Lockdown Boot training 9:45- lunch staff

Jan 10

5th Grade Jan Richardson (JR)

PBIS 8:00

Marin obs 10:00

Jan. 11

4th Grade JR

Staff Meeting 7:45

Super Cougar Lunch

5th Grade PARENT CAMP MEETING 6:39 Center for the Arts

Jan. 15

NO SCHOOL- MLK Observed

Jan 16

Ad Council 9:30

Jan 17

3rd Grade JR

SIP Meet 8:00

PTSA Reflections Celebration Center for the Arts 6:00

Jan 18

Math Meeting 8:00

Safety Committee 9:30

ALICE Drill 2:30 (Hide out)

2nd grade to DIA

Grades 3-5 to Center for Arts Drama Performance

Mother/Son Night

Jan 19

No School- Teacher PD

Jan 23

2nd Grade JR

Jan 24

Reading Meeting 8:00

1st Grade JR

Metro Parks Presentation 3rd Grade

Jan 25

Kindergarten JR

SEL meeting 8:00

Arno Olympics 6:30

Jan 29

Board Meeting Strategic Plan update 7:00

Jan 30

MAISA Conf (Beth/Steve)

Jan 31

Teacher Data Day

February 1

Cougar Cash Lunch

NWEA Celebration Assembly

PTA Meeting 6:30

After Midnight: “Happy New Year, Charlie Brown” – Animation Scoop

ARNO MISSION

ARNO ELEMENTARY…INSPIRING STUDENTS TOWARD ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE.

Let's make it a Good Year" Sticker for Sale by Jokertext | Redbubble

ARNO VISION

ARNO ELEMENTARY PROVIDES A SUPPORTIVE HIGH QUALITY ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE TO INSPIRE ALL LEARNERS TO ACHIEVE THEIR PERSONAL BEST.

Handmade Snoopy & Woodstock Winter Sledding 8x8 Quilters and Craft Fabric Block | eBay

ARNO COLLECTIVE COMMITMENTS

Academics are student-centered, which allow for various learning styles to showcase student achievement.
We will develop and maintain a positive, respectful relationship with each student by using flexibility and adaptability to meet individual needs
We will foster safe learning environments that allow students the opportunity to establish a growth mindset

STAFF SURVEY

It is that time again, our annual staff survey will be active from Jan 8-Jan 17 for staff, students, and parents. We primarily use our survey results to inform the school improvement plan and take a careful look at things we may need to change.

We will once again only survey students in grades 3-5, and Carrie will help us out with that during their tech time. Please see your staff link below, I would love to see lots of staff completing it, it should not take you long.

https://forms.gle/jGgTKPbZVCfecmpp8

Testing in Production - Memes that Turn Technical Mishaps into Comic Relief | ConfigCat Blog

JANUARY ASSESSMENTS COMING UP

FAST Reading and Math (Per Beth and Erin)
NWEA Reading and Math (3,4,5 ELA as well)
Jan Richardson Reading

5th Grade Jan 10

4th Grade Jan. 11

3rd Grade Jan. 17

2nd Grade Jan. 23

1st Grade Jan. 24

Kinder Jan 25

BOARD APPRECIATION

A big THANK YOU to our Allen Park Board of Education members during School Board Appreciation Month. We are honored to have such a supportive Board of Education who keep the arts and education alive in Allen Park!

35+ Funny data science memes that will make you laugh - forms.app

Teacher Data Day

We will meet to go over the latest round of data on January 31, at the conclusion of testing. The district will be coming out on Feb. 7 for MTSS. Please sign up at the link below:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tNILnyetGdS1Pic27B89trFSfRHN_hMAy6soLkdGGzY/edit?usp=drive_link

Arno Olympics

It’s January, and it’s Olympic time! All of the fun starts on January 25, at 6:00 pm. If you are able to stay and help out, please let Nicole know.

Arno Olympics Flyer 2024

Image result for feedback

STUDENT GOALS

3-5- please remember to review and revise student goals with them to set their path for the next next trimester. Ongoing feedback,in addition to a high effect size, is a critical part of maintaining and reaching their goal. I will be once again sitting down with all partially proficient students, as well as those who were ID as rushing, and checking in throughout as part of the process.

The dates are below, please send any student with their goals who landed in the partially proficient zone (NWEA predictor), and/or rushed through their test as indicated by NWEA. Please start the time frame with sending 2 students down- then as one comes back, send the next. The goal is to have another sit down, other than their teacher, to help them focus more on the importance of making their goals and how they can attain them.

3rd grade- Feb. 2 9:-10:00

4th Grade- Feb. 2 10:15-11:15

5th Grade- Feb. 2 1:00-2:00

NWEA ASSEMBLY INFO

Thursday, February 1st, 2024

NWEA Goal Assembly
1 grade level at a time in the gym.
Location: Gym
Time:
- 3rd Grade: 9:30-10:00 pm
- 4th Grade: 10:00-10:30 pm
- 5th Grade: 10:30-11:00 pm

Students who reach their personal growth goal or the grade level proficiency rit score earn a charm, certificate, and an extra recess with Mr. Zielinski.
If students don’t reach their Winter growth goal or the grade level proficiency rit score, tell students they could earn the rewards in the Spring.
Students with the top ten reading scores, in each grade level, will get a movie reward with Mr. Zielinski.
If a student doesn’t reach their personal growth goal OR the grade level proficiency rit score, they DO NOT get anything.
Teachers-Students need to wear his/her necklaces to the assembly. Please hand out the charms in your own classroom after the assembly if they earned a charm.
60th percentile on the MSTEP = proficiency on the MSTEP.
- 3rd Grade Reading Proficiency Rit Score: 198
- 3rd Grade Math Proficiency Rit Score: 200
- 4th Grade Reading Proficiency Rit Score: 207
- 4th Grade Math Proficiency Rit Score: 210
- 5th Grade Reading Proficiency Rit Score: 213
- 5th Grade Math Proficiency Rit Score: 219

Is Your Child Ready for Kindergarten in the Fall? — Quality Care for Children

Building to Kindergarten Part 2 at Bennie

Building Up to Kindergarten Part 1 1-18-24

ALICE DRILL

This month, on Jan. 18, we will be conducting our second ALICE drill of the year. During this drill, classes will be practicing HIDE OUT/KEEP OUT where students will find numerous places in the room to hide (not in one big group) and you will assist in showing the class how the Boot would be used if there was an intruder if needed. This May we will be practicing GET OUT where the whole school will mock evacuate to our rendezvous point at the Presbyterian church on Park- which will just be a walk by.

