Coming soon to Arno…
Nov. 7
Steve out
Nov. 8
Election day!
Half-day dismissal 11:40
Teacher PD @ Arno 12:30
Nov. 9
Steve out
PBIS meeting 3:45
Nov. 10
Staff meeting 7:50
Dibels progress monitor training per schedule
PBIS pizza lunch 11:00
Nov. 11
End of First Q
Reflections contest entries due
Nov 12
PTSA Holiday craft show
This is not just a great Halloween picture, but a picture of the people who come to Arno everyday, work their hardest, use the best strategies in the classroom, adapt to the flow of new changes, and make every kid feel special at our school! I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate that, and I appreciate you and everything you do. What we do everyday is under the umbrella of what’s best for kids- it’s not easy, we may not always have the time for it- yet you all pull together and make the good things happen- not just the things that the state or feds want, but the kinds of things that build good people through your morning greetings, hugs, a smile, or just words of encouragement. Thank you for all you do as we enter what surely will be a great November!
From the desk of Phil…
It was a SCARY Halloween at Arno….
Progress Monitoring Training Schedule
Dear Elementary Staff,
Book Fair breakfast
Please mark your calendars for Nov. 22 for a PTA sponsored breakfast in conjunction with the book fair. At the breakfast, you will get to choose your book fav for classroom donation, as well as possibly a door prize. The breakfast starts at 7:30- hope to see you there!
From the PTA
HERE YEE! HERE YEE!!!
The elections are approaching fast just like our weekend! Please remember to get out and VOTE!!
Mother/Son Night out is approaching! Flyers were put into teachers mailboxes today and should be coming home with your student(s). Please get your RSVP’s in soon. We have had a tremendous amount of support from the community and we hope you can join us for this fun event!
Roary the Lion...
The Media Center is about to be plundered by PIRATES!!! Our first Scholastic Book Fair is almost here! Wee Matey’s can stake their claim to treasure a bounty starting on Monday, November 28 through Friday, December 2nd. So, mark your “X’s” on the calendar and look for further details next week! ARGH!!!
HOLIDAY FEVER 11/12/16
Dear APPS Staff & Families,
Please mark your calendars for the upcoming Holiday Fever event on Saturday, November 12 from 9am-3pm at the APHS. This annual event includes a Craft/Vendor show, Mom 2 Mom sale, Tin-Can Auction and lunch concessions. All proceeds from the Holiday Fever event benefit the PTA/PTSA Council scholarship fund for this years graduating seniors. Please see the attached flyer for event details.
If you would like to volunteer for this event or donate an item for concessions, please click on the Sign-Up Genius link below.
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0f48a4af2bab9-holiday1
Thank you for your continued support!
Allen Park PTA/PTSA Council
Introducing our Principal of the Day
Marshall Hegedus enjoyed a day of being in the top spot at Arno in his role as Principal for a Day (Top Fundraisers). He got to experience first hand all of the work that goes into running a school and how fun it can be to get to experience all of the kids at Arno. Great job Marshall, I couldn’t have done it without you! Mr. Zielinski
Conferences- In this week’s blog
Parent/Teacher conferences this fall will be taking place on Nov. 30 (5:00-7:30) and Dec. 1 (12:45-7:30), Dec. 1 is also a half-day- 11:40 dismissal. This year for conference sign-up, we have once again chosen to use a web based tool called signup genius. Many of you may be familiar with it as a number of Arno staff and the PTA have used it in the past for various events. Using this tool allows you to have the ability to choose times that are best for you while looking over the slots available, as well easily scheduling siblings.
Each teacher at Arno has their own signup genius link to click and choose times. In a couple of weeks, we will be posting all of the links in the blog, and you will get a link from your teacher as well. Simply choose the teacher and click an available slot, then go and repeat for siblings in other classrooms. We will have a computer available in the office if you are not able to access the program. There will not be any paper sign up this year
Remember:
- To be on time
- If you have more than one child, please don’t schedule back to back as you will need travel time to move around the building
Fun Run fun with Limo and Lunch for our top fundraisers!
We had an awesome time together as the Arno top fundraisers got treated to lunch at Red Robins and a limo to get us there. What great weather we had to head out in our decked out limo!
A special shout out to Red Robin for great service from a very friendly staff, which really topped off the afternoon! Thank you to all of our contributors for the Arno Fun Run!
Workshop
From yesterday’s PD, several course offerings were given that you may be interested in. If you have an interest in group reading instr, Close reading, or Writers Workshop- let me know and may be able to swing some cash for a small group.
After hearing some of the concerns, time seems like a common thread. I found this article for some additional insight…
CREATING A READER’S WORKSHOP SCHEDULE
Happy Thursday, friends! Today marks the second week of our Reading in the Wild summer book study. If you are just joining us and missed the first week (Wild Readers Dedicate Time to Read), you may check it out here. Without further adieu, Our hosts for Chapter 1: Creating a Workshop Schedule that Works for You are Jivey from Ideas by Jivey and Chelsea from Flip-Floppin’ Through 3rd Grade.
Today I’m sharing with you the Reading Workshop schedule that worked for me and my group of 5th graders. This year I taught 3 reading classes, each with 30 students. The first class of the day I co-taught with an amazing Special Education Teacher. ohmygoodnessiwouldnthavesurvivedwithouther. My other two reading classes weren’t intentionally ability-grouped, but generally the second class was on-grade level, and my third class was above-grade level.
