April 2022

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Coming soon to Arno…

April 4

School Resumes

April 7

Fire Drill

Staff Meeting 7:45

PTA Meeting 6:30

April 8

Data Meetings

April 11

MSTEP window opens

April 12

Ad Council

MSTEP 5th Grade SS

April 13

PBIS 8:00

April 14

MSTEP 5th Grade Science

SRCR 8:00

April 15

Good Friday- No School

April 17

HOPPY Easter!

Easter GIFs | Tenor

April 19

MSTEP 5th Grade ELA

5th Grade Parent Orientation APMS 6:00

April 20

Fire Drill

SIP 8:00

SRCM 8:00

April 21

SEL 8:00

April 26

MSTEP 5th Grade Math, 4th Grade Math, 3rd Grade ELA

April 29

PBIS Reward

 

The Pagan Origin Of Painted Easter Eggs

ARNO VISION

ARNO ELEMENTARY WILL PROVIDE A SYSTEM OF SUPPORT TO EMPOWER

AND INSPIRE STUDENTS TO BECOME COLLABORATIVE LEARNERS

THAT STRIVE FOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

 

Teamwork - Step by Step Guide for Effective Team Building - Potential.com

Committee Updates

PBIS

The PBIS team continues to fill out required paperwork, analyze current data, and plan for next year as well as purchases.

SRCR

The team is working with the staff on M-STEP work to prep up for the big test next month

SRCM

The math team created a take home calendar of math tasks to be completed at home. It’s optional if you wish to collect them for grades, incentives etc.  The hope is to provide additional time and engagement around math skills.

SEL

The team has recently sent out resources and information regarding Women’s History Month, as well as created a bulletin board in the main hall.

SIP

The team covered the survey results and discussed some of that information received.  We will talk about next steps with any actionable items from the results.

Smiley Face with Shades Circle Button | Magnet America

The moment you have all been waiting for- Spring Break is here!

 

Data Diving

We had a great data session last week looking at all our at risk students and their current status with progress monitoring.  We will meet again in April just ahead of the MTSS meeting.  If you brought forth someone to consider for child study, their name will be brought up at that meeting.  We will also be looking at those who are receiving service, and whether or not it needs to continue.  Depending on staffing, I also hope to make a move with information to start inviting kids to summer school sometime in April.

 

Enrollment - Departments - Allen Park Public Schools

Check this Out…

 

 

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Watersheds Contest

As a Wayne County Green School award recipient, Arno Elementary School is one of just 25 Schools eligible to participate in this year’s Adopt a Storm Drain contest!

The Alliance of Downriver Watersheds Schools for Clean Water Adopt a Storm Drain Contest is an easy online contest where you encourage parents, school staff, and community members to pledge to adopt a storm drain near their home. When they take the pledge they assign that pledge to your school.

The schools that get the most pledges will win cash prizes up to $1,500 for class materials and educational projects!

Here are the contest details:

The Alliance for Downriver Watersheds (ADW) is proud to announce the 2nd annual Schools for Clean Water Contest! As a current, or recent, Green School located in the Downriver area, your school is eligible to participate and win!

What is the Schools for Clean Water Contest?

The Schools for Clean Water Contest is a friendly competition to reduce pollution in our local waterways. Like last year, we will focus on keeping yard waste and litter out of storm drains.

How does it work?

Participating schools urge parents, alumni, and faculty to visit www.SchoolsForCleanWater.org between April 4th and April 22nd (Earth Day) to complete a simple online pledge to do their part. When they submit the pledge form, they assign that pledge to your school. At the end of the contest, we tally up the totals and the schools with the most pledges win cash prizes.

Who can pledge?

Anyone 18 and older can take the pledge including, but not limited to: parents, alumni, student’s family members, teachers, school support staff, friends, neighbors, etc…

What do schools win?

Eight schools will win a share of the $5,000 in prize money. The money can be used to pay for educational projects and classroom materials.

  • First Place – $1,500

  • Second Place – $1,250

  • Third Place – $1,000

  • Wild Card – 5 x $250 (all schools with 50 or more pledges, will be entered into a random drawing for the five wild card prizes)

 

In 2021, winners used the prize money to help fund programs like an outdoor classroom, a reading garden for special education students, school gardens, and other green initiatives.

 

Kindergarten Round-Up 2020 - Eagle Country 99.3

Kindergarten Roundup

We are pleased to be bringing back the normal kindergarten round up this spring for all incoming kindergarteners. This year’s event will be on May 2 starting at 6:30 p.m. Parents will attend in the gym, all future Cougars will attend within the 3 different classrooms.  Remember that Kindergarten registration is now open at Riley.

 

MDE - M-STEP Summative

The M-STEP Window Opens

M-STEP kicks off on May 4 for 3rd, 4th and 5th grade for all students. Please see the schedule below for testing dates, and remember there will be some prep changes during this time period:

ALL testing starts at 9:15.  

April 12    5th Grade Social Studies

April 14    5th Grade Science

April 19    5th Grade ELA

April 26    3rd Grade ELA, 4th Grade Math, and 5th Grade Math

May  3       3rd Grade Math, 4th Grade ELA

2022 State Testing Dr. Michael Rice

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APPS Summer Camp Info

 

Summer Kids Camp 2022

 

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Limited Schools of Choice Program for 2022-23

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 2022-23 school year for Kindergarten through 8th Grade.  (Requests for specific elementary schools cannot be guaranteed)

Applications will be available, online only, between Monday, March 28, 2022 through Sunday, April 17, 2022 on our website, https://www.allenparkschools.com/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=971881&type=d&pREC_ID=1847418

Completed applications will be accepted beginning Monday, March 28 through Sunday, April 17.  Absolutely no late applications will be accepted.

A random draw selection will be held on Monday, April 18, 2022. The draw will determine numerical selection for acceptance of candidates.  Parents will be contacted with their students’ waitlist number, by email or phone call by April 20, 2022.

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 www.allenparkschools.com.  You can also address questions to schoolofchoice@appublicschools.com or call (313) 827-1154.

SOC FAQ 22-23

 

 

Teacher Tech Time - Time-Saving Teacher Technology Resources!

Teacher Tech Time

10 links you should click

🎧 Click here to listen to these updates! 🎧

  1. Embed charts from Google Forms – You can now embed the charts automatically generated by Forms into Docs, Slides, and Sites. These charts automatically update as new data is received.
  2. Schedule an assignment in multiple classes – FINALLY! This is a long awaited update to Google Classroom!
  3. Practice Sets for Google Classroom – you can sign up to beta test the latest feature for Google Classroom which is scheduled for release during the 2022-23 school year.
  4. ChromeOS Flex (beta) – Google opened up beta access to a new version of ChromeOS designed to run on old Mac and PC hardware.
  5. IT Admin Tip: custom admin roles – I recently used the Google Admin Console to create three custom roles to delegate simple Chromebook management tasks. Here’s what they look like.
  6. Google Forms phishing scam – The scammers are back, and this time they’re trying to trick us using Google Forms!
  7. Screen Pal (video where you type) – This is a cool new Chrome extension from Screen-Cast-O’Matic that lets you add a video recording in any text box. It’s like the video version of Mote!
  8. Grammar practice with Slides – I created this Google Slide template for a teacher who needed a new way to help students complete their grammar exercises.
  9. 30 ways to use Forms in the Classroom – Each year I update this list of ways educators are using Google Forms for assessments, feedback, grading, and other creative applications.
  10. April fools pranks – Here’s a list of some harmless tech pranks you can play on your students or administrators on April 1.

Five Ways to Create Online Drag-and-Drop Activities

Last week I wrote about TeacherMade’s new drag-and-drop online activity creation tool. It’s a nice tool for turning documents into online sorting and matching activities for your students. Of course, there are other ways to create online drag-and-drop activities for your students to complete. I’ve written about a handful of them over the last couple of years. Those are highlighted below.

Google Drawings
I’ve created drag-and-drop activities for geography lessons by using Google Drawings. To do that I put a map in Google Drawings then created a bank of labels that students drag onto the map. I share the activity in Google Classroom with the “make a copy for each student” option so that students aren’t affecting each others’ work. Watch this video to see the whole process.Google Jamboard
A couple of years ago a reader named Chuck asked me for suggestions on how to create a virtual philosophical chairs activity. My suggestion was to try using Google Jamboard. The idea is to have students move their avatars around the Jamboard to indicate their positions on a given discussion topic. Here’s a video explanation of how the activity works.Wizer.Me
Wizer.me is a tool that I’ve used periodically over the last half-dozen years. In Wizer you can create online worksheet activities that include drag-and-drop activities. This tutorial is a little bit dated now, but it gives you an idea of what’s possible in Wizer.TinyTap
I recently wrote a lengthy post about using TinyTap to create online puzzle games for students. Those puzzles are all solved through the use of drag-and-drop. Watch this video to learn more.TeacherMade
TeacherMade’s latest feature lets you create drag-and-drop activities based on your existing PDFs and Word docs. Read my full post about it here or watch the tutorial video as embedded below.

How to Make Your Own Wordle-style Game

I’ve yet to play Wordle and by the time I do the fad will probably be over. That said, I know a lot of people enjoy the game and are looking for ways to bring it into their classrooms. If that describes you, this blog post is for you.

Flippity.net offers more than two dozen templates for creating all kinds of online activities including a Wordle-style game called WordMaster. You can see a live demo of a WordMaster game right here. The template for creating the game is available here and is very easy to use. All you need to do is enter a list of five-letter words and Flippity will handle the rest. Your game will be assigned its own URL that you can share with your students via Google Classroom, via QR code, via email, or any other means that you typically use to share resources with your students.

In the following short video I demonstrate how to create a Wordle-style game with Flippity’s WordMaster template.

41 Hilarious School Memes That Perfectly Capture that Back to School Mood | Teen Vogue

 

March 2022

Coming soon to Arno…

March 1

Roller Kingdom Reading Challenge - Roller Kingdom

March is Reading Month Begins!

Steve @RESA

March 2

Dr. Suess’s Birthday

Dr. Seuss's Birthday - Seussville

March 3

PTA Meeting 6:30

March 4

School wide Bingo on zoom

Report Card Window Opens

March 7

Mobile Dentist in gym

PBIS District meeting 1:30

March 8

Teacher Data Meetings

March 9

PBIS 8:00

March 10

STAFF Meeting 7:45

Spring Pictures

Spring Pictures-Rescheduled - Park Avenue Elementary School

March 11

End of 2nd Trimester

March 16

Tornado Drill 10:00

SIP 8:00

March 17

Happy St. Patty’s Day!

Animated St Patricks Day Images GIFs | Tenor

Report Card window closes

SRCR 8:00

SEL 8:00

District Safety Committee 9:30

March 18

No School- Teacher PD

Report Cards Released

March 21

World Down Syndrome Day- Rock your socks!

March 23

Bingo for Books 6:00

SRCM 8:00

March 24

PBIS Reward March Madness

March 26-April 3

SPRING BREAK!

