Oct. 31

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Coming soon to Arno…

Oct. 31  Happy Halloween!!!

Halloween Parade 10:30

Student Half-Day- 11:40 Dismissal

Nov. 1

No events

Nov. 2

Sbonek IEP’s

Nov. 3

Boyer IEP’s

Roary the Lion Assembly

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PTA Meeting 6:30

Nov. 4

No events

haunted house animation

Happy Halloween!

  • Monday, October 31st.
  • 10:30 AM.  Halloween Parade.  Outside
  • Classroom teacher will communicate with you if they are having any events to follow

Costumes:

  • Students will wear their costumes to school.
  • All costumes must be school appropriate
  • No play guns or weapons of any kind
  • Please do not allow your child to wear a mask.  Masks tend to slip causing a possible trip and fall accident / injury.

Parade Path:

  • Weather permitting.  We will be outside for our parade.  Our plan is to start the parade with our Kindergarten classes.  We will walk through the building picking up each class and exit door  # 8(5th grade doors).  We will walk around the inside perimeter of the playground fence, and then down the way to enter through the office main door- the best place to stand and watch would be on the outer perimeter of the fence, and along the sidewalk to the office.    Each class will then proceed back to their classrooms

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INTERVENTIONS

At this time, as we embrace the MTSS model and attempt to provide early interventions for our students, our 31A  intervention providers will be focusing on providing interventions to students in ELA ONLY at this time.  I am well aware that there are students needing extra support in math.  In addition to the extra time you are able to provide to these students, please plan to utilize volunteers to reinforce math skills.  In January, we will reassess and adjust as needed.

As a result of a state grant, we will now have 6 intervention people plus Cathy ad Barb.

K-2 people will be outright assigned to a grade level for support- but still work under Barb

3rd– will be assigned the new 35 A person (Carrie Vaughn at the conclusion of long term)

4-5- will be serviced through Title 1 in all core areas

Barb and Cathy will then be reserved for students that we determine are most at risk (tier 3) and need that extra time.  Many of their students will come from the Child Study Team Meetings

Remember, that as the classroom teacher, you are still responsible for the CORE plus Tier 2 interventions (Extra reading group, skills group, parent volunteers, grade level student sharing, etc.) that gets at that extra time as we do not have the personnel to take care of all our needs per room. 

Thank you for your support with this initiative.

 

From the PTA

Happy Friday, Caring Cougar Families!

It is the weekend before Halloween and all the kids are getting excited for….CANDY and Dressing up! Please be safe out there while you’re having fun collecting all your goodies!
Our Gumball Drive is at its end and it looks like we have a BERY tight race between 3 classrooms- Ms. Stanley’s Kindergarten Class, Mrs. Martinchick’s First Grade Class (there’s that name again…didn’t her class all ready win something? HeHeHe), and Ms. Amonette’s Second Grade Class! Results will be posted later this morning, so make sure to ask your students who won!
Our Limo Ride and Lunch with Mr. Zielinski has been scheduled for our top Grade Level Winners of the Fun Run! This grand and glorious escape (we meant, lunch) will take place Wednesday, November 2nd from 10:30 am-12:30 pm!
Our Spirit Wear is in and distributed! We are very sorry for the delay, but we had an overwhelming amount of orders and some last minute orders that we wanted to make sure got processed. We did not anticipate it taking as long as it did, but we’re sure the next round of orders will be handled more efficiently! Look for new products being offered just in time for Christmas!
Thank you to everyone that attended our first Skateland Skate Night of the year! Everyone had fun skating, falling, and even dancing their way through the night! A BIG THANKS to Tania Bassett for chairing this event! She did a tremendous job and we look forward to working with her again at future events!
We had a lot of families show up to our first “Family Dinner Night” at Applebee’s! Thank you so much for supporting your PTA by dining out! We hope everyone enjoyed their visit!
Our Reflections Contest is in high gear! “What Is Your Story”? Everyone has one, let’s show the world yours! The contest ends November 11thwhen entries are due.
Our Richard Paul Anti-Bullying Assembly took place yesterday, Thursday, October 27th. We hope everyone took home some good information as to how to prevent and stop bullying!
Our next PTA Meeting will be held this Thursday, November 3rd from 6:30-730 pm in the school cafeteria. Come on out and check us out! Learn what’s going to happen with the Fun Run Money we raised. Sign up to volunteer at an event or even chair one! As always…FREE Babysitting is available!
 Have a WONDERFUL WEEKEND! We look forward to seeing all the costumes in the school parade this Monday!