Volunteer New York!'s MLK Day of Service

Wayne RESA MLK Resources

MLK Day and Black History Month

Martin Luther King Jr. Day – Martin Luther King Jr. Day Lessons focusing on High School
ReadWorks– The nonprofit ReadWorks creates free high-impact instructional materials and tools that are designed for immediate use within classrooms. Check out their Black History Month resources.
Mr.Donn.Org-Resources for Martin Luther King Jr Day: Grades 3-High School – Includes resource links for background information, bulletin board ideas, worksheets and printables, a selection of lesson plans ranging from 3 grade through 12th, and mini units for 3 and 4th grade.
MLK Jr. Research & Education Institute at Standford – Speeches, sermons, letters, historic documents, and lesson plans focused on High School students.
Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility – Here’s a selection of relevant teachable moment lessons appropriate for high school students, and in some cases middle school students.
The Smithsonian: Black History Month – Each year, the Smithsonian honors Black History Month with a calendar full of events. Explore a selection of resources and activities relating to African Americans.
American History Explorer: Our Story – This site from the Smithsonian provides numerous activities and resources that can be searched by grade level or by historical ERA.
National Museum of African American History– The National Museum of African American History and Culture is a place where all Americans can learn about the richness and diversity of the African American experience. It has numerous resources for use by teachers in the classroom.
The Library of Congress: African American History Month – This guide presents the Library’s resources, as well as links to external Web sites on African American History.
eThemes: Black History – These sites are about Black History Month. Learn about the contributions of African Americans in different fields. Includes quizzes, an interactive timeline, and other activities. There are links to eThemes Resources on the Negro baseball league, famous African Americans, the Emancipation Proclamation, the slave trade, and the Missouri Compromise. Some of these sites require a subscription.
The History Channel: Black History Month – Explore an interactive timeline of milestones throughout slavery and the civil rights movement. Try the History games too.
Teaching History.org – This comprehensive list of resources comes from the National Clearinghouse on History Education. The resources are organized by grade span.
The MLK Jr National Memorial – It has a great video of what the monument looks like and a history of the man, memorial, and movement,.
The Biography Channel: Black History – Take a crash course in black history. Check out the interactive timeline and test your knowledge in the games.
Teaching for Change: Building Social Justice in the Classroom- Covers the larger context of the Civil Rights Movement and the long struggle for human rights and full democracy in the United States.
Teaching Hard History: American Slavery – Not sure how to support students in learning about our painful past and how it affects our present? This new initiative from Teaching Tolerance offers guidance educators and provides some very important guiding principles for teaching about slavery.
Teaching Tolerance– This includes a great article with links to the best MLK resources/lessons from Teaching Tolerance. They emphasize wanting to help classroom teachers teach “beyond the simplified story and help your students learn about this civil rights leader’s life and legacy.”
The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History– This website provides an overview of the Museum’s education and public programs, information on how to plan a visit, online teaching and learning materials, virtual tours of traveling exhibitions, online catalogs of the library and historical collections, and a calendar of exhibition schedules and educational programs.
Zinn Education Project- The empowering potential of studying history is often lost in a textbook-driven trivial pursuit of names and dates. We believe that through taking a more engaging and more honest look at the past, we can help equip students — and all of us — with the analytical tools to make sense of and improve the world. Their website offers free, downloadable lessons and articles organized by theme, time period, and grade level.

Tech Time

Five Tools for Making Wordle Word Cloud

Do you remember when Wordle was a word cloud generator that was taking the Web 2.0/ edtech world by storm? I do and lately I can’t help but think of it whenever I see people post their Wordle scores on social media. For those who don’t remember those days, Wordle was originally a word cloud generator that teachers were using to create visual summaries of large blocks of text. I found it to be useful in providing students with a nice way to visualize the most frequently used words in a passage of text.

The original Wordle word cloud tool no longer exists, but there are others that still do and are still helpful. Here’s a handful of them to try.

Paste your text into Analyze My Writing and it will generate a ton of information about your writing. Analyze My Writing will give you a break-down of the readability of your writing on five indices. The analysis will include listings of the most common words and most common word pairs in your writing. A listing of how frequently you use punctuation and punctuation types is included in the analysis provided by Analyze My Writing. Finally, a word cloud is included at the end of the analysis of your writing. The word cloud and the graphs can be saved as images.

Word It Out creates word clouds out of any text that you paste into the word cloud generator. Once the word cloud is created you can customize the size and color scheme of the cloud. You can also customize the font used in your word cloud. The feature of Word It Out that I like the best is that you can choose to have Word It Out ignore any word or words you choose. Ignoring words keeps them out of the word cloud.

Tagxedo makes it very easy to customize the design of your word clouds. You can select from a variety of shapes in which to display words or you can design your shape for your word cloud. You can enter text into the word cloud generator manually or simply enter a URL from which Tagxedo will generate a word cloud. As with other word cloud generators you also have options for excluding words from your word clouds.

WordWanderer attempts to be different from other word cloud creation tools by letting you drag and drop words to rearrange the look of your word clouds. Additionally, WordWanderer includes a search tool that you can use to find a word. The context of your chosen word is shown below the word cloud itself.

On WordClouds.com you can create word clouds in a variety of shapes and sizes with a wide array of color schemes. I’ve even used it to make a word cloud about cats in the shape of a cat. In my video embedded below I demonstrate the features of WordClouds.com.

Make Math Flashcards on Canva

Canva is my go-to recommendation whenever someone asks me for help with anything requiring a bit of an eye for design. So on Wednesday when a reader asked me for a tool to create printable flashcards Canva was my recommendation. There are more than 300 flashcard templates in Canva’s design gallery. In that gallery you’ll find templates for making flashcards for math, spelling, geography, and more. And all of the templates can be modified to fit your needs.

In this short video I demonstrate how to use Canva to create printable math flashcards. While watching the video pay attention to my trick for making all of the cutting lines exactly the same.

Applications for Education

There is still a time and place for offline flashcards. The reader who emailed me this week wanted to make flashcards that her students could use at home with their parents in a screen-free environment. Canva provides a good way to make those flashcards to distribute to students and parents. Of course, students can also use Canva to create their own printable flashcards.

December 2023

Posted on December 1, 2023 by stevez 0

Coming soon to Arno…

Dec. 1

Game Truck/fundraiser 11:00-3:30

End of 1st Trimester

Dec. 4

Assembly- Let’s be Inclusive

Bleau obs 1:00

Dec. 5-8

Steve @conference

Dec. 7

District PBIS meeting 1:30

PTA Meeting 6:30 p.m.

Dec. 8

Report Cards sent home

Dec. 11

Guyot X-MAS 2:50

Dec. 12

Ad Council 9:30

Cookie Dough Fundraiser Delivery

Dec. 13

PBIS 8:00

Harrison obs 9:30

Roller obs 10:00

Cervantes obs 10:30

Amonette obs 12:45

Bleau X-MAS 2:10

Dec. 14

Staff Meeting 11:00 a.m.

Martinchick obs 9:00

Kubik obs 9:45

Holiday Lunch 11:00

PTA Snowball Dance

Higgins X-MAS 2:30

Dec. 15

Roller X-MAS 10:15

Zuke X-MAS 1:45

Dec. 18

Christmas Sing A-Long 2:30

Martinchick X-MAS 10:00

Pushman X-MAS 10:30

Dec. 19

Christmas Concert @ 8:30 AM - All Grades Participating - St. Philip-Neri Catholic School

4th/5th Grade Concert 6:30 p.m.

Math meeting 8:00

Martin obs 10:00

Huntington X-MAS 2:00

Dec. 20

Reading meeting 8:00

SIP 8:00

Johnson X-MAS 9:45

Mercer X-MAS 10:15

Harrison X-MAS 11:45

Cervantes X-MAS 1:30

Garza X-MAS 2:15

Dec. 21

Cougar Cash Lunch

SEL 8:00

Schultz X-MAS 10:20

Amonette X-MAS 1:30

Talamonti X-MAS 2:20

Kalis X-MAS 2:55

Dec. 22

First Grade to Henry Ford

Christmas Break begins End of Day

Eskew X-MAS 11:00

Jensen X-MAS 11:40

Warneck X-MAS 2:55

Dec. 23-Jan 7

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Christmas Break

Jan 8

School Resumes

Christmas Scene" Images – Browse 4,385 Stock Photos, Vectors, and Video | Adobe Stock

Thank you to everyone for another all-star year! Through the good and bad times,

we always remain a solid team and the best in the business as they say.

Thank you for all you do and have a joyous Christmas season!

ARNO MISSION

ARNO ELEMENTARY…INSPIRING STUDENTS TOWARD ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE.