Open all week for Spring Break! – Boys and Girls Clubs of Wichita Falls

Cloverleaf Stock Illustrations – 3,052 Cloverleaf Stock Illustrations, Vectors & Clipart - Dreamstime

ARNO VISION

ARNO ELEMENTARY WILL PROVIDE A SYSTEM OF SUPPORT TO EMPOWER

AND INSPIRE STUDENTS TO BECOME COLLABORATIVE LEARNERS

THAT STRIVE FOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

 

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TITLE I/SIP SURVEYS

It is that time of year… we are in need of your opinion of how things are going at Arno for school improvement planning.  Please take a moment and complete this year’s survey which has been revised by the SIP team.  Student survey information for grades 3-5 will be given by Carrie Solak during this same time.  The survey will stay open until March 9

Staff:

https://forms.gle/G7HsCzqAUVkLNhM8A

 

Rock your socks: It's World Down Syndrome Day | WTGS

World Down syndrome Day is March 21- Rock your Socks!

WDSD 2022 Flyer

 

Allen Park PTA/PTSA Council Craft and Vendor Show | Allen Park High School | March 12, 2022

Spring Fever

Top News Stickers for Android & iOS | Gfycat

Committee Review

SRCR

Edmentum before school groups going

-Good attendance

After school tutoring groups going

-Lots of positive feedback from students

-Will be adding reading opportunities for students to come read to Young fives

NWEA award ceremony a success

-Seems to motivate students

-Should always do one grade at a time (better attention and control)

-4th and 5th grade have had their extra recess

-3rd grade extra recess to be completed in the future

-ten top students had their movie reward

Vocabulary tests are going

-Necklaces are started

SBA practices will start soon

Edmentum contest going

-Second grade won this month – they decided on a PJ day as the reward

-Discussed Edmentum teacher reports and controls

-competition working well as motivation

PBIS

  1. Data
    1. RESA powerpoint
    2. missed rewards
  1. Budget
  2. February Reward
    1. Organizer: Emilie Talamonti
    2. Date: Friday, March 4, 2022
    3. Reward: School Wide Bingo (via Zoom with Steve)
    4. Missed Flips: 5 or less; non-earners only miss 20 min.; all students can wear PJs
    5. whole class suckers
  1. Monthly Rewards
    1. March: March Madness, Lisa Smalley
      1. Grade levels meet with Sandy
      2. Missed reward students go to different classroom for that time
    2. April: Clubs, Katie Jensen
  1. Smencils
    1. December sales: $801
    2. March sales
      1. Break it into upper and lower
    3. Need to purchase more
  1. District Meeting Update
    1. Tier 2/3 numbers
      1. special education not included
  1. Planning Date for Katie & Lisa – Feb. 28, 2022 
    1. approved
  1. PTA Proposal
    1. Cougar Store 
      1. books (Follett money)
      2. jump ropes/balls
      3. art kits
      4. mini STEM
      5. mini instruments
    2. mobile kiosk/mobile food cart
      1. Cougar Store
      2. Smencils
  1. FOLLOW UP!
    1. CONTACT office for purchase of:
      1. Smencils
      2. dum dums
    2. Data of cultural switching
      1. Research diversity inclusion presenters/materials
    3. Monthly Themes
      1. Not only ethnicity based but incorporated
  1. FUTURE
    1. Check for Zumba needs to be done ahead of time
      1. Added to monthly to do calendar

SRCM

The math team is currently looking at implementing a monthly home calendar that students would complete and bring back, possibly for an incentive.  More info to follow.  This would need to become part of our SIP plan

SIP

Looked at activities and goals that will need to be added/adjusted to the main district MICIP plan

SEL

In addition to March is Reading Month, the SEL team is going to be putting together resources to share for Women’s History Month which also takes place in the month of March. This includes:
– Women’s History Month bulletin
– Daily spotlight featuring influential women on morning announcements
– A book display featuring influential women available for check out in the library (checking with Colleen on this)

How much data is required for forecasting? – Anamind Advanced Analytical Planning

Data Questions

Thank you all for some very productive data discussions this month, hopefully you are finding Educlimber as a useful tool when you need to reference data or progress monitoring information.  Now that we have had discussions on our new data- how will you know if the desired learning is occurring as a result of your instruction and intervention.  What will that look like in 3 weeks? 6 weeks? 8 weeks?

 

Big smile emoticon Stock Vector Image by ©natalipopova #38360779

Mobile Dentist is Coming March 7

If you have families that would still like to register, please click on the link: https://www.myschooldentist.com/AEAPMI

Mobile Dentists COVID FAQs for Schools

 

Spring Pictures-Rescheduled - Park Avenue Elementary School

Spring Pictures are here!

Picture Day for Arno Elementary is scheduled for Thursday, March 10, 2022 and this Picture Day event’s Order Code is 67356XF

 

 

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FamilyLiteracyBingoNightFlyer-1 (5)

 

 

March is Reading Month Activities

Travel the World with Books!
One Book, One School

Flat Stanley’s Worldwide Adventures!

Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures #1: The Mount Rushmore Calamity: Brown, Jeff, Pamintuan, Macky: 9780061429903: Amazon.com: Books

This year to celebrate March is Reading Month, our entire
school will be participating in One Book, One School by
reading Flat Stanley’s Worldwide Adventures: The Mount
Rushmore Calamity. Each student will be receiving a copy of
the book. Please pass books and parent flyers out on February
25. We are asking that you follow the pacing guide provided
and read this book aloud to your students throughout the
month of March. Due to COVID guidelines, safety, and
scheduling, March is Reading month will be a little scaled
down this year, but we know that reading will be emphasized
this month in each of your classrooms.
Pacing Guide

February 28-March 4: Chapters 1 & 2
March 7- 11: Chapters 3 & 4
March 14-18: Chapters 5 & 6
March 21-25: Chapter 7
Flat Stanley

Students will be receiving a blank copy of a Flat Stanley
for them to decorate and mail home if they so choose. In class
have students write about where they would like to send Flat
Stanley. We have provided a template for you to use in your
classroom if you want. Please hang your writing in the hallway
during the month of March.

Wear it Wednesdays

Celebrate March is Reading Month by dressing up each Wednesday to match the reading theme.

March 2: Pack your bags! Wear a shirt from you favorite location, vacation, or somewhere you want to go!

March 9: Pawsitively Wild About Reading! Wear animal print!
March 16: Team up for reading! Wear sports apparel.
March 23: We “read” all month! Wear red!

Unplugged Tuesdays

Turn off electronics… and turn on your imagination! Every Tuesday night in
March “unplug” and spend some quality time with your family!

March 1, 8, 15, 22

Final Week: Reading “Spirit” Week

To celebrate the end of March is Reading Month, we will be hosting a

Reading Spirit Week.

March 21: Be a Word! Wear a shirt or hat with words on it, or pin a word

and definition to your shirt.

March 22: Be a Book Character! Come to school dressed as your favorite

book character.

March 23: Wear Red because we “read” all month (Wear it Wednesday)
March 24: Michigan Day! Wear your favorite Michigan themed clothes.
March 25: Read and Relax! Bring in your favorite book and wear your comfiest pajamas.

DEAR

On Tuesdays and Thursdays each classroom will participate in D.E.A.R!
Someone will announce this over the PA. If you are on prep, participate in DEAR at your convenience.

Book Exchange

During the week of March 7-11 students will be participating in a book
exchange on their library day. Flyers have already gone home to parents with information about the Book Exchange.

Penny Wars

Save your spare change to bring to school on the following days: March
2, 7, 9, 14,& 16. Give your pennies to your class and your nickels, dimes,
and quarters to other classes. Pennies add to your classes total, but other
coins count against your total. The class with the highest total wins! All
proceeds will go to future March is Reading Month events!

Bingo for Books!

Bingo for Books is back! Watch for an email about when to send flyers
home for students to sign up for Bingo for Books. Bingo for Books will be
held March 23 in the Arno cafeteria. Dinner will not be provided this year,
but everyone will go home with a snack bag along with the books they
win! Please consider volunteering to help work this amazing event. Sara Bleau sent out a sign-up genius link via email.

Weekly Incentives

Each Friday, to celebrate please pass out the weekly incentives to your students. They will be in your mailbox on Thursday.

March 4: I can’t bear to be without books!! Gummy Bears

March 11: Smarties
March 25: Finger Flashlights

Tech Time

This is really cool…

Yellowstone Distance Learning Opportunities

A couple of weeks ago I shared some information about Denali’s Distance Learning Program for K-12 classrooms. This week I learned that Yellowstone National Park offers a similar program.

Yellowstone National Park’s distance learning program lets you schedule a twenty to forty minute virtual presentation with a Yellowstone Park ranger. Presentations can be scheduled for students to learn about geology of the park, the animals of the park, and the history of the park. Rangers are also available to talk about careers in the National Parks Service and more.

Yellowstone National Park is in the mountain time zone. If mountain time presents a scheduling challenge for you, there are also recordings of ranger’s presentations that are available right here on Yellowstone’s Distance Learning page. Handouts and worksheets to use with the virtual presentations are available here.

Here’s a video of a Yellowstone distance learning presentation about bears.

Read Aloud in Chrome

My usual recommendation for teachers and students who need webpages read aloud is to use Immersive Reader which is built into Microsoft Edge. But if Edge isn’t available to you then you might want to try the Read Aloud extension for Chrome. The Read Aloud extension does exactly what its name implies, it reads pages aloud.

The Read Aloud extension doesn’t offer nearly as many options as Immersive Reader in Edge offers, but there are a few customizations that you can make to it. You can adjust the speed at which pages are read, the size of the text as it’s displayed when being read aloud, and you can change the size of the text box that is displayed when a page is read aloud.

Watch this one-minute video to see how Read Aloud for Chrome works.

 

 

Image result for inspirational quote for march blarney irish blessing

 

February 2022

2020 Valentine's Day GIF Guide | AWeber

Coming soon to Arno…

Feb. 1

NWEA Student Goal Meetings

3rd grade- Feb. 1  9:-10:00

4th Grade- Feb. 1 10:15-11:15

5th Grade- Feb. 1  1:00-2:00

Feb. 2

Steve @Riley for RESA conf.

Feb. 3

NWEA Rewards Assembly Grades 3-5

PTA Meeting 6:30 Arno Cafeteria

Feb. 9

PBIS 8:00

MTSS Meeting (Deb, Steve, Beth, Michele) 9:00

Feb. 10

Staff Meeting 7:45

Teacher Data Meetings

Feb. 11

NO SCHOOL- Teacher PD

Feb. 14

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Valentines Day Animated Images Free GIFs | Tenor

Feb. 16

SIP team 8:00

Feb. 17

SRCR 8:00

SEL 3:30

Feb. 21 and 22

Winter Break- No School

Feb. 23

SRCM 8:00

 

Happy Valentine's day baboo!! Have a great day xoxoxoxo | Snoopy love, Snoopy valentine's day, Snoopy pictures

Arno Vision

Arno Elementary will provide a system of support to empower

and inspire students to become collaborative learners

that strive for academic excellence

 

 

You Are Making A Difference Quote by Madison Kumpf | TpT

January Committee Work

SRCR

  1. Reading Tutors 
  2. Cassie-Already tutoring students in her own class 
  3. Lindsay and Sara B. showed interest, email sent to confirm 2. Edmentum Reading Club 
  4. Katie Jensen-Mon & Tues mornings available 
  5. Rachel W- Tues & Thurs mornings available 
  6. Emilie- Tues & Thurs mornings available (prefers 1 day per week but can do 2 days) 
  7. Megan J, Lindsay, Julie, and Sara B. showed interest, email sent to confirm 
  8. Before School Times 
  9. Student Time→ 7:45-8:30 
  10. Teachers would be paid for 1 hour.
  1. After School Times 
  2. Student Time→ 3:30-4:15pm 
  3. Teachers would be paid for 1 hour.
  1. Our school goal is 30 minutes per week. 
  2. NWEA Goals 
  3. Second Grade-Not this year. Revisit next year. 
  4. Updated strategies list for goals 
  5. Steve is meeting with grades 3-5 “partially proficient” projected students and those who received the sloth for rushing. 

