Where Has The School Year Gone?

It is hard to believe that it is already mid-May.  Our students are doing amazing things every day at Defer and learning is so evident.  One of my favorite parts of my day is engaging students in conversation during the lunch hour.  Yesterday I heard all about the frozen peas that their class crayfish ate as part of a Science observation.   One student was demonstrating the crayfish’s technique using his own sandwich while others at the table observed and added their comments.  A fourth grade class had taken their Grosse Pointe Writing Assessment that morning and a student flagged me down to tell about how she started this piece of writing.  She felt she had a strong lead and that it really grabbed the audience’s attention.  Finally, I eavesdropped on a conversation at a fifth grade table about the Executive Branch of the government as a group of boys had a friendly disagreement about the requirements for becoming President of United States.   Clearly, our students are engaged in the hard work of learning.

The Defer teachers and I are beginning the process of making classroom assignments for the 2011-12 school year.  In grade level teams we will work to develop these classroom groupings.  From working with your children all year long our teachers have valuable insights regarding the academic, social, and emotional needs of your children.   Some of the factors we will consider as we do this work include:

· Academic ability

· Cluster grouping / Learning partners

· Gender balance

· Learning styles ( auditory, visual, hands-on)

· Student personality and interaction

· Student behavior

· Information provided by parents

We have one main goal is doing this work and that is to create the most positive classroom environment we can to maximize student learning.

Please help us firm up our Defer enrollment.  This information helps us plan for the number of sections in each grade level and the number of teachers we will need to teach our students.  If you plan on moving before the start of the school year in the fall, it is very important that you let us know by calling the Defer Office.

A second way you can help us is by approaching neighborhood parents whose children may be attending Kindergarten next year.  Please have them either contact the Defer Office or the Office of Residency and Enrollment at 313 432-3093.  Also, let them know about our Kindergarten Round-Up for next year’s Kindergarten students is on May 25^th from 4:00 – 4:45.

Earth Day Celebrations

Earth Day is April 22, 2011 this year.   It is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s natural environment.  Communities across United States celebrate Earth Week, an entire week of activities focused on environmental issues.  Due to Spring Break, Defer will be celebrating Earth Day on April 29th.  In addition to it being a focus of Science instruction that week, Defer is taking on two special projects.  First, we are encouraging everyone to walk to school on Thursday, April 28th.  Join your neighbors and friends and reduce pollution by starting your day with a healthy walk to school.

Secondly, we’d like to try for a waste free lunch for all students who pack a cold lunch on April 29th.  So what is a waste free lunch and why is it important?  It’s really important!  Our landfills are full and overflowing.  Incinerators pump contaminants into the air.  Much of the trash we    generate comes from the packaging on the food we buy, and lunch foods are no exception.  In fact, it has been estimated that on average a school-age child using a disposable lunch generates 67 pounds of waste per school year.  At Defer, that’s about 26,000 pounds of lunch waste.

Join the Earth Day events at Defer and pack a waste free lunch on April 29^th.  Here are four steps to accomplish that:

·  Reusable lunch bags – replace the brown bag with something safe and reusable. Use that same container each day.

· Snack and sandwich bags – It is estimated that families spend $85 on disposable plastic baggies.  Save money and resources with

     reusable bags and wraps.

· Utensils and more – cloth napkins, utensils, and even straws!  Why throw it away when you can use it again and again?

· Reusable bottles - Americans spend about $16 billion annually on bottled water which makes 38 billion bottles in our landfills.  Break the wasteful cycle by bringing your own bottle.

We plan to measure how we do with our waste free lunch.   We’ll be weighing our lunchroom trash prior to April 29^th and our hope is that on Earth Day, April 29^th, we will have much less to weigh.  Join the challenge – pack a waste free lunch on Earth Day.  Make a difference in our world!

March is Reading Month

March is National Reading Month, and the Defer students and teachers have joined in the celebration!   Guest readers have visited many classrooms already to share their  favorite book, and more are to come.  A team of Pierce Middle School students will be visiting next week each sharing a Dr. Seuss book with students. Classrooms are silent each day as students curl up and read for sustained periods of time.  

Reading together at home is extremely important for all children.  You have the greatest influence on your child and you send a powerful message about not only the importance of reading, but the pleasure of reading when you read together.  Try the following suggestions to make reading with your child both a fun and a learning experience.

  

·  Make reading a priority.  Whether it’s 20 minutes every night before bed or an hour every Sunday morning, it helps to set aside a specific time for reading. 

· Choose the right book using the “five-finger rule”.  When selecting a new book to read have your child open the book to any page in the middle and read that page.  Keep track of how many words they don’t know.  If your child gets to five words before they finish the page, the book is too hard.  If the child knows all of the words, the book is probably easy and is a good one for building reading fluency.  If they don’t know two or three words, the book is likely to be at a good level for their reading ability to grow.

· Create the right atmosphere.  Find a quiet place for your child to read.  Your home is a busy place, but children need a ‘reading spot’ away from noise and distractions.

· Make reading fun.  There are lots of great a book that are filled with humor and that’s always a ‘hook’ for children.  Try ‘hamming it up’ a bit when reading at home.  Play around with funny voices or acting out the scene you are reading. 

· Keep reading aloud to your child.  Don’t stop reading aloud to your child once he/she learns to read on their own. When you do the reading, you allow your child to enjoy books that are beyond their independent reading level.  Children learn new vocabulary, and it is a great chance for you to model reading smoothly and with expression.

· Introduce new books.  Sometimes one book will steal your child’s heart and that is all they want to read.  Remember, there are millions of books to enjoy.  Ask a librarian or your child’s teacher for a recommendation.  Check out children’s literature web sites.