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ARNO VISION

ARNO ELEMENTARY PROVIDES A SUPPORTIVE HIGH QUALITY ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE TO INSPIRE ALL LEARNERS TO ACHIEVE THEIR PERSONAL BEST.

keep-calm-its-almost-christmas-break-2 – Windy Kai: Hummingbird Studios

ARNO COLLECTIVE COMMITMENTS

ACADEMICS ARE STUDENT-CENTERED, WHICH ALLOW FOR VARIOUS LEARNING STYLES TO SHOWCASE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT.
WE WILL DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN A POSITIVE, RESPECTFUL RELATIONSHIP WITH EACH STUDENT BY USING FLEXIBILITY AND ADAPTABILITY TO MEET INDIVIDUAL NEEDS
WE WILL FOSTER SAFE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS THAT ALLOW STUDENTS THE OPPORTUNITY TO ESTABLISH A GROWTH MINDSET
WE WILL SUPPORT EACH OTHER AS COLLEAGUES BY COLLABORATING AS A TEAM USING A RESPECTFUL DIALOGUE WHEN ANALYZING DATA TO POSITIVELY IMPACT STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT.

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What’s Your ELF name??

Christmas Spirit Week – Panther Tales

Gear Up for Holiday Spirit Week!

Site Coordinator Committee Updates - AfterSchool Network

Committee Updates

Math (Team is meeting Full Day Dec. 6)

Number talks- strategies and cheat sheet
Number talks correlation chart
Scan Number talks resources
Ongoing teacher PD

Reading

Edmentum Update

Switch 2nd grade from 2 reading trophies to 30 minutes on Edmentum Reading Path per week.
- 2 reading trophies per week was too overwhelming for the second graders.

Grammar Question

Instead of grammar workbook pages, could we use Edmentum Language Arts Learning Path instead?
Require 1 Language Arts Trophy per week.
Grades 3-5 would NWEA Language Arts so the students could get a Language Arts Edmentum Learning Path.
Grades 3-5 all showed interest in using Language Arts Edmentum.

M-STEP Prep

Still need to copy SBA papers.
Third Grade sent home Vocabulary Words #1. First quiz is on Friday.
Vocabulary Words & Quizzes are copied and delivered.
Homework packets are copied and delivered.

PBIS

Data Report
Tier 2 Referral Form
1. When should teachers fill it out?
2. Revise form created last year

Communication

Must Do’s

-communicate one a month academic
learning based
-find a new yearly goal for staff in regards

May Do’s

-share pictures
-share info/events/PTA events after or
during school hours
-provide information such as flash cards
or other learning materials
-have an alternative platform for
communicating with parents other than
email

SEL

Mindful Monday

Black History Month Pages – I will print new bios, will give each SEL member 5 to get filmed? Need 20 total

SEL Question of the Day TPT Purchase

Katie Jensen – check in about books for bhm and whm and neurodiversity

Make a SEL shared drive

Data Day

Since we just had our data day on Nov. 29, there won’t be an additional data day for December.

January Assessments coming up

FAST Reading and Math
NWEA Reading and Math (3,4,5 ELA as well)
Jan Richardson Reading

5th Grade Jan 10

4th Grade Jan. 11

3rd Grade Jan. 17

2nd Grade Jan. 23

1st Grade Jan. 24

Kinder Jan 25

CHRISTMAS STORY TIME

I would like to once again come around to all of your rooms to give you a holiday 30 minute break, and read Christmas stories to our kids. Please fill out the google doc with your desired time: Christmas

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Building to Kindergarten

Our annual fall Building to Kindergarten presentation was a huge success! We had a big crowd that packed the cafeteria to learn about what it takes to be an entering kindergarten student next fall. Thanks to our kinder team including Cassie Harrison, Nickie Roller, Cristina Mercer, Megan Johnson, our reading coach Beth Wesley, student teacher Angela Sammut, and all our reading intervention paras for creating a great program!

animated-christmas-card-image-0095

CHRISTMAS LUNCHEON

Reminder- we have our Staff Christmas Luncheon Dec. 14th 11:00-12:00. We will do the one hour block again and will have a schedule when we get close.

Holiday Thank You Images, Stock Photos & Vectors | Shutterstock

A BIG Thank you for all of your support for the Cookie dough fundraiser! All items will arrive on December 12 for pickup starting at 3:00.

CHRISTMAS TECH FUN

GOOGLE’S SANTA TRACKER

Google’s Santa Tracker is a program that runs every December. It lets you track Santa during Christmas Eve and leading up to that there are activities added daily from December 1.

This could be something you could let your students explore. Or, looking at the site as a class could be a fun way to begin or end the day in December.

Check out the page for educators that has a few useful lesson plans and teaching resources.

FLIPGRID

Have you tried Flipgrid yet? It’s an app that allows users to interact with each other via short videos. Usually, a teacher poses a question that is the topic for the grid.

Flipgrid is a really fun way to connect with other classes around the world, especially when timezones make Skyping difficult. Last year, I worked on a grid with a class in Ohio and in South Africa to compare our holiday traditions. It was a rich and engaging experience for everyone.

The end of the year is a great time to try Flipgrid. You could have a question just for your class to respond to or put it out to the families and wider school community.

You could even run a ’12 Days of Christmas’ Flipgrid and pose a different question for your students to respond to each day leading up to the break. These question prompts could be holiday related (such as sharing a favourite food, carol, tradition etc.). The question prompts could also be used as revision for the content covered in class.

DECORATE A CHRISTMAS TREE WITH GOOGLE SLIDES

Educator, Eric Curts has made a fun and free Christmas themed Google Slides activity. This is a great way for students to be creative and to work on their writing skills by describing or writing about their holiday traditions, plans, or memories.

Visit Eric’s website to download the template which you can use with your class.

When students complete their Slide, they can email it, post it on a class blog, print it, or share on social media. Alternatively, you can combine the Slides to make a new slideshow with everyone’s creations.

EMOJI PUZZLES

There’s a popular site called Solvemoji.com where emojis are used in maths puzzles.

Students could try making their own puzzles using holiday emojis!

They could use a tool like Google Drawings, Google Slides, PowerPoint, or Canva. Or they could just hand draw them.

Here are some examples from the Solvemoji.com website. There are puzzles for all levels from junior up to master.

Xmas emoji maths puzzle

REBUS STORIES

Here’s one more emoji idea because I always find they’re a hit with students!

A rebus story is basically where some words are replaced with images. They’re fun to read and create.

This is another idea from Eric Curts and he has a template you can download as well.

Students in a grade 3/4 class I was working in made rebus stories about their Christmas memories. Here’s an example…

Xmas Rebus story about memories

Students could create other sorts of rebus texts as well such as narratives or poetry.

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TAKE A PEEK AT SANTA’S REINDEER

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TRACK SANTA WITH NORAD HELP

HTTPS://WWW.NORADSANTA.ORG/

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November 2023

Posted on November 1, 2023 by stevez 0

Coming soon to Arno…

Nov. 1

SIP all day meeting

3rd Grade Metro Parks

Nov. 2

Cougar Cash Lunch

Campus Store. Otis Spunkmeyer Cookie Jar

Otis Spunkmeyer Fundraiser Kickoff

PTA Meeting 6:30

Nov. 4 (Saturday)

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PTSA Holiday Fever

Nov. 6-Nov. 10

PTA Book Fair

Nov. 6

District MTSS

Nov. 7

NO SCHOOL- Teacher PD

Communication committee meeting 8:00

Nov. 8

PBIS Meeting 8:00

Parent-Teacher Conferences (See below) 5:00-7:30 p.m.

Nov. 9

Early Release 11:30 A.M.

Parent-Teachers Conferences 12:45-3:30 p.m. and 5:00-7:30 p.m.

Nov. 14

Otis Spunkmeyer Fundraiser End

Ad Council 9:30

Super Cougar Lunch

Nov. 15

Student Success Committee 8:00-11:00

Reading comm. meeting 8:00

SIP comm. meeting 8:00

Nov. 16

Staff Meeting 8:00

Mobile Dentist

Fall Picture Retakes

Building to Kindergarten 4:30-5:30 p.m.