SEL

The SEL committee met to discuss Black History Month:

  • Black History Month bulletin of inspirational black individuals is up in the hallway

  • Daily announcements will contain spotlight biographies as they did in previous years

  • Confirm with Colleen that the library will have a section of black authors/characters available to teachers and students

  • Discussed future plans of possibly doing a cumulative project and updating the biographies for announcements

  • Keep an eye out on your email with updates from the SEL team

SIP

The SIP team completed a revision of parent, student, and staff surveys to be sent out in February for planning purposes.

 

The Data Wise Improvement Process | Data Wise

Data Reflections

When reflecting on all of your new data…

What strategies will we implement for those students who lack the foundation necessary to be successful on the new material being presented?

What short-term intervention should occur?

What short-term, flexible grouping is needed for targeted learning to occur?

 

FYI-Culvers Calendars

Culver's Fundraiser, Tuesday November 3rd | Willowbrook PTO

Culver’s calendars for PBIS- A 2022 calendar that is filled with valuable coupons for Culver’s delicious food!  The cost is $3 and $2 of that will go the building Positive Behavior Support program.  If you are interested in purchasing one, please send in $3 in a labeled envelope with your child’s name on it.  Thank you for your support!

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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. 1  9:-10:00

4th Grade- Feb. 1 10:15-11:15

5th Grade- Feb. 1  1:00-2:00

 

NWEA Assembly Celebration

Monday, February 7th, 2022

  • NWEA Goal Assembly

  • 1 grade level at a time in the gym.

  • Location: Gym

  • Time:

    • 3rd Grade: 10-10:30am

    • 4th Grade: 9:30-10am

    • 5th Grade: 9:00-9:30am

  • Reward is given to students who reach their individual growth goal or the 50th percentile rit score for the Winter using the NWEA 2020 Norms. The reward is a certificate, charm, and an extra recess with Mr. Zielinski.

    • 3rd graders who met their individual growth goal OR scored a 194 or higher on the Reading NWEA. (Winter Score of 200 or higher projects a passing MSTEP score)

    • 4th graders who met their individual growth goal OR scored a 203 or higher on the Reading NWEA. (Winter Score of 207 or higher projects a passing MSTEP score)

    • 5th graders who met their individual growth goal OR scored a 209 or higher on the Reading NWEA. (Winter Score of 212 or higher projects a passing MSTEP score)

    • Top Ten in each grade level. The ten highest scoring students in each grade level will earn the Top Ten reward. The reward is a movie with Mr. Zielinski.

  • Teachers-Don’t forget to bring your certificates (Steve will give them to us to fill out) and charms.

  • Students should wear their M-STEP necklaces to the assembly.

Brain Friendly Reading - YouTube

Brain Friendly Reading Coaching Opportunities

In- Person Opportunity:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/11zbSYM58d7If0ndngSdkFj7cPl1MG8qy6ioEJGc-GCU/edit?usp=sharing

 

Out-of-School Opportunity:

The Monday night group coaching call is a great place for teachers to ask questions about the science of reading in general and BFR specifically, get feedback about their implementation of the program and check on their own skill development.  The calls are every Monday through May from 8-9pm.  People can jump on ‘late’ or leave ‘early.’  Breakout rooms are often an option for 1:1 coaching as well.

Kristin Dwyer is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Monday Night Group Coaching Calls

Time: Jan 10, 2022 08:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

        Every week on Mon, until May 16, 2022, 19 occurrence(s)

        Jan 10, 2022 08:00 PM

        Jan 17, 2022 08:00 PM

        Jan 24, 2022 08:00 PM

        Jan 31, 2022 08:00 PM

        Feb 7, 2022 08:00 PM

        Feb 14, 2022 08:00 PM

        Feb 21, 2022 08:00 PM

        Feb 28, 2022 08:00 PM

        Mar 7, 2022 08:00 PM

        Mar 14, 2022 08:00 PM

        Mar 21, 2022 08:00 PM

        Mar 28, 2022 08:00 PM

        Apr 4, 2022 08:00 PM

        Apr 11, 2022 08:00 PM

        Apr 18, 2022 08:00 PM

        Apr 25, 2022 08:00 PM

        May 2, 2022 08:00 PM

        May 9, 2022 08:00 PM

        May 16, 2022 08:00 PM

Please download and import the following iCalendar (.ics) files to your calendar system.

Weekly: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/tZEtdeurqzMsEtRPaqhow4PzPXZvQDhyYNjf/ics?icsToken=98tyKuGtrjkoGdGdthGHRpwMAojoa-nwmFxdj7dvrB70Cy9ENjPsBtp4JINbGMHp

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85022358680?pwd=c0xrY0NRbDh1TkxUOFV3VVA2NmtPQT09

Meeting ID: 850 2235 8680

Passcode: 345237

 

SEL February FOCUS:

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Black History Month is an annual celebration of the achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing their central role in U.S. history. It is also the best opportunity for Arno Elementary students to have a more diverse look at the world and the history of our country, and confront important issues like racism and inequity.

How to complete your SEL responsibilities:

  • Review this month’s SEL newsletter on Black History.
  • Incorporate learning about 1 famous African American in history/important vocabulary word DAILY (see included slides – copy and paste into your own documents) by playing video
  • Looking for more information/details about historic African Americans? (Perhaps grades 3-5?) Check out the Slides Black History Person-a-Day – attached below!
  • Review the important vocabulary included in the BHM slides, be thoughtful about classroom discussion, see included resources for help
  • Choose books from the booklist to use in your daily or weekly instruction – check out the Black History Book Bin in the library!

Friendly Reminders:

  • It takes COURAGE to talk about things like racism, equity and justice, remind students that it is okay to feel uncomfortable or uncertain
  • Remember the four SEL themes as we transition back to in person learning: courage, gratitude, forgiveness and compassion
  • SEL can be integrated within your day. It does not have to be an additional activity.
  • Booklist and Books are available within the library for check out. Many of the books are also available on Youtube.

Great Resources for Black History Month

The following link will take you to a list of classroom and instructional resources relevant for MLK Jr and Black History Month.

https://www.resa.net/mlk

MLK Day and Black History Month

  • 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.
This lesson overall is most appropriate for middle/high school BUT there are some awesome activities under the “activities” and “extension” headings that can absolutely be used in elementary.
This article offers insight on how to have meaningful conversations about civil rights movements like Dr. King’s with first graders!
Not specific lessons, but some strategies for how to incorporate MLK-related learning across all grade levels
This post with videos included highlights some of MLK’s other speeches, including one he gave at Grosse Pointe High School in 1968

Kindergarten / Home

Kindergarten 2022-2023 Information

K Registration 22 23

 

young 5 22 23

 

21 22 Kinder instruct.

 

Tech Time

This could be a great feature, especially if you need to read a test for accommodations

How to Record and Embed Audio in Google Docs

Last Friday I published a video about all of the things that can be done in Google Workspace when you have the Mote Chrome extension installed. The latest of those things is the ability to record audio and embed it directly into your Google Documents. When you do this you’re able to play the audio without having to exit the document. This is a huge improvement over simply including a link to a hosted audio file in your doucment then having to listen to it in a separate browser window.

Watch this short video to learn how to use Mote to record and embed audio into Google Docs. By the way, Mote calls these “hypermotes.”

Applications for Education
I can see this being a useful tool for students who are learning a new language to record themselves and then get some feedback from you. For example, you might write a short monologue in Spanish for studnets to read aloud and record. That recording could then be made and inserted into a Google Document that they share with you so that you can listen to their pronunciation.

More Recording Info

How to record audio in Google Classroom.

How to use Mote in Google FormsWatch this short video about using Mote in Gmail to learn how to record and send a voice note. The video also shows how recipients can play your voice notes even if they don’t have Mote installed in their web browsers.

Facebook: Social Media Guide in Healthcare Marketing

Arno Facebook

“LIKE” us to see lots of great updates and photos from school!  Thank you for promoting this social media platform as a positive way to share the good news and great things happening at Arno!

HERE IS THE LINK!  

https://www.facebook.com/arnoelementary/

 

Remind

Please consider joining Arno Remind at:

https://www.remind.com/join/arno2020

Full directions: remind invite

 

January 2022

Coming soon to Arno…

Happy New Year!! Wishing you a wonderful 2022!!

40 Amazing Fireworks Animated Gif Pics - Share at Best Animations [Video] | Fireworks animation, Fireworks gif, Gif pictures

Jan. 3

Welcome Back! School resumes

Jan. 6

Staff Meeting 7:45

Jan. 14

No School- Full Day teacher PD

Jan. 17

MLK Observed- No School

Jan. 18

Math Pilot begins

Data Day- per schedule

Jan 19

SRCR 8:00

SIP 8:00

Jan. 20

ALICE Drill 10:00

4th and 5th to APAC for play 8:45

SEL team 3:30

Jan. 21

3rd to APAC 9:10

Jan 26

SRCM 8:00

Jan 28

PBIS reward- Zumba

 

Happy New Year 2022 Images | Free Vectors, Stock Photos & PSD

Arno Vision

Arno Elementary will provide a system of support to empower

and inspire students to become collaborative learners

that strive for academic excellence

 

In case you missed Arno’s Musical Holiday Card…

Thanks to Mr. Cross and Mr. Burke for all of their hard work in producing this wonderful video!

 

Committee Updates:

SRCR

The Arno Student Recovery Committee met this morning for our monthly session. One of the topics we discussed was how the use of Edmentum is going. K-2 teachers have expressed concerns about the difficulty of Edmentum for the younger grades. They feel it is not user friendly for their students. Because it causes so much frustration, some are not using it.

