Dear Parents,
Beginning March 3rd, most children will
take tests called Measures of Academic Progress® (MAP®). We give students in
grades 2-5 MAP tests to determine each child’s instructional level and to
measure academic growth throughout the school year, and from year to year in
the areas of math, reading, language usage and science (grades 3 to 5). When
administered at regular intervals over time, it is possible to find out whether
an individual, or an entire grade level, is making satisfactory progress in
these basic skill areas. Your child will take the tests on a computer.
MAP tests are unique in that they adapt
to be appropriate for your child’s level of learning. As a result, each student
has the same opportunity to succeed and maintain a positive attitude toward
testing. The tