Turrill Tribune
For the week of May 13-17
Mission Statement
- Lapeer Community Schools is a dynamic community organization embracing our students with a quality learning environment, developing independent and confident learners for the future.
We are "Turrill Tough"
Email: rdowney@lapeerschools.org
Website: turrill.lapeerschools.org
Location: 785 S Elm St, Lapeer, MI, United States
Phone: (810) 667-2438
Twitter: @TESPrincipalD
#TurrillTough means...
We think that each one of us is strong individually but we are even stronger when we work together.
Taking the time to acknowledge the kind deeds of others is...
...being Turrill Tough!!
Parent Drop off and PickUp Reminders
- Please remain in your car and have your children enter/exit on the side nearest the sidewalk.
- Have your children unbuckle and prepare for exiting your car as you pull forward to the drop off
- Please pull forward as far as you can
- Merge to the pass through lane after dropping off or picking up your children
- If you have to exit your vehicle please use a parking space
Vision Statement
Excellence in all we do for our students, our schools and our community through
- Continuous improvement;
- Diligent effort; and
- Innovative design
Important Times
Office Hours during the School Year:
8:15 am -- Office opens8:35 am -- Student supervision outside of school begins (please do not leave your child unsupervised)
8:40 am -- Building opens; Students enter the building (breakfast available in the classrooms)
8:44 am -- School day begins
3:40 pm -- End of the school day
4:15 pm -- Office closes
What's Up this Week?
Monday, May 13 -
- Fire Drill today?
- K and 5th Grade MAP testing this week
- M-STEP testing for 3rd and 4th grades continues this week
- 5th Grade Family Life from 1:30-2:30
- Truancy/Delinquency Program after school with Sara Evans from 3:40-4:30
Wednesday, May 15 -
- TAG before school
- PTC Open Meeting after school at 3:45
Thursday, May 16 -
- PTC Staff Appreciation Fruit Bowl or Smoothie
- Safetyville for 1st grade
Friday, May 17 -
"There are no limits to what you can accomplish, except the limits you place on your own thinking" - Brian Tracy
PARENT CORNER
2018-2019 Field Day Volunteers Needed!
Let the games begin!
Field Day is planned for Tuesday, June 11th (no rainout date)
- E5-2 will have their field day in the morning roughly 9:05-11:15
- 3-5 will have their field day in the afternoon roughly 1:15-3:25
In order to make it a success we're looking for at least 2-3 parent volunteers per classroom.
Please get in touch with your child's teacher if you are able to help out!!
A Few Friendly Reminders as Warmer Weather Approaches and the End of the Year:
Please refer to page 17 in the Student handbook as weather start to get warmer in regards to Student dress code:
"Dress Code"
We believe that students, who dress appropriately, act appropriately. The student dress code ensures that students, parents, staff, and community members are not distracted, harassed, intimidated, or offended by student dress. Students should wear modest clothing that adequately covers the body and undergarments. Please help your child select clothing best suited for a school setting. Inappropriate dress would consist of, but not be limited to:
muscle shirts, tank tops, tube tops, mesh shirts, mini-skirts, spandex clothing, clothing with bare midriffs, or bare backs;
short-shorts;
going without shoes, or flip-flops or sandals that do not stay on feet
"Items from Home" (pg 17)
Students may not bring to school, except by written permission of the teacher, personal belongings that are not required for their academic program. This includes items such as, candy, skateboards, cologne/perfume, trading cards, toys, etc. Please do not allow your child to bring valuables to school, which may be lost or stolen. Items will be collected and turned into the office where parents may pick them up.
How to Make Learning Stick
In this article in School Administrator, Henry Roediger (University of Washington/St. Louis) and Peter Brown (an independent writer) lament the fact that many students use ineffective study strategies, including:
- Underlining and highlighting important material;
- Reading and rereading;
- Studying only one block of information at a time (for example, fractions);
- Studying for long periods of time (cramming just before an exam);
- Pulling all-nighters.
Why don’t these strategies get information into long-term memory? Because none of them make students grapple with the underlying content, and all of them tend to make students overconfident about what they’ve mastered. “Familiarity with the text creates an illusion of knowing,” say Roediger and Brown, “and studies show the content does not stick.” In addition, neuroscientists have found that sleep after studying is important to consolidating memories.
This means teachers have a double challenge: they have to teach their subject matter, and they have to wean students from ineffective strategies and teach them what cognitive scientists have discovered about how to study in smarter ways.
Some practices that work:
- Self-quizzing;
- Paraphrasing and reflecting on material;
- Spacing short but intense study sessions over time;
- Mixing up topics and subjects during studying (sometimes called interleaving);
- Getting enough sleep.