Jeanine Haskin talked about a program that is by the same Edmentum company called Reading Eggs. There seems to also be a version called Reading Express for the older students.
Since the company is the same as Edmentum, is it possible to switch some classrooms to the Reading Eggs or Reading Eggspress as a pilot? Our discussion on this included the lack of usage in second-kindergarten and the hopes that this program would be a better fit for the little ones.
SRCM:
Today the SRMC met and it’s hard to believe that this meeting was even better than last! So many of you missed out on what is now being said to be the greatest committee meeting of all time!!!
After everything settled down, we finally got to work to create a staff survey that will be sent out after break. This survey contains information regarding different math programs used in class as well as tutoring information. More information will follow once we return from break. Make sure you RSVP for our next meeting (Jan. 26th) soon before spots are filled up.
SIP:
The SIP team made tremendous progress on the new Title diagnostic tool.  This tool is longer required to be turned into the state, but rather to have on hand in the case of an audit.  Most of this doc was completed, with other parts in progress.  We need to wait on MICIP for the district to input info.
PBIS:
  1. Cougar Store Volunteer (Emilie and Megan)
    1. Month of January
    2. Will deliver all necessary supplies to your room prior
      1. Prizes
      2. forms
    1. Process
      1. Form sent out on Wednesday
        1. Make sure form is accepting responses
      2. Form re-sent out on Thursday, if needed
      3. Fill orders as they come in
        1. Stop taking responses
      4. Fill out Cougar Cash winners document
      5. Place orders in teachers’ mailboxes
      6. Announce winners on Friday morning

**M-STEP Programming Commences in January

**Instructional Rounds are coming soon.  All grades will be taking part throughout January and Febraury

**Walkthroughs will be wrapping up during our first week back

 

Assessment Schedule

As we return on Jan. 3, the assessment window for NWEA is open upon return.  The upcoming schedule to follow for January:

Jan. 4-14 NWEA Reading and Math

Jan. 17-21 FAST administered

Jan. 4-31 BAS below grade level based on NWEA 2-5 (K-1 hold off on this for now until a final decision is made regarding the administration of the BAS in K-1). I will see if I am able to provide some sub support for this.

**Data Day will take place on Jan. 18 & Feb. 10 (Schedule coming closer to the date)

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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. 1  9:-10:00

4th Grade- Feb. 1 10:15-11:15

5th Grade- Feb. 1  1:00-2:00

 

NWEA Assembly Info

Thursday, February 3rd, 2022

  • NWEA Goal Assembly

  • 1 grade level at a time in the gym.

  • Location: Gym

  • Time:

    • 3rd Grade: 1:40-2:10 pm

    • 4th Grade: 1:00-1:30pm

    • 5th Grade: 2:20-2:50pm

  • Reward is given to students who reach their individual growth goal or the 50th percentile rit score for the Winter using the NWEA 2020 Norms. The reward is a certificate, charm, and an extra recess with Mr. Zielinski.

    • 3rd graders who met their individual growth goal OR scored a 194 or higher on the Reading NWEA. (Winter Score of 200 or higher projects a passing MSTEP score)

    • 4th graders who met their individual growth goal OR scored a 203 or higher on the Reading NWEA. (Winter Score of 207 or higher projects a passing MSTEP score)

    • 5th graders who met their individual growth goal OR scored a 209 or higher on the Reading NWEA. (Winter Score of 212 or higher projects a passing MSTEP score)

    • Top Ten in each grade level. The ten highest scoring students in each grade level will earn the Top Ten reward. The reward is a movie with Mr. Zielinski.

  • Teachers-Don’t forget to bring your certificates (Steve will give them to us to fill out) and charms.

  • Students should wear their M-STEP necklaces to the assembly.

 

ALICE Drill

This month 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 door could be barricaded from 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.

 

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!

 

 

MLK Resources

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Fliphunt

A fliphunt is a type of activity, designed by Kathi Kersznowski, that creates a scavenger hunt using the Flipgrid app. It is a fun way of having your students get out of their seats, participate in the learning, and demonstrate their understanding and application.

Use this fliphunt to learn more about Martin Luther King Jr. and celebrate what he stood for. For each response, use the Task Title hashtag as the title of your video. For each task, students have up to 90 seconds to share your response.

 

An Engaging Digital Breakout

Digital breakouts are an interactive way for students to explore any number of topics. The process involves using knowledge and reasoning to solve a series of clues that “unlock” digital locks, just as you might with a physical breakout box.

With this MLK-themed breakout, students can learn about Dr. King’s family and early life, his influences, and the achievements he gained over the course of his celebrated career. Give it a try yourself. You can find ourMLK Breakout here.

Primary Lesson Plans from Scholastic

Explore Scholastic’s How Do You Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This page has several real teachers sharing their favorite ways to honor the life and legacy of the civil rights leader. Geared for first, second, and third-grade students, the page includes craft projects, reading suggestions, posters and printables, and suggestions from other educators.

Free Printable Resources

Old-school printables are still valuable, and the internet provides endless opportunities to develop, share, and find handouts, worksheets, and other printables you may find useful in the classroom. Check out studenthandouts.com for free printable activities: biographic outline, crossword puzzle, geography map, word search, and more for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

MLK Videos 

Looking for videos to show to your class? Check out these listed below.

The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by 88 brains

Martin Luther King Jr. by BrainPOP

martin luther king

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Biography for Kids by Educational Videos for Students

Looking for More?

Check out our list digital resources for teaching and learning about the U.S. civil rights movement here.

Tech Time

Best of 2021 – Ziplet Exit Tickets

Ziplet is a service for gathering feedback from your students in a variety of ways. The simplest way is to create an exit ticket by using one of the dozens of pre-written questions provided by Ziplet. Back in July I published a video about how to use Ziplet. Since then it has been updated to no longer require students to have accounts to respond to exit ticket questions. Now your students can simply enter an exit ticket code that you give to them before they answer the question. 

What Ziplet offers that is somewhat unique is the option to respond directly to individual students even when they are responding to a group survey. The purpose of that feature is to make it easy to ask follow-up questions or to give encouragement to students based on their responses to a question posed to the whole group.

Applications for Education
Ziplet fits in a gap between tools like Kahoot and Google Classroom. For that reason it could be a good tool for engaging students in discussions about assignments, course topics, or the general feeling of the class. Ziplet does offer a Google Classroom integration as well as an Office 365 integration.

 

Storyvoice

Great resource to hear live author read alouds from Scholastic- Thanks Rachel!

https://storyvoice.live/

 

December 2021

trees GIF

Coming soon to Arno…

Nov. 29

Report Cards Released

Dec. 1

P/T Conferences 5:00-7:30

Dec. 2

Early Release 11:30

P/T Conferences 12:45-3:30

P/T Conferences 5:00-7:30

Dec. 3

PBIS Reward PJs and a movie

Dec. 9

PTA Meeting 6:30

Dec. 16

Otis Spunkmeyer Now Available at Select Kroger's!

Cookie Dough Delivery Date

PBIS Reward Day

Dec. 18-Jan. 2

BMHS- Christmas Break (No School)December 22- January 5 | Eagle County Schools

Christmas Break!!

Happy New Year Gif Animated 2019

Jan 3, 2022

School Resumes

Santa Claus Christmas GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Arno Vision

Arno Elementary will provide a system of support to empower

and inspire students to become collaborative learners

that strive for academic excellence

 

chip GIF

It’s been some year! We have all been through so many emotions this year as a staff, yet I can see the hope in everyone’s eyes for a better tomorrow- and I can see everyone giving it their all to achieve that place of hope.  It will take time to get there, but we have each other to turn to for support and words of encouragement.  I hope your holiday season is full of wonderful memories- and recharge to meet all of the amazing things that will happen in 2022!

 

It’s Time to get Merry!

 

 

Take a Look at the Menu

Please be sure and take advantage of the many supports Beth has to offer, including a read aloud section by the copy machine area- which is really a ready made lesson for anyone using it.  This is a great example of using district resources in the evaluation rubric.

 

Committees

Student Recovery Reading

  1. MSTEP Prep-We will be doing the program we have used in the past. 
    1. Grades 3-5: This includes weekly vocabulary quizzes, mstep practice homework, NWEA assembly in January & May, charms/necklaces, SBA practice in the classroom, and Readworks.
    2. Grades 2-5: All students use Edmentum Reading at least 30 minutes each week.
    3. Rachel is getting the papers ready. Intervention aides are staying after school to make copies.
  2. Extra Book at Home Check Out Program
    1. Teachers would prefer service instead of aides checking out books on Fridays. 
    2. We will send out a Google Doc asking teachers who would like a 4th or 5th grade student helper to check out books and who would like to do it themselves.

 

Student Recovery Math

The Student Recovery Team for Math met:
– Identify 2nd-5th students who based on their Fall RIT scores on NWEA, would not be proficient on the M-STEP.
– Each teacher received their class list and see which students have been identified. We also included the Winter Cut Score.

PBIS

Meeting summary:

  1. November Reward
    1. Organizer: Megan Schultz
    2. Date: Friday, December 3, 2021
    3. Reward: PJs and a movie
    4. Missed Flips: 5 or less; non-earners only miss 20 min.; all students can wear PJs
  1. Monthly Rewards
    1. December’s reward
      1. board games
    2. Confirm Cristina is Zumba in February
      1. Send follow up email
    3. February
      1. Coordinator
        1. Emilie
      2. Clubs?
        1. Yes!
        2. 2 grade levels
          1. Y5-1
          2. 2-3
          3. 4-5
        3. 6 clubs offered at each level (teacher discretion) 
  1. Culver’s Calendars
    1. Parent/Teacher conferences
      1. Need volunteer
    2. Sell for $3; profit of $2
    3. 100 free sundae coupons available–Santa Cash
  1. Smencils
    1. Sell at Parent/Teacher conferences
    2. Date prior to Winter Break
  1. Cougar Store
    1. Mystery items

SIP

  • Reviewed the diversity classroom library forms submitted
  • Made plans to start the Title I Diagnostic on Dec. 14

 

Data Reflection

As you reflect on your data plan and analysis… What strategies will you implement for those students who lack the foundation necessary to be successful on the new material you will present. What short term intervention should occur? What short term flexible grouping is needed for targeted learning to occur?

Image result for mitten tree

Warming Tree

In the spirit of sharing holiday warmth, we will be collecting new, warm outerwear like hats, gloves, mittens, and scarves to share on our warming tree located in the main hallway.  Please consider donating to help out less fortunate children by December 16.  Thank you for your help

animated-santa-claus-image-0411

 

Image result for holiday toy drive

District-wide Holiday Toy Box Drive- With a Twist

It’s hard to believe that Christmas is around the corner and that we will be hosting a district-wide Holiday Toy Box Drive with a twist. Much like last year, this year’s Toy Box Drive will look a little different than years past.  We will  be securing the names of Allen Park Families in need and reaching out to them to see how we can help. As in the past, we will be asking individuals, teams, community businesses, etc. to adopt a child or family. WE WILL NOT BE COLLECTING ANY GENTLY USED ITEMS. It will be a drive through pick up, allowing everyone to be as safe as possible.

Boxes will be placed in school buildings but all donations must be to the high school by December 3. We ask that you fill the boxes with non-perishable food items rather than toys..

 

Picture Retake

Picture retake day is Dec. 2.  For those students who would like to get their picture retaken and bought a package, they MUST bring their package down to the cameras for an even exchange. 

