Coming soon to Arno…

May 29

Memorial Day- No School

May 30

Higgins, Smalley 4th grade boat trip

1st grade DRA

Steve @Plymouth/Canton Science training obs

May 31

504 LB 8:00

SPED APMS walk

K-12 ELA Committee

June 1

STEAM Science museum/assembly

ICC 4:00

June 2

Kindergarten to Zoo

From the PTA

Have a Great Weekend! Stay Dry and Warm!

Class Lists

I have now shared with you the forms to record the class lists for June 13th.  Along with that you also received a form to identify the rooms that will serve as the SPED and ELL homerooms, please be sure to fill that in so the grade below you can start the process.

Some questions have come up:

1. Should the SPED homeroom have less students?

This will be looked at on a case by case.  This is neither a building mandate, nor district.  In the end I would expect that all class lists are appropriately balanced

2.  What is the grade has an A1 ELL student, would they need to be considered for the ELL room?

My thoughts on this would be for any student labeled ELL, that would mean that is their current designation and they service from RESA.  If they are formerly designated as ELL (no longer being serviced), I would not put them in with this grouping

3.  Once the grade decides who will be the ELL or SPED teacher, is that a permanent designation?

No, this is something that may change annually

Let me know what other questions you have along the way

MTSS Survey Link

Please take the time to respond to the MTSS survey for our building.  We will use the district data to improve our approach both at the building level and at the district level of support.

MTSS Survey

Math Survey Link

Please take the time to respond to the MTSS survey for our building.  We will use the district data to improve our approach both at the building level and at the district level of support.

Math Survey

From the District:

Field Day Volunteers

Arno Families,
Please click on the link to volunteer for Field Day 2017 during one of the half day sessions on Monday, June 5 or Tuesday, June 6. Your support is greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Jenny Dalton-Arno P.E.

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0b4fa8ad2ea1f58-field1

Rain Date Volunteer Link:

Arno Field Day Volunteer Sign Up-RAIN DATES

Rain Date Volunteers:  Please report to the gym at your scheduled time so I can give you game materials and brief instructions before your first class arrives at your station.  Classes will be rotating through each station at 15 minute intervals.  Thank you in advance for your help and support with this event.  

Jenny Dalton-Arno P.E.

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0b4fa8ad2ea1f58-arno

SAFETY TOWN

Who:  Kindergarten and 1st Grade Students in September 2016

When:  Session (A) June 20 -June 30  (9:00am to 11:30am)
Session (B) June 20-June 30 (12:30pm to 3:00pm)
Where:  Lindemann Elementary (9201 Carter, Allen Park)

A registration form will be sent home with your child the first week of April. Walk-in registration will also be available at the Allen Park Recreation Center Lobby on April 11th from 4-6 p.m.

Safety Town is an interactive safety awareness program for children from 5-6 years of age. Each day the children will be introduced to various safety issues in a fun and safe environment. The program is taught by a Police Officer and a certified teacher, with hands-on topics led by community guest speakers as well as visits from the Allen Park Police & Fire Departments. Teen volunteers from Allen Park High School lead the children through safety town every day and receive valuable training along with obtaining National Honor Society service hours. The children learn about stranger danger, water and beach as well as playground safety, fire safety, pet and bus safety, electrical and gun safety, and personal safety with an emphasis on pedestrian safety. The kids will be bicycling about a miniature town complete with streets, sidewalks, buildings, stop signs and a working traffic signal. Importance is placed on having the children memorize a cell phone number to call if they should ever become lost. We use fun songs to reinforce all of these principles and the children memorize our very own Safety Town Pledge!

Comments and questions can be directed to Officer Marcos Madrigal via email madrigal@appublicschools.com

Officer Madrigal teaches safety to our first graders

Summer Reading Ideas…

2017SummerResourcesLettertoTeachersandParents-1nuyphm

It’s that time again…

We are looking forward to another wonderful 5th grade graduation ceremony on June 14th at 9:00.  Following the ceremony there will be “picnic” for all the students with lots of yummy treats.  Please contact the office with any questions.

CLASSROOMSCREEN.COM

Classroomscreen.com: A Web Tool Teachers and Students will LOVE

Classroomscreen.com is a FREE web tool that launched this past March. Laurens Koppers, a teacher from the Netherlands, created this tool to utilize the digiboard in their classroom to help students focus on their work.

How classroomscreen.com works:

Launch your web browser and visit classroomscreen.com. Project it on a screen in your classroom. Your browser turns into an interactive board and has the capability to display various tools that you and your students will LOVE.

Tools and Capabilities:

🖥 choose a background
🖥 type your instructions in the text area and zoom
🖥 choose a work symbol
🖥 set a timer
🖥 show the clock & calendar
🖥 use the traffic light
🖥 pick a random name
🖥 use the calculator
🖥 draw in-screen or full-screen
🖥 generate a QR-code
🖥 drag and drop the icons in the right place

🖥 select a language

What makes this web tool stand out?

Many teachers I have shared this tool with have already said that the QR code generator is their favorite tool. Simply click the QR code icon, enter the url of a website you would like your students to visit and the tool instantly generates a QR code for students to scan with a handheld device.

I really like the work symbols that can be used as a visual reminder for students:

Here are the different options you can choose from:

I also think the stoplight is a nice component! Use it as a visual reminder for voice levels as well as other activities. I could even seen students using classscreen.com on their own devices in which they could change the stoplight to indicate their progress on a project or their understanding of a concept.

But really, you need to check out ALL of the fabulous functions of this web tool.

Check out my Facebook Live to see classroomscreen.com in action:

TEACHING COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES & SKILLS

LONG POST but full of great information!  from http://snippetsbysarah.blogspot.com/

Teaching Comprehension Strategies and Skills

This post has been a LONG time coming! I just keep adding to it, reorganizing it, and adding some more. I’m happy to finally push Publish on this one!

So I must warn you: This is like a three year photo dump. This post is a collection of pictures and activities that I’ve used with my 1st-3rd grade reading groups. I wish I took more pictures though!

I’ve been working hard to beef up my comprehension instruction. If you stick with this post and scroll down to the resources section, I break it down a little more for you. This might be one of those posts where you need a big cup of coffee! There is a freebie at the end for you, too!

I’ll start with a very quick explanation. Then, you can scroll further down to see more examples and visuals to go with it.

For every text, I choose a comprehension strategy and skill to focus on.

• The STRATEGIES are used while we read. I introduce those first.
  • I explain the strategy and model how the strategy is used.
  • I explain why that strategy is helpful.
  • I tell them that we are going to practice this strategy with the text.
  • After the usual book introduction, students read on their own a few pages (or however far I ask them to go. I try to chunk up the text in meaningful ways. For example, if the characters, setting and some background are introduced in the first two pages, I’ll have them read that first then stop. Then they will read the next few pages to find the problem or conflict.
    • Before each set of pages, I set a purpose. “Read to find out…”
    • After each set of pages, I model how I used that strategy. As the text continues, I ask the students to share how they used it. If they are unable to do so, I will find a passage from the text that lends itself to that strategy and we will practice it together.
    • Continue this throughout the entire book. Sometimes I provide sticky notes or a graphic organizer in a sheet protector for that strategy.
    • After we have learned a few strategies, I give them a comprehension strategy bookmark so they can always remember and refer to the strategies we’ve learned so far.
• Next, I introduce the SKILL. Before reading, I do tell my students what skill we will be working on and will show them the visual for it with a quick explanation. Then I remind them that they will learn more about the skill as we read or after we read.

• • I may wait until after reading to explain it, if we are going to go back for the second read to practice the skill.
  • In some cases though, I will introduce it somewhere during reading. For example, if the skill is cause-and-effect and there is a clear example of it in the middle of the book, I will point it out then.
  • I always want to provide some kind of visual, like a graphic organizer or a group anchor chart. I usually “hold the pen” for this simply for time reasons.
  • When they have already been introduced to the skill once and have seen me model how to use it, then they will “hold the pen” with a shared anchor chart or a graphic organizer for their notebooks.
  • Usually it involves going back to the text and rereading. For example, I might ask them to reread page 10 and share an example of cause and effect. OR I will name the effect and they have to search for the cause. They have to show me where in the text they found the cause. This is so important. My students are always going back to the text.  I will often say “prove it” with a  smile. They use language like “I think _____ because the text says…” Providing sentence stems is so helpful! (More about that below.)

Here is what my lesson plans look like now:

PS. They may look like this week one but then they are pencil chicken scratch as the year goes on. 😉 I’m sharing this as a freebie at the end of this post.

I’ll start with my photo dump.

Part 1: Classroom Anchor Charts

Warning #2! You are about to see some NONPinterest-friendly, unartistic anchor charts. However, they are effective, give the job done, AND smell super yummy (because I always use smelly markers.)

Before I introduce specific strategies, I show my students how I am always thinking as I read. It can be an “aha moment,” a question, an exclamation, or just a random thought. An anchor chart like this is always a good place to start. Then you can do another where the kids all share their thoughts.

This is a favorite! I put some of the same types of thoughts as I mentioned above. Then I place little stickies in the book where I had those thoughts. After students have read a section, we go back and reread the parts of the text that I marked. They choose which sticky note fits with that part of the text.

This picture is from a 3rd grade group, but I do this with my first graders as well. Give kids the opportunity to write their thoughts as they read. The first time you do it, you should pick parts in the text that lend themselves to an “aha moment,” an exclamation, a questions, an “”I think…” moment, etc. Then have the group write their thoughts on stickies. The next time you do it, you can have them choose places in the text.

During Reading: Comprehension STRATEGIES

This is not news to anyone, but I’m saying it anyway: Model, model, model. The more I model my thinking and create a visual to go with my thinking, the more I get out of my students.

When I make predictions, it doesn’t end there! We must read on to confirm and change our predictions. In this first chart, I modeled what it means to confirm predictions. Then in the next one, I modeled how to confirm or change a prediction.

First, I teach them to choose what is important to the story before we work on actual summaries. In this first chart, we reread to find things that were important to the story and things that were just added details. Then, we practice writing the summary together. I also use the “______ wanted _______ but __________ so __________” frame often. The kids love when I project that on the white board so they can fill it in with markers.