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Flexible Classrooms: Providing the Learning Environment That Kids Need

At Albemarle County Public Schools, flexible classrooms empower student choice, increase student engagement, and improve student participation.

Overview

Providing the Learning Environment That Kids Need

Flexible classrooms give students a choice in what kind of learning space works best for them, and help them to work collaboratively, communicate, and engage in critical thinking.

Since implementing flexible classrooms, Albemarle County Public Schools have noticed that:

  • Their students’ grades have improved.
  • Their students seem happier and more engaged.
  • Their students are participating more and having more invigorating conversations.

How It’s Done

Giving Students a Choice in How They Learn

“From day one, I’ve said, ‘You may sit anywhere you like as long as you’re safe in our classroom,'” says Katie Collins, a Woodbrook Elementary School second grade teacher.

Becky Fisher, the director of educational technology at Albemarle County Public Schools, is interested in learning about the thinking that drives student choice. “What we’re really striving for are those choices that have a lot of thought behind them. We want kids to really be strategic about where they go,” Fisher says.

She painted the picture of walking into a classroom and seeing kids:

  • Lying on the floor
  • Sitting at low tables on their knees
  • Standing up

When Fisher walks into a classroom, she asks the students the reasoning behind why they choose their particular learning space.

“Why are you standing right now?” she asks one TK student.

“Well,” says the student, “we’re using math manipulatives, and I move better when I’m standing up than when I’m sitting down.”

Fisher once heard a kindergarten student articulate that she was a belly reader. She loved reading on the floor while lying on her belly, her class was reading, and that’s why she was sprawled out on the floor. “That’s awesome that, at five or six years old, you know your preferences,” Fisher says. And that’s critical to their work.

Justin, a seventh grade student from Sutherland Middle School, was also able to articulate his preferred learning environment. He chooses a table and chair, unlike the couch that many of his fellow students choose. “When I get down into a couch and am more comfortable, it’s almost like it’s a bit distracting. It’s not exactly the environment I want to be working in, but for the other people, clearly they have their optimum working environments,” Justin says.

Krishan, also in seventh grade at Sutherland, likes that his teacher gives him a choice in how he works. “Since she lets us choose, we ultimately choose what’s best for us. We work better together and individually,” Krishan says.

The First Step

According to Lisa Molinaro, the principal of Woodbrook Elementary School, the first thing that needs to happen for Albemarle teachers to successfully create a flexible classroom is:

  • The teacher must have a vision for his or her room.
  • The teacher must be willing to say, “I’m going to throw out some of this stuff. I don’t need this traditional schooling equipment.”

Design a Collaborative Learning Space

“We’re really looking at how we support kids working collaboratively,” Fisher says. “And we can’t do it if we’re isolated in rows and every kid is an island.”

She believes that Albemarle classrooms work well with these design elements:

  • They have at least three kinds of classroom seating.
  • They use flexible bookshelves.
  • Instead of individual workspaces, they use large round or rectangular tables, or put four desks together to form a more collaborative space.

“You’ll see flexible bookshelves that can be moved so that the room can be totally opened up — or little nooks and crannies can be created — so that everybody can see everybody, and we can participate as a community,” Fisher says.

Create a Variety of Seating Options

“My kids love to be under things, behind things, around things,” says Collins about her second grade classroom. “We have five-gallon buckets in my room that we sit on. We sit on crate seating that I made in my backyard out of a crate and some plywood and some foam. And I also just threw a lot of pillows on the floor.”