 

Tech Time

Five Good Places to Find and Create Story Starters for Students

When it comes to creative writing assignments, the hardest step for many students is coming up with things to write about. Fortunately, there are many good tools and websites that teachers can use to generate writing prompts for students. Likewise, there are lots of good websites that offer creative writing prompts for students. Here are some of my favorite tools for creating story starters and favorite sites for finding story starters.

Create Story Starters in Google Sheets
Flippity offers a random name picker Google Sheets template. While it was designed to randomly select a student’s name from a list, you could list story prompts instead of names in the sheet and have it display a random story prompt every time the picker is shuffled. Here’s a video about how it works.


Flippity MadLibs is another Google Sheets template that can be used to create story prompts. As the name implies, it can be used to create MadLibs-style fill-in-the-blank stories. Watch the following video to see how it works.

Writing Sparks
Writing Sparks offers timed writing prompts to share with your elementary school students. Students can respond to the prompts by writing on paper, in a word processing document like MS Word, or by writing on the Writing Sparks website. The Writing Sparks website provides students with templates to complete as they respond to each writing prompt.
Scholastic Story Starters
Scholastic Story Starters is a great tool that students will enjoy using to create short, creative fiction stories. Scholastic Story Starters offers four story themes; fantasy, adventure, sci-fi, and scrambler. To create a story on Story Starters a students picks a theme, enter his or her name, chooses his or her grade, and spins the big wheels of prompts. The student can spin the wheels until he or she finds a prompt he or she likes. After the prompt is selected the student can write his or her story using the letter, postcard, notebook, or newspaper format provided by Scholastic Story Starters. When the story is finished it can be printed.
Make Beliefs Comix
the Make Beliefs Comix journaling ebooks filled with ideas for students to write about. Many of those ebooks are excellent for social emotional learning activities as well as creative writing activities. All of the ebooks are available as fillable PDFs that your students can download and share with you when they’re done writing. Watch this short video to learn how to use the free ebooks from Make Beliefs Comix(Disclosure: Make Beliefs Comix is an advertiser on this blog). 
WriteReader
WriteReader is a good tool for elementary school students to use to write multimedia stories. WriteReader has two distinguishing features that I always point out to new users. First, it provides space for teachers to give feedback to students directly under every word that they write. Second, WriteReader has a huge library of images, including some from popular programs like Sesame Street, that can be used for writing prompts. WriteReader does have a Google Classroom integration that makes it easy to get your students started creating picture-based stories. A series of WriteReader tutorials is available here.

For the Holidays…

Who doesn’t like Mad Libs? Classroomjr.com has a collection of three winter Mad Libs, along with three Christmas Mad Libs, some winter word puzzlesChristmas math worksheets and some printable Christmas mazes that’ll keep students productive all winter break.

 Norad Tracks Santa

Each year, Norad tracks Santa by using four high-tech tracking systems: radar, satellites, Santa Cams and fighter jets. This site allows kids to watch as Santa is tracked while he delivers all of his presents. On Christmas Eve (but not before), students can click here to track his flight live in Google Earth.

EdTech Ideas: Norad Tracks Santa is a great site to learn about geography and places around the world. Students could chart the stops in Google Maps, calculate distances and speed required to make all of the stops possible, write a creative story about his adventure, compare and contrast Santa’s trips in the past using population data . . . I could go on forever!

Each year, Norad tracks Santa by using four high-tech tracking systems: radar, satellites, Santa Cams and fighter jets. This site allows kids to watch as Santa is tracked while he delivers all of his presents. On Christmas Eve (but not before), students can click here to track his flight live in Google Earth.

EdTech Ideas: Norad Tracks Santa is a great site to learn about geography and places around the world. Students could chart the stops in Google Maps, calculate distances and speed required to make all of the stops possible, write a creative story about his adventure, compare and contrast Santa’s trips in the past using population data . . . I could go on forever!

 Antarctica “Street” View

Google Maps Antarctica allows you to take a walk around parts of the white continent. A very small portion of Antarctica has been covered (for obvious reasons), but the views are amazing! With Google’s typical subtle humor, the normal yellow street view man in street view Antarctica is replaced by a penguin.

EdTech Ideas: I realize it’s not “Christmassy” and Santa lives at the North Pole, not the South; but there’s some great images here not to be missed. Students could write stories about what life would be like if Santa lived in Antarctica. They could pinpoint where his home would be and find a suitable area for a landing strip.

 

Rudolf The Red Nosed Reindeer GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY

 

Take a peek at Santa’s Reindeer

https://reindeercam.com/

 Track Santa with NORAD help

https://www.noradsanta.org/

 

Christmas Christmas Tree GIF - Christmas ChristmasTree GIFs

November 2021

Animated Thanksgiving Gifs #thanksgivinggif #happythanksgivinggifs #thanksgivingg… | Happy thanksgiving turkey, Thanksgiving pictures, Thanksgiving turkey pictures

Coming soon to Arno…

Nov. 2

No School- Teacher PD/Election Day

Nov. 4

PTA Meeting 6:30

Otis Spunkmeyer Cookie Dough Fundraiser - Great Western Reserve - School Fundraising

Nov. 8

Cookie Dough kick-off (more info below)

PTA Fun Run Principal for the Day

Nov. 9

Data Meetings

Nov. 10

PBIS Meeting 8:00

Nov. 11

Staff Meeting 7:45

Super Cougar Lunch 11:00

Nov. 12

IRIPS go home

Report Card window Opens

Nov. 16

Student Recovery Reading Meeting 8:00

Nov. 17

SIP Meeting 8:00

Student Recovery Math Meeting 8:00

Nov. 18

SEL Meeting 8:00

Building up to Kindergarten 4:30 (Arno Cafeteria)

Nov. 19

Cookie Dough Sale Ends

Nov. 23

Cookie Dough Forms Due

End of First Trimester

Nov. 24

Its Thanksgiving Eve GIF - Looney Tunes Thanks Giving - Discover & Share GIFs

No School- Thanksgiving Break

PTA Texas Roadhouse Fundraiser

Thanksgiving 2021 Walmart Open for Thanksgiving?- Employees Love it!!

Nov. 25

No School- Happy Thanksgiving!!

Nov. 26

Report Card Window Closes

No School

Nov. 29

Report Cards Released

1,284,691 Christmas Tree Stock Photos, Pictures & Royalty-Free Images - iStock

Dec. 1

P/T Conferences 5:00-7:30

Dec. 2

Early Release 11:30

P/T Conferences 12:45-3:30

P/T Conferences 5:00-7:30

Dec. 3

PBIS Reward PJs and a movie

Happy Thanksgiving Turkey GIF - HappyThanksgiving Turkey Glitter GIFs

Wishing all of our Arno Families a Wonderful Thanksgiving!

ARNO VISION

ARNO ELEMENTARY WILL PROVIDE A SYSTEM OF SUPPORT TO EMPOWER

AND INSPIRE STUDENTS TO BECOME COLLABORATIVE LEARNERS

THAT STRIVE FOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

 

Nelson Mandela - The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. - Famous - Sticker | TeePublic UK

Committee News

Student Recovery Committee – Reading Meeting

Phonics – 3rd-5th have added phonics to their weekly lessons

Extra Benchmark Unit quizzes – grade level is too difficult- third grade is using second grade- need to get fourth grade a copy of third grade so it will be more manageable (short passages, easier vocabulary, etc…)

Reading tutors – we have two signed up but have not started yet.

Individual goals – up and running in third grade

PBIS

  1. Tier 2/3- Mentors-K-2nd as mentees-5th as mentors
    1. Kids’ Hope 
    2. Data piece gap
      1. begin in October to gather with 1st reward
  1. Culver’s calendars
    1. Sold for $3
    2. Parent/Teacher conferences? virtual?

                  Oct reward

    1. Organizer: Colleen
    2. Date: Thursday, October 28
    3. Reward: Hat Day!
    4. Missed Flips: 6 or less
  1. Trainings
    1. Survey
    2. Kendra email
    3. Check PBIS district dates
  1. Kindness Day
    1. Saturday, November 13
    2. Dr. Griffin read aloud
    3. Megan J–Broadcast
    4. Kindness shirts–encourage ahead of time
    5. Act of Kindness Rainbow
      1. Each grade level has a color
      2. Email Metzger regarding things stick to the walls
    6. Colleen kindness book list 
      1. 30 titles
      2. Designated area in library
    7. Lisa game during gym
    8. Steve–marquee
    9. Classroom Ideas
      1. Kindness Bingo
      2. Acrostic poems
      3. Ideas and simple ways sent home
      4. “Kindness Cash” (no new sheet)
    10. Towards Staff
      1. potluck lunch
      2. shoutouts
    11. Towards Students
      1. Kindness notes
      2. Sidewalk message

 

Student Recovery Math

-Analyzed the Achievement Status and Growth Summary Report on NWEA for grades 2-5.
-The team also looked at the Michigan MAP Growth Linking Study that shows the correlation between NWEA and MSTEP. We will be using these two reports to help identify those students who need additional interventions in math.
-We talked about using Freckle Math for grades 2-3 and Khan Mappers for grades 4-5 as additional interventions for those students.

Data Meetings Coming…

We will have our next round of Data Meetings on Nov.9.  Since we will not have another round of NWEA to look at, please bring relevant data that supports your journey to your student growth goal/professional growth goal to discuss, as well as updates on any students you are concerned about.

Data is the story of your classroom and our school- Does your classroom story have you on a path to your goals this year? Student goals?- if not what kinds of strategies, resources, engaging activities, modes of presentation, lessons, and coaching can help the learning taking place in the classroom? Please let me know what kind of support I can provide to further your success!

 

Exploring Guided Reading in the Primary Grades - KNILT

Guided Reading Resource

Directions:  Give students a “Talkmark” card during the discussion portion of guided reading or book clubs to scaffold students who need help participating in discussions.

Link to the Talkmark Full Resource

Culvers Of Allen Park | Allen Park Chamber of Commerce

Thanks for Culvers!

Thank you to everyone who participated in Culvers- it was an unbelievable success raising just over $1000 for the scholarship fund!!

10 Books Scientists Are Reading | Technology Networks

BFR PD Nov. 2

This is a resource for the Nov. 2 PD that is coming up.  After learning more next week, come back to this spot to check out the resources

Brain Friendly Reading You Tube Channel.   This is a 5-minute activity for the whole class to do that will make a big impact.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpd21UUQhXduZjTD6hKiyCw

Check out the “videos” tab on this site.

New Remind Group Created

Please use the info below if you already have not joined the building Remind group

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Non Homestead Millage on the Ballot

More Information:

Non-Homestead Operating Millage-November 2 2021-2

Non-Homestead Operating Millage-November 2 2021

 

Cookie Dough Sale

Image result for otis spunkmeyer

Arno will be once again doing the Otis Spunkmeyer cookie dough fundraiser starting  Nov. 8 to help supplement the many requests we get from staff during the school year such as assessment programs, research-based activities, special project supplies, literacy materials, tech, etc.  The last fundraiser helped us purchase many extra classroom supply requests, Super Cougar pizza lunch supplies,  and professional development for teachers.

