October 2021

Coming soon to Arno…

Oct. 5

Data Meetings First Round

Oct. 6

Count Day

Walk to School Day

Oct. 7

Staff meeting 7:45

Fall Pictures

PTA Meeting 6:30

Oct. 8

Tornado Drill 2:00

Oct. 12

Student recovery Reading 8:00

Oct. 13

PBIS 8:00

Oct. 14

Fire Drill 1:00 (lunch drill)

Oct. 19 

Arno Culvers Restaurant Night 5:00-9:00

Oct. 20

SIP 8:00/all day meeting

Oct. 21

SEL 8:00

ALICE Drill 2:00

Oct. 26

Steve @Wayne RESA

Oct. 27

Student Recovery Math 8:00

Oct. 29

Halloween Parade 10:00

Early Release 11:30 Dismissal-

Oct. 31

ARNO VISION

ARNO ELEMENTARY WILL PROVIDE A SYSTEM OF SUPPORT TO EMPOWER

AND INSPIRE STUDENTS TO BECOME COLLABORATIVE LEARNERS

THAT STRIVE FOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

UPCOMING COMMITTEE DATES:

• Student Recovery Reading Oct. 12 @8:00

                    Literacy Recovery Plan

• • • Take home book program
    • Phonics Program
    • Student Goals Beg/Middle 3-5
    • Adding additional unit quizzes (benchmark and unit tests)

• Student Recovery Math Oct. 27 @8:00

• SIP meets on Oct. 20 @8:00

• PBIS meets on Oct. 13 @8:00

• SIP full day planning on Oct. 20

  Current work of the SIP team:

  • Sign up for staff wellness projects
    • Door hangers 
    • Compliment wall in lounge
    • Walk around track sign up
    • Staff lounge update
    • Sign up for “Third Thursdays”
  • Create new diversity library checklist for staff

• SEL meets on Oct. 21 @8:00

Tutoring

Remember we have hours to create tutoring opportunities.  Please see me if you are interested now that we have data to help out rostering. High impact tutoring criteria below:

Math Tutoring Criteria 

• Limited Group Sizes (No more than 5 at a time) ● K-2 students should have 30 minute sessions ● 3-5 students should have 45 minute sessions ● Tutoring will be primarily hands-on based learning ● No computer programs should be used (Khan, Edmentum, etc…) 

• Focus instruction on the essential priority skills (Highlighted in green in the Wayne Resa document that was emailed to you) 

• Identify students using summative/formative assessments as well as teacher recommendations ● Students should generally be your Tier 2 kids (Bubble students that need an extra push to be on grade level) 

Literacy H.I.T (high impact tutoring)

 After school enrichment program that uses literature and coordinating activities to enhance vocabulary and reading skills. Each tutoring session should include a read aloud, vocabulary and comprehension activities. Extending the learning into crafts or drawing that use the read aloud as a base, are encouraged.

We are suggesting the following:

-2 times a week

-Tuesday & Thursday or Monday & Wednesday

Starts September 27 and ends November 19 (eight weeks)

-3:30-4:30 (students leave at 4:15)

-10 students per group

-goal is to have two second grade groups and two third grade groups. If enough teachers sign up, add a fourth grade group.

-First grade will be added on October 18 for a five week session. Possibility of moving some kids around to create a “book buddie” type atmosphere, if possible.

We are open to non-certified staff teaching the classes if we can’t get certified.

Literacy Website

Mrs. Wesley, our Literacy Coach at Arno, has created a blog that contains great information and resources for families in the area of literacy . Please check it out and take advantage of all the great information.

https://readwesley.edublogs.org/

Spotlight: Questions to Build Comprehension

Jan Richardson: How to Use Asking Questions to Increase Comprehension

 “Questioning is a critical comprehension strategy that helps readers construct and extend meaning. It is one of the most powerful strategies students can learn, and one of the easiest for you to teach.”  Jan Richardson, pg. 209, The Next Step in Guided Reading

Step 1: Turning Facts Into Questions

Green Cards – Teaching students how to answer a question that is answered, ‘right there’.

• Students make two columns in their notebooks, one for “Facts”, one for “Questions.
• Ask students to read the text, write a fact from story, paragraph, or article in Column 1.
• Turn the fact into a question in Column 2.
• After reading, close books/text and take turns asking questions and calling on others in group/class to answer.
• If no one can answer, students can look back for the answer in the text.

Step 2:  Ask Green Questions (Literal)

Green Question Cards – Students must know Step 1 before doing Step 2.

• Students make two columns in their notebooks, one for “Question” , one for “Answer”.
• Students read, stop and write a green question, Column 1, that is answered in the text.
• Students close their books and write the answer to the question in, Column 2. 
• Share and discussion- students take turns answering with books closed. Only if no one can answer, allow them to look back in the text, or to confirm

Step 3: Ask Red Questions  (Inferential)  Interpretive Level

Red Question Cards – Answers are not found in the text

• As students read, they ask (and write down) questions that begin with Red Card words, I wonder why.., How could…, Why would…., What if….What would happen if….
• Guide students to ask questions that could be answered using background knowledge and information in the text.  Model for them.
• When sharing, encourage students to think of more than one logical answer.
• After a few days/rounds of practice of writing just the red questions, require them to write answers in their notebooks.  Encourage divergent thinking and different answers.

Step 4: Ask Yellow Questions (Complex)

Yellow Question Cards – Readers use different parts of the text to ask and answer questions

• Questions include, cause/effect, compare/contrast and idea-to-examples.
• Students are proficient at green and red questions before doing yellow questions.
• Teacher models, students practice.  (Review cause/effect pgs. 225-227)

Step 5: Combine Questions

Students must know how to ask at least two kinds of questions to combine questions/strategies.