For classroom seating, Collins also uses:

  • Couches
  • Chairs
  • Bunk beds
  • Canoes

Fund Your Flexible Classroom: The DIY Approach

Teachers at Albemarle use these low- to no-cost strategies to furnish their classrooms:

    1. Seasonal purchase: Teachers purchase furniture from college students the week that they leave campus after graduation or for the summer. This is the time when students often want to get rid of most of their belongings, and they will give them away or sell them at a cheap price.
    1. Parent donations: Teachers ask parents for furniture. Cheryl Harris, a seventh grade language arts teacher at Sutherland, asks her parents to donate furniture at the beginning of the year. She started to build her collection by saying, “If any of you have a couch or a chair that you have just sitting around, the kids would like to read on it, and it could be a reading corner.” The flow of donations grew and grew from there because parents wanted to contribute to their kids’ learning environment.
    1. Previously used: Teachers purchase items in good condition from a Salvation Army or Goodwill. Second-hand shops in upscale neighborhoods or college towns will usually house quality finds.
  1. Crowdsourcing: Teachers set up a crowdfunding campaign, like DonorsChoose, Classwish, or GoFundMe, and have their students send their online campaign to family, friends, and parents to raise money for classroom furniture.

Fund Your Flexible Classroom: The District Approach

Over the past ten years, Albermarle district leadership has been very intentional in changing the physical nature of classrooms. Although not every classroom in its 26 schools has gotten a makeover, when the district budgets for a furniture-replacement cycle, there are some core pieces to redesigning a classroom. Before picking those core pieces, teachers need a vision for redesigning a classroom, and they should be willing to get rid of the traditional school furniture for more innovative pieces.

When comparing quotes for traditional and more innovative furniture, Fisher was delighted to learn that the cost is almost the same. “You pay roughly the same amount, and our durability has been good. There has been no reason to not go in that direction,” she says.

When Albemarle “does” a room, you’ll see:

    • Flexible seating: Albemarle provides at least three different choices of seating for students — so you might see a stool, a beanbag, or chairs that look more traditional but allow kids to rock without tipping over.
    • Teacher stations, not teacher corners: Instead of a teacher corner taking up 25 percent of the classroom, teachers have workspaces similar to students’ workspaces. The amount of real estate teachers now use is minimal, giving more space in the classroom for creating student corners, or the ability to move furniture around.
  • Flexible tables: Many tables have wheels on them, making it easy to reconfigure a room. Albemarle also chooses big tables, round or rectangular, to support collaborative work. Tables can be written on, as well as flipped up, converting them into whiteboards. They also come in different heights — some are standing desks, others are more traditional heights, and some are low to the ground.

Evolving the classroom space to meet students’ individual needs impacts how they learn, how they interact, and the entire classroom experience. Moran has noticed that when a learning space evolves, students’ work improves immensely, their grades improve, and “just the conversations they have with each other are so invigorating to hear,” Moran says.

Resources

 

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CHECK THEM OUT ON THE WEB

Exciting news from the world wide web!  Check out all of our teacher blogs/sites for more information

Mrs. Watson

Mrs. Martinchick

Mrs. Schultz

Mrs. Kalis

Mrs. Warneck

Mrs. Wesley

Mrs. Higgins

Mrs. Kalis

Mrs. Jensen

Mrs. Boyer

Mrs. Bennett

Mrs. Trapani

Mrs. Solak

Mrs. Byrne

 All staff websites or blogs are listed in the Blogroll on the right side of this blog’s main page.  Keep up the great work in creating a web presence for your classrooms!

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Oct. 24

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Coming soon to Arno…

Oct. 24

Child Study Team meetings per schedule

Oct. 25

3rd grade to River Raisin

Stanley obs 1:40

Oct. 26

Child Study Team meetings per schedule

Oct. 27

Principal’s meeting 9:00

Fire Prevention Assembly 9:00 K-3

Bully Prevention Assembly

K-2    1:30-2:15

3-5     2:30-3:15

Skating Party 6:00

Oct. 28

Welcome Back PTA reward

 

Enhancement Millage Information

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Full Letter on millage:

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From the Arno PTA

Happy Friday Cougar Families,

A few reminders:

Next Wednesday, October 26th, we have our Applebee’s Fundraiser at the Allen Park Applebee’s.  A No-Hassle way to take your family out for dinner and help support your PTA!

Thursday, October 28, from 6-8pm we have our first skating party at Skateland of Woodhaven! Come on out and skate, glide, dance, trip, and stumble through a night of fun!

Our Gumball Challenge is kicking up and almost coming to an end. It is a close race between classes. Get your Membership Forms in to add more gum to your class machines! A more detailed update will become available next week!

Our next PTA Meeting is coming up soon, Thursday, November 3rd at 6:30 pm in the cafeteria! Come check out what is going on and what we will be doing with all the Fun Run money!