The PTA has been a tremendous resource for our building with all they have given, however, the many teacher requests received throughout the school year to give our students the very best experiences create a need to seek additional support.  Therefore, we have partnered with this company to offer you a choice of items should you choose to purchase any, that would support providing more resources for our teachers. The large envelope coming home on Nov. 8 and will contain all of the information needed (and there is an online order method).

Fundraiser Timeline

November 8 – November 19         Fundraiser Sale

November 23 All money and orders due (online payment option available)

Game Truck Prize for qualifying sales: TBD

Image result for game truck

**Turnover time is about 2-3 weeks, we will contact everyone when the items will be in (before Christmas)

From the District

Dear AP School Community,

We recognize that this has been a difficult couple years for families, with reduced work hours or income, illness and the rising cost of food, gas and other monthly bills.  Things may be tight and support may be needed.

With Thanksgiving around the corner, we are sharing the website below, “Julie’s list,” which includes many resources and supports for families in need.  Thank you to the AP Social Work Team for providing this information.

http://julieslist.homestead.com/HolidayAssistance.html

Please reach out to your building principal or school social worker if you need further assistance.

PTA Holiday Fever 2021

Halloween Parade • Events - HENRY MILLER ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Halloween Parade 2021!

Watch our parade indoors today- So many fun costumes!

https://fb.watch/8XTsClhypz/

 

Image result for kindergarten readiness

Building Up to Kindergarten Part 1 11.18.21

Picture Retake

Picture retake day is Dec. 2.  For those students who would like to get their picture retaken and bought a package, they MUST bring their package down to the cameras for an even exchange.  

MDE - Literacy

Read by Grade Three

Arno 3rd grade parents, please take a look at the flyer below for an informational meeting Nov. 4 about the reading law and what to expect this year.  This meeting will be via Zoom:

3rd Grade Reading Law

Taking interactive edtech from online learning into the physical classroom - Nearpod Blog

Tech Time 

An Overview of Google Forms Quiz Settings

Back in July I published a series of videos and blog posts detailing what you need to know to get started using Google Classroom, Drive, Docs, Slides, and Forms in your classroom (those are linked below). Of course, Google had to make some updates to Google Forms right at the start of the new school year and in doing so added some more functionality to Google Forms while also moving the location of some settings menus. That’s why I recorded a new overview of Google Forms quiz settings.

In my new video, An Overview of Google Forms Quiz Settings, you’ll learn:

  • How to access the settings.
  • What each setting does.
  • Why you may or may not want to use some settings.

More Helpful Google Forms Tutorials:

 

Exit tickets

Fifteen Exit Ticket Questions for Almost Any Classroom

This is an excerpt from this week’s Practical Ed Tech Newsletter. The newsletter is sent every Sunday evening (Eastern Time) and it includes my tip of the week and summary of the week’s most popular posts from Free Technology for Teachers. You can sign up for the newsletter right here.

Whether an exit ticket is conducted with digital tools or on scraps of paper (a strategy I abandoned years ago because I always seemed to misplaced a paper or two), strategy is the same. I try to ask questions that aren’t “yes/ no” but can still be answered by all students in just a minute or two. To that end, here’s a list of general purpose exit ticket questions that I developed and have used at various times in my career.1. What’s a new-to-you word or term you heard today?

2. What’s one thing you’d change about today’s lesson?
3. How did today’s lesson make you feel?
4. How well do you think you’d do if we had a quiz next week?
5. How would you describe today’s lesson to a classmate who was absent?
6. What was your favorite part of today’s lesson?
7. What surprised you about today’s class?
8. What’s something you wish was different in class?
9. What’s one question you’d put on a quiz about today’s lesson?
10. How would you help a classmate who didn’t understand today’s lesson?
11. What’s one thing you’d like to learn more about?
12. What was the easiest part of today’s class?
13. How did today’s lesson fit with the one before it?
14. What do you think the next lesson will be about?
15. What was the hardest part of today’s class?
How many days until Christmas 2021? Santa says 64 sleeps!

56 Days left to Shop for Christmas!!

October 2021

Halloween Disney Sticker by Mickey Mouse for iOS & Android | GIPHY

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

twinpossiblecom GIFs - Primo GIF - Latest Animated GIFs

pumpkin animation

ARNO VISION

ARNO ELEMENTARY WILL PROVIDE A SYSTEM OF SUPPORT TO EMPOWER

AND INSPIRE STUDENTS TO BECOME COLLABORATIVE LEARNERS

THAT STRIVE FOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

 

Board Committees / Board Committees

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

Spider Web GIFs | Tenor

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT IN OCTOBER

JUST A REMINDER OF TASKS/STRATEGIES IN OUR PLAN:

Breaking News GIFs | Tenor

  • Great Resource from Teach Like a Champion– Engaging students with The Hook – the short introductory moment that captures what’s interesting and engaging about the material and puts it out front.

Tutoring - Resources | Homewood Flossmoor High School

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.

 

Check Out Our Website Clipart - Go Check It Out - Free Transparent PNG  Clipart Images Download

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/

 

Accounts 25 by AP | Dribbble

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

someone facing the sun - Drawception

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

 

frankenstein walking straight for you animation

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 / October 6, 2021

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!

 

Tech Time Logo - Tech Time Logo Png Clipart (#1857847) - PinClipart

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

September 2021

Keep your head in the air..only people who are deliberately trying to affect you mind!! | Snoopy quotes, Snoopy, Snoopy love

Coming soon to Arno…

August 30

Medical Meetings all day

Sept. 2

Teacher PD and Welcome Back

Arno First Staff Meeting 1:00 Media Center

Meet the Teacher Open House 6:30-7:30

Sept. 3

No School

Sept. 6

No School- Labor Day

Sept. 7

First Day of School- Full day

Sept. 9

PBIS Stations

PTA First Meeting – Please join us! 6:30

Sept. 14

Student Recovery Reading (SRR) meeting 8:00

Sept. 15

PBIS  meeting 8:00

SIP meeting 8:00

Sept. 16

SEL Meeting 8:00

Sept. 22

Fire Drill 10:30

Sept. 24

Fun Run- More info soon

Sept. 29

Student Recovery Math (SRM) meeting 8:00

Sept. 30

Fire Drill 2:00

 

 

fall - Google Search | Leaves illustration, Autumn trees, Fall wallpaper

Arno Vision

Arno Elementary will provide a system of support to empower

and inspire students to become collaborative learners

that strive for academic excellence

50 Amazing Fireworks Animated Gif Pics to Share! | Fireworks animation, Fireworks gif, Fireworks

Welcome Back Arno Staff!

The Arno Staff 2021-22

Young fives Jeanine Haskin
Kindergarten Cassie Harrison
Kindergarten Nickie Roller
Kindergarten Cristina Mercer
First Grade Julie Martinchick
First Grade Barb Pushman 
First Grade Dawn Watson
Second Grade Nicole Amonette
Second Grade Alexandra Cervantes
Second Grade Megan Schultz
Third Grade Sarah Kalis
Third Grade Renee Guyot
Third Grade Rachel Warneck
Fourth Grade Megan Johnson
Fourth Grade Emilie Talamonti
Fourth Grade Brian Trionfi
Fifth Grade Ciara Zuke
Fifth Grade Lindsay Garza
Fifth Grade Erin Higgins
Cross Categorical Classroom Katie Jensen
ECP Program Sara Bleau
Life Skills Stella Boyer
Media Lit Arno/Bennie Colleen Byrne
Media Tech Arno/Bennie Carrie Solak
Art Arno/Bennie Elisabeth Cunningham
Art Arno/Lindemann Rachel Trapani
Speech-Language Pathologist Andrea Alvarez
Vocal Music Open
Instrumental/Vocal  Music Jeff Skebo
Physical Education Arno/Bennie Lisa Smalley
Social Work Arno

School Psychologist

Sandy Bennett T W Th

Deb Green M F

Resource Room Michele Sbonek
ECP Speech Taylor Cuddy
Reading Coach/Title I Beth Wesley
ESL Jennifer VanMael

21st Century Professional Development for Teachers - EdTechReview

Upcoming PD Preview

We will be kicking off our PD in the media center and then move to committee activities, PLC time, and finally a staff meeting in the afternoon to wrap it all up.  A grab and go breakfast will be served, along with a pizza lunch provided at the building-

Building Committees this year:

-SEL

-PBIS

Student Recovery Reading (former Instructional)

Student Recovery Math (former MTSS)

SIP/MICIP

Meet the Teacher

Be sure to mark Sept. 2 on your calendar for our Meet the Teacher night.   This will be an opportunity for families to come to Arno, open house style,  and meet their child’s teacher,  get information about grade level curriculum, classroom policies, and important classroom information. Fast Facts:

    • This year’s Meet the Teacher Night will be an Open House on September 2 from 6:30-7:30pm.

    • Masks are required for all students and family members attending Meet the Teacher Night.

    • Students are encouraged to attend Meet the Teacher Night with their family.

    • Meet the Teacher attendance will be staggered to encourage social distancing  Please arrive and depart promptly according to the schedule below.

 

  • Families will be divided into two groups by alphabet with 20 minute sessions (6:30-6:50 and 7:00-7:20)
  • Last Names A-M — 6:30-6:50pm
  • Last Names N-Z — 7:00-7:20pm
  • If the family has multiple last names, please follow the schedule for your oldest child’s last name

EMS1 Acquires EVALS to Expand Training Management Capabilities in Public Safety and Beyond | EMS1 Academy

Evals

To get started this year, please complete:

  • One Professional Growth Goal

  • One Student Growth Goal

  • Self- Assessment

All of these  items are due on Oct. 1, we will discuss more at the staff meeting

 

High Impact Tutoring

Please take a moment to review this research on the impact of tutoring done well.  If you are interested in tutoring this year, we will be talking more about the design about on Sept. 2

https://annenberg.brown.edu/sites/default/files/EdResearch_for_Recovery_Design_Principles_1.pdf

 

 

Back to School: The Questions Every Family Should Ask

Back to School Updates

ELEMENTARY SCHEDULE

  • All students will attend in-person instruction Monday through Friday from 8:30am – 3:30pm.

PREP SCHEDULES & LUNCH SCHEDULES

  • We are asking for everyone’s cooperation in being on time to your scheduled prep and lunch.
  • Breakfast and Lunch Counts will be taken each morning, and breakfast will continue to be bagged and sent home with students daily.
  • Please see the attachment for your specific lunch and prep schedules, which will be returning to schedules closer to pre-COVID times.
  • 5th Grade Band will take place in the Music Room one morning a week prior to the first scheduled prep time.  Your specific day and time will be communicated by Jeff Skebo.