Ask Green and Red Questions:

• Students make two columns in their notebooks.
• As they read, they must think of a green question for column 1 and red for column 2.
• Early/fast finishers make more questions for the group.  
• During sharing, students share one question.  
• Before the group answers, students decide if it’s a green or red question.

Question-Answer & Connection or Prediction

• Three column framework
• Students write a question (red, yellow, green) in Column 1, answers in Column 2 and a prediction in Column 3.
• At the Evaluative Level in Fiction or Non-Fiction, students think of a question that asks for an opinion or a judgment.  (Why do you think?  Do you agree (disagree) that…?  Do you think it was right for …?)

Non Homestead Millage on the Ballot

More Information:

Non-Homestead Operating Millage-November 2 2021-2

Non-Homestead Operating Millage-November 2 2021

Picture Day is Coming

Picture day is fast approaching- October 7.  Below is the information you will need to do online ordering.  As was the procedure last year, students may remove their mask for the picture if they are comfortable and then put it back on after the picture.

Picture Day for Arno Elementary is scheduled for Thursday, October 7, 2021 and this Picture Day event’s Order Code is 60204TF. 

https://inter-state.com/order

Halloween Parade

The Arno Halloween Parade is back on Oct. 29 at 10:00!  Our route will take us out of the 5th grade doors that morning, making a loop on the inside perimeter of the playground.    It is a district PD day with an 11:30 dismissal that morning.

Walk to School Day Coming Up

Walk to School Day (W2SD) is an international event celebrated each year in October. This annual event began in 1997 by the Partnership for a Walkable America, to encourage walkable communities and has grown to an international event that takes place in over 40 countries worldwide. In Michigan, over 90,000 students across 304 schools participated in W2SD events at their local schools last year. Walk to School Day encourages healthy habits, heightens awareness of traffic safety, draws attention to environmental concerns around schools, and is a great way to build local momentum for a Safe Routes to School initiative.

W2SD 2021 officially takes place on October 6. 

Thanks to all Arno staff participating in walk to school on Oct. 6:

Thank you again Mr. Peace for helping us build a positive, safe learning environment at Arno!

Additional Constitution Day Resources

Mrs. Byrne does a great job with Constitution Day at Arno- but if you would like to keep it going in your room, here are some digital resources:

Five Places to Find Dozens of Constitution Day Lessons

This Friday is Constitution Day in the United States. According to federal law all schools that receive federal funding have to teach some type of lesson about the Constitution on this day. C-SPAN, DocsTeach, and the National Constitution Center all offer either lesson plans or resources for building your own Constitution Day lesson plans.

Constitution Day Lesson Plans from C-SPAN Classroom
C-SPAN Classroom offers free lesson plans and Bell Ringers (discussion prompts) that were either designed for Constitution Day or can be used to meet the requirements of Constitution Day. All of the lesson plans incorporate short video clips addressing topics like enumerated and implied powers of Congress, interpretation of the Constitution, and checks and balances. You can find all of the lesson plans and additional resources in this Google Doc.Constitution Hall Pass
The National Constitution Center offers an online program called the Constitution Hall Pass. The Constitution Hall Pass is a series of videos mostly featuring scholars discussing elements of the Constitution and issues relating to it. There are also a few “discussion starter” videos that are intended to get students thinking about how the Constitution can have a direct impact on their lives. I know from experience that this Freedom of Expression video and accompanying questions will get high school students talking.

Interactive Constitution

The Constitution Center’s website features the U.S. Constitution divided into easily searchable sections. From the main page you can select and jump to a specific article or amendment. What I really like about the site is that you can choose an issue like privacy, civil rights, or health care and see how those issues are connected to the Constitution.

DocsTeach
DocsTeach is a National Archives website that all middle school and high school U.S. History teachers should have in their bookmarks. DocsTeach lets you build online activities based upon curated collections of primary source documents. DocsTeach also provides some pre-made activities that you can give to your students. DocsTeach has twenty pre-made Constitution Day activities that you can use today. An additional 166 documents and artifacts about the Constitution can be found through a quick search on DocsTeach.

TED-Ed Lessons

TED-Ed offers a bunch of lessons that are appropriate for Constitution Day. Those lessons are linked below.

The Making of the American Constitution.

Why is the US Constitution So Hard to Amend?

Why Wasn’t the Bill of Rights Originally Included in the US Constitution?

How is Power Divided in the US Government?

A 3-Minute Guide to the Bill of Rights

How do Executive Orders Work?

What You Might Not Know About the Declaration of Independence

The 2021 Fall Foliage Map – And Explanations of Why Leaves Change Colors

The 2021 Fall Foliage Prediction Map is a feature of the SmokyMountains.com website. The map displays a week-by-week prediction of when leaves in the continental United States will be changing colors from now through the end of November. You can see the predictions change by moving the timeline at the bottom of the map.

On the same page as the 2021 Fall Foliage Prediction Map there is a graph of average temperatures in the United States since 1900. The graph is accompanied by a short explanation of why leaves change colors in the fall and the relationship to air temperatures.

Applications for Education
The 2021 Fall Foliage Prediction Map doesn’t tell the whole story of why leaves change colors at different times in different parts of the country. I’d use the incomplete nature of the map’s explanation as a jumping-off point for students to hypothesize and investigate why leaves change colors at different times in different parts of the country. I might also have them investigate why some trees have brighter leaves than others in the fall.

Additional Resources for Teaching and Learning About Fall Foliage
Ten days ago I shared a handful of videos that explain why leaves change colors in the fall. A couple of those videos are included below.

For an explanation of why leaves change colors that elementary school students can understand, watch the following SciShow Kids video.