Nov. 22-Nov. 24

Happy Thanksgiving! — University Beyond Bars

Thanksgiving break

Nov. 29

Teacher Data Day

Nov. 30

Math Comm. meeting 8:00

3rd Grade Metro Parks Assembly

Cougar Cash Lunch

Safety Committee 9:30

Dec. 1

End of First Trimester

ARNO MISSION

ARNO ELEMENTARY…INSPIRING STUDENTS TOWARD ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE.

PBS Hawai'i

ARNO VISION

ARNO ELEMENTARY PROVIDES A SUPPORTIVE HIGH QUALITY ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE TO INSPIRE ALL LEARNERS TO ACHIEVE THEIR PERSONAL BEST.

Conferences

Please let me know if you would like me to attend any conferences. There will be pizza served in the copy room around 4:00 on the 8th. Thanks

Conference Sign In Doc

START COOKING It's Almost Thanksgiving | Thanksgiving quotes inspirational, Happy thanksgiving friends, Thanksgiving background

Committee Work

We will get updates from all Committees on the Nov. 7 Full Day PD. There will be a good chunk of time for all groups to meet and plan that day.

New Elementary Media Center Facebook Page

Check it out!

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61551390500534

Data Day November

Our next teacher data dive is coming up on Nov. 29, the link to sign up is below. At this meeting, we will also be joined by Beth Wesley, Erin Jackson, and Jen VanMaele to help support our discussions. Our time will be spent looking at ongoing progress monitoring results. I look forward to our conversations!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EF86hL1feH-D8-osgl3DDqYI9e4I_laGSCiCP7bmKkc/edit?usp=drive_link

Top 5 Professional Development Skills to Enhance Your Career

REFLEX PD

If you are you interested, there is PD available through the link and Sarah Kalis is available for any question son the math program

https://www.reflexmath.com/support/professional-development

Picture Retake

Picture retake day is Nov. 16.

For those students who would like to get their picture retaken and bought a package, they MUST bring their package down to the cameras for an even exchange, as pictures will not be reprinted unless those are returned. Our photographer will need to know what to enter in for them for those pictures to be replaced.

https://inter-state.com/FlyerEntry/80263G.

Cookie Dough Sale

Arno will be once again doing the Otis Spunkmeyer cookie dough fundraiser starting Nov. 2 to help supplement the many requests we get from staff during the school year such as assessment programs, research-based activities, special project supplies, literacy materials, tech, etc. The last fundraiser helped us purchase many extra classroom supply requests, Super Cougar pizza lunch supplies, books, and professional development for teachers.

The PTA has been a tremendous resource for our building with all they have given, however, the many teacher requests received throughout the school year to give our students the very best experiences create a need to seek additional support. Therefore, we have partnered with this company to offer you a choice of items should you choose to purchase any, that would support providing more resources for our teachers. The large envelope coming home on Nov. 2 and will contain all of the information needed (and there is an online order method).

Fundraiser Timeline

November 2 – November 14 Fundraiser Sale

November 17 All money and orders due (online payment option available)

Game Truck Prize for qualifying sales: TBD

Image result for game truck

**Turnover time is about 2-3 weeks, we will contact everyone when the items will be in (before Christmas)

Scholastic Resources

Flexible Grouping

Flexible grouping is an essential principle of a Balanced Literacy Block. With flexible grouping, students experience reading in whole-class, small-group, paired, and independent settings. Sometimes, students may work in homogeneous or heterogeneous groups, may be paired with classmates of different reading levels, and may discover texts on their own. The variety of experiences will strengthen and broaden their foundation in reading and writing and support children’s progress in content areas as well.

Flexible and dynamic grouping and regrouping are essential ingredients for an effective classroom. To get started, organize small groups based on guided reading levels and skills-based needs assessments. Then, regroup as needed. When students in a group are not improving at the same pace, reassign students to new groups and/or reconfigure the groups.

Establishing ways for students to work together regularly will minimize self-consciousness about level differences. Students with different skills make good partners for buddy reading or for turn and talk activities.

Group together students who process texts in a similar way or use the same problem-solving strategies. Use a running record with a benchmark book, or other informal assessment tool, to determine baseline reading competencies. Notice how students problem solve as they read.

Conduct group and one-on-one reading chats. Have conversations about the books that have been read in small groups. Which character did you find most interesting? What did you like or dislike about the ending? Why? Why would you like to read more on this topic?

Model asking and answering questions, reading and rereading, and other self-monitoring skills. Exposing your own reading habits, including “not getting it and rereading,” will embolden students and promote an environment of support. All students should feel free to express themselves and ask questions.

Pair students from a small group who have different strengths and have them read aloud together to practice fluency.

Different kinds of self-evaluation sheets can be used by students to keep track of their own progress and their understanding of the books they read, the activities they do, and the discussions they have in their groups.

Scholastic Book Room Inventory: Master-Title-List

Image result for kindergarten readiness

BUILDING TO KINDERGARTEN COMING SOON!

Registration Link: Building to Kindergarten

Tech Time

ABCya! Thanksgiving Challenge

Nov 11, 2014 – abcya.com – 894

This fun kids activity challenges players to place Thanksgiving guests around the dinner table based on their likes and dislikes.

A Simple App Smash To Create Turkey Story Problems

Nov 15, 2015 – zigzagstech.com – 804

Get your students creating by combining a few super tools to make turkey story problems this fall. They’ll love creating and acting out their own problems!

A Thanksgiving Timeline

Sep 30, 2013 – mooreti.edublogs.org – 872

A Thanksgiving Timeline Via Google Earth Author: lmoore4 | Filed under: Google Earth, Social Studies, Web 2.0 The following activity takes some VERY cool interactive websites and combines them with my absolute favorite web tool, Google Earth. At the bottom of this post is the KMZ file I created along with a printable copy of directions.

Blabberize with Albuquerque Turkey

Sep 30, 2013 – mooreti.edublogs.org – 843

Blabberize with Albuquerque Turkey Author: lmoore4 | Filed under: Tech Tips, Web 2.0 Before you play the video below, let me just apologize for my singing. You can see (or hear) why I kept my day job. Mrs. Cunningham’s class at Fox Run Elementary sang the cutest song to me this morning, Albuquerque Turkey.

Book Creator + Twitter = Students Connected Globally

Dec 15, 2013 – staartechers.wordpress.com – 818

Mrs. Moses’ 2nd Grade Class What does Thanksgiving mean to a second grader? I always ask my students each year what they are thankful for. It is a time for reflection, and the students love to listen and respond to each other. It is my favorite time of the year.

Happy Thanksgiving: Pandemic Style | Inspira Health

October 2023

Posted on September 29, 2023 by stevez 0

Coming soon to Arno…

Elm Street Halloween at Sennott Park - City of Cambridge, MA

Oct. 2

JR testing 2nd grade

Oct. 4

Walk & Bike to School Day on Oct. 6 - Richardson ISD - RISD We Are One

Walk (Or Bike ride) to School Day!

JR testing 1st grade

Oct. 5

Picture Day

Staff meeting 7:45

PTA Meeting 6:30

Oct. 6

Fire Drill 10:30 am

Oct. 11

PBIS Meeting 8:00

Oct. 17

Culver Scholarship Fundraising Night 5:00-8:00 pm

Oct. 18

Teacher Data Day per schedule

SIP meeting 8:00 am

Oct. 23

District MTSS meeting 9:15 am

Oct. 25

Reading Committee meeting 8:00

Oct. 26

SEL Committee meeting 8:00

Oct. 27

Math Committee meeting 8:00

October. 31

Halloween Trick Or Treat GIF - Halloween Trick Or Treat Charlie Brown - Discover & Share GIFs

Halloween Parade 10:00 am

Early Release 11:30 am/Teacher PD pm

Looking Ahead

28 Collection Of Free Animated Thanksgiving Turkey - Thanksgiving Turkey Clipart - Free Transparent PNG Download - PNGkey

Nov. 2

Cougar Cash Lunch

Cookie Dough Fundraiser Kickoff

PTA Meeting 6:30 pm

Nov. 4

Holiday Fever

ARNO MISSION

ARNO ELEMENTARY…INSPIRING STUDENTS TOWARD ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE.