GENERAL INFORMATION

  • Families will complete the COVID-19 Screening Tool for Families every day prior to sending children to school.  If you answer “YES” to one or more questions, you MUST keep your child home from school that day and consult your primary care provider.
  • Suspected or confirmed COVID-19 cases must be reported immediately to the school office.
  • Please make sure attendance is posted daily by 9:00am.  
  • All staff will be required to wear masks at all times in the school building unless eating or drinking or in your “own space” with no students present.
  • All students in all grades will be required to wear masks at all times in the school building unless eating or drinking.  
  • We will have extra masks available if needed.  
  • Cleaning supplies will be provided by the district and refilled as needed.
  • Current spacing between desks in classrooms ranges from 18” to 36”.  Please make every effort to provide 3 feet of distancing between students to avoid quarantine where possible.
  • Teachers should meet with students daily in small groups.  This may occur at guided reading tables or on the carpet, using social distancing mitigation strategies as best you can.
  • Teachers will maintain a Google Classroom from the beginning of the year, and engage students in the GC so they are familiar with this platform.
  • Every day, Chromebooks and chargers will go back and forth from home to school.
  • Students will need headphones or earbuds daily.  Students may bring these back and forth with Chromebooks daily, or keep a set at school and a set at home.  
  • Please re-send your supply lists to families.  Indicate any items that may not be needed immediately.  Please avoid adding items to the supply list at this point if at all possible.
  • Individual water bottles are recommended. 
  • All grades will administer the NWEA to students in person by October 1.  Please determine your NWEA testing dates and communicate this schedule to your families.
  • A replacement screener for DIBELS will also be administered (FastBridge).  Stay tuned for more information.

VISITORS

  • At this time, limited visitors will be allowed in the building. Prior to the visitor’s arrival, please clear this with the main office.
  • Meetings may be held by video chat or in person, depending on the nature of the meeting and comfort of the participants.  In-person meetings will require mitigation strategies and social distancing.

ARRIVAL PROCEDURES

  • Families will complete the COVID-19 Screening Tool for Families provided by the district every day prior to sending children to school. Arrival time is 8:30am at assigned entry doors.
  • Staff will need to complete the requirement on the Clear to Go app
  • Students should not be dropped off prior to 8:20am Upon arrival, if there is a line forming, students should wait on the painted paw prints.
  • Arrival beyond 8:45am will be considered tardy and students must be buzzed in through the front doors of the school.

LUNCH PROCEDURES

  • All students will eat lunch in the cafeteria.
  • Lunches will be provided through the Food Service Department free of charge through this school year.  
  • Students may still bring lunches from home if desired.
  • Whenever weather permits, students will have outdoor recess.  Masks may be removed during outdoor recess.
  • During inclement weather, recess will be held indoors.  Students must wear masks during indoor recess.

SPECIAL CLASSES

  • All special classes (Art, Music, Phys Ed, Media Lit & Media Tech) will be held in special’s classrooms.
  • Please consider the following for specials:
    • Phys Ed classes will be outside whenever possible, weather permitting.  Phys Ed classes require students to wear tennis shoes and comfortable clothing.
    • Media Tech classes will likely require headphones and Chromebooks.  
    • Art classes may utilize some shared materials. Students should sanitize upon return to class.

 

DISMISSAL PROCEDURES

  • Dismissal time is 3:30pm at assigned dismissal doors.

There will also be a short presentation from our Title I coordinator and reading coach, Beth Wesley, at 6:15-6:25 in the media center

Classcraft - What is PBIS: A guide for educators and administrators

PBIS

PBIS Beginning of the Year Stations and Follow-Up Activities

Thursday, September 9, 2021

There will be 10 minutes spent at each station which includes the discussion and travel time between stations.  You will rotate in sequential order.

Start Times and Station

8:45a–Trionfi (1), Talamonti (2), Johnson (3), Pushman (4), Watson (5)

9:35a–Warneck (1), Guyot (2), Kalis (3), Schultz (4), Martinchick (5)

10:25a–Garza (1), Zuke (2), Higgins (3), Cervantes (4), Amonette (5)

11:55a–Jensen (1), Haskin (2), Harrison (3), DiCarlo (4), Stanley (5)

 

**Presenters, please note that the 11:55a rotation are all littles.  Please shorten your presentation to short attention spans, highlighting the big ideas.  Thank you for making this accommodation!**

 

  1. Office Expectations

Staff: Kim Dowd or Cathy Anderson

Location: outside of office for space

 

  1. Assembly and Bullying Expectations

Staff: NEED STAFF

Location:  gym or outside

 

  1. Bus Expectations

Staff: Steve Zielinski

Location: bus located in parking area

 

  1. Cafeteria Expectations

Staff: Lunchroom Staff (2)

Location: Cafeteria

 

  1. Hallway Expectations

Staff: Michele Sbonek

Location: hallway outside of Media Center/Computer Lab

 

Follow-Up Activities

~Posters for the hallway

~Individual positive messages

~Write about it in your journal

~Review classroom matrix and expectations

~Draw a picture of when you were kind/somebody was kind to you

~Allen Park Elementary PBIS website (brand new from Kendra Payette-Linn!)

~Watch a PBIS video clip 

RESA PBIS website–“Videos” dropdown on the page

 

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TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DATES

This year, the district calendar reflects 7 days of teacher PD.  Those half-day PD dates feature no school in the afternoon, 11:30 dismissal.  The dates for this school year are as follows:

9/2, 10/29 (ER), 11/2, 1/14, 2/11, 3/18, & 5/6 (ER)

 

2007SafeSchools 0

FROM THE HR DEPARTMENT:

For those employees required to complete Safe Schools Training, the system should be open soon to complete for the 2021-2022 school year.  The modules need to be completed by October 31.  Please email me if you have any issues.

School office supplies on board.

MATERIALS

All material orders have arrived and have been delivered to your grade level.  If you feel as though you are missing something that was ordered, please let Cathy know.

 

Tech Corner

Five Benefits of Conducting Mind Mapping Activities

On Wednesday morning I published a long list of tools that students can use to create mind maps, concept maps, and flowcharts. What I didn’t include in that blog post was a description of the differences between the those three things. I also didn’t outline the benefits of mind mapping that students can experience. The purposes of this post are to explain the difference between mind maps and concept maps as well as list some benefits of having students complete mind mapping activities. Mind Maps versus Concept Maps
The process of creating a digital mind map begins with one key word or term placed in the center of the screen. Often, the central key word or term is represented by an image or icon. From that central word or term students add lines to connect to other words, terms, or ideas that they associate with the central word or term. Images and icons can be used to represent the associated words and terms. Students may use multiple font and line colors and sizes to indicate relationships or similarities between the words and terms in their mind maps. Finally, other than having a central word or term from which all ideas emanate, a mind map does not need to be arranged in a hierarchical manner nor should it be used as an assessment tool.

While concept maps and mind maps have similarities there are noteworthy differences. First, a concept map often has a hierarchical structure that is used to show the connections and segments of a large concept. Second, when an hierarchical structure is used for a concept map it is possible for there to be incorrect connections created. For example, a student creating a concept map about the seasons of the year would be incorrect to place “leaves change color” as a branch of “winter” instead of as a branch of “autumn.”

Five Benefits of Conducting Mind Mapping Activities
  1. When students create mind maps then share them with their teachers, teachers can gain some insight into how students currently view the connections between the parts of a given topic.
  2. There are some studies indicating that when students create mind maps from scratch rather than working from a template provided by their teachers, recall and test scores improve.
  3. Creating mind maps can generate new ideas and lead to ideas for further discussion and or research.
  4. Using mind maps as part of an instructional strategy can help some students improve their reading comprehension skills.
  5. Creating mind maps can help students see connections between mathematics concepts and “the rest of the world.”

 

Five Ideas for Using Google Drawings This Fall

A couple of weeks ago I shared directions for an icebreaker activity that can be done in Jamboard or Google Drawings. Jamboard and Google Drawings have a lot of similarities. There are some differences between the two that can make one better than the other depending upon the use case. Here are five ways to think about using Google Drawings in your online or in-person classroom this fall.

Create Labeling Activities

Google Drawings lets you import images that you can then draw on top of. One of the ways that I’ve used this in the past is to create a map labeling activity. To do that just open a new Google Drawing and then use the integrated image search to find a map. Once you’ve selected a map you can use the drawing tools to mark on it. Here’s a demonstration of how the whol process works including distribution through Google Classroom.
Virtual Icebreakers
I shared this idea a few weeks ago, but it’s worth repeating for those who missed it. The idea is to have students virtually place themselves anywhere in the world through the use of Google Drawings. To do this students first need to find a picture of themselves and remove the background from it. Photoscissors makes it quick and easy to remove the background then download a new background-free image. Once they have a picture of themselves then students open Google Drawings where they insert a picture of place that they want to visit or revisit. Finally, they then insert their profile picture over the background image in Google Drawings. Those steps might sound complicated, but they’re not. In this short video I show the whole process.
Create Flowcharts
Google Drawings is an excellent tool for creating flowcharts. You can make your own and distribute them to your students via Google Classroom or have them make their own flowcharts to demonstrate an understanding of a process. This video shows you how to create a flowchart with Google Drawings and then distribute it to your students via Google Classroom.
Make a Digital Turkey
Last fall I received an email from a reader who was looking for some ideas on how do a digital version of the classic Thanksgiving Thankfulness Turkey project in which students add feathers to a drawing of turkey and each feather has something they’re thankful for written on it. My suggestion for creating a digital version of the Thankful Turkey was to use a combination of Pixabay and Google Drawings. I made this short video to illustrate how that process would work.
Create Your Own Icons and Shapegrams
Tony Vincent offers a complete website all about how to create your own shapegrams and icons. In December of 2019 he was kind enough to present a webinar during the Practical Ed Tech Creativity Conference. In that webinar he gave us a crash course on some of the finer points of using Google Drawings. You can watch that webinar recording here.

 

 

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REMIND

Please be sure that you have been added to my Remind account for any emergency contact needed.  Please enter 81010 and text this message @arnostaff to join our Remind group

 

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GROUPME

Please remember to make sure I either have your cell phone number, or an updated cell phone number to enter you into Groupme.  This is the service I can use in an emergency that will allow staff to communicate back and forth should it be necessary (different capabilities than Remind)

 

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June 2021

Resources to help you develop your ability to persevere - Jenny Garrett Global

Coming soon to Arno…

June 3

Staff Meeting 8:00

June 10

5th Grade Celebration 9:00 on the playground

Class breakdown (schedule below)

Early Release 11:30

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June 11

Early Release 11:30

Last day for students and teachers!!

June 14

Report Cards Released

June 18

Office closes

 

Back to School: The Questions Every Family Should Ask

August 23

Office reopens

August 25

New Family Orientation

 

Monroe Local Schools | News Post

Classlists

We will meet in the conf room on June 10 to discuss classlists:

12:30-12:45 Jensen

12:45-1:05 Kindergarten

1:10-1:30 1st grade

1:35-1:55 2nd grade

2:00-2:20 3rd grade

2:25-2:45 4th grade

 

We made it!

It’s hard to believe, with all the challenges we have been through, the varying modes, and the pandemic- we have arrived at the end of the year.  It certainly goes without saying that our hope is driving the 21-22 school year-that the pandemic will be on its way out, the year will start normal, and we can start to rebuild our programs.