Teachers should also apply these pedagogical principles on a daily basis:
- Pre-testing before a teaching unit to prime students’ brains for what’s coming and identify gaps in knowledge and skills;
- Frequent low-stakes quizzing (“retrieval practice”) with immediate feedback and correction;
- Less lecturing, more challenging students to puzzle out new material and put it in their own words;
- Getting students working in pairs or small groups to construct their own understanding of new material;
- Having students write to understand.
“The Importance of Testing as a Learning Strategy” by Henry Roediger and Peter Brown in School Administrator, May 2019 (Vol. 76, #5, p. 35-37), https://bit.ly/301A3V6; Roediger can be reached at roediger@wustl.edu. His book with coauthors Peter Brown and Mark McDaniel is Make It Stick(Belknap, 2014)
M-STEP Testing for 3rd-5th Grade in April & May
We all want your child’s state assessment experience to be as relaxed and stress-free as possible. Your positive outlook and support going into these assessments also will influence your child’s experience. Ensuring your child has adequate rest and is present for testing will help us administer the appropriate tests in a timely manner.
Remember, testing is a part of learning. State assessment results do not impact student grades. They are designed to provide information on student knowledge and ability to be career- and college-ready upon graduation. Schools and district use the results for curriculum planning and school improvement initiatives that benefit all students.
What is M-STEP and why is Michigan using it?
M-STEP is an online “summative” test, meaning that it is administered once a year to measure students’ progress toward mastering Michigan’s rigorous, grade-level content standards. State standards broadly outline what students need to know and be able to do in each subject and grade level to be career- and college-ready upon high school graduation.
Why does this test matter for my child?
M-STEP is designed to help parents understand how their child is progressing toward career- and college-readiness. It is also a tool to help parents understand where their child needs more support or additional challenges.
What will my child experience during M-STEP testing?
M-STEP is an online test that uses various types of questions to assess real-world skills, such as critical thinking and problem solving. M-STEP tests for English language arts and mathematics use Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT) for students in grades 3 through 7. CAT adjusts the difficulty of grade-level questions throughout the assessment based on the student’s responses. If a student answers a question correctly, the next question will be harder; if a student answers incorrectly, the next question will be easier.
I’m concerned that my child spends too much time being stressed out by testing.
Depending on their grade level, students will spend no more than 4-8 hours taking state assessments. This represents less than one percent of the district’s annual instructional time. Plus, new innovations like online testing and computer adaptive testing (CAT) give students a more personalized experience. CAT customizes the questions based on your child’s responses. This means that your child stays engaged and challenged, but is not likely to be overwhelmed.
When can I expect to see results from the 2019 M-STEP?
Preliminary student results on machine-scored questions will be available to schools within 48 hours after a student completes all parts of a subject area. Final results include hand-scored test items; these should be released to schools just prior to the beginning of the next school year. Districts will also receive M-STEP parent reports that will be distributed to families. Student scores are communicated to parents through four achievement levels that indicate if the child is proficient for the subject and grade level.
How can I support my student in being more successful on the M-STEP?
The best preparation for M-STEP comes through classroom instruction and coursework aligned with state standards throughout the year. Test questions are developed by Michigan educators to reflect what students are supposed to know and be able to do in the classroom, so there is no need to cram for M-STEP. For added support, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) has posted testing tutorials, practice sessions, and helpful tips at www.michigan.gov/mstep. Using these tools before test days might ease some students’ anxiety around testing and boost their confidence.How Can I Help at Home?
To help familiarize and prepare students to take state assessments, students have access to online M-STEP sample test item sets and tools.
Online Practice for M-STEP ELA, Math, Science, and Social Studies
(http://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,4615,7-140-22709_70117-350540--,00.html)
The online Sample Item Sets are a select group of test items in English language arts (ELA), mathematics, science, and social studies that encompass different item types, such as multiple choice, constructed response, and various kinds of technology-enhanced items. These sets provide students, teachers, and parents with practice in solving grade-level and content-specific test items aligned to Michigan's academic content standards.
There are two ways to get to the online Sample Item Sets.
1. Anyone can access the Sample Item Sets through the Chrome browser at https://wbte.drcedirect.com/MI/portals/mi/.
2. Schools that have installed the updated INSIGHT software can access the Sample Item Sets by opening INSIGHT.
The directions to access the sample items are the same for both methods.
a) Click on M-STEP on the left side of the window
b) Select "Online Tools Training"
c) Select "Sample Item Sets"
d) Select the grade
e) Select the content area
f) Login with the Username and Password provided to all users on the login screen