Dear Staff,

It’s hard to believe that we are in the home stretch of the 2011-2012 school year. Continue to be focused and make good use of the re-maining few weeks to ensure maximum student achievement.

Please think about opportunities and/or ideas that you can provide your students to continue to practice their skills over the summer. Encourage students to seek out different opportunities.

Be sure to take a few minutes to read the latest happenings through-out the District. It is unbelievable the work that has been accom-plished and continues to be done. It is because of our dedicated staff! I am grateful for your commitment to our students and community.

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Heidi Kast

Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment

A M e s s a g e f r o m H e i d i . . .

High school staff and administration have been working diligent-ly to develop a Fresh-man Academy to be implemented this com-ing fall. Transition from middle school to high school is a pivotal year. This transition year is important be-

cause it is the year that has the greatest influ-ence on high school graduation. Therefore, high school staff have committed to ensuring that all students enter-ing the high school get off to the best start possible.

Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction

Freshman Academy for 2012-2013

S o m e a r t i c l e s i n s i d e :

Olweus Update 2

BusStar Program 2

Who’s Coming to Third Grade?

3

Snack 4

K-12 Math Pilot 4

LO/Oakland County’s Social Justice

5

Words Their Way 5

Test out/Online ~ M.S.

6

H.S. Summer School Opportunities

6

Early Childhood Events

7

ESL and Adult Ed. 7

State Kindergarten Assessment

8

Virtual Learning Academy

8

A p r i l 2 4 , 2 0 1 2 Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment

NEWSLETTER

O L W E U S U P D A T E

nity as a high priority. Please take a few minutes to think about the connections you have that may be able to help us with this initiative. Feel free to share the brochure. Any donation is extremely helpful and will contribute to the well being of every child in the community of Lake Orion.

For more information go to:

http://www.clemson.edu/olweus/

We are moving right along with our bullying prevention program initiative. Currently, Pine Tree, Oakview, and the High School have implement-ed the Olweus Program. In December, the District sent Brent Skiba, Pine Tree Family School Coordinator, and Cin-dy Hilley, Oakview Head Cus-todian, to Iowa to become Ol-weus Trainers.

Throughout the year, we have been seeking donations, spon-sorships, grants and partner-ships to help fund this initia-tive. To date, close to $15,000

has been awarded.

Scripps and Waldon will be the next two schools to be trained with program imple-mentation for the 2012-2013 school year. Orion Oaks, Paint Creek, and Stadium Drive are scheduled for im-plementation in 2013-2014. Blanche Sims, Carpenter, and Webber are planned for im-plementation in 2014-2015.

Please see the attached bro-chure for further details. This initiative has been recognized by our staff and our commu-

Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction

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Mannies Bagel & Delicatessen in conjunction with Lake Orion Community Schools introduces the new “Bus Stop” sandwich.

Order the "BUS STOP" sandwich (turkey, cheese, cole slaw, and 1000 Island dressing on a bagel) for $7.95 and $1.00 will be do-nated to the Reading Program! Thank you Mannies for supporting the kids of our com-munity!!!!

Some school bus drivers have indicated an interest in getting more connected with stu-dents and assisting the schools by helping kids with teaching and learning. As such, they have volunteered to help kids in a one on one instructional setting in a program called Project: BusSTAR (Supporting Teach-ing by Assisting in Reading).

The purpose of this program is to better uti-lize available human resources of the Trans-portation Department to assist student learners who could use some extra help.

Most bus drivers have a split work schedule and have some availability between their morning route and their afternoon route. This availability lends itself well to assisting

Local Business Supports LOCS/Bus Drivers Implement students needing extra help with reading, math, or other subjects at the elementary level.

If you are an elementary teacher that is in-terested in having a bus driver volunteer in your classroom, please let your building principal know. This project is a great way to get our students extra support while cre-ating opportunities for our students and support staff to build relationships.

 

 

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Teachers Team Up to Ensure Reading Sup-

port for Students

Reading support is offered at both the middle and high

school level for students not reading at grade level; howev-er, there has been a question

as to whether we are effective-ly and efficiently targeting and

scheduling students to meet their needs.

Who’s Coming to Third Grade?

The purpose of this day is to provide information to teachers that will en-sure a smooth transition for students. This information includes the philos-ophy and programming of ADED K as well as each grade level up to the fol-lowing transition. Additionally, we have taken the opportunity to follow this cohort of students and review with teachers the developmental characteristics of students at their particular grade level and the grade level below. We look at how these developmental characteristics impact our practice.