With that said, I had 55 minute class periods (including a transition time), so most days it turned into 52ish minutes. Our District has a very specific format or “blueprint” for classes that I was expected to follow daily. You’ll see the format below – flashback, mini-lesson, guided practice, exit slip, and then, small groups/reading workshop.
Every. Day. Friends. No. Wiggle. Room. So, we made it work!
What are flashbacks?
In our district, flashbacks are 3-5 multiple choice questions that open all of our classes. They are very intentional Common Core spiral reviews of skills. Flashbacks are not intended to review materials being taught right now or even content taught a week ago. Rather, we flashback to topics already assessed. Since I am 1:1 iPad classroom, we use the free Socrative app to take our flashbacks {and it’s AMAZING!}.
What’s a Kagan Structure?
Kagan is all about cooperative learning – not group work – with frequent modeling, celebrations, community building, and brain breaks…sounds fun, right? Kagan structures hold every student accountable and eliminate ‘hogs’ and ‘logs’ in the learning process. Every person in our district is Kagan trained and it has TOTALLY revamped my idea of my classroom. Hands down, it is the best training I’ve received. I have shared more about Kagan here!
What about read aloud?
We started every reading with a poem read orally, but in terms of novels read-aloud, each homeroom teacher read with her class before or after lunch for 10-15 minutes.
How Do You Run Workshop?
Fantastic question! I’m going to give you several answers. They show how much I’ve changed as a teacher and how my reading period changed throughout the year.
First, I am about to be really honest with you. I waited way too long before introducing reader’s workshop. Until October or so, my mini-lessons were not mini and my flashbacks were not flashes…With encouragement from my mentor and knowing the importance of the workshop time, I tamed my mini-lessons, flashbacks, and everything in the middle. At first, my “workshop” was very structured. I gave students no autonomy or control. I know, I know, I know. The thought of giving up control hurt my mind and I could fight the nagging question – “Will students really make the choice that they need most or just the one that is easiest for them?” With that said, my first workshop schedule (October – January) looked like this – 13 stations in a 2 week rotation. Students went to 9 stations in the two-week period {one a day, assuming that 1 day out of 10 we did not have time for workshop.} Students did not go to every center.
Students spent 17-19 minutes at each rotation and accomplished one task a day. Students worked in groups of 2 or 3 and were grouped with the closest person(s) academically at that time. I regrouped students every two weeks (if needed) based on Common Assessments (tests), flashbacks, exit slips, and teacher observation. During centers, I kept the below chart on the board so students knew where to go, and a timer going on the TV.
We’re friends now, so let’s be honest with each other…it really wasn’t workshop. In fact most of the actual work was being done by me – creating, printing, laminating, assembling, and checking. The students were LOVING the activities, and they loved working in groups, but it wasn’t sustainable. It was exhausting.
After a literacy coordinator visited during our Professional Learning Community time, my co-teacher and I decided to move more toward the workshop model giving students choice, responsibility, and autonomy using a monthly choice board. (Please note – this was never perfect, but it worked so much better!) Students chose which activity to complete based on the goal we had set for them. They were expected to visit one activity in each learning section (time spent reading, common core skills, word work) every two weeks. Many of the squares take several days to complete, so some students might only make it to 3 squares, while some students (often my students who struggle with building reading stamina) might make it to five or six squares in a two-week period.
If a station required more directions or explanation than I could fit in a box, I included an audio QR code to share my expectations with students, as well as, the “I Can” statement.
With the choice boards, the majority of our workshop time centered around our classroom library. Only in the Word Work column are students not actively engaged with reading material. This was the most important shift with our schedule and truly got to the heart of what reading class should be…reading! Students spent more time reading books of their choice, responding to their reading, and sharing their reader (informally by sitting next to a friend and sharing while reading) or in a more formal way as shown above.
Additionally, only the 2nd and 3rd Word Work choices changed every 2 weeks, so students knew what to expect, and I spent more time working with students rather than managing workshop!
With the choice boards, students still had access to some of our print-and-cut centers/materials, but would often trade an activity out if they needed more practice or if they were struggling with their stamina and needed to change courses. I upgraded from manila folders to more durable and organized Sterilite bins. You can read more about how I organize these materials by clicking below.
While students are at their chosen station, what are you doing?
During workshop, I am doing one of three things (1) conferring with a student (2) assessing students (3) meeting with a small group. When I am conferring with students one-on-one, I use a Google Doc (similar to the one Miller provides in her book) to take notes. In my small groups, we focus on target-intervention (Common Core skills that were not initially mastered). Typically, the same group of student visited me 2 or 3 days, before I take days off to confer or pull another group.
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Well friends – confusing enough? My workshop style definitely changed throughout the year, and by the end of the year, it was glorious! My kids loved having choice and independence. One day we even ditched the lesson plan and workshop-ed the ENTIRE class period. IT WAS AWESOME.
Now, share with me, how do you run your workshop? What works for you and your students? What doesn’t work? If you’re a blogger, awesome! Link up your posts/ideas. If you’re not a blogger, that’s great, too! You can read/follow and comment. We want to hear your advice, thoughts, and ideas for the classroom, too. The more teachers we have joining, the more amazing our classrooms will be this fall! Next week, we will be reading Chapter 2: Wild Readers Self-Select Reading Material.