Brummer Bobcat Buzz
October 13, 2023
Brummer Parent Teacher Conferences October 17th & 19th
This Week's Bobcat Photo Gallery
Upcoming Dates
October 17th & 19th - Parent Teacher Conferences (1:15 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.) / Half Days for Students A.M. only
October 24th - October 27th - Hearing Tests, Kindergarten, Second Grade & Fourth Grade
October 25th - BNC Trail of Treats, 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM
October 26th - Wear Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month
October 27th - Halloween Parade at 2:15 p.m. on the walking path
November 1st - Picture Retake Day
November 7th - No school for students - All Teachers Curriculum Day
Building Para-Educator PM Position
We are looking to fill a Building Para-Educator PM position at Brummer. The position is Monday-Friday, 11:51 a.m.-4:15 p.m. The primary goal of the building para-educator is to support the building community in a variety of ways, such as student health needs and providing assistance in the classroom. If you or someone you know would be interested, please contact Mrs. Cooper at coopers@slcs.us or 248-573-8520.
Halloween Parade and Party Details for October 27th
Parade:
Everyone is welcome to attend the Halloween parade on October 27th at 2:15 p.m. on the walking path. Parents are invited to view the parade by standing along the outside of the walking path. The parade will be cancelled in case of inclement weather with no rain date. All visitors should come to the playground to sign in, show ID, and wear a visitor's badge.
Classroom Parties:
Teachers at each grade level are working to finalize their plans for this special day and have been in communication with families. The number of volunteers for classroom Halloween parties will be based upon the number of activity stations in the classroom. All volunteers must have a background check. Volunteers are unable to bring younger siblings. Please understand due to safety reasons, only volunteers running the stations will be in the classroom.
Costumes:
As a friendly reminder, no masks, no props that resemble weapons, and no gory costumes.
We are super excited for Halloween fun with our Brummer Bobcats!
Meet Our Staff, Mrs. Voss
Congratulations to Willow Walker
Willow Walker from Mrs. Curnow's Kindergarten class was selected as the winner of the Color Your Dream House contest sponsored by the South Lyon Educational Foundation. Way to go Willow!
National First Responders' Day is October 28th
Every year our Bobcats love to show their appreciation for our local first responders by stuffing their lounges and kitchens. If you would like to participate, please sign up for something below, and return the purchased items to the bin in the front office by Monday, October 23rd. We will be presenting the Green Oak Township Fire and Police with their items on Friday, October 27th along with a big thank you card.
Thanks for your support.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E48ACA829A4F8CE9-44981684-first#/
A Heartfelt Thank You
Thank you so much to our Brummer community for your support of Caleb and the whole Post family!
DRA and NWEA
Elementary parent-teacher conferences are being held next week. Be sure to review communications from your child’s building for details about scheduling dates and times. These parent-teacher conferences provide a chance to collaborate about goals for your child for the year ahead. As part of the parent-teacher conference, your child’s teacher will also share information with you about the assessments your student has completed so far this year.
Students in kindergarten have spent time one-on-one with their teacher assessing their knowledge of letters and letter sounds. In first through fifth grades, students also completed a one-on-one assessment with their teacher called the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA). In this assessment, students read a passage out loud to their teacher and complete additional activities that help assess their understanding of what they read.
This year our district transitioned to the updated third edition of the DRA which is designed to find a reader’s independent reading level (the level at which a reader is reading with approximately 95% accuracy). This is a transition from the scoring on the previous edition of the assessment which allowed for a lower percentage of accuracy. Since there is an adjustment on how the updated version of the assessment is scored, it is possible that the independent DRA level your child’s teacher shares with you at conferences is lower than the level that was shared with you in the spring.
All students in kindergarten through fifth grade also completed the NWEA MAP Growth assessment. These tests provide information about your child’s instructional level, but also measure their academic growth throughout the school year (and from year to year) in ELA and math. Students take the MAP Growth assessments in the fall, at midyear, and near the end of the school year.
MAP Growth tests from NWEA are unique in that they are adaptive tests taken on a computer. This means the test becomes more difficult when your child answers a question correctly. When your child answers a question incorrectly, the test becomes easier. Ultimately, your child takes a test specifically targeting their learning level. In addition, since the information presented on the test is aligned with the Michigan English Language Arts and Mathematics Standards, it covers the information that your child has learned so far in school.
The purpose of the MAP Growth tests is to help identify your student’s strengths and needs. Your child’s MAP Growth results are represented as RIT scores. Like inches on a ruler, the RIT scale measures in equal intervals, regardless of a student’s grade level—and it remains stable over time. As a result, we can accurately measure students’ growth and understand where they are performing on the learning continuum. RIT scores help teachers identify specific areas of focus for instruction. At the K-1 level, the MAP Growth assessments are read to students. As students transition to second grade, students read the reading passages and test questions themselves. Since this is a significant adjustment to the format of the test at the second grade level, it is not uncommon for student scores to decrease slightly in the fall of second grade as students adjust to the new format of the assessment.
Your child’s teacher is looking forward to seeing you at conferences to share information about their progress so far and to collaborate with you on goals for your student this year.
Hearing and Vision Updates
Hearing screenings will be available at Brummer October 24th - 27th, 2023 for Kindergarten, 2nd, and 4th grades.
Vision screenings will be available in the Spring on April 1st- April 4th, 2024 for 1st, 3rd, and 5th grades. Please see below for more information.