Coming soon to Arno…
Jan 8
Welcome Back! Happy New Year!
Jan 9
Communication comm meeting 8:00
Lockdown Boot training 8:00 (those staff that indicated they needed it only)
Lockdown Boot training 9:45- lunch staff
Jan 10
5th Grade Jan Richardson (JR)
PBIS 8:00
Marin obs 10:00
Jan. 11
4th Grade JR
Staff Meeting 7:45
Super Cougar Lunch
5th Grade PARENT CAMP MEETING 6:39 Center for the Arts
Jan. 15
NO SCHOOL- MLK Observed
Jan 16
Ad Council 9:30
Jan 17
3rd Grade JR
SIP Meet 8:00
PTSA Reflections Celebration Center for the Arts 6:00
Jan 18
Math Meeting 8:00
Safety Committee 9:30
ALICE Drill 2:30 (Hide out)
2nd grade to DIA
Grades 3-5 to Center for Arts Drama Performance
Mother/Son Night
Jan 19
No School- Teacher PD
Jan 23
2nd Grade JR
Jan 24
Reading Meeting 8:00
1st Grade JR
Metro Parks Presentation 3rd Grade
Jan 25
Kindergarten JR
SEL meeting 8:00
Arno Olympics 6:30
Jan 29
Board Meeting Strategic Plan update 7:00
Jan 30
MAISA Conf (Beth/Steve)
Jan 31
Teacher Data Day
February 1
Cougar Cash Lunch
NWEA Celebration Assembly
PTA Meeting 6:30
ARNO MISSION
ARNO ELEMENTARY…INSPIRING STUDENTS TOWARD ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE.
ARNO VISION
ARNO ELEMENTARY PROVIDES A SUPPORTIVE HIGH QUALITY ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE TO INSPIRE ALL LEARNERS TO ACHIEVE THEIR PERSONAL BEST.
ARNO COLLECTIVE COMMITMENTS
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Academics are student-centered, which allow for various learning styles to showcase student achievement.
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We will develop and maintain a positive, respectful relationship with each student by using flexibility and adaptability to meet individual needs
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We will foster safe learning environments that allow students the opportunity to establish a growth mindset
STAFF SURVEY
It is that time again, our annual staff survey will be active from Jan 8-Jan 17 for staff, students, and parents. We primarily use our survey results to inform the school improvement plan and take a careful look at things we may need to change.
We will once again only survey students in grades 3-5, and Carrie will help us out with that during their tech time. Please see your staff link below, I would love to see lots of staff completing it, it should not take you long.
https://forms.gle/jGgTKPbZVCfecmpp8
JANUARY ASSESSMENTS COMING UP
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FAST Reading and Math (Per Beth and Erin)
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NWEA Reading and Math (3,4,5 ELA as well)
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Jan Richardson Reading
5th Grade Jan 10
4th Grade Jan. 11
3rd Grade Jan. 17
2nd Grade Jan. 23
1st Grade Jan. 24
Kinder Jan 25
BOARD APPRECIATION
A big THANK YOU to our Allen Park Board of Education members during School Board Appreciation Month. We are honored to have such a supportive Board of Education who keep the arts and education alive in Allen Park!
Teacher Data Day
We will meet to go over the latest round of data on January 31, at the conclusion of testing. The district will be coming out on Feb. 7 for MTSS. Please sign up at the link below:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tNILnyetGdS1Pic27B89trFSfRHN_hMAy6soLkdGGzY/edit?usp=drive_link
Arno Olympics
It’s January, and it’s Olympic time! All of the fun starts on January 25, at 6:00 pm. If you are able to stay and help out, please let Nicole know.
Arno Olympics Flyer 2024
STUDENT GOALS
3-5- please remember to review and revise student goals with them to set their path for the next next trimester. Ongoing feedback,in addition to a high effect size, is a critical part of maintaining and reaching their goal. I will be once again sitting down with all partially proficient students, as well as those who were ID as rushing, and checking in throughout as part of the process.
The dates are below, please send any student with their goals who landed in the partially proficient zone (NWEA predictor), and/or rushed through their test as indicated by NWEA. Please start the time frame with sending 2 students down- then as one comes back, send the next. The goal is to have another sit down, other than their teacher, to help them focus more on the importance of making their goals and how they can attain them.
