Greetings Frelinghuysen Community,
I hope everyone has had a great start to the month of November, and that you are having an enjoyable weekend in spite of Friday’s tragic events in Paris. There is much to celebrate at Frelinghuysen as we approach the Thanksgiving break. To begin with, we have successfully completed our first administration of the iReady Diagnostic Assessment in Reading and Math, and we are already seeing teachers integrate this powerful resource into their classrooms. Second, students are coming to school each day focused on their learning, and on helping to create a positive, supportive, inclusive, and welcoming community. This is evident in the decreased number of disciplinary incidents at the school. Finally, we had an incredibly successful fall athletic season with our Lady Falcons Soccer Team winning the league championship and our Boys Soccer Team finishing second in the league after a tough loss in the championship game. We certainly have a great deal to be thankful for.
Here are some specific ways that we can strengthen our home-school partnership, and our shared effort to improve learning outcomes for your child.
iReady:
As I wrote two weeks ago, a very useful and powerful aspect of iReady is the personalized online instructional learning pathway it creates for your child in reading and in math. Based on the results of your child’s performance on the Diagnostic Assessment, the program generates online lessons tailored to your child’s specific learning needs. These lessons are interactive, engaging, and completely aligned to the Common Core State Standards. I strongly encourage you to make the completion of online lessons a part of your child weekly/nightly routine at home. All your child needs to do is log on to their iReady account, and select “Reading” or “Math”. The appropriate lesson will then appear, and they can begin. Most lessons take about 30 minutes, and will be followed by a report on their performance. Try it out with your child. I think you will be impressed!
Vocabulary:
Upon looking at the school-wide iReady Diagnostic results, it is very clear that one area of Reading that we are struggling across grades 6-8 is vocabulary. In an effort to address this area of growth, I am creating a “FMS Word of the Week”. This vocabulary word will be one of the 55 high-frequency, academic words that are critical to effective reading comprehension at the middle level. The word and its definition will be posted in each House and read over the announcements at school. We encourage you to do the same at home. Discuss the word with your child; generate examples of its use; post it on the refrigerator. The more frequently they are exposed to the word, the greater the chance they will store it in their long-term memory.
Here is the “Word of the Week” for the week of November: Articulate
Definition: To Express Clearly
Example: Joey writes and speaks eloquently. He articulates well.
Jingle: Articulate and say it well, be as clear as a bell.
Quote of the Week on Responsibility:
“Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence.”- Colin Powell
Thank you so much for your continued partnership with our school!
Mr. Uglialoro