Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment
February, 2012
Parent NEWSLETTER Inside this issue:
A Message from Heidi...
Dear Parents, Welcome to the second half of the 2011-2012 school year. Please take a few moments to read about all of the things that are happening regarding curriculum, instruction and assessment. As always, please feel free to contact me regarding any questions, comments, concerns and/or praise. Respectfully,
Community Enrichment
2
2010-11 AMAO stats
2
IXL Math
3
OLWEUS Update
4
Freshman Academy
4
Common Core
4
ESL
5
Social Networking
6-7
Readers’ Workshop 8
Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment
Keyboarding More of a Focus in Second Grade Mastery of keyboarding skills has been in the 6th grade for LO students. With all of the latest technology and students having access at a much younger age, keyboarding skills need to be taught earlier. Our second grade teachers have received training for a program called Type to Learn. This program will be used to teach students keyboarding skills. Media
specialists will also support teachers and students with this program throughout elementary. Please see ATTACHMENTS #1 and #2 that include instructions for students to practice at home.
2011 Fall MEAP Results CONGRATULATIONS students, parents and staff!!! Overall, Lake Orion performed extremely well. While information has been sent via School Messenger, further information can be found on our website.
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Community Enrichment Expands The LOCS Community Enrichment Department has been extremely busy creating many new programs and classes for the upcoming New Year. Accordingly, the majority of new programs being offered will be educationally based. There are still the regular staple courses like painting, dance, sports, exercise, etc. offered in the department’s bi-annual brochures. However, the newest enrichment offerings focus on some of the key LOCS curricular areas for elementary students such as: Writer’s Workshop, Summer Math Boost, Summer Reading Boost, and Summer Writing Boost. Likewise, other new courses that will complete the curricular based courses include: After School Spanish, Kids With Cameras, LEGO engineering, and Drawing/art classes. In terms of secondary and adult education, German and Spanish classes along with MS Office Computer Classes make up some of the
newest programs being offered to the public. All in all, the benefits of Community Enrichment are endless. You can have fun while staying healthy, keeping active, learning new skills, playing, socializing, and meeting any of your other physical and intellectual needs. To learn more about your LOCS Community Enrichment offerings visit the department’s website at http://rp.lakeorion.k12.mi.us/ or contact Ben Gerdeman, Enrichment Supervisor, at bgerdeman@lakeorion.k12.mi.us
District AMAO Status for 2010 - 2011 School Year TECHNOLOGY Now that our district has wireless capabilities in all buildings, a committee has been working to establish guidelines and procedures for staff and students to bring their own technology to school. Further information will be coming in the next month.
For another year in a row, we have made our 20102011 A.M.A.O.s with flying colors! (Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives)
progress on the English Language Proficiency Assessment (ELPA). This is a statewide standardized test given each Spring.
AMAOs are a measuring tool used by the State and Federal government to see how well we are doing as a district in meeting the needs of our English Language Learners.
AMAO 2: 60% of our ELLs achieved English language proficiency based on the student scores on ELPA.
AMAO 1: 85% of our ELLs (English Language Learners) have shown
AMAO 1: progress 77% AMAO 2: achievement 13% So for AMAO 1 we surpassed the cut score by 8% and AMAO 2 we exceeded by 47%.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
This year cut scores were increased and will be successively higher each year. The cut scores for this year were:
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Lake Orion has purchased IXL Math as a way to help students work through math to find the success and pride that comes from mastery of a skill. IXL is a comprehensive math practice site with an unlimited number of math practice questions in hundreds of skills — all of which are aligned to state standards. Your child’s teacher may have sent home a letter with information about this program. In addition to making math practice exciting, IXL is designed to help your child learn at his or her own pace. The website is adaptive and will adjust to your child's demonstrated ability level. The site also saves all of your child's results, so you can monitor your child's progress anytime by clicking on the Reports tab.
If your child has not yet logged into the program, it is very simple. Simply go to the homepage of your child’s school, and under the “Students” tab, you will find IXL. Here your child can login. His username is the first letter of his name, his whole last name, and the last two digits of his graduation year (mmiddleton23). Her password is her 5-digit student ID number. This number can be found on Powerschool or by contacting your child’s teacher. IXL is a fun way for students to practice math .