This is from an old post that you can find HERE.

I like to make simple charts that guide my students thinking.  The chart above shows how to evaluate a nonfiction text. The chart bellows shows my class’ evaluation of a fiction text. They shared their thoughts, which I recorded on the chart, but they had to give me reasons from the text.

Sticky notes are a constant theme…

Sometimes you just need to draw a puzzle on the fly. That’s about as far as my artistic ability goes. 😉

This one involved a projector and a pre-made PowerPoint slideshow with a thinking bubble that grew. As we gained new ideas, we added our sticky note ideas to the growing bubble.

This is an activity I do quite often. I take a sentence, either made up or from a book, then I show student how many strategies we could use for a single sentence. For example, from this sentence you might wonder if she’s on a business trip or if it is a vacation. You might wonder why there is bad traffic. You might infer that she’s super frustrated. You might predict she will be late for something. Explain that when reading this sentence in a full book or reading passage, we would likely read on to find the answers or reread if it is something we need to clarify.

After Reading: Comprehension SKILLS

I often take a comprehension question, then I really break it down. After that I will provide a sentence stem and model how I would answer the question. Kids need lots of practice with both of these steps in the process.

Here, I modeled for a second grade group how I would answer this question using text evidence.

These are a few ways I have broken down my thought process while drawing conclusions. I especially like using the different colored sentence strips.

I used this visual to explain how details support the main idea.

I used this with a third grade group to show the difference between theme and main idea.

You can stop here and focus on character lesson or you could take it once step further and find the themes.

And of course, I am all about sentence stems to get kids talking!

This is shined up on the big white board using a projector. Then we wrote in our thoughts. The next time, students wrote their thoughts.

Part 2: Resources

This year, one of my professional goals was to beef up my comprehension instruction. Specifically, I wanted to be more explicit with my teaching and find ways to organize and track the skills and strategies I was teaching. In years past, I taught strategies and skills but it felt more haphazard with how and when I delivered it. When we read books, I would always incorporate a strategy focus and I would follow up with a skill that worked with that book. I realized though, that I was using those two interchangeably. Honestly, some can be used interchangeably in my opinion, but once I took time to really separate them out and categorize them once and for, everything got easier and my teaching became more explicit. This was not a quick process. I looked at the resources that I’ve been using including readings-z.com books, some supplemental leveled readers from our basal program, and some random reading passages.  I reflected on the main strategies that I use first. These are the strategies that I want my kids actively using while they are reading. Then I sifted through the skills that I wanted them to have in order to complete activities after reading.

Comprehension Strategies

First, I made this strategy bookmark.  It is a guide for my students, a reminder of strategies we’ve learned, and a sneak peak at strategies to come. It also keeps me on track.  It reminds me to model previously learned strategies and encouraged me to make sure I was getting to all the strategies.

I made posters to go with the bookmark. I used these as anchor charts when I introduced a strategy and referred back to them when needed. Once I introduce a strategy, the big poster can go on the wall.

(These come in brights, no color background, and classic colors)

I had already made graphic organizers for strategies but they were all scattered. I put them together, spiffed them up a bit, but tried to keep them simple and usable. I put them all into sheet protectors and stocked up on Ultra Fine Tip Expo markers. This way, students could use them over and over and I never had to worry about making more copies.

I’ve learned that ULTRA fine tip EXPO dry erase markers are the best! The picture on the far right is ultra fine tip. It makes a big difference.

Comprehension Skills

This year, one thing that I tried to be better about was focusing my lessons around a skill. I’m not bound to a basal, so I’m able to do that.  I would pick a skill, like character analysis, and focus on it for two(ish) weeks.  In that time, we would read different texts that lend themselves to practicing that skill. As we read those texts, I would focus on a different strategy as well. For example, while focusing on the skill character analysis, I may read 3-4 texts, each with a different strategy focus. To help students distinguish between the two, I made these comprehension skill notebooks. I sort of made these on accident. I was using the notebooks to keep it all together, then realized I wanted them more organized. Years ago, I had made these writing notebook tabs and loved the organization, so I thought I’d do the same for these comprehension skills. It has been SO helpful! Kids can look back at different skills and different activities we’ve done. Win-win!

I made several graphic organizers to go behind each tab because different books may use a skill in different ways. For example, one book may be good for looking at how a character’s actions affected another character. Another story might be better at simply analyzing the character and looking for text evidence. These each need a different graphic organizer.  I cut around the outer box and glued it right behind the tabs when needed. FYI: I have to keep it real here. This is a sample. The real kids’ notebooks have graphic organizers that are not cut so straight and glued so perfectly. 😉

I spend a little more time thinking about my learning outcomes for each skill.

Strategies and Skills on one poster:

Finally, I made these mini-posters to have right at my reading table. Once I introduced a strategy or skill and put the big poster on the wall, I found myself wanting another poster right at my fingertips to display at the reading table. Now I can’t imagine not using it! It helps me to be more explicit with my teaching. It helps me to be accountable every time we are at that reading table.