Our ADED K cohort is moving to third grade next year. Recently, third grade teachers had the opportunity to spend a day with Mary Masson. The feedback from teachers regarding this day has been very positive. It is due to this feedback that we have contin-ued to follow this cohort.

Since the implementation of All Day Every Day Kindergarten (ADED K), each spring next year’s teachers spend a day with Mary Masson. Mary Masson is the Early Childhood consultant that worked closely with our ADED K commit-tee in the research, design, and implementation of the ADED K program.

Targeting Students for Reading Support

At various points throughout the school year, in every grade K-5, students are given the Develop-mental Reading Assessment (DRA). This assessment involves the student reading a benchmark book to the teacher and then retell-ing the story. The teacher then scores the student on a range of skills such as accuracy of reading, comprehension, and fluency.

A group of teachers have commit-ted to ensuring that students need-ing reading support are truly re-ceiving it as they transition to the next level. A teacher from each middle school has carefully re-viewed all 5th grade students’ DRA scores. Students not at their target level will be given the QRI test by the middle school teacher. The QRI test is a series of passages that students read and then answer questions that determine their comprehension of the text. The QRI determines the students’ ex-pository (text book) reading levels.

These test results will then be used to ensure that the student is receiving proper reading support as they enter 6th grade.

A similar procedure is happen-ing with 8th grade students. All 8th grade students were given a QRI screener. The screener is similar to the full QRI test but only contains the reading passage and questions at the Upper Middle School level. Three high school teachers are set to review the scores and then do further testing for students that are not at an Upper Middle School level. Those 8th graders not on target, will be given the full QRI test of which the results will then be carefully reviewed and the students’ schedules will be organized to include direct reading support as they enter 9th grade.

The first three staff members to email Heidi Kast with one thing that is going well in the CIA

Department and one thing that could be im-

proved will win a prize!!!!

The Importance of Snack at the Elementary Level

Elementary children are not able to eat enough food to sustain themselves for more than four hours. For optimal learning to occur, they should be al-lowed to have a snack. This will help keep their blood sugar levels even and prevent them from getting so hungry for lunch that they can’t focus on les-sons—without spoiling their appetite when lunch finally does arrive.

Elementary school age children have small stomachs. After 3 to 4 hours their stomachs are empty and their blood glucose levels have been re-duced. Their brain, to operate at top level, needs a constant supply of glu-cose (the type of sugar found in your blood), because it can’t store any. (This is unlike muscle, which can hold glu-cose in reserve.) Keeping up mental work requires a large turnover of brain glucose and snacks help to replenish it. Numerous studies have shown that children who attend school hungry

score significantly below non-hungry peers on standardized tests. This has implications for other areas of school success as well. A midmorning snack is one way to guarantee that they are not too hungry to learn.

The unfortunate fact is that some kids just refuse to eat breakfast or cannot tolerate a meal at such an early hour. For these students in particular, a midmorning snack is crucial. Their academic success may depend on it.

Snacks are very important to the to-tal, daily nutritional intake of young children. As a teacher you can set a good example by eating a morning snack that includes fruit, an item often missing in kids’ diets. Use snack time as a chance to actively learn about nutrition. Encourage kids to bring in healthy snacks. You can also create a list of appropriate

Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction

P a g e 4

K—12 Math Pilot Update Elementary

A team of teachers are in the middle of piloting two math programs. Half of the team is piloting Investigations while the other half is piloting Everyday Math. The groups will switch in the fall to pilot the program they are not cur-rently piloting. The team will have the opportunity to pilot both programs. In January of 2013, a decision will be made to implement one of the two pro-grams that have been piloted or poten-tially pilot a third program. The pilot team has worked extremely hard this year. They have put in hours of re-search, attended several trainings, and spent countless hours getting to know the program they are working with.

Middle School

Middle school has been working hard researching many different programs. Originally, the plan was to pilot Con-nected Math in the fall; however, an update is currently being developed, but it will not be ready in the fall. Re-

cently, the middle school pilot team met with a math consultant from the math program, Big Ideas. The team decided to pilot this program next year for the full year. In the spring, the team will look at Connected Math again (the new edition) to determine if the program will be pi-loted in the fall of 2013.

High School

A team of teachers are involved in a high school math pilot as well. This team will begin their pilot in the fall. CME Project and Discovering will be piloted next year. Each teacher will have one program that they are actually teaching while in addi-tion working closely with another teach-er that is piloting the other program so that the programs can be compared.