Charlie Brown Halloween GIF by Peanuts - Find & Share on GIPHY

ARNO VISION

ARNO ELEMENTARY PROVIDES A SUPPORTIVE HIGH QUALITY ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE TO INSPIRE ALL LEARNERS TO ACHIEVE THEIR PERSONAL BEST.

PEANUTS on Twitter: "Happy Halloween! 👻 🎃 https://t.co ...

ARNO COLLECTIVE COMMITMENTS

ACADEMICS ARE STUDENT-CENTERED, WHICH ALLOW FOR VARIOUS LEARNING STYLES TO SHOWCASE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT.
WE WILL DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN A POSITIVE, RESPECTFUL RELATIONSHIP WITH EACH STUDENT BY USING FLEXIBILITY AND ADAPTABILITY TO MEET INDIVIDUAL NEEDS
WE WILL FOSTER SAFE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS THAT ALLOW STUDENTS THE OPPORTUNITY TO ESTABLISH A GROWTH MINDSET
WE WILL SUPPORT EACH OTHER AS COLLEAGUES BY COLLABORATING AS A TEAM USING A RESPECTFUL DIALOGUE WHEN ANALYZING DATA TO POSITIVELY IMPACT STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT.

Meme Maker - I Can't Wait For the Data Team! Meme Generator!

DATA DIVE

Our first teacher data dive is coming up the link to sign up is below for October 18. At our first meeting, we will also be joined by Beth and Erin Jackson to help support our discussions. Our time will be spent looking at the NWEA results, quadrant charts, FAST, and BAS/JR. I look forward to our initial conversations!

Sign Up October 18

Snoopy First Time GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY

COMMITTEE WORK

PBIS

At this month’s meeting, we organized the monthly rewards, subcommittees, holiday cash, Smencils, and Super Cougars. We discussed Tier 2, mentors and RESA training availability. The November meeting was canceled due to scheduling conflicts.

MATH

A video demonstration of Number Talks was shared with the group and discussed
A resource book on Number Talks was also shared with examples of how to use it in lessons

READING

Present: Beth, Renee, Rachel, Nina, Nicole, Megan J*Discuss the strategies we used last year for M-STEP prep – we decided to continue all*Discuss possible focus for this year    -grammar
    -writing

    -stamina

*Discuss problems with Edmentum

-doesn’t sink with new scores throughout the year

-so far this year it is not individualized, just grade level content

-can’t start the trophies because the content is not correct – waiting for it to be fixed

*Chair meeting October 17 to review MSTEP and NWEA data from last year

SEL

Monthly newsletter and resources will continue

HTTPS://TINYURL.COM/SELCHOOSE

SIP

At this month’s meeting, we discussed different ways to highlight areas of our improvement plan. Mr. Zielinski and co-chairs will meet to discuss this further in October. We want to continue our great increase of scores. We are glad that the magnets and flags around the building were well received by parents. We also would like to build camaraderie by continuing with our monthly gatherings. Please sign up for those you are able to plan or attend. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4EAAAC2EA4F94-third1#/

Communication/Attendance

Team had initial meeting
A survey was created to gauge the communication to home in order to make future recommendations

Top 5 Professional Development Skills to Enhance Your Career

REFLEX PD

If you are you interested, there is PD available through the link and Sarah Kalis is available for any question son the math program

https://www.reflexmath.com/support/professional-development

Scholastic Small Group

The resource page for the new digital platform connected to our Scholastic Book room has a lot of great articles when thinking about small group instruction. I will include some of these in future blogs, as the link will be here if you want to see a full list of titles in the new bookroom. Please remember that this was a sizeable investment for the district in small group reading, and the expectation is that teachers will use the books that are directly correlated to their reading testing for best practice results.

Guided Reading & Leveled Texts

Scholastic Guided Reading programs contain texts leveled A to Z according to various criteria—book and print features, page count, word and sentence length, print size, genre, vocabulary and language use, themes, content, literary elements, and so on. Your Leveled Bookroom comprises several programs, so it allows you to maximize your students’ exposure to a range of rich literature and nonfiction readings, adapting to the demands of your curriculum and your specific group of learners.

Scholastic Guided Reading programs offer materials across a range of genres, text types, subjects, styles, and levels of difficulty.

Genre is the ”kind” of text—for example, realistic fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, biography, informational text.
Text Type is the format or presentation of a text—for example, picture book, chapter book, magazine article.

Scholastic’s Leveled Bookroom comprises books—at each level, A to Z, 40 fiction and nonfiction selections—that can be grouped by subject, level, skills, and other criteria to help you customize reading sets for your class.

Selecting from a broad range of leveled text allows students to access both content-area nonfiction texts and literature in various genres and text types, and provides selections at a level that challenges students.

Small-group instruction focuses on developing important comprehension skills. It also focuses on developing foundational skills and phonics and word-solving strategies. Through activities based on each text, skills and strategies are practiced and reinforced.

Speaking and active listening are key elements of each lesson. During instruction in the small group, each student’s input is important. In addition to discussing the text, each lesson offers an additional prompt for oral language and conversation that ask students to elaborate on key ideas from the text.

Along with the book choices are five Guided Reading Short Reads fiction and nonfiction texts at each level. These texts may be used to develop the close reading and deep comprehension of sufficiently complex short texts. Their engaging content makes them the perfect asset to support the purposeful repeated readings of text and learning across the curriculum.

A balanced reading “diet” includes various genres and a variety of text types within them. Take into account the interests as well as the abilities of your students in order to address a range of topics and themes in your book choices.

Use the Leveled Bookroom Accelerator to gather and group books with related themes to address similar interests at various levels. With LBA, you can coordinate books that rotate through whole-class read-alouds, small-group guided reading, and reading centers.

Scholastic Book Room Inventory: Master-Title-List

NEVER FORGET just how AMAZING you are! - The Mindset Journey | Words of wisdom quotes, Encouragement quotes, Journey quotes

Image result for kindergarten readiness

Building to Kindergarten Coming Soon!

Registration Link: Building to Kindergarten

frankenstein walking straight for you animation

Halloween Parade

I know you have counted down the days- Oct. 31 at 10:00 for our annual Halloween Parade. Our route will take us out of the 5th grade doors that morning, making a loop on the inside perimeter of the playground. Parents may join us around the outside perimeter of the playground to watch. It is a district PD day with an 11:30 dismissal that morning.

Tech Time

One Good Way to Record a Video in Gmail

Sometimes it is easier to reply to an email with a video than it is to write out a reply. For example, when a colleague asks me for help with Google Classroom I could write step-by-step directions or I could record a short screencast that would accomplish the same thing. Loom’s Chrome extension makes it easy to do that.

With Loom’s Chrome extension Gmail users can reply to email by simply clicking the Loom icon and recording a video. The video is then instantly uploaded to your Loom account and inserted into the body of your email. In this short video I demonstrate how to record a video right from your Gmail inbox.

Yes, there are other tools for making screencast videos. And you could use one of those to make a screencast for a colleague, but I think Loom’s Chrome extension streamlines the process better than other screen recording tools.

Applications for Education

Besides being helpful when answering help requests from students or colleagues, Loom’s Chrome extension could be useful in having students explain exactly what they need help with when they send you an email. Sometimes students don’t know exactly how to phrase their requests in writing so giving them the Loom option could be a good way to get a better understanding of what they’re asking.

Five Tools for Creating Automatically Scored Formative Assessments

This morning I answered an email from a reader who was asked to teach additional classes this fall. She reached out to me for suggestions on tools to create self-grading formative assessments to save her time this fall. I’d bet that there are many other teachers in the same situation and wondering the same thing. Here are some of my suggestions for creating automatically scored formative assessments.