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Evaluations

Final eval meeting will take place on June 9 all day via Zoom. If your time is in the morning, please place the students on asynchronous until we are finished. Schedule is below:

Topic: Eval meetings
Time: Jun 9, 2021 09:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/77095619655?pwd=QTRTd2pZOFhmMG1zM2ZGZVRmbjZhQT09

Meeting ID: 770 9561 9655
Passcode: LpbR8P

9:30-9:40 Lisa

9:40-9:50 Carrie

9:50-10:00 Colleen

10:00-10:10 Michele

10:10-10:20 Beth

10:20-10:30 Brian

10:30-10:40 Megan

10:40-10:50 Emilie

10:50-11:00 Erin

11:00-11:10 Ciara

11:10-11:20 Lindsay

1:00-1:10 Jeanine

1:10-1:20 Nickie

1:20-1:30 Cassie

1:30-1:40 Barb

1:40-1:50 Dawn

1:50-2:00 Julie

2:00-2:10 Megan

2:10-2:20 Nicole

2:20-2:30 Alex

2:30-2:40 Sarah

2:40-2:50 Rachel

2:50-3:00 Renee

 

Arno PTA

Wow, it’s summertime already; what a year we have had! We are looking for people that are interested and learning more about being a PTA board member. All positions will be open for the 2022-2023 school year, as all current board members will be stepping down from our positions. If you’re interested in learning more about any of the positions, please let us know. We are more than happy to give any information. Email us at arnopta@gmail.com.

The PTA is having an end of the school year Arno Spirit Wear sale. All T-shirts only $5 and all hoodies only $10! Limited designs and quantities left. Grab yours before they sell out.

Spirit Wear link:

Snow Cone Paper Cones 6 Oz. from American Carnival Mart

We will host a fundraiser on the last day of school, Friday, June 11th. Sno Biz Delight will be at Bocabella Memorial Park on Regina from 11:30pm – 1:30pm. We have limited the flavors to blue raspberry, strawberry and orange to keep the line down. Cups are $3 each.

 

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Optional Summer PD Opportunity

As you may know, we are a partner district with Concordia University Ann Arbor.  They are hosting PD opportunities on various topics throughout the summer if you are interested- they are usually good sessions!

June:

https://www.cuaa.edu/academics/schools/education/professional-development/June-Offerings-.pdf

July:

https://www.cuaa.edu/academics/schools/education/professional-development/July-Offerings.pdf

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Chromebooks

Adam will out with information soon on Chromebook collection that will take place the final week of school.  As soon as we get details, we will get info out to parents.

 

 

Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) / Information

PBIS Stations

Stations will be returning for the fall.  Stay tuned for a date and schedule once we have definitive plans from the district.

 

END OF YEAR CHECKLIST

Please be sure to check out with me or Cathy with your checklist verified completed

https://docs.google.com/document/d/19ER-76dcX-KqDSeG8ZTpD2PQmddlwvFBBCtBh1cIWPA/edit?usp=sharing

 

10 Back to School Items That Might Not Be On Your List | Childtime

SUPPLIES

If you have special requests for supplies, please get them to Cathy by Friday, June 14

OSHA No Backpacks Allowed Sign With Symbol ONE-35794

NO BACKPACKS PLEASE…

Please note that students may continue to carry backpacks through Tuesday, June 8.  They will no longer be allowed for the next 2 half days leading up to the last day.

12++ Inspirational Quotes For Teachers At The End Of The Year - Brian Quote

May 2021

Coming soon to Arno…

May 1

Bond Volunteer day at APHS 9-11

May 3

Virtual Kindergarten Roundup

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!!

Teacher Appreciation Week GIFs | Tenor

May 4

Bond VOTE – Please vote in the AP bond election!

Fire Drill 10:30

May 6

PTA Appreciation Lunch (during your lunch period)

PTA Meeting 6:30

May 10 

Fire Drill 10:30

May 13

Staff Meeting 8:00

May 14

ALICE EVAC Drill 2:00

May 21

APMS Scheduling 9:00 cafeteria

May 28

Report Card Window opens

 

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ARNO VISION

ARNO ELEMENTARY WILL PROVIDE A SYSTEM OF SUPPORT TO EMPOWER

AND INSPIRE STUDENTS TO BECOME COLLABORATIVE LEARNERS

THAT STRIVE FOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE-

 

animated-teacher-image-0089

I want to wish you all a Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!  This year is one for the record books, so many twists and turns and through it all you weathered the storm and kept our kids learning.  Despite all of the emotional rollercoasters, the core of who we are here at Arno never wavered- you always looked straight ahead and kept the needs of our students at the forefront.

We don’t yet know what next year brings, but I believe it will bring a sunrise on a new day- that will see us come back together, a sense of normalcy returning, and a new chapter.  Until then, please know that you are appreciated for everything you bring- your skills and knowledge, caring and compassion for each other as well as our students, and  your HOPE!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

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Lunch invite

As part of celebrating you, the PTA will be having a special sub lunch for you on May 6 (In the gym).  In addition, will also be providing a staff lunch on May 4 during your regular lunch time- Pizza and chips. We may just have to use the spaces you normally use for lunch if the gym is still being used for mstep at the time- I will let you know that day where we will set up.  Enjoy your week!

 

Bond Information

Please remember to vote if you are an Allen Park resident in the upcoming election!

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District Bond Updates

Complete Bond FAQs: https://4.files.edl.io/ade5/02/12/21/133952-371d47cf-1d0d-4f7a-a871-02cf0d3b0e1b.pdf

Building Project List: https://4.files.edl.io/7206/02/04/21/220257-5f3d4404-bd86-41c5-ad7c-5b4763a3dc30.pdf

All Bond information: https://www.allenparkschools.com/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=2084750&type=d&pREC_ID=2134527

What is Research? - Purpose of Research

Thoughts on retention…

As you know retention has been found to not be an effective method of intervention.  Even in our own building, we have numerous students who were retained, that have not resulted in gains as evidenced by our benchmark assessments.  Even the MSTEP in 2019, when analyzed, shows the students who were retained in our building did not result in passing grade level results.

The process moving forward will be to bring any student you are concerned about to the mtss committee early enough that we can start discussing interventions to put them on a different track.  If the student has not gone through the MTSS process, retention will not be considered. While retention has not shown to be effective for many, it will still be considered through the team process, and of course we will consider the effects of the pandemic- but we also can’t let that be a final determining  factor.    Please check out the graph below- it is from John Hattie, it shows everything to the most highly effective strategies to actual negative side effects- retention is at the bottom- please click the link to see the whole list- starting the MTSS process early on with kids of concern, will hopefully get the more highly effective strategies in place early to make a bigger difference by spring.

https://visible-learning.org/nvd3/visualize/hattie-ranking-interactive-2009-2011-2015.html

6 Tips On Writing a Code Of Conduct For a Business - The Compliance and Ethics Blog

Looking for Feedback

Allen Park Schools is looking for feedback from all community members regarding the Code of Conduct for any future revisions to the document.  Please use the survey link below to provide us your insight by May 14.

https://forms.gle/5fPoUu3FpS4asqpP8

 

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Cool tips from Sarah Kalis on grouping tabs

Please watch the motivational virtual assembly with your class before the NWEA. Below are the links and a few helpful notes from Mr. Peace.
 
Let me know if you have any questions,
Rachel
 
Here are the links:
 
A few things to note…

1) You can watch the presentations directly through these links or you can download them before showing by right clicking on the video, choosing “Save video as…” & then “Save” to whatever folder location you prefer for the file.  Or you can left click the 3 dots in the bottom right corner & select “Download” too.

2) As a follow up to the assembly & to help keep the conversation going, a reflection handout with discussion questions & key themes review is here on Page 3.

MDE - M-STEP Summative

M-STEP Is Underway in May

MSTEP kicks off on May 4 for 3rd, 4th and 5th grade for all students who have not opted out.  I will be posting something in all GC that will be for the asynchronous part for those students who will remain home on the day of testing (opt-outs).  We will be taking care of any students who are remote and virtual that choose to come in for testing.  Snacks will be provided.  I will be around the morning of test day to pass out the tickets and any last minute issues.

**Virtual and Remote students will have their own separate testing area, they will not be placed in the classroom with a grade level teacher.

ALL testing starts at 9:15.  

 

Grade Level Content Area Assessed Testing 
Grades 3  Mathematics

ELA

May 4 

May 11 

Grade 4 ELA

Mathematics

May 4 

May 11

Grade 5 Social Studies

Science

ELA

Mathematics

May 4

May 6

May 10

May 13

 

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Tech Time

Zoom Now Offers a Cool Immersive View

Are you tired of looking at the same old view in your Zoom meetings? You’re not alone! It appears that even the people who work at Zoom are tired of the same old views. To remedy that problem, on Monday Zoom introduced a new immersive view option for Mac and Windows users.Zoom’s immersive view will show your meeting participants on same screen in background of your choosing. Zoom has a bunch of pre-made immersive view backgrounds that you can pick from including an art gallery view, a fireside chat view, board rooms, and even an outdoor setting. You can also upload your own image to use as part of an immersive view.

When you enable immersive view for a Zoom meeting all participants will be placed into position in the immersive view scene. The default setting is for Zoom to automatically place participants in the scene, but you can choose to manually place people in the scene.

Three Steps to Enable Zoom’s Immersive View

First, you need to be aware that immersive view is available by default to those who are using personal or pro (single license) accounts and have updated to the latest version of Zoom for Windows or Mac. If you are using a school license or other group license for Zoom, your account administrator (usually your IT department) will need to enable immersive view for your account.

Second, make sure you are using the latest version of Zoom for Mac or Windows. You can do this by launching Zoom on your desktop, signing into your account, then selecting “check for updates” in the drop-down menu under your account profile picture.

Third, launch a Zoom meeting. With the meeting running click on the “view” button in the upper-right corner of your Zoom window. The view button should now have three options. Those options are “speaker,” “gallery,” and “immersive” view. Click on the immersive view option and you’ll be asked to pick a background for your immersive view.

Three Common Questions

Zoom has an extensive set of immersive view directions and FAQs on their website. The ones that I think teachers and students will ask about are whether or not immersive view works on Chromebooks, if virtual backgrounds are required, and how many people can be in an immersive view.

1. It doesn’t work on a Chromebook or iPad.

2. If your computer doesn’t currently support virtual backgrounds/ green screen in Zoom, the immersive view option won’t work for you either.

3. You can have up to 25 people in an immersive view.

 

How to Add Voice Recordings to Google Forms

Earlier this year I shared a series of videos about how to add voice comments to Google Documents, Google Slides, and Google Classroom. All of those videos featured the use of a free Chrome extension called Mote. Over the weekend Mote added support for use in Google Forms.With the Mote Chrome extension installed you can now record voice notes directly in Google Forms. Those notes can be played back in Google Forms even if students don’t have the Mote extension installed. Of course, if they do have the extension installed students can record audio responses to questions in Google Forms.

In this new video I demonstrate how to add voice recordings to Google Forms. The video shows teacher and student perspectives of using Mote to add voice recordings to Google Forms.

Applications for Education
My first thought when I saw that Mote would work with Google Forms was to use it in world languages courses. Teachers can now record prompts for students to listen to and speak replies to directly in Google Forms.

As I demonstrated in the video above, adding voice notes to Google Forms could be a good way to provide audio support for students who need it when taking an assessment in Google Forms.

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