The math district department chairs have been working extremely close throughout this whole process to ensure that when we make final decisions at each level that our math program is fully aligned. For the purposes of ensuring alignment along with the assessment for

common core becoming more finalized, our timeline piloting, adoption, and imple-mentation is tentative and must remain flexible. There are also several districts throughout the county that are in the same position as we are in and we have been networking with them as well. We also need to keep in mind that there will be a need to build in a professional develop-ment plan for teachers as the common core calls for a different way of teaching which also leads to a need to educate our parents. Additionally, technology needs to be in-cluded in this plan as well in order to max-imize the use of the programs we will be implementing. There is no doubt that there is a lot to take into consideration to ensure we are making the best decision for our students and district.

Tentative Implementation Timeline

Elementary and H. S. Algebra I— 2013-2014

Middle School-2014-2015

High School-2014-2015

snacks that can then be sent home with then to share with parents. Include some math skills by employing the kids’ food pyramid and keep tally of how many foods from the different levels of the pyramid that the children eat each day.

The following websites may help to supplement your nu-trition lessons: * The Kid’s Food Cyber Club * Dole 5 A Day

Article from Village.com newsletter Author: Sue Gilbert

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Lake Orion to Participate in Oakland County’s Social Justice Project

Oakland Schools is partnering with the University of Michigan to provide professional development on inter-group relations and institutional change. Our district will be joining a cohort of seven other districts within the county this spring to broaden our knowledge on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, social class, and other forms of diversity that can con-tribute to excellence in education.

As these forms of diversity continue to grow, educators will be challenged to recognize differences, increase in-teractions across boundaries, handle classroom conflict, and create chang-es in school and communities. This opportunity will enable educators to:

Understand core concepts of in-tergroup relations and institu-tional change

Access their own social identities and how these identities affect the classroom experience

Understand how students’ social

identities affect teaching and learning

Develop hands-on practice skills, e.g., creating safe spaces, handling incidents, learning pedagogical techniques for critical thinking and intercultural maturity

Apply group process activities to strengthen passion awareness, skills and knowledge

In reviewing the buildings with diverse populations, it was determined that we focus on Waldon, Pine Tree, and the High School. The following staff have committed to this important learning opportunity: Annette Collins, Barbara Hoffman, Brent Skiba, Chris Bell, Nick Coccia, Diane Dunaskiss, Jeff Palmer, Juile Stucky, Randy Groya, Rob McClennan.

Their time, dedication, and leadership regarding the topic of diversity is greatly appreciated.

Words Their Way

On May 11th, Lake Orion will offi-cially launch a K-5 adoption of Words Their Way. Words Their Way is a developmental approach to word study that integrates teaching phonics, spelling and vocabulary. It is based on learn-ing word patterns rather than memorizing unconnected words, teaching students how to look closely at words to discover the regularities and conventions of English orthography, or spelling.

A full implementation replacing all current spelling programs in-cluding the district spelling lists will take place during the 2012-2013 school year. This is a re-search based system for organiz-ing instruction, highly regarded

as one of the best approaches to this work and also tightly aligned with the ELA foundational skills framed by the ELA common core.

All classroom teachers will attend a half day session, where he/she will learn the program basics, the common assessment and options for classroom instruction. An additional follow up session will also be available for interested teachers. Theresa West, Gretch-en Hynes, Melissa Berndt, Michele Smyth, Wendy Tait and Dawn Burks are serving as a teacher leadership team on this project. They have used the ma-terials in their own classrooms, attended in-services, and spent numerous hours preparing mate-

rials for training. We are fortu-nate to have such great support as we move forward with this adop-tion.

If you wish to read a more de-tailed explanation of the program visit, http://www.mypearsontraining.com/pdfs/TG_WTW_WordStudy.pdf. Questions about program con-tents, materials or training may also be forwarded to Kate DiMeo, kdimeo@lakeorion.k12.mi.us.

Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction

P a g e 6

Middle school computer teach-ers have been working hard to develop and implement a test out option for Computer Liter-acy 8. Current 7th grade stu-dents wishing to take band or choir and world language in their 8th grade year will have the opportunity to test out of a required computer class. The test out process and proce-dures will be very similar to the high school.