Part 3: Putting it all together

So just to recap:

• Introduce strategies and use these strategies as you read. Model, model, model how to use these strategies. Use posters as a visual aide when you introduce.
• Depending on the strategy and story, provide a graphic organizer or sticky notes for students to use as they read. Read the text in smaller portions. I have my students whisper read or read in their heads. I will tell them to read to a certain point in the text. Then, when they finish, I model how I used that strategy for that text. Before reading the next set of pages, I remind students to try to use the strategy as they read. As they whisper read, I listen in to one student and I may encourage use of the strategy if applicable. After reading a few more pages, I invite students to share how they used the strategy.  If we are using a graphic organizer, I will model how to fill it out in a way that helps me stay engaged with the text.
• Make sure you practice each strategy with several different texts. It doesn’t need to be all in a row though. Once I introduce a strategy, I always review it, but may wait a few weeks before focusing on it again.
• After a couple strategies have been introduced, I bring out the strategy bookmarks. Then, we use these every time we read. We review the strategies we’ve learned. Even if we are focusing on a new strategy, I always invite kids to share any strategy they may have used.
• Keep your strategy graphic organizer in page protectors so you have easy access and can use them again.
• I usually focus on comprehension skills after reading as a post activity. Those graphic organizers are usually put in the skill notebooks or just printed on paper. 
• I use the mini-poster display to show students what skill and strategy we are using for a particular text. Before reading, I’ll put up the strategy card using velcro. As we read or after (depending on the text) I will add on the skill. This helps me to be explicit with my teaching.

I am a HUGE fan of readinga-z.com. Honestly if there is ONE thing you should spend your money on, it’s that subscription. Endless books at ALL levels and they keep adding MORE! They have close reading packs as well! And I just discovered their shared reading books. I’m telling you, it’s the best thing I ever did. I first subscribed in 2003 when I started out and didn’t have any books and I haven’t looked back. I don’t blink an eye when renewal time comes up.

If you are interested in any of these resources, you can find them all HERE:

And since you’ve made it ALL the way to the bottom (cheers to that,) I am sharing a little freebie with you. This is what I use to plan my guided reading instruction. It reminds me to find a focus for strategies and skills.

The one on the left if for first grade and early second. The one on the right is for later second and third grade. You can get this HERE.

Arno Awesomeness!!

Coming soon to Arno…

May 22

Parent Strategic Plan times 10:30 and 6:00

Admin Strategic Plan 1:00

5th Grade Maturation program begin

504 LB 8:00

May 23

504 NR 11:15

Kinder DRA Day

May 24

Schoolwide Title meeting all day

SIP Meeting 3:45

May 25

3rd Grade DRA Day

Principal”s meeting 9:00

May 26

2nd Grade DRA Day

M-STEP Window Closes!!!

CONGRATULATIONS

Congratulations to Colleen and Erin for being recognized at Monday’s Board Meeting for their hard work in organizing many guest readers at all three elementary schools during March is Reading Month!  Many of our classes enjoyed a guest reader from the AP community and we appreciate the efforts of Colleen and Erin to invite and coordinate the readers!

Schoolwide Title I Update

The Chair team recently met all day with district to wrap the main SIP and any loose ends.  At this point, we are just about complete with the PD plan portion and that will complete the entire process!  Next Wednesday, we will reconvene to review the entire plan and diagnostic, then meet and present to Mike Darga in the p.m.  If everything is done, we will then submit the entire package to the state for final approval and our letter to confirm our move to schoolwide.  It has been a tremendous process, but one that I feel was worth the work to make our school an even better place.  Thanks to all of our team members that have attended the entire years worth of meetings; Todd, Beth, Jeanine, Megan, Cathy, and Sara.

Please give your important feedback…

Assessment Surveys for Spring 2017 Administrations

The Michigan Department of Education would like to say THANK YOU for your part in a very successful assessment administration this spring. We ask that you take a moment to provide your feedback in our administration surveys. Your feedback remains an important tool for the future planning and development of quality assessments and testing practices for educators and the kids of Michigan. We have made significant changes overall based on much of the feedback from last year. The surveys have been categorized by your role in the testing process and require about 10 to 15 minutes to complete.

Based on your role, please complete the surveys mentioned below by selecting the link and proceeding with the survey or you can access the link on each assessment’s web page under What’s New: M-STEP Administration Survey for coordinators and assessment administrators – located on the M-STEP web page (www.michigan.gov/mstep)

From the PTA

Happy Friday! 

Just a quick reminder from the PTA that our Stevie B’s Fundraiser is next Tuesday, May 23rd from 11 am- 9 pm. Teachers EAT FREE and the class with the highest amount of participants gets a FREE PIZZA PARTY! Just let the cashier know when you order you’re from Arno and what teacher you have. If you have more than one child at Arno, you may split the number of people in your party. So, if you have a family of 5 and 2 students that attend Arno, you can give 2 credits to one and 3 credits to another or divide it up as you please. They also have a small arcade there and token purchases also account for credits as well!

Have Fun! Eat some delicious pizza and earn a free pizza party while raising funds for our kids at Arno!

Have a Great Weekend!