3rd grade- Feb. 2 9:-10:00
4th Grade- Feb. 2 10:15-11:15
5th Grade- Feb. 2 1:00-2:00
NWEA ASSEMBLY INFO
Thursday, February 1st, 2024
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NWEA Goal Assembly
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1 grade level at a time in the gym.
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Location: Gym
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Time:
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3rd Grade: 9:30-10:00 pm
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4th Grade: 10:00-10:30 pm
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5th Grade: 10:30-11:00 pm
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Students who reach their personal growth goal or the grade level proficiency rit score earn a charm, certificate, and an extra recess with Mr. Zielinski.
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If students don’t reach their Winter growth goal or the grade level proficiency rit score, tell students they could earn the rewards in the Spring.
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Students with the top ten reading scores, in each grade level, will get a movie reward with Mr. Zielinski.
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If a student doesn’t reach their personal growth goal OR the grade level proficiency rit score, they DO NOT get anything.
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Teachers-Students need to wear his/her necklaces to the assembly. Please hand out the charms in your own classroom after the assembly if they earned a charm.
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60th percentile on the MSTEP = proficiency on the MSTEP.
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3rd Grade Reading Proficiency Rit Score: 198
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3rd Grade Math Proficiency Rit Score: 200
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4th Grade Reading Proficiency Rit Score: 207
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4th Grade Math Proficiency Rit Score: 210
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5th Grade Reading Proficiency Rit Score: 213
- 5th Grade Math Proficiency Rit Score: 219
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Building to Kindergarten Part 2 at Bennie
Building Up to Kindergarten Part 1 1-18-24
ALICE DRILL
This month, on Jan. 18, we will be conducting our second ALICE drill of the year. During this drill, classes will be practicing HIDE OUT/KEEP OUT where students will find numerous places in the room to hide (not in one big group) and you will assist in showing the class how the Boot would be used if there was an intruder if needed. This May we will be practicing GET OUT where the whole school will mock evacuate to our rendezvous point at the Presbyterian church on Park- which will just be a walk by.
Wayne RESA MLK Resources
MLK Day and Black History Month
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day – Martin Luther King Jr. Day Lessons focusing on High School
- ReadWorks– The nonprofit ReadWorks creates free high-impact instructional materials and tools that are designed for immediate use within classrooms. Check out their Black History Month resources.
Mr.Donn.Org-Resources for Martin Luther King Jr Day: Grades 3-High School – Includes resource links for background information, bulletin board ideas, worksheets and printables, a selection of lesson plans ranging from 3 grade through 12th, and mini units for 3 and 4th grade. - MLK Jr. Research & Education Institute at Standford – Speeches, sermons, letters, historic documents, and lesson plans focused on High School students.
- Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility – Here’s a selection of relevant teachable moment lessons appropriate for high school students, and in some cases middle school students.
- The Smithsonian: Black History Month – Each year, the Smithsonian honors Black History Month with a calendar full of events. Explore a selection of resources and activities relating to African Americans.
- American History Explorer: Our Story – This site from the Smithsonian provides numerous activities and resources that can be searched by grade level or by historical ERA.
- National Museum of African American History– The National Museum of African American History and Culture is a place where all Americans can learn about the richness and diversity of the African American experience. It has numerous resources for use by teachers in the classroom.
- The Library of Congress: African American History Month – This guide presents the Library’s resources, as well as links to external Web sites on African American History.
- eThemes: Black History – These sites are about Black History Month. Learn about the contributions of African Americans in different fields. Includes quizzes, an interactive timeline, and other activities. There are links to eThemes Resources on the Negro baseball league, famous African Americans, the Emancipation Proclamation, the slave trade, and the Missouri Compromise. Some of these sites require a subscription.
- The History Channel: Black History Month – Explore an interactive timeline of milestones throughout slavery and the civil rights movement. Try the History games too.
- Teaching History.org – This comprehensive list of resources comes from the National Clearinghouse on History Education. The resources are organized by grade span.
- The MLK Jr National Memorial – It has a great video of what the monument looks like and a history of the man, memorial, and movement,.