BE SURE TO CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE FREQUENTLY FOR LOCS INFORMATION
Student Tracker LOCS will be taking advantage of a 5 year graduate follow up survey called Student Tracker. The purpose of the survey is to understand how a student’s high school experience prepared him/ her for their current position whether it be college, employed full or part time, military service, etc. The survey contains questions about the student’s experiences with teachers and counselors, academic achievement, personal development, and preparation for what the student is doing currently. Ultimately, the survey will provide LOCS feedback to ensure we are providing an exemplary education for our current and future students.
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OLWEUS BULLYING PREVENTION PROGRAM UPDATE: Earlier this year it was announced that LOCS would be implementing the Olweus Bully Prevention Program district-wide.
in March at a Board meeting for the purpose of providing a general overview of the program. A community presentation is expected in late spring.
In December two staff members attended a training to become certified Olweus trainers for our district. These trainers have since met with all principals and instructional directors regarding the program. There will be a second presentation
Currently, the high school, Oakview Middle School and Pine Tree Elementary are using the program. For further information regarding the Olweus program go to: http:// www.clemson.edu/olweus
FRESHMAN ACADEMY One of the initiatives at the high school this year has been to review our current programming for freshmen transitioning into high school and develop a freshman academy that would better ensure we are providing our students with a smooth, solid foundation to high school.
on this initiative and expect to share more details in the next coming month.
Staff continues to work
CHANGES IN TESTING, CHANGES IN EXPECTATIONS COMMON CORE STATE STANDARD INITIATIVE The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a state-led effort to establish a shared set of clear educational standards for English language arts and mathematics that states can voluntarily adopt. The standards have been informed by the best available evidence and the highest state standards across the country and globe and designed by a diverse group of teachers, experts, parents, and school administrators, so they reflect both our aspirations for our children and the realities of the classroom. These standards are designed to ensure that students graduating from high school are prepared to go to college or enter the workforce and that parents, teachers, and students have a clear understanding of what is expected of them. The standards are benchmarked to international standards to guarantee that our students are competitive in the emerging global marketplace. The common core state standards initiative is important because we want to make sure that every child across the country is given the tools they need to succeed. The
standards will provide more clarity about and consistency in what is expected of student learning across the country. Until now, every state has had its own set of academic standards, meaning public education students at the same grade level in different states have been expected to achieve at different levels. This initiative will allow states to share information effectively and help provide all students with an equal opportunity for an education that will prepare them to go to college or enter the workforce, regardless of where they live. Common standards will not prevent different levels of achievement among students. Rather, they will ensure more consistent exposure to materials and learning experiences through curriculum, instruction, and teacher preparation among other supports for student learning. In a global economy, students must be prepared to compete with not only their American peers in the next state, but with students from around the world. These standards will help prepare students with
the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in college and careers. Michigan has already adopted the standards. LOCS teachers have been working with other districts throughout the county to align the newly adopted state standards to the local curriculum. With these new standards will come a new test that will replace the MEAP. The test it expected for the 2014—2015 school year. There are some major changes expected with the new test.
The test will be administered near the end of the school year versus the current fall administration.
Districts will be given a 6-8 week window to test students versus a specific date of the test which is current practice. (Continued on page 5)
Page 5 CHANGES IN TESTING, CHANGES IN EXPECTATIONS COMMON CORE STATE STANDARD INITIATIVE (cont. from page 4)
The use of technology will be incorporated versus the current paper and pencil test.
Individual tasks on the test will assess a cluster of content standards rather than a single standard.
The depth of knowledge for the assessment tasks are at a higher level. Tasks on the assessment will be specifically designed to focus on content from previous grades rather than the focus being on the current grade being tested.
The individual questions or tasks in the new test will take the student much longer to complete than the current approximate 1—2 minutes per question.
Constructed responses (where students write out the answers) will significantly increase versus the current which is majority multiple choice/select the answer.
The new assessment is being developed by Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium. For further details go to : http://www.k12.wa.us/smarter/ Lake Orion has already started planning and working with the new Common Core Standards. Specifically, our adoption of Readers’ Workshop supports the Common Core Standards. Next year, we will be adopting Writers’ Workshop. Due to movement toward Common Core Standards and the timing of the District to review our math programming and materials, a group of teachers from elementary, middle and high school levels have been meeting to begin a K-12 math pilot. Elementary is currently piloting and will continue through next year. Middle and High School will pilot all of next year.