Summer Reading Ideas…

2017SummerResourcesLettertoTeachersandParents-1nuyphm

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.   The following links are full of information about increasing text complexity in the classroom and include text sets and resources to help teachers navigate text complexity in the classroom. http://www.ccsso.org/Navigating_Text_Complexity/Learn_the_Ropes.html http://www.ccsso.org/Navigating_Text_Complexity/Find_State_Resources_to_Support_Your_Journey_.html

 Science live in First Grade…

SAFETY TOWN

Who:  Kindergarten and 1st Grade Students in September 2016

When:  Session (A) June 20 -June 30  (9:00am to 11:30am)
Session (B) June 20-June 30 (12:30pm to 3:00pm)
Where:  Lindemann Elementary (9201 Carter, Allen Park)

A registration form will be sent home with your child the first week of April. Walk-in registration will also be available at the Allen Park Recreation Center Lobby on April 11th from 4-6 p.m.

Safety Town is an interactive safety awareness program for children from 5-6 years of age. Each day the children will be introduced to various safety issues in a fun and safe environment. The program is taught by a Police Officer and a certified teacher, with hands-on topics led by community guest speakers as well as visits from the Allen Park Police & Fire Departments. Teen volunteers from Allen Park High School lead the children through safety town every day and receive valuable training along with obtaining National Honor Society service hours. The children learn about stranger danger, water and beach as well as playground safety, fire safety, pet and bus safety, electrical and gun safety, and personal safety with an emphasis on pedestrian safety. The kids will be bicycling about a miniature town complete with streets, sidewalks, buildings, stop signs and a working traffic signal. Importance is placed on having the children memorize a cell phone number to call if they should ever become lost. We use fun songs to reinforce all of these principles and the children memorize our very own Safety Town Pledge!

Comments and questions can be directed to Officer Marcos Madrigal via email madrigal@appublicschools.com

Upcoming Fundraiser- TEACHERS eat FREE!

Class Lists/Common Schedule June 13

Just a reminder of the schedule below for class list review/common schedule update.  Please come to the meeting with your lists completed.

Great Job 4th and 5th Graders!!

What a great performance by our 4th and 5th graders at Tuesday evening’s concert performance with Mr. Hoffman and Mr. Skebo at the helm.  It was a great  theme, perfect for this time of year.  Very impressed as always with our Arno talent!

Arno Elementary 4th & 5th grade students did an awesome job at the concert this evening! @szArno pic.twitter.com/GkSyZ7Kx1S

— Dawn Watson (@dpawatson) May 19, 2017

High School Jazz Band Visit

We recently had a visit from the high school jazz band that rocked the gym with some great music!  Our 4th and 5th graders were treated to an awesome start to their day and we loved seeing some of our former Arno kids!

M-STEP Is Almost Complete 

3rd grade will be wrapping up  their testing on Monday and the whole building will be complete this year.  It certainly has been a process but I feel that you have all prepared the kids in an exemplary way and have given us the best scores we could ask for.  The state data is supposed to be in by mid August, so I will share what I can, when I can and we will certainly get the data team on this when its time.  Again, great job on test completion, I look forward to our scores!

Mike Dawson has indicated that the Safe Schools training window will open on July 1 with a due date of October 31.  Please let me know if you need any access assistance

Color Run 2017 Info and Signup Genius for volunteers

Volunteer Link: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/15bf27a301a6b5a6

The Color Run/Walk is an end of the year event for Arno families geared towards being healthy and having fun.  It will be held at the Middle School Track on Saturday, June 3rd starting at 10:00 am.  We are seeking volunteers for this event.  Volunteers will be expected to be there 30 minutes prior to the event at 9:30 am.  If you are interested in volunteering, please sign up and we will see you Saturday morning.  Current Arno students may not be volunteers.

Children must be accompanied by an adult and families will be running in heats that are predetermined.  Heat times will be communicated to families the week before the run.  Participants should come to the event wearing white and Eco-friendly colored corn starch will be thrown on runners/walkers as they move around the track.

ArnoColorRun2017.docx-22htfc5

Now that PD has concluded for the year, please print and submit you PD log from the MOECS system and turn it in no later than May 31

New District Summer Hours

APPS Summer Hours

Monday thru Thursday

7:00 a.m. – 4:00 pm.

Closed Fridays*

(July 1 thru August 14)

*Summer Kids Camp at Riley Education Center will be held on Fridays

All District Offices and Programs closed on July 3rd & 4th

Google Drawing is the forgotten stepchild of Google Drive. It doesn’t have a MS Office / iWork equivalent and most people aren’t quite sure what to do with it.