Formative
Formative, which was recently acquired by Newsela, is a great tool for creating formative assessments that can be automatically scored. I’ve been using it for the last half-dozen years to create formative assessments that include labeling diagrams, handwriting and drawing, and multiple choice questions. Formative recently added an AI component that can be helpful in creating assessments. You can see a demo of that feature here and a demo of some of Formative’s other great features here.

Plickers

Plickers is another formative assessment platform that I’ve been using for years. It’s a great option for conducting formative assessment activities when not all of your students have laptops or you would simply prefer an assessment activity that doesn’t require them to use their laptops, tablets, or phones. My most recent blog post about using Plickers can be read here. A demo of how to get started using the Plickers platform is included in the video that is embedded below.

TeacherMade

TeacherMade is a tool that you can use to turn your existing documents (Word, PDF, or Google Doc) into online, self-grading assignments. You can also create activities from scratch in TeacherMade. But perhaps my favorite way to use TeacherMade is to grab a Canva template and turn that into an online, self-grading assignment. How to use Canva templates in TeacherMade is demonstrated in this short video.

Google Forms

Google Forms is the tool that I’ve used for more years than anything else to create self-grading assessments. In fact, I was using it for that purpose back when you had to write a spreadsheet script to have Forms responses automatically graded. Fortunately, today it is is very easy to use Google Forms to create automatically graded assessments. Watch this video to learn how to get started and then head here for dozens of more Google Forms tutorials.

Microsoft Forms

Microsoft Forms is every bit as good as Google Forms is for creating self-grading assessments. In fact, there are some features of Microsoft Forms that I wish Google Forms had. One of those is the new live presentation mode in Microsoft Forms. Learn more about that feature in this video and then head here for a dozen more Microsoft Forms tutorials.

happy-halloween-pumpkin-clipart-7[1] - HGR Inc.

September 2023

Posted on August 25, 2023 by stevez 0

Welcome Back Arno Staff!

“You’re off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so … get on your way!” – Dr. Seuss

Coming soon to Arno…

August 30

Medical Plan Meetings

Lunch Staff Meeting 9:00

August 31

Teacher Welcome Back

First Staff Meeting

Meet the Teacher

Meet the Teacher (Schedule below)

- Meet the Teacher Night will be an Open House on August 31 from 6:30-7:30pm.
- Students are encouraged to attend Meet the Teacher Night with their family.
- Meet the Teacher attendance will be staggered to help with parking Please arrive and depart promptly according to the schedule below.

Families will be divided into two groups by alphabet with 20 minute sessions (6:30-6:50 and 7:00-7:20)

Last Names A-M — 6:30-6:50pm
Last Names N-Z — 7:00-7:20pm
If your family has multiple last names, please follow the schedule for your oldest child’s last name

Sept. 5

Hohomark Welcome Back We Missed You Yard Sign with Stake,12"x17" Back to School Yard Sign Outdoor Lawn Decorations for School Teachers Students First ...

First Day of School

Sept. 7

First PTA Meeting 6:30

Sept. 8

Fire Drill 2:00

Sept. 14

ALICE Drill 10:00- Full Evac

Sept. 20

JR 5th Grade testing

Sept. 21

Tornado Drill 10:00

Sept. 22

PTA Fun Run!!

Sept. 27

JR 4th Grade testing

Fire Drill 12:50

Sept. 28

JR 3rd Grade testing

ARNO MISSION

ARNO ELEMENTARY…INSPIRING STUDENTS TOWARD ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE.

ARNO VISION

ARNO ELEMENTARY PROVIDES A SUPPORTIVE HIGH QUALITY ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE TO INSPIRE ALL LEARNERS TO ACHIEVE THEIR PERSONAL BEST.

ARNO COLLECTIVE COMMITMENTS

Academics are student-centered, which allow for various learning styles to showcase student achievement.
We will develop and maintain a positive, respectful relationship with each student by using flexibility and adaptability to meet individual needs
We will foster safe learning environments that allow students the opportunity to establish a growth mindset
We will support each other as colleagues by collaborating as a team using a respectful dialogue when analyzing data to positively impact student achievement.

Welcome Back Arno Staff!!

Arno Staff 2023-2024

Young fives	Cassie Harrison
Kindergarten	Megan Johnson
Kindergarten	Nickie Roller
Kindergarten	Cristina Mercer
First Grade	Julie Martinchick
First Grade	Barb Pushman
First Grade	Dawn Watson
Second Grade	Nicole Amonette
Second Grade	Alexandra Cervantes
Second Grade	Megan Schultz
Third Grade	Sarah Kalis
Third Grade	Renee Guyot
Third Grade	Rachel Warneck
Fourth Grade	Sara Bleau
Fourth Grade	Emilie Talamonti
Fourth Grade	Aaron Huntington
Fifth Grade	Ciara Zuke
Fifth Grade	Lindsay Garza
Fifth Grade	Erin Higgins
Cross Categorical Classroom	Jessica Eskew
ECP Program	Sarah Kaminski
Adaptive PE	Deak Swearingen
Media Lit Arno/Bennie	Katie Jensen
Media Tech Arno/Bennie	Carrie Solak
Art Arno/Bennie	Elisabeth Cunningham
Art Arno/Lindemann	Rachel Trapani
Speech-Language Pathologist	Andrea Alvarez
Vocal Music	Todd Burke
Instrumental/Vocal Music	McKenna Murphy
Physical Education Arno/Bennie	Lisa Smalley
Social Work Arno School Psychologist	Marisa Tringali Debbie Green
Resource Room	Aly Kubik 3-4-5 Nina Martin K-3
ECP Speech	Taylor Cuddy
Reading Coach/Title I	Beth Wesley
ESL	Jennifer VanMael
Math Coach	Erin Jackson

New Lunch Schedule

This year we are pleased to welcome Deak Swearingen to Life Skills, and Sarah Kaminski to our ECP program! Welcome to Arno Deak and Sarah!

Deak Swearingen

Hello to all my new colleagues, I am excited to be joining Allen Park Public Schools! I am a downriver rink rat, who now enjoys sand volleyball and fishing in the summer, and hunting in the fall and winter. I have been in the adapted physical education field for more than 13 years at both the Elementary, Secondary, and Collegiate level. I enjoy immensely watching my daughter develop in Preschool here in Allen Park, and my wife is a former Jag alumni. I will be at multiple schools this year, but hope to meet and learn from everyone in Allen Park!

Sarah Kaminski

Hello, my name is Sarah Kaminski and I have worked in the Allen Park School District for 6 years. The majority of this time has been as a reading aide at Bennie Elementary. Currently, I live in Belleville with my fiancé, Dennis and our dog, Pecan. In my free time I enjoy doing puzzles and crafting. I am excited to start the fall as the new ECP teacher and work with the little ones! Can’t wait to make new friends and connections! Go Cougars!

Message Post It Sticker by Marcela Sabiá for iOS & Android | GIPHY

New Committee

I have created a new committee that will have a lot of importance. The committee will be a combo of communication and dealing with the absent/tardy problem that is plaguing schools. The communication is resulting to not only the building surveys that show inconsistent home communication from teacher to teacher, but also at the district level as it will also be part of the new strategic plan this year. I would encourage anyone who would like to pioneer this new group, to sign up. In the meantime, this article came out recently on a national level for your reference:

A Stanford study reveals record-high chronic absenteeism after COVID lockdowns with over 25% of students missing 10% of their classes during the 2021-22 school year.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/6-5-million-students-chronically-absent-after-pandemic-new-study-shows

From the Parent Blog:

Important Attendance Information

Please read the attitude article on the importance of student attendance, which is mandatory by the laws of the State of Michigan. Please be aware that we are required to follow up with families either verbally, in writing, or both when absences reach the 10 full day mark.