For those students that are not successful at testing out or who do not wish to test out, an op-tion will be offered for choir or band students to take the re-

quired Computer Literacy 8 class through a different ap-proach being called "I-CL 8". The I-CL 8 course will include minimal direct classroom in-struction available during STAR and focus mainly on an online component. These opportuni-ties will allow students more flexibility in their schedule. A huge thank you to middle school computer teachers, LeAnn Maddox, Craig Schoon, Nick Colwell, Jillyan Fuller, Kat Montei and Debbie Vander-Maas for their hard work, crea-tivity, and development of 21st century opportunities for stu-dents.

Test Out and Online Course go to Middle School

Drew Towlerton, High School Summer School Coordinator, has been working with some high school staff members to offer a variety of options in High School Summer School.

High School offers Summer School Opportunities

Join us this summer at Lake Orion High School as we offer these exciting summer enrichment opportunities to both students and adults! Adult Ceramic Studio Class We are excited to offer a ceramics program this summer for adults. This studio class will focus on learning and developing skills in hand building and wheel throwing. Students will be able to experiment with things that are more specific to their interests. The class will be offered to all skill levels. One-on-one instruction will be given to all students regardless of ability. Beginners will learn, and stu-dents with experience will expand their knowledge of, hand building, throwing, and the firing processes.

We will be experimenting with some alternative firing as well as offering conventional glazing methods such as cone 6 glaze and underglaze. The al-ternative methods we plan to explore this summer include barrel, pit, raku, and saggar firing.

Student Ceramic Studio Class We are pleased to offer a ceramics program this summer for students. This studio class will focus on learning and developing skills in hand building and wheel throwing. Unlike the nor-mal school year class, students will be able to experiment with things that are more specific to their interests. The class will be offered to all skill levels. One-on-one instruction will be given to all students, regardless of ability. Beginners will learn, and stu-dents with experience will expand their knowledge of, hand building, throwing, and the firing process.

The summer program will offer more than the regular school year class. We will be experimenting with some alter-native firing as well as offering con-ventional glazing methods such as glaze and underglaze. The alternative methods we plan to explore this sum-mer include barrel, pit, raku, and sag-gar firing.

Students will be given ample time to work in the studio and will be encour-

aged to develop their skills and tech-nique as well as learn more about al-ternative firing methods. This should prove to be an exciting class to experi-ence ceramics from a different point of view for all students who attend. Photography Art Camp We are pleased to offer a Photography Art Camp this summer for students. Students will have the opportunity to use Adobe Photoshop to edit and ma-nipulate photographs. They will learn the parts of a camera and how to use it properly. Students will develop skills to take a variety of different types of photographs. Photojournal-ism, sports, nature, portrait, and oth-er forms of photography will be ex-plored. Students will take an average of two field trips per week, whether it is to a Tigers game or to downtown Lake Orion, for the chance to experi-ence different places and ways to take photographs.

See the attachment for class of-ferings and further details.

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Early Childhood Department Upcoming Events

Little Dragons Summer Kindergarten Readiness Camp ~ June 19– August 2 (no class week of July 2) SEE ATTACHED FLYER

Hosting the 6th Annual Oakland County Great Start Parent Conference Saturday, April 28 at the CERC Building 9:00 a.m. ~ 2:00 p.m.

htt://www.lakeorion.k12.mi.us/EarlyChildhood/pdfs/

ESL Program

ELPA testing is completed for this spring. We should have the test results by the end of the school year. We will share them with you once we receive them. This year the high school was in-volved in a pilot project. Students took the ELPA online. After the initial computer preparation, the testing went very smoothly. The outlook is that online ELPA testing will be for all students in the next couple of years except for K-1.

The adult ESL classes are having an Interna-tional Night on May 1st at CERC in the media center. Students will be giving presentations and creating boards on their culture and country. This will give them practice with English speaking, writing and reading. Everyone is invited.

Coming soon will be our ESL summer camps. Session 1 will be July 10 through 26 and Session 2 will be August 6 through 23. The times for each of the camps will be 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon and 12:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. The first session will be im-proving English through learning about planets, rockets and aliens. The second session will have fun traveling through time beginning with the Wild West. Registration began April 9th.

Adult Education

Graduation will be Monday, June 11th at 7:30 p.m. The cer-emony will be held at the high school in the auditorium. This is a wonderful event to experience. Everyone is invited.

Power Path is now an integral part of our adult education program. All of our students are assessed/screened for atten-tion challenges, visual stress, vision and hearing. This has helped our students become aware of accommodations they can have to be more successful in their classes. Teachers are also more aware to be able to assist students. Our next step is to implement the SMARTER plans program which provides structure for problem solving and critical thinking.