- The Biography Channel: Black History – Take a crash course in black history. Check out the interactive timeline and test your knowledge in the games.
- Teaching for Change: Building Social Justice in the Classroom- Covers the larger context of the Civil Rights Movement and the long struggle for human rights and full democracy in the United States.
- Teaching Hard History: American Slavery – Not sure how to support students in learning about our painful past and how it affects our present? This new initiative from Teaching Tolerance offers guidance educators and provides some very important guiding principles for teaching about slavery.
- Teaching Tolerance– This includes a great article with links to the best MLK resources/lessons from Teaching Tolerance. They emphasize wanting to help classroom teachers teach “beyond the simplified story and help your students learn about this civil rights leader’s life and legacy.”
- The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History– This website provides an overview of the Museum’s education and public programs, information on how to plan a visit, online teaching and learning materials, virtual tours of traveling exhibitions, online catalogs of the library and historical collections, and a calendar of exhibition schedules and educational programs.
- Zinn Education Project- The empowering potential of studying history is often lost in a textbook-driven trivial pursuit of names and dates. We believe that through taking a more engaging and more honest look at the past, we can help equip students — and all of us — with the analytical tools to make sense of and improve the world. Their website offers free, downloadable lessons and articles organized by theme, time period, and grade level.
Tech Time
Five Tools for Making Wordle Word Cloud
Do you remember when Wordle was a word cloud generator that was taking the Web 2.0/ edtech world by storm? I do and lately I can’t help but think of it whenever I see people post their Wordle scores on social media. For those who don’t remember those days, Wordle was originally a word cloud generator that teachers were using to create visual summaries of large blocks of text. I found it to be useful in providing students with a nice way to visualize the most frequently used words in a passage of text.
The original Wordle word cloud tool no longer exists, but there are others that still do and are still helpful. Here’s a handful of them to try.
Paste your text into Analyze My Writing and it will generate a ton of information about your writing. Analyze My Writing will give you a break-down of the readability of your writing on five indices. The analysis will include listings of the most common words and most common word pairs in your writing. A listing of how frequently you use punctuation and punctuation types is included in the analysis provided by Analyze My Writing. Finally, a word cloud is included at the end of the analysis of your writing. The word cloud and the graphs can be saved as images.
Word It Out creates word clouds out of any text that you paste into the word cloud generator. Once the word cloud is created you can customize the size and color scheme of the cloud. You can also customize the font used in your word cloud. The feature of Word It Out that I like the best is that you can choose to have Word It Out ignore any word or words you choose. Ignoring words keeps them out of the word cloud.
Tagxedo makes it very easy to customize the design of your word clouds. You can select from a variety of shapes in which to display words or you can design your shape for your word cloud. You can enter text into the word cloud generator manually or simply enter a URL from which Tagxedo will generate a word cloud. As with other word cloud generators you also have options for excluding words from your word clouds.
WordWanderer attempts to be different from other word cloud creation tools by letting you drag and drop words to rearrange the look of your word clouds. Additionally, WordWanderer includes a search tool that you can use to find a word. The context of your chosen word is shown below the word cloud itself.
On WordClouds.com you can create word clouds in a variety of shapes and sizes with a wide array of color schemes. I’ve even used it to make a word cloud about cats in the shape of a cat. In my video embedded below I demonstrate the features of WordClouds.com.
Make Math Flashcards on Canva
Canva is my go-to recommendation whenever someone asks me for help with anything requiring a bit of an eye for design. So on Wednesday when a reader asked me for a tool to create printable flashcards Canva was my recommendation. There are more than 300 flashcard templates in Canva’s design gallery. In that gallery you’ll find templates for making flashcards for math, spelling, geography, and more. And all of the templates can be modified to fit your needs.
In this short video I demonstrate how to use Canva to create printable math flashcards. While watching the video pay attention to my trick for making all of the cutting lines exactly the same.
Applications for Education
There is still a time and place for offline flashcards. The reader who emailed me this week wanted to make flashcards that her students could use at home with their parents in a screen-free environment. Canva provides a good way to make those flashcards to distribute to students and parents. Of course, students can also use Canva to create their own printable flashcards.