We really could not be more grateful and thankful for all the hard work that went into the Fun Run! The rewards for the top performers are as follows:

Each Grade Level Winner will get a limousine ride with Mr. Zielinski to lunch at a restaurant in the area. For 3rd Grade, there was a tie, so both students will get to go out to lunch! For the overall student winner he will get to be, “Principal for the Day!” The Class Winner will receive a Pizza Party.
And without further ado….YOUR 2016 FUN RUN RESULTS AND WINNERS…..(Drumroll Please…)

TOP STUDENT PER GRADE
Grade Teacher Student Amount
K DiCarlo Allan Irick $340
1st Martinchick Marshall Hegedus $880
2nd Amonette Connor Mihalik $215
3rd Warneck Kellen Fogarty $195
3rd Warneck Samantha Muse $195
4th Trionfi Mackenzie Mouchet $360
5th Hool Anna Watson $330
TOP OVERALL IN ARNO
1st Martinchick Marshall Hegedus $880

Classroom Leaderboard

School Classroom Grade Total Raised ($)
Arno Elementary Team Martinchick Grade 1 $2,522
Arno Elementary Team Watson Grade 1 $1,500
Arno Elementary Team Amonette Grade 2 $1,075
Arno Elementary Team Kalis Grade 4 $1,060
Arno Elementary Team Stanley K $975
Arno Elementary Team Trionfi Grade 4 $935
Arno Elementary Team Pushman Grade 1 $745
Arno Elementary Team Warneck Grade 3 $740
Arno Elementary Team DiCarlo K $675
Arno Elementary Team Schultz Grade 2 $650
Arno Elementary Team Haskin K $645
Arno Elementary Team Wesley Grade 3 $625
Arno Elementary Team Hool Grade 5 $595
Arno Elementary Team Higgins Grade 4 $555
Arno Elementary Team Tillery/Brown Grade 2 $475
Arno Elementary Team Smalley Grade 4 $365
Arno Elementary Team Uhring Grade 5 $300
Arno Elementary Team Guyot Grade 3 $285
Arno Elementary Team Creutz Grade 5 $120

CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE!! Details about the lunch will become available in the next couple of weeks! Remember to check the Arno Elementary PTA Facebook page for updates and events, as well as, past school blog posts.

Have a Great Weekend!

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CHECK THEM OUT ON THE WEB

Exciting news from the world of specials!  Check out new link to the AP Elementary Tech  website!  Way to go, specials staff, in stretching your limits to help connect our families to your important work!

Media Tech — http://apelementarytech.weebly.com/

I am so proud of our staff in responding to the feedback from our families on their preferred method of electronic communication.  All staff websites or blogs are listed in the Blogroll on the right side of this blog’s main page.  Keep up the great work in creating a web presence for your classrooms!

 

 

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MTSS Resources

Please allow some time when possible to review the resources and research on MTSS . We have our first child study meetings next week and I am looking forward to addressing our needs.  I love this simple, problem solving pic that illustrates the process of intervention.

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Essential Elements of RTI and a 3-Tier Framework

 

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Information re: DTE match grants for Wayne County Schools

Dear Educators,

On behalf of the International Institute of Metropolitan Detroit, www.iimd.org  I’d like to inform you that we received grants that will allow us to help students k-12 to start “Thinking Globally and Act Locally”. Up to $5000 matching grants can be use to implement our global learning and cultural awareness programs, where we will be able to providing you with International Facilitators to share their global and cultural skills in fun in education experiences.

Our curriculum is designed to be hand on education, teaching basic communication in different languages, indoor and outdoor games, field trips to area museums and different ethnic communities, arts & crafts, etiquette, food, music, and dance from different countries. We also can provide cultural attire’s fashion show to help the children understand the different civilizations that make our country a nation of nations. Please review attachments and let’s meet to make this unique camp possible for your children. It’s our task to build bridges of unity, harmony, peace and understanding in our global community. For furtherinformation please feel free to contact me at 313.871.8600 ext. 226 or email me atnada@iimd.org. 

IIMD gearing up to celebrate 100 years of services on immigration matter, social services and global education with 94 ethnic groups affiliation  

Nada Dalgamouni

Global Education Director

313-871-8600 x 226

248-752-2345

haunted house animation

Halloween at Arno Elementary.

