Friday, October 14, 2011

Communication is Key

The 2011- 2012 school year is off to a great start at Defer! Our Back-to-School evening
last month was a wonderful opportunity for parents to learn more the academic program planned for this year, and the best ways to support their child’s education at home. We appreciated your attendance. As we continue on the path towards a successful year we will strive to set communication as an important goal. Our Defer Dragon Burning News comes out every second Thursday of the month with important current affairs. Our website itself contains information on a variety of topics which parents will find helpful, including our web calendar which is updated throughout the year. Parents can also sign up for an ‘e-Alert” which will help provide the best communication between Defer and your household. In order to do this, please visit http://gpschools.schoolwires.net click on the register button (top right of page) enter your birthday and submit. Once signed-in, you’ll be able to receive email alerts and subscriptions via the ‘access my info’ button on the top right of the homepage. Many Defer staff members send home classroom newsletters and also have Web pages that help maintain the link between home and school. Our hope is that we are offering a variety of ways to communicate with our Defer families. A few of the recent highlights from our Defer community include:

· MEAP (Michigan Education Assessment Program) testing began this week.
Students in grades 3, 4, and 5 tested this week in Reading and the 4th graders
also completed a Writing MEAP test. Testing will continue next week beginning
on Tuesday in Math for grades 3, 4, and 5. Fifth graders will also take the MEAP
Science assessment next week.

· All students in grades 1 – 5 have completed the first round of NWEA testing in
the areas of reading and math. This computerized test is a key piece of data
used by the staff in helping to differentiate instruction so that all students reach
their academic potential.

· Making Meaning is a instructional program that is part of our new Reading
Workshop approach to teaching reading. Making Meaning incorporates the use
of fine literature in teaching key reading strategies. The program involves
students working in pairs to – think, share, and pair. In a second grade class
today after hearing the book, Alexander’s No-Good, Very Bad Day , students
discussed in pairs their ideas of a very bad day and then used visualizing
techniques to illustrate and write about their experiences. It is amazing to
listen-in on these discussions.

· Another component of this reading program is IDR (Independent Directed
Reading). Even our youngest students are now reading on their own without
interruption for 15 minutes at a stretch and the time is much longer at the upper
grades. This IDR reading should be a part of each night’s home routine as well.

· On October 19th parents of students receiving either Title1 assistance or Reading
Support will be joining some of our Instructional staff to learn more about both
of these programs. Invitations will be arriving in the mail.

I truly believe it ‘takes a village to raise a child’. Thanks for partnering with us in the
education of our Defer Dragons!