Drawing is a simple shape tool in which you can create and annotate simply graphics and illustrations. It’s great for organizational charts, mind maps, flow charts, infographics, and graphic organizers.
John Sowash presented a half-day workshop on Google Drive to a group of elementary teachers in Dexter, Michigan. He provided the groups  with practical ideas for incorporating these tools into their grade level rooms, so he put together a collection of a half-dozen traditional graphic organizers for elementary students:

Main Events Quilt
Main Idea Umbrella
Prediction Chart
Problem / Solution Chart
Story Comparison Chart
Story Elements Butterfly Chart

Simply click on one of the links and make a copy of the original (File -> Make Copy). Please note that you will need a Google Drive account (and must be signed in) before you can make your own copy.

http://electriceducator.blogspot.ie/2014/11/graphic-organizers-with-google-drawing.html

The Electric Educator by John R. Sowash is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

5 THINGS TEACHERS CAN DO NOW TO PREPARE FOR NEXT YEAR

Coming soon to Arno…

May 15

Lindemann Principal Interviews Round 1 8:00

3rd Grade M-STEP ELA

May 16

Steve @Tech meeting

May 17

3rd Grade M-STEP Math

SIP District Meeting all day

May 18

Middle School Orientation Gym 9:00

4/5th grade concert 7:00

May 19

Kids Hope Year End Party 2:00

In the parent blog…

FIDGET TOYS

Many of our classrooms have fidget “toys” available for students who need them to maintain focus on work while expending energy in a quiet, personal way.  However, we have seen many fidget toys coming to school with students from home.  These fidget toys, designed to improve attention, are actually becoming a major distraction for our students at all levels.  Student attention is actually ON the fidget toys, rather than the lesson.  For this reason, we are asking that all fidget toys be left at home from this point forward.  If your child needs a fidget to do his or her best work at school, it will be provided by the teacher.  Thank you in advance for your support and understanding.

From the PTA

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mother’s out there! We appreciate all that you do! Lets hope this weekend will bring us some beautiful weather along with all the beautiful mom’s we will be celebrating.

We are currently looking for team members and chairs for our Fall Events: Welcome Back, Fun Run, and Reflections. If you’re willing to lead one of these events, please contact us.

Our STEAM Museum is coming to Arno and we still need a few volunteers to help make it a success! If you would like to see what this event is all about, please consider volunteering! Link is available below and on our Facebook page.

Here is the sign up genius link: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0e4bacad22a4fd0-steam

Class Lists/Common Schedule June 13

Just a reminder of the schedule below for class list review/common schedule update.  Please come to the meeting with your lists completed.

Mike Dawson has indicated that the Safe Schools training window will open on July 1 with a due date of October 31.  Please let me know if you need any access assistance

Color Run 2017 Info and Signup Genius for volunteers

Volunteer Link: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/15bf27a301a6b5a6

The Color Run/Walk is an end of the year event for Arno families geared towards being healthy and having fun.  It will be held at the Middle School Track on Saturday, June 3rd starting at 10:00 am.  We are seeking volunteers for this event.  Volunteers will be expected to be there 30 minutes prior to the event at 9:30 am.  If you are interested in volunteering, please sign up and we will see you Saturday morning.  Current Arno students may not be volunteers.

Children must be accompanied by an adult and families will be running in heats that are predetermined.  Heat times will be communicated to families the week before the run.  Participants should come to the event wearing white and Eco-friendly colored corn starch will be thrown on runners/walkers as they move around the track.

ArnoColorRun2017.docx-22htfc5

Now that PD has concluded for the year, please print and submit you PD log from the MOECS system and turn it in no later than May 31

Thanks Katie!

Katie has agreed to rep Arno for the district Strategic Planning committee

New District Summer Hours

APPS Summer Hours

Monday thru Thursday

7:00 a.m. – 4:00 pm.

Closed Fridays*

(July 1 thru August 14)

*Summer Kids Camp at Riley Education Center will be held on Fridays

All District Offices and Programs closed on July 3rd & 4th

10 Tips for Organizing Google Drive

Clear the clutter and  take control!

Is your Drive Account a hot mess?

Google Drive has become one of my essential tools. All my files are in Google Drive. With unlimited storage and easy access from any device, I put everything in Drive. At first, this was no big deal. But after about five years of heavy drive usage, it became more difficult to find and manage my files. Here are my top 10 tips for organizing your Drive account.

1. Use folders

Your files are like people. Folders are like houses. Make sure that everyone has a home! The goal is to eliminate any “homeless” files.

Test it out: click on “my drive.” What do you see – files or folders? Move any “homeless” files into folders.

Tip: Don’t be shy about how many folders you create. I have folder “trees” that are 7+ deep. If you want your files to be in a specific order, add a number prefix.

Tip: if you have a LOT of homeless files to organize, open the file tree on the left and drag and drop your files into folders. You can also hold down the ctrl key to select multiple files at the same time.

2. Name your files carefully

Generic file names were okay when they were only your files. But Google Drive is for sharing, and when you share a file called “notes,” you aren’t doing your friends any favors. Be super detailed and specific with your file names.

• Bad: Lesson Plan
• Good: Week 3 Lesson Plan | John Sowash, 2017
• Bad: Meeting Agenda
• Good: Curriculum Meeting Agenda, March 21, 2017

You can use hashtags and special characters to draw attention to special files. I use [template] to identify documents that I copy frequently.

3. Color your folders

Add color to your most frequently used folders to make them easy to find. Right click on a folder and look for the “color” option.

4. Use emoji 😀

If color isn’t enough for you, you can add emoji to your folder names. Install Emoji for Chrome and add your favorite emoji into your folder names!

If you add your emoji at the front of the folder name it will move to the top of your list.

5. Share folders not files

Sharing individual files is fine if you are sharing with a small number of people on an infrequent basis. But most of us work in teams, groups or committees and share and pass files around. This is a prime use for a shared folder.