The attendance/tardy process:

Ten full day absences- 1st attendance letter sent home
5 additional absences- 2nd attendance letter sent home
Ongoing after 15 absences- referral to our liaison officer for truancy

TARDIES

Students are considered tardy after 8:40am
After 8:40 am, Parents will be required to walk their student into the office to sign them into the building
If a student has accumulated 5 tardies in a row, the parent will need to sign an acknowledgement letter of the tardies
After 15 tardies, a meeting will take place with the principal to discuss possible solutions.

Excessive tardy arrival/very early dismissal

Student arrival after 9:30am will equal a half-day AM absence
Student dismissal that takes place prior to 2:30pm with count for a half-day PM absence
Picking up your student between 2:30 and 3:30 does not count for anything

RtP_Attendance

ARG! animated Cartoon Word P.T. A.

From the PTA

Hello Cougar Families!

Your new 2023/2024 school year PTA Board is as follows:

President: Xina Bagger

Vice President: Meaghan Bachman

Treasurer: Kristy Varkoly

Secretary: Sarah Wald

The Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is an all-volunteer, parent-run, non-profit organization that works cooperatively with school administration and educators to provide opportunities for our students and families to socialize by providing fun family events and in-school opportunities. We have provided our students and families with school assemblies, Field Day, Family Fun Nights, the Daddy Daughter Dance, the Mother Son Night, Christmas events, playground and gym equipment, student technology, Staff Appreciation Week, Spirit Wear and so much more!

Meet the Teacher Night is Thursday August 31^st at 6:30pm. Please stop by our table by the main doors to meet your board members, learn about the PTA, how to become a member, and get a chance to win Detroit Tigers tickets!

Our 1st PTA Meeting will be held on Thursday September 7^th at 6:30 pm in the Arno Media Center (and every FIRST Thursday of the month thereafter). Childcare is always available, thanks to our National Junior Honor Society volunteers! We might just have some cool giveaways, like Detroit Tiger Tickets!

A Membership Drive will run from September 6^th through October 7^th and our theme this year is “Membership is Sweet”. The class that receives the most memberships will win an Ice Cream Social! Forms will be sent home on the first week of school and a link will be posted on our Facebook page. You can find us on Facebook by searching @arnoelementarypta – be sure to like our page, we occasionally give away cool stuff like Detroit Tigers tickets – a member only perk! Check out the flyer below for more details on the PTA and scan the QR Code to link you directly to our Arno PTA membership page! Please consider joining – the cost is $7 for staff and your membership helps support so much.

We have a lot planned for the upcoming school year and are very excited to kick off the season with our annual Arno Fun Run, which will be held on Friday September 22^nd. This is our biggest and most important fundraiser of the year. More details to follow.

Please remember that your input/suggestions/concerns are both encouraged and appreciated so that we know how to better our events. So please reach out via email (arnopta@gmail.com) or attend our meetings! And remember, PTA members get early access to info, first dibs on volunteer events, a chance at our raffles, and can vote on events/funding/student advocacies! Please consider becoming a member this school year! As always, we appreciate your support! Please consider volunteering or serving as a chairperson at one of our events. If we do not have a chairperson for an event, it is at risk of being cancelled. For more information or if you would like to volunteer, please email the PTA at arnopta@gmail.com.

Stay tuned for more exciting news/events/announcements/reminders from your PTA via email, memberhub and/or our Facebook page! We are so excited for the 2023/2024 school year and can’t wait to share these great experiences with our Caring Cougars!

Classroom assessment thoughts

As we head into the new school year- to some degree, this can be done at all levels…

As you're thinking about classroom assessments next year, remember that we grade against criteria for standards, outcomes, learning goals, i.e., evidence of learning, NOT the vehicle used to deliver that evidence. So, unless we're teaching the assessment format itself, whether or…

— Rick Wormeli (@rickwormeli2) July 5, 2023

Vocab Tool from Sarah

Pear Deck has a Flashcard Factory component that allows you to create flashcards with your students for vocab words! Then it will take the flashcards and turn them into a quizlet. Thought many of you may find this helpful to use, so take a look at the video below to learn more.

https://youtu.be/wlVKjTuoXko

Door Assignments 2023-24

*Please note we can also arrange for siblings to go to the same doors

Door Assignments

TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DATES

This year, the district calendar reflects 7 days of teacher PD. Those half-day PD dates feature no school in the afternoon, 11:30 dismissal. The dates for this school year are as follows:

8/31, 10/31 (ER), 11/7, 1/19, 2/9, 3/15, & 5/3 (ER)

REQUIRED PLC meetings (45 Minutes on September, October, December, April). Please remember to list your dates, and share agendas in the folder.

Classcraft - What is PBIS: A guide for educators and administrators

PBIS BEGINNING OF THE YEAR STATIONS AND FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES

Thursday, September 7, 2023

There will be 10 minutes spent at each station which includes the discussion and travel time between stations. You will rotate in sequential order.

Start Times and Stations

8:45a–Huntington (1), Talamonti (2), Johnson (3), Pushman (4), Watson (5)

9:35a–Warneck (1), Guyot (2), Kalis (3), Schultz (4), Martinchick (5)

10:25a–Garza (1), Zuke (2), Higgins (3), Cervantes (4), Amonette (5)

11:55a–Haskin (2), Harrison (3), Mercer (4), Roller (5)

**Presenters, please note that the 11:55a rotation are all littles. Please shorten your presentation to short attention spans, highlighting the big ideas. Thank you for making this accommodation!**

1. Office Expectations

Staff: Kim Dowd or Cathy Anderson

Location: outside of office for space

Assembly and Bullying Expectations

Staff: Andrea Alvarez

Location: gym or outside

Bus Expectations

Staff: Steve Zielinski

Location: bus located in parking area

Cafeteria Expectations

Staff: ????

Location: Cafeteria

Hallway Expectations

Staff: Aly Kubik

Location: hallway outside of Media Center/Computer Lab

Follow-Up Activities

~Posters for the hallway

~Individual positive messages

~Write about it in your journal

~Review classroom matrix and expectations

~Draw a picture of when you were kind/somebody was kind to you

~Allen Park Elementary PBIS website (brand new from Kendra Payette-Linn!)

~Watch a PBIS video clip

RESA PBIS website–“Videos” dropdown on the page

2007SafeSchools 0

FROM THE HR DEPARTMENT:

For those employees required to complete Safe Schools Training, the system should be open soon to complete for the 2022-2023 school year. The modules need to be completed by October 31. Please email me if you have any issues.

http://apps.mi.safeschools.com/login

Tech Time

Ten Tools for Gathering Real-time Feedback From Students

I’m taking the week off to do a bunch of fun things with my kids. While I’m away the most popular posts of the year so far will reappear.

Chat tools and polling services provide good ways to hear from all of the students in a classroom. These kinds of tools, often referred to as backchannel tools, allow shy students to ask questions and share comments. For your more outspoken students who want to comment on everything, a feedback mechanism provides a good outlet for them too. Over the years I’ve used a variety of feedback tools in my classroom. This is my updated list of backchannel and informal assessment tools for gathering real-time feedback from students.

Classroomscreen is a service that lets you create a homescreen on which you can place reusable countdown timers, stopwatches, polls, noise meters, random name selectors, and more helpful classroom management tools. With the polling tool in Classroomscreen you can display a question for your students and have them respond with a multiple choice selection or by choosing a smiley face. See my screenshot below for more details.

Yo Teach! lets you create online backchannel spaces to facilitate discussions. To get started on Yo Teach! simply go to the site and name your room. You can get started by just doing those two steps, but I would recommend taking a another minute to scroll down the Yo Teach! site to activate the admin function, the password function, and to select “avoid search.” The “avoid search” option will hide your room from search results so that people cannot find it without being given its direct URL. The password function lets you set a password that must be entered before students can participate in the chat. The admin features of Yo Teach! let you mute or remove students from a discussion, delete your room, and view statistic about the usage of your room. The admin function that reveals statistics will show the names of participants and how active they have been in your Yo Teach! room. Here’s a video overview of Yo Teach!