Summer School for adult high school completion and high school students needing make up credit will begin June 18th. Classes will be offered at CERC.

CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION AND ASSESSMENT CONTACTSAND ASSESSMENT CONTACTSAND ASSESSMENT CONTACTS

Heidi Kast……...Asst. Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment

Marysue Schwartzmiller….Administrative Assistant 248-693-5409 or Ext. 3908

Linda Glowaz….Assessment Coordinator...Ext. 6410

District Department Chairs…………..Listed on LOnet

District School Improvement Chairs………..Listed on LOnet

Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction

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New State Kindergarten Assessment

When Michigan did not receive Race to the Top funding, part of the feedback given was that there was a lack of assessment. For the future, points would be awarded for implementing a statewide kin-dergarten status assessment. The-se points would put Michigan in a better place to potentially receive additional funding.

Several instruments have been in-vestigated at this point; however, no decisions have been made. The purpose of this assessment would be to determine the effectiveness of pre-school. The assessment would not be used to deny/delay kinder-garten entry nor would it be used to measure kindergarten student growth for teacher evaluation. The assessment would be mandatory to use at the beginning of kindergar-ten, and optional to use at the mid-dle or end of kindergarten.

There is a tentative implementation plan:

Fall 2012 Field Test 30 teachers, 750 students

Fall 2013 Pilot 20% of ISDs, 600 teachers, 20,000 students

Fall 2014 Full Implementation 3,200 teachers, 100,000 students

Two days of initial PD will be re-quired for every kindergarten teacher

*Oakland County has chosen thus far to not participate in the pilot.

It is important to note that there are still many unknowns and I fully ex-pect this timeline to be pushed back.

Virtual Learning Academy

The Oakland Intermediate School District in partnership with Oakland County districts will be offering a flexible, rigorous and innovative world-class virtual learning option for Oakland County families, with students in grades K-8, who choose a home-based learning environ-ment for their children.

The primary target audience is students whose parents choose to home school their children. The Virtual Learning Academy-Oakland will provide online learning where students in grades Kindergarten through Eighth can re-ceive their primary instruction in math, read-ing, writing, history, science, geography, tech-nology, and the arts. Please see the attach-ments for more specific details.

Adult Ceramics Class This introductory course is designed for adults interested in learning more about ceramics. This class will offer participants an opportunity to receive hands on experience and create ceramic art pieces. Refer to the district website for more info. Cost: $225.00 Student Ceramics Class This introductory course is designed for students interested in learning more about ceramics. This class will offer participants an opportunity to receive hands on experience and create ceramic art pieces based upon their interests. Refer to the district website for more info. Cost: $225.00 Photography Art Camp This camp offers students the opportunity to learn more about photography through hands on activities, field trips, and demonstrations. Students will learn and practice photographic techniques by completing hands on experiences in Lake Orion and the surrounding area. Refer to the district website for more info. Cost: $200.00 Virtual Learning Lab Our summer virtual lab offers students the opportunity to take courses, both core and elective, for credit recovery and credit forward purposes through a program called E2020. Course work is self paced with a highly qualified teacher on site to serve as a mentor. Refer to the district website for more info. Cost: $170.00

The focus of this program is to guide 4 and 5 year old children that are enrolled in akindergarten program for the 2012-13 school year. This theme-based program will combine theLake Orion Kindergarten curriculum with play and exploration. This program will also includeoptional excursions outside of the classroom (may have additional costs).

The child will increase or learn to…

A LOCS summer program thatboth parents and children will love!

Have strong self management skills Work independently and in groups Make his/her own choices without

teacher or parent interaction Show a willingness to try something new Wait his/her turn in a group situation in

play, during snack times, and sharingmaterials

Interact with other children Problem solve within social situations

Communicate effectively Have strong self-confidence and self-esteem Distinguish between work and play Participate in activities involving literature,

math and science Participate in fine motor skills requiring eye-

hand coordination Participate in gross motor activities involving

running, jumping, hopping, climbing, skippingand balancing

Tuesday/Thursday 9-12pmTuition is $150 for the 6 week program

Fee non-refundable after May 25th.(Scholarships available for low income families)

All classes will be held at the Community Educational Resource Center

NOW ACCEPTING REGISTRATIONFor registration and other questions, please contact us at (248) 693-5439

Class size must meet minimum enrollment requirements.Additional sessions may be offered based on interest.

Back by Popular Demand!Little Dragons Summer

KindergartenReadiness Camp 2012

June 19 – August 2(no class week of July 2)