When you share a folder, no one has to remember everyone on the team. The folder already knows. Dump your file in and you’re done!

I recommend sharing folders as “view only.” You can make any file within the folder editable, but you don’t want everything editable by default.

Google Groups

When sharing with large groups of people, set up a Google Group and share the resources with the group, not individuals. You can manage access to resources simply by adding / removing individuals from the group. No need to re-share files with people who were recently added to the group.

Google Groups are important when sharing files with more than 200 people (like all students). You can manage access to resources simply by adding / removing individuals from the group. No need to re-share files with people who were recently added to the group.

Benefits of Group Sharing:

• Share once, to everyone
• Eliminates forgetting individuals.
• Retroactive sharing
• Works across the Google ecosystem
• Can “nest” groups
• No limit to number of people.

Team Drive

Your team could benefit from using a TEAM Drive folder. This feature became available in the spring of 2017 and offers new features for team sharing:

• The TEAM owns the files, not a person (important when team members leave)
• Team Drive files do not show up in shared with me
• Team Drive has a very different visual design to set it apart from a shared folder.
• Team Drives can be centrally created and managed through the Google Admin Console.

Learn more about Team Drive here.

6. Use shift + z to add files

Tip #5 creates a problem: “How do you add a file to the shared folder and keep it in your files”? The answer is “shift + z.” Use this shortcut to ADD a file to several folders. Now you can keep files organized using your personal system AND put it in a shared folder.

Click on a file in drive and press “shift + z.” It’s magic!

Note: you can’t use shift + z to add a file to a team Drive, only a traditional folder.

7. Deal with “shared with me.”

It’s hard enough organizing your own stuff.  With Google Drive, you also need to organize shared files! Going into “shared with me” is enough to trigger a panic attack. Here’s how to handle the clutter:

• If you see something you want, drag it into my drive and place it into a folder. You are not making a copy, you are organizing the original into your personal system. Now that you have added it into a folder, you don’t need to find it in shared with me.
• Ignore any file in shared with me that you don’t need. Don’t do anything. These files will will “disappear” eventually. Yes, you can “remove” a file, but if your goal is to empty out “shared with me” it is going to take you a LONG time.
• Do not treat shared with me like email. It is NOT your responsibility to visit and empty out shared files every day. It is the responsibility of the person who shares a file with you to explain why they are sharing the file.
• If you are using Google Classroom you are going to see a LOT of files in shared with me that come from Classroom. Ignore them. To view or manage these files, visit Google Classroom.

8. Purge old files

Google Drive has unlimited storage (for those using G Suite for Education). This is a blessing and a curse. Over time, clutter increases.  Take a few minutes and delete any duplicate or outdated files. This make is much easier to find what you are looking for!

Create an archive folder for files you can’t delete, but don’t access use. Hiding old content cuts down on the number of folders you need to sort through to find what you are looking for.

9. Upload with care

If you are a Microsoft Office user  you can upload and convert your existing MS Office files into Drive. While it might be tempting to use the “folder upload” button to upload your entire my documents folder, resist the urge!

If your documents folder is anything like mine, it’s a mess. I had hundreds of files that I had not used in years. Why upload them to Drive? Instead, adopt the Drive migration challenge:

Google Drive Migration Challenge

1. Each day, upload only the files that you use.
2. Create new files in Drive
3. After 1 year, throw whatever is left on to an external hard drive and toss in a drawer.

10. Use Google Keep

Need somewhere to jot a quick note? Making a grocery list? Trying to keep track of your to-do list? This is a job for Google Keep, not Google Docs!

Google Keep is great for all of your digital odds-n-ends. Putting these items in Keep reduces clutter in your Drive account. Need to move a Keep note into Drive? No problem! You can quickly convert an entire note to a Google Doc!

Author

John Sowash is an experienced classroom teacher, former school administrator, author of The Chromebook Classroom, and founder of the Google Certification Academy. John inspires educators to use technology connect with and challenge students. Schools around the world have invited John to come and share with them. You can connect with John via his blog (electriceducator.com) or Twitter (@jrsowash).

John R. Sowash, M.Ed
231-sowash-1
jrsowash@sowashventures.com
www.SowashVentures.com

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Read the article here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1j-CtbsEXtLDnLf0oYnJht3VG_SfULyLSe20J9HjmPVo/edit#heading=h.o8jg7s1roq8t

AP Drama Club

Mars Rover Challenge wraps up in 5th grade

As you can see form the photos below, the students have had so much fun and learned much about engineering from our guests from Bosch.  The winners in there competition will have their names on a plaque sent to Mr. Creutz for accuracy and distance.  Way to go  5th grade!

Thank you PTA for an Amazing week!!

Coming soon to Arno…

May 8

Ad Council 9:00

Kindergarten Roundup 6:00

May 9

NGSX conf Steve

4th Grade MSTEP Math PT

May 10

NGSX conf Steve

Final fire drill

PBIS meeting 3:45

May 11

Final Staff Meeting 7:55

4th Grade MSTEP Science

Skating Party 6:00

May 12

Nothing Scheduled

Staff Appreciation Week

Pictures from our Staff Appreciation Week which included a delicious breakfast and lunch (Catered by Kyle Kalis), many goodies and many well wished.  I wish to thank the entire PTA and parent volunteers who helped make this a memorable week for staff at Arno!