ClassPoint. It’s a great little tool that you can use to build interactive quizzes and polls into your PowerPoint presentations. You can also use it to annotate slides, create whiteboards on the fly, and share your annotations with students. In this short video I provide a demonstration of how ClassPoint works. The video shows a teacher’s perspective and a student’s perspective of how ClassPoint can be used in your classroom.

Ziplet is a service for gathering feedback from your students in a variety of ways. The simplest way is to create an exit ticket by using one of the dozens of pre-written questions provided by Ziplet. Ziplet does not require students to have accounts to respond to exit ticket questions. Students can simply enter an exit ticket code that you give to them before they answer the question. What Ziplet offers that is somewhat unique is the option to respond directly to individual students even when they are responding to a group survey. The purpose of that feature is to make it easy to ask follow-up questions or to give encouragement to students based on their responses to a question posed to the whole group. Here’s a short video about how to use Ziplet.

Plickers is a great student response system for classrooms that aren’t 1:1 or for anyone who would rather not have to go through the trouble of trying to get all students onto the same webpage or chatroom at the beginning of a lesson. Plickers uses a teacher’s iPad or Android tablet in conjunction with a series of QR codes to create a student response system. Students are given a set of QR codes on large index cards. The codes are assigned to students. Each code card can be turned in four orientations. Each orientation provides a different answer. When the teacher is ready to collect data, he or she uses the Plickers mobile app to scan the cards to see a bar graph of responses. Click here for three ideas for using Plickers in your classroom.

Mentimeter is an audience response tool lets you create polls and quizzes for your audience to respond to during your presentations. Responses to open-ended poll questions can be displayed as a word cloud, but there isn’t a true chat function in Mentimeter. You can create and display polls and quizzes from the Mentimeter website or you can use their PowerPoint Add-in to display your polls and quizzes from your slideshow. Your audience members can respond from their phones, tablets, or laptops.

The Q&A function built into the presentation mode of Google Slides is a good option for gathering questions from students when they are viewing slides that you or their classmates present. Likewise, posting a simple question in Google Classroom is a good way to quickly get a sense of what your students know about a topic before you begin a lesson or what they think was important in a lesson that you just taught.

Poll Everywhere is a service that allows you to collect responses from an audience via text messaging. The free plan for K-12 educators provides selection of features and quantity of responses that is adequate for almost any classroom. One of the neat ways to display feedback gathered through Poll Everywhere is in word clouds.

I’ve been using Padlet since it was called WallWisher back in 2009. Padlet enables me to have students not only share exit responses as text, but to also share exit responses as hyperlinks. For example, if my students have been working on research projects I will ask them to share a link to something they found that day along with an explanation of how it is relevant to their research.

Formative provides you with a place to create online assignments that your students can respond to in class or out of class. Assignments can be as simple as one question exit tickets like “what did you learn today?” to complex quizzes that use a combination of multiple choice, short answer, and true/false questions. You can assign point values to questions or leave them as ungraded questions. The best feature of Formative is the option to create “show your work” questions. “Show your work” questions enables students to draw responses and or upload pictures as responses to your questions. When you use this question type students will see a blank canvas directly below the question. On that canvas they can draw and or type responses.

Lego Time

Need LEGO Ideas? Take a Look at This!

Making things with LEGOs is one of my favorite indoor activities to do with my daughters. We’ve spent many rainy days building all kinds of things LEGOs. Often we follow the directions from a guidebook and sometimes we just make our own things. Every once in a while they ask for another LEGO guidebook.

I’m been happy to buy my daughters LEGO guidebooks even if they aren’t always patient as they wait for the Amazon delivery of those books. I recently, through Open Culture, learned of a remedy to that problem. Recently, I learned that the Internet Archive hosts more than 6,800 LEGO guidebooks.

In the Internet Archive’s collection of LEGO instruction books you’ll find directions for building everything from a birdhouse to an airplane to a tiger and much, much more. The directions can be viewed online and or downloaded as colorful PDFs to print. The PDF of directions for building a tiger was an exact copy of what I would have found had I purchased the LEGO kit for building a tiger.

Applications for Education
If you have a big box of LEGOs in your classroom, bookmark this collection of LEGO instructions and perhaps print a few to place in that box.

Free Welcome Back Clipart Pictures - Clipartix

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Coming soon to Arno…

June 3

District School Improvement meeting

NWEA Reward Picnic 11:15-12:30

5th Grade Rehearsal 12:45

June 4

5th Grade Graduation 9:15 Center for the Arts

June 5

3rd grade to Greenfield Village

Final District MTSS

June 6

SPED to APMS

2nd Grade to Barney Park

4th grade Greenfield Village

5th Grade picnic

Final Super Cougar lunch 11:15

Honor Choir Concert Center for the Arts

June 7

APHS Graduate Walk @Arno approx 1:30 (wait for announcement)

June 10

3rd grade to Boccabella

Eskew to Barney Park

ER 11:30 Dismiss

Final Eval Meetings per schedule

June 11

3rd grade to Pretty Family Park

Y5/Kindergarten Picnic to Barney Park

Ad Council 9:30

ER 11:30

Class Lists per schedule

June 12

3rd Grade to Barney Park

Student/Teacher Last Day of School!

ER 11:30

June 13

Summer School meeting 9:00

Summer School lunch meeting 11:30

June 17

Report Cards Released

Summer School Begins (June 17-July 25)

June 19

Regular School Office Hours End (Summer School Office Continues)

ARNO MISSION

ARNO ELEMENTARY…INSPIRING STUDENTS TOWARD ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE.

ARNO VISION

ARNO ELEMENTARY PROVIDES A SUPPORTIVE HIGH QUALITY ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE TO INSPIRE ALL LEARNERS TO ACHIEVE THEIR PERSONAL BEST.

ARNO COLLECTIVE COMMITMENTS

ACADEMICS ARE STUDENT-CENTERED, WHICH ALLOW FOR VARIOUS LEARNING STYLES TO SHOWCASE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT.

WE WILL DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN A POSITIVE, RESPECTFUL RELATIONSHIP WITH EACH STUDENT BY USING FLEXIBILITY AND ADAPTABILITY TO MEET INDIVIDUAL NEEDS

WE WILL FOSTER SAFE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS THAT ALLOW STUDENTS THE OPPORTUNITY TO ESTABLISH A GROWTH MINDSET

Tearful Goodbyes…

Ms. Higgins

Mrs. Mantua

Mrs. Dowd

Chromebooks

K- Please send all chromes to 1st grade to store, except summer school kids who need to take them home. Your students will get new chromes

1- Please send all chromes to second grade to store, except summer school kids who need to take them home.

2-4- Please send all chromebooks home for the summer, except summer school kids who need to take them home.

5- Please collect and store all chromebooks, except summer school kids who need to take them home.

**K and 1 will be getting front opening charging units in the fall as all chromes will stay in school for your grades

Final Eval Schedule June 2024

SUPPLIES

If you have special requests for supplies, please get them to Cathy by Wednesday, June 12

CLASS LISTS 2024-2025

We will meet with the entire SPED team and grade levels on Tuesday, June 11.

Class List Schedule

12:45-1:00- Kindergarten

1:05-1:20- 1st grade

1:25-1:40- 2nd grade

1:45-2:00- 3rd grade

2:05-2:20- 4th grade

Class List Folder

END OF THE YEAR CHECKLIST

Please be sure to check out with Cathy before leaving on the last day

CHECKLIST

SENIOR CLAP OUT

Please mark your calendars for the Senior clap out on June 7 @1:30pm (ish). We will start at the 5th grade doors, and walkthrough to the main doors- Kindergarten can join in the main hallway.

Tech Time

Khan Academy for Teachers is Now Free in US

Brief Overview of Khan Academy and Microsoft Announcement