  • Monday, October 31st.
  • 10:30 AM.  Halloween Parade.  Outside
  • Classroom teacher will communicate to you about any other events 

Costumes:

  • Students will wear their costumes to school.
  • All costumes must be school appropriate
  • No play guns or weapons of any kind
  • Please do not allow your child to wear a mask.  Masks tend to slip causing a possible trip and fall accident / injury.

Parade Path:

  • Weather permitting.  We will be outside for our parade.  Our plan is to start the parade with our Kindergarten classes.  We will walk through the building picking up each class and exit door  # 8(5th grade doors).  We will walk around the inside perimeter of the playground fence, and then down the way to enter through the office main door- the best place to stand and watch would be on the outer perimeter of the fence, and along the sidewalk to the office.    Each class will then proceed back to their classrooms.

 

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Run Club begins…

 

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Professional Development Feedback

Please know that our admin team carefully considers your feedback in order to make future plans, and adjust as necessary.  We are already working on the agenda for November 8 in response to the needs you have shared.  Also, here is a summary of the Compass Points activity completed in each of your small groups:  Summary Of Compass Points 10-12-16

https://docs.google.com/a/appublicschools.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf-gPhWAtJo0JrWfAdagemVetfIcOWb4zHemgA2j3H5WyHA3A/viewform

 

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SAFE SCHOOLS MODULES DUE OCTOBER 30

Just a reminder that all Safe Schools modules must be complete by October 30.  If you are a member of the teaching staff that had incomplete Safe Schools modules, I sent you an email last week.  If you did not receive an email, you are complete!  As of last week, most of our teaching staff had completed Safe Schools.

 

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CHECK IT OUT

Educator Evaluation Effectiveness Ratings 

Now available in the Michigan Online Educator Certification System (MOECS)

The new educator evaluation law ties some certificate renewals and progressions to educator effectiveness ratings reported to the state by employing schools.  For more information on how ratings are connected to certificates, please review theAction Required to Ensure Your State Evaluation Data is Accurate for Certificate Progression and Renewaldocument.

Go to MOECS to view any ratings you may have in the system today!

 

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October 17

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Coming soon to Arno…

Oct. 17

IEP VK 8:00

Oct. 18

Steve @RESA Danielson Model Training

4th grade DTE presentation 12

Oct. 19

Boyer IEPs

DiCarlo Obs 1:40

SIP Meeting 3:45

Oct. 20

Steve @Riley 2:00

Oct. 21

End of NWEA window

Fun Run hits $13,000!!!

What a great day it was this past Friday, sunny skies- perfect weather for the annual PTA fall fundraiser Fun Run.   It turned out to be quite a celebration as our cougars were moving around around the track to some tunes, and they were joined by a huge turnout to root them on, as well as join them in their walk.  A Huge Thank You to all of our PTA members, especially Kelley Ellis, who chaired the event for making this a blockbuster fundraiser!   Also, a big thanks to Katie Jensen, who organized the staff end and all staff for their participation in this year’s event.  Please see below for a PTA message and link to Fun Run Pictures.

Arno Staff

We are humbly grateful for the tremendous support of our Fun Run! We have experienced such unparalleled enthusiasm & dedication to make the event successful this year!
Our hearts are overflowing and the Arno PTA community is thoroughly blessed because of your efforts!
Friday was a day filled with sunshine, laughter and smiles! We hope you experienced the same soul filling energy from this event as we did. We witnessed such joy!
Joy not just from the students but from staff, the numerous volunteers, and families that came out to take part in this event.
We are amazed by the generosity of the Arno community to assist in the Fun Run in order to provide for our PTA plans this year!
We love you. We hope you will enjoy this link to view & share the pictures. There are many pictures, a lot actually. We have so much to be thankful for how could we possibly narrow it down 💓
All our love and sincerity,
Your PTA
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Title 1 Schoolwide

To keep you updated in our school wide process this school year…

  • We met as a committee this past Tuesday for a half-day.  We current have Heather Manson, Sarah Kalis, Megan Schultz, Todd Creutz, Beth Wesley, Jeanine Haskin, Cathy Gorski, and Guy Desjardins.
  • Our consultant covered all of the school wide Title 1 components and went over other plans from buildings that have went through the process
  • This process is completely encompassed around the school improvement process
  • Our next step is to meet in Nov for a full day to start work on specific areas
  • There will be a total of 6-7 full day meetings that will end with submission to the state for approval

I will keep you updated on the process as we move forward

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Our Goalie Vinnie suits up for the teacher match!!