ESL TESTING COMING SOON English language learners will be taking the ELPA test (English Language Proficiency Assessment) between March 5 and April 13. There are four parts of the test; it assesses student English proficiency in Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening. This assessment is used to determine Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives (AMAO) All students who qualify for ESL even if they refuse services are required to test. High school students will be taking their tests on the computer this year, the other grades will be taking a paper/pencil test.
Teachers are working extremely hard to research, contact other districts and use various materials to ensure that we choose a program and materials that will meet our students’ needs to excel with the new standards and expectations. A decision is not expected prior to next spring. We will take time to make sure we are making the best decisions for our students.
ESL SUMMER CAMP FOR K-5 This summer there will be two sessions of ESL Camp. Session 1: July 10-26—9:30 a.m.—12:00 p.m. and 12:30 p.m.—3:00 p.m. Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday Session 2: August 6—23—9:30 a.m.—12:00 p.m. Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday The camp will be held at CERC (Community Education Resource Center). Students will have fun working on listening, speaking, reading and writing English skills. There is no cost for the camp to our English language learners. More information and registration forms will be sent home in the middle of April.
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Social Networking and Online Privacy – Protect Your Child “It’s 10 p.m. Do you know where your children are?” Remember that phrase from your own childhood? It’s still a valid question, but now it comes with a twist: “Do you know where your kids are – and who they’re chatting with online?” Social networking sites have morphed into a mainstream medium for children, teens, and adults. These sites encourage and enable people to exchange information about themselves, share photos and videos, and use messaging to communicate with friends, others who share interests, and sometimes even the world-at-large. And that’s why it’s important to be aware how you can protect your child from pitfalls of social networking while encouraging appropriate use. Here are some key tips to help protect your child: Talk, chat, and email with your child about privacy Talk with your child about privacy and be frank about the dangers of letting personal information fall into the wrong hands. Information like their full name, Social Security number, street address, phone number, and family financial information is private and should stay that way. Tell them not to choose a screen name that gives away too much personal information. Enter their world Join the social network that your child uses. It’s the best way to educate yourself so that you can protect your kids. Ask your child to help you adjust your privacy settings. This will give you a good sense of how savvy they are about privacy features on the site. Use privacy controls Most social networking sites have strong privacy settings, but left untouched, these controls often default to settings that are more public than private. Help them establish boundaries, such as who can see their personal photos and written communications. Should it be only their friends, anyone on the internet, or somewhere in between? ‘Friend’ or ‘Follow’ your child Forming a direct digital connection with your child on social networks encourages them to be conscious of privacy issues. After all, they’ll know you might happen upon what they or their friends are posting. Your digital presence on their network is a powerful reminder that social networking sites are not parent-free zones. Remind them: the Internet never forgets If your teen uses Twitter, for example, and does not make their tweets private then this information can be indexed and recorded on the public web by various third parties and search engines. As a result, it may be visible later to teachers, employers, or college admission officers – even if your child has deleted the original tweets and the Twitter account itself. Online, it’s very hard to put the cat back in the bag and things your child posts online today could come to haunt them years down the road. Discourage over-posting Remind your child that they don’t have to tell everything to the whole world. Encourage your child to think about the language used in a message or think before posting photos or videos. Sharing too much information could have an impact on jobs, colleges, and friends. Once it’s out there it can’t always be taken back. Resist over-friending and never friend strangers By allowing a stranger to friend or follow them on a social networking site, teens give these people access to their personal information and open a direct line of communication. Online predators pose an especially serious risk to younger teens. Also, fraudulent social networking accounts masquerading as legitimate users can end up bombarding people who accept their contact with spam or malicious content. This “malware” can infect your teen’s account or computer. A good rule of thumb for your child is to only accept friends or follow requests from individuals they have met in person. Also point out to them that a high rate of online friending on social networks could amount to literally thousands of friends by the time they start their first job. Encourage your child to consider “culling” their social networking friends to better focus on the people with whom they want to engage in life-long relationships. (Continued on page 7)