From the PTA

Ronald McDonald House

For quite some time now Madeline Every has maintained a donation box in the office of pop pull tabs to benefit the Ronald McDonald House in Detroit.  A very worthy cause, Madeline reports that she has several drops through the year that helps the house to buy some supplies.  On Tuesday, Alex Varga helped out in a big way when he donated approximately 155,000 tabs with the help of his family.  A field trip in the summer is now planned between the two families to actually go downtown for the donation and see the process all the way through.  The tabs are melted down and recycled, in which the charity then gets the proceeds.  What an outstanding, shining example of kids at their best!  Way to represent Arno in the community!!

 This story will appear in an upcoming edition of the Times-Herald.

4th Grade enjoying book club collaboration

Technology Info

Library Media Leaders and Technology Leaders

Joint Technology Day

March 27, 2017

Link to document – tinyurl.com/lmlitl2017

Write About

Brad Wilson

Presentation

Skype in the Classroom

Andy Hopkins

Handout

Google Chrome Apps
& Extensions

Stefani Halliday

Presentation

Infographics Presentation

Stefani Halliday

Presentation

Infographics Site

Stefani Halliday

Presentation

Free Tech Tools For Teachers

Michelle Wagner

Presentation

Third Grade Reading Legislation

Michelle Wagner and Colleen Whalen

Presentation

Breakout Edu

Judy Bowling and Anupam Chugh

Presentation

Google Draw

Judy Bowling and Michelle Wagner

Presentation

Maker-Centered Learning

Judy Bowling

Presentation

MDE – OER in K-12, #GoOpen

Ann-Marie Mapes

Presentation

LML-ITL Overview

Anupam Chugh

Presentation

Speaking of tech…

Sometimes the best tools are the simplest, and Padlet (formerly Wallwisher) adheres closely to this idea.  If you’ve ever done a brainstorming activity that involved putting sticky notes upon a wall, then you already have a good understanding of what Padlet has to offer.  There’s a few twists that make it compelling for classroom usage though.

You get access to an expansive digital canvas with an unlimited number of digital notes that can hold a small amount of text (160 characters).  That may not seem to be too much, but just below the text field, there’s a place to insert a URL.  That’s where the magic starts to kick in.  Add a link to an image, and thumbnail of that picture will appear with the note.  Add a link to some audio or a video, and a player will be added to the note.  If you put in a link to a website, then a preview of that site will appear.  And with each of these options, clicking through will pull up a window showing the full sized image, audio, video or a live view of the website itself!  This feature in itself takes it from a simple ‘notes on a wall’ app to a multimedia experience with incredible classroom potential.

URL: Padlet.com

Sutori is a story sharing web app that LOOKS like a vertically aligned timeline…  but really isn’t.   Each point on the ‘line’ can be a variety of object types, including audio, video, images or text.   They can also be interactive, with options including multiple choice, discussions, or ‘matching’ (align items in column A with those in column B).   The net result is an open ended platform that can be used for all sorts of student publishing, from portfolios to biographies to lab reports to timelines (duh).

One of the other features I really liked about it was the ability to invite collaborators on a project and have multiple people working together in real time.   And it works WELL.   It’s not quite as clean as Google Docs, but pretty darn close.   I was impressed.

URL: http://sutori.com

APPS LIMITED SCHOOLS OF CHOICE PROGRAM for 2017-18

The Allen Park Public School District has established a successful Schools of Choice Program for the past several years and the Board of Education has approved continuation of the program for the 2017-18 school year for Kindergarten through 8^th Grade.  (Requests for specific elementary schools cannot be guaranteed)

Applications are available beginning Monday, April 10 at the Riley Education Center, 9601 Vine.  Completed applications will be accepted beginningTuesday, May 2 through Monday, May 22, 2017 from 7:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. weekdays in the Pupil Accounting Office at the Riley Education Center.  Completed applications must be presented in person to ensure that all information is complete.  A random draw selection will be held on June 1 at 9:00 a.m. at the Riley Education Center.  The draw will determine numerical selection for acceptance of candidates.

We ask that you help us by sharing this information with friends and/or family members who may be interested in having their children become a part of the Allen Park Public Schools Family.

For more information about the Schools of Choice Program, please see the attached FAQ’s, visit our website at apps.k12.mi.us or call (313) 827-2105.

PRESCHOOL INFORMATION

If you have a child who will be 3 years old by September 1^st, 2017 or a 4 year old child, consider enrolling them in our Preschool Program.

Registration will begin for in-district residents on Friday, April 21^st, 2017 at 7:30 AM at the Riley Education Center, 14700 Moore. Out-of-district residents may begin registering Friday, April 28^th, 2017 at 7:30 AM.

Our office hours for registrations are 7:30 AM – 3:45 PM, Monday through Friday.

NO REGISTRATION WILL TAKE PLACE DURING OPEN HOUSE 

For further information, contact Kristy Caleca in the Preschool Office at 313-827-2662 or caleca@appublicschools.com