Red Wing’s Share Positive Message

Arno had a special visit from the Red Wing’s Assembly Program yesterday with the positive messages of a good educations, and dedication towards exercise and healthy eating habits.  The program also passed out prizes and included an awesome hockey 1:1 shoot out between teachers and students- the students walked with victory with a 3-1 win!!!

 

 

 

 

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3rd Grade Reading Public Act 306

Beginning in 2017-18 schools must begin interventions to insure that 3rd graders will successfully pass the 3rd grade reading assessment when the bill takes effect in 2019-20. Schools must do this by:

  • Screening kids in grades K-3
  • Diagnosing reading difficulties, notifying the parents and then develop an individual reading improvement plan
  • Making sure that the student’s teacher has the necessary skills to remediate the deficiency. If not, provide PD and use an Early Literacy Coach to help that student & teacher.

The goal: make sure that student passes the 3rd grade reading assessment in the 2019-20 SY.

The bill outlines the responsibilities of Michigan Department of Education in developing these assessments, the contents of the parents “read at home plan”, professional development content and the qualifications of an early literacy coach.

If all these interventions result in the student still not passing the 3rd grade reading assessment, CEPI will send a letter to the parent stating that the child cannot advance to the 4th grade. There are, however, ways to get around this retention:

  • The students achieves a 3rd grade reading level on an alternate assessment OR
  • The student’s portfolio demonstrates proficiency by work samples OR
  • Parent requests a good-cause exemption OR
  • The student is proficient in all other subject areas except ELA

If that child does move to the 4th grade, more interventions are required and outlined in the bill:

  • Teacher must be the highest evaluated grade 4 teacher in the school OR Assign the student to a reading specialist
  • Daily reading and small or 1-1 reading interventions throughout the school day
  • Continually assess student progress
  • Parents to continue a “read at home plan”

Exemptions:

  • Students with an IEP
  • Student is limited English proficient with less than 3 years of instruction in an ELL program
  • Student has received intensive reading instruction for the last 2 years and still demonstrates a reading deficiency
  • Student has been in the school for less than 2 years
  • Student cannot be retained more than once

Beginning June 4, 2019, if a district DOES NOT have the number of teachers and coaches necessary to provide these interventions, the district must develop a staffing plan and post that plan on their website, explaining who is currently teaching, their qualifications and how that district plans to meet the requirements of this law.

Beginning In 2020, and every year thereafter, districts are required to report to CEPI the number of students retained in 3rd grade.

Submitted by,

Kathy Merry

Wayne RESA

Control Alt Achieve

Google Tools for Special Needs

Please check out this site for info on google tools for special needs, but you may also find things you can use as interventions for those who are struggling.

 http://www.controlaltachieve.com/

The Teaching Diverse Learners (TDL) Web site, is a resource dedicated to enhancing the capacity of teachers to work effectively and equitably with English language learners (ELLs). This Web site provides access to information — publications, educational materials, and the work of experts in the field — that promotes high achievement for ELLs.
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Report Card Timelines

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Oct. 10

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Coming soon to Arno…

Oct. 10

Reflections Contest Kickoff

Oct. 11

Fire Drill 1:30

Oct. 12

Half Day- dismissal @11:40 Teacher PD

Oct. 13

Red Wings Assembly

Oct. 14

No events

 

What does your classroom environment look like?

seating

Posted to parents…

haunted house animation

Updates regarding Halloween at Arno Elementary.

  • Monday, October 31st.
  • 10:30 AM.  Halloween Parade.  Outside
  • Classroom teacher will communicate to you about any other events 

Costumes:

  • Students will wear their costumes to school.
  • All costumes must be school appropriate
  • No play guns or weapons of any kind
  • Please do not allow your child to wear a mask.  Masks tend to slip causing a possible trip and fall accident / injury.

Parade Path:

  • Weather permitting.  We will be outside for our parade.  Our plan is to start the parade with our Kindergarten classes.  We will walk through the building picking up each class and exit door  # 8(5th grade doors).  We will walk around the inside perimeter of the playground fence, and then down the way to enter through the office main door- the best place to stand and watch would be on the outer perimeter of the fence, and along the sidewalk to the office.    Each class will then proceed back to their classrooms.