Page 7 (Cont. from page 6) Check the social networking website your child uses for sound privacy practices Look at the website’s privacy policy: what promises do they make about protecting your teen’s personal information and how will they use the information? Is the site certified by a reputable third-party? Do they have contact information or an FAQ section if you or your child has questions about the site and privacy? The site should also spell out your rights as a parent to review and delete your child’s profile if your child is younger than 13. Talk to your child about bullying Online bullying can take many forms, from spreading rumors online and posting or forwarding private messages without the sender’s OK, to sending threatening messages. Tell your child that the words they type and the images they post can have real -world consequences. Encourage your child to talk to you if they feel targeted by a bully. Visit Cyberbully411www.cyberbully411.org for specific resources for youth and parents. Talk to your child about Sexting Sexting is a growing and serious problem. It’s when young people take nude photos or video images of themselves posing in sexually provocative ways or engaging in real or simulated sex acts on their cell phones or webcams and then send them to others by cell phone or webcams. Sexting is dangerous and could lead to serious legal consequences. For more information on this topic below are links to online articles: Teens & Sexting: What Parents Need to Know http://www.education.com/reference/article/teens-sexting-parents/ A Parents’ Guide to Sexting: Safeguard Your Teen http://kidproofblog.com/?p=1365 What is Sexting and Why is It a Problem? http://familyinternet.about.com/od/computingsafetyprivacy/a/sexting_what.htm Other resources for helping to keep your child safe online: A Parent’s Guide to Facebook - http://www.connectsafely.org/pdfs/fbparents.pdf This is a comprehensive resource on all things Facebook for parents. It explains not only how to keep your child safe, but explains how Facebook is organized and how to manage privacy settings. Online Privacy: A Tutorial for Parents and Teachers http://www.truste.com/pdf/parent_teacher_tutorial.pdf Another great resource that also provides definitions for terms used by social networking sites A Parent’s Guide to Social Networking Sites: Five Lessons to Keep your Kids Safe When They Socialize Online http://us.mcafee.com/en-us/local/docs/SocialNetworkinge-guide.pdf Includes chapters on “Why Social Networking Can Be Risky, Cyberbullying, and Online Predators.” ConnectSafely – www.connectsafely.org Is a forum for parents, teens, educators, and advocates designed to give teens and parents a voice in the public discussion about youth online safety, and has tips as well as other resources, for safe blogging and social networking. GetNetWise – www.getnetwise.org Is a public service sponsored by Internet industry corporations and public interest organizations to help ensure that Internet users have a safe, constructive, and educational or entertaining online experiences. The GetNetWise coalition works to provide Internet users with the resources they need to make informed decisions about their and their family’s use of the Internet. Wired Safety – www.wiredsafety.org Is an Internet safety and help group. WiredSafety.org provides education, assistance, and awareness on cybercrime and abuse, privacy, security, and responsible technology use. It is also the parent group of Teenagels.org, FBItrained teens and preteens who promote Internet safety. iKeepSafe.org - www.ikeepsafe.org Is a coalition of 49 governors/first spouses, law enforcement, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and other associations dedicated to helping parents, educators, and caregivers by providing tools and guidelines to promote safe Internet and technology use among children.
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READER’S WORKSHOP HAVING AN IMPACT AT LOCS Despite the increased cut scores, MEAP reading results show gains for Lake Orion Schools. Lake Orion’s reading scores remain considerably higher than the county average. Lake Orion’s K-6th grade reading scores exceed neighboring districts. Lake Orion has made changes to classroom instruction that have forged our students ahead and we are getting our students to read! Lake Orion has committed to a shift in reading instruction called Reading Workshop. Reading Workshop is an authentic way to support students’ literacy development. It is not a curriculum, but philosophy of teaching reading with a specific approach. Every classroom in Lake Orion uses the same predictable structure for their teaching of reading. This structure includes a short lesson, independent reading practice, one on one and small group meetings with the teacher and a time for reflecting on learning. Reading Workshop is based on decades of research about how much and what students need to read and the kinds of lessons they need to be taught. The focus of Reading Workshop is to give students choice, control, and independence. Our readers make important decisions about what they read, and their books are matched with their abilities and interests. We are producing kids that not only can read but kids that want to read! We have invested not in a expensive canned program that comes with a guarantee to produce results for all kids but instead in the development of our classroom teachers. In this
way, our teachers can decide what will work best for each individual learner. The 2010-2011 school year began our k-5 transition to this new way of approach toward reading instruction. The 20112012 school year has brought continued efforts in elementary school and initial work in middle school. Teachers have participated in summer workshops, professional development seminars, after-school professional book clubs and are participating in a unique experience called teacher lab. Through teacher lab, classroom teachers learn from master teachers who are recognized as leaders in their field, by seeing theory in action, teachers learn from each other and are able to take this expertise back to their own classrooms. We have hosted visitors from Oakland, Livingston and Lapeer counties. We have also hosted multiple groups of educators from Oakland Schools. Teachers from Hartland, Imlay City, Rochester, Troy, Huron Valley, Clarkston and Oxford have begun attending our training sessions to learn from the teacher expertise in Lake Orion! MEAP Scores aren’t the only gain we are seeing in our students as a result of this significant change in our instruction. Teachers, parents and community members are commenting on the amount of reading students are doing outside of school. This year, our middle school book fairs grossed thousands more dollars than in previous years. Our kids are excited about reading, we are producing readers in a climate where there are so many other choices!
CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION AND ASSESSMENT CONTACTS Heidi Kast……...Asst. Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Marysue Schwartzmiller….Administrative Assistant 248-693-5409 or Ext. 3908
ATTACHMENT #1
Lake Orion is proud to announce the introduction of the Type to Learn Program for keyboarding instruction. Developed on a research-based method of sequential, cumulative touch typing instruction, Type to Learn 4 builds critical 21st Century skills for all keyboarding students in grades K-8. The integrated cycle of review, demonstration, typing practice, and assessment, with continuous reinforcement of home row positioning and ergonomic safety, teaches proper keyboard fingering for each key with ample opportunity for typing skills practice. This typing program emphasizes both accuracy and words per minute speed, and provides each student with individualized remediation and goals for success. This engaging, all-new product wraps keyboarding lessons into an intriguing world of adventure and information, complete with exciting new activities and typing games with redesigned student and teacher interfaces. In school, students in Kindergarten and first grade will be exposed to the Type to Learn Junior program during some of their media time. Students in grades three through five will also utilize the Type to Learn program as part of their media instruction. In second grade, classroom teachers will be taking a more focused approach by using 30 minutes per day for two weeks of class time to immerse the students in the program. After the initial two week period, the students will follow up with 30 minutes every other week with their media specialist. The Type To Learn program is available free of charge to parents for home practice. The back of this letter has directions for installing the program on your computer. Students in grades two through eight will utilize a username and password, which for most students is the same as their IXL information. Unfortunately, the Type To Learn Junior program is not available free of use for home practice. Students who practice typing incorrectly create bad habits which are very difficult to break. When your child is practicing typing at home, it would be very helpful if you occasionally reminded him/her to sit up straight, put both feet flat on the floor and most important, keep the hands on the home row. Learning to type means learning not to hunt and peck, but to utilize the home row. The more reinforcement the student receives in the proper hand placement when typing, the more readily he/she will gain the skills needed to become a proficient typist.
ATTACHMENT #2 Please see the instructions below for installing Type to Learn 4 on your home computer. It is recommended that you use Safari or Mozilla Firefox to complete this install. Internet Explorer is NOT recommended.
Go to the website: http://ttl4.sunburst.com/downloads1.htm#fullversion Macintosh Users These files are zipped and should automatically unpack on almost all OSX operating systems. Launch the installer by double-clicking on the contained file in your downloads or documents folder. The contained files will be in MPKG format for installation to the Mac OS. Full TTL4 Application - Mac - Web Version v1.2.1 (944.65MB) This is the complete Macintosh Web version v1.2.1 of the Type to Learn 4 program. Download this if you are a Network, Web or Trial customer and have not already downloaded or installed any previous version of Type to Learn 4. Windows Users: (Do NOT choose open or run when prompted, instead choose save.) To download, click on the link and choose SAVE rather than open or run. After downloading, right-click on the zipped file and choose Extract. Double-click on the extracted file to launch the installer. Click Next through the few prompts. Installation is very straightforward. Once installed, launch the application by clicking Type to Learn 4 in your Start menu or desktop shortcut. Full TTL4 Application - Windows - Web Version v1.2.1 (.97GB) This is the complete Windows Web version v1.2.1 of the Type to Learn 4 program. Download this if you are a Network, Web or Trial customer and have not downloaded or installed any previous version of Type to Learn 4. When you first open the program enter your username and password. This is the same username and password as in IXL. Then enter the following account code 132002. If you have any technical difficulties throughout this process, please visit http://techsupport.sunburst.com to submit a tech ticket.