 

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tc

 

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Launching Daily 5—The Six Most Important things to Remember


By Joan Moser

Here are six things to keep in mind when launching Daily 5.

  1. One of the most important things to remember is that it’s all about the class sitting in front of us, not last year’s class, and not the class we dreamed about all summer. Every decision is based on the needs of the current group. When we keep this at the forefront of our daily work, it is much easier to flex to meet their needs. If a group is more wiggly, we provide more frequent brain and body breaks. If they come to us without strong behaviors of independence, we build stamina in tiny increments.

  2. When introducing the 10 Steps to Independence for any Daily 5 choice, we add the I-chart behaviors they are ready for. If students are able to focus on our direct instruction for only a few minutes, we start with two or three behaviors instead of all six. We always start with “Read the whole time” and “Get started right away.” We’ll add one or two more each subsequent round, and continue with the 10 Steps of Independence. Older students, or those with Daily 5 experience, may be able to attend to all the desired behaviors on day one. Again, it is all about the students.

  3. We find it most successful, regardless of student ages, to go through the 10 Steps of Independence three or four times a day during those first days of school. We typically start our day by launching Read to Self with the 10 Steps of Independence. We go back through the 10 Steps and I-chart again after recess, once more after lunch, and again at the end of the day. The more students practice, the more quickly the launch will go and the more successful it will be.

  4. Remember the importance of brain breaks. Think about how tired we are those first days of school! Children need many brain breaks throughout the day. These brain breaks can be long ones (going outside to review or introduce the playground rules, practice waking to music or gym) or short ones (hop up and sing a silly song, have older students stand, turn, and talk about anything from their favorite summer moment to their favorite song, TV show, sport, and so on.) Frequent brain breaks enable students to be more successful when we ask them to focus on classroom procedures and learning.

  5. Perhaps most important, we remind ourselves each and every day that we love this job and these students. Attitude is everything. We truly love being part of their learning journey and strive to treat them honorably and respectfully.

  6. And above all, we need to have fun!

 

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21st Century Learning at Arno…

When walking into room 122, you’ll notice that the classroom looks different. This third grade learning space doesn’t have traditional desks or tables for 26 students.

Instead, Mrs. Warneck’s classroom has a variety of seating options.

There are stools, yoga balls, wobble cushions, video game chairs, regular chairs, yoga mats, standing tables, a standing desk, a sitting desk, ottomans, bean bags, beach chairs, small tables, clipboards, and a new carpet space, which the classroom recently won from Jabro Carpet One in a voting contest.  This furniture arrangement is called Flexible Seating and — in addition to the students viewing it as fun—research says Flexible Seating has positive impacts on student learning.

Here are some examples:

  • helps students attention spans which results in higher achievement

  • makes students more actively engaged in the classroom

  • gives them an active outlet without disrupting their learning

  • makes them more physically fit

  • motivates students to want to come to school

  • helps those with ADHD and Autism, along with other special needs

  • helps develop a sense of community among the students which improves their social skills

  • helps them to become independent learners

 

 

 

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ACCESSING AND ENTERING DRA DATA IN MISTAR DNA

To get last year scores: 
Login through MISTAR — Menu — Analysis — MISTAR DnA
  • Click on Dashboard, under reports:
  • create a report,
  • in the Tags: click diagnostics,
  • search and current year and previous year scores are there.
  • Click on last year for that years scores.

Steps for entering current scores for this year: 

  • Click on dashboard,
  • click on View Assessments   they may already have it in their favorites or district favorites
  • Click on whatever grade Diagnostic Reading Scores
Do not click on  “Third Grade Diagnostic Reading Scores 2015-16 report” but
  • on the ribbon on top of page, there is overview, information, columns and responses, click down arrow on Responses
  • click New Enter/Edit
  • then click “find students” and they can edit it by Enter Responses by Column or Student.
If there are any questions, call Shirlann Clarke at x1082 who can walk you through it. 

COOL TECH IDEA

Check out this link for a story on Emoji Word Clouds!  http://www.thetechieteacher.net/2016/09/teach-synonyms-with-emoji-word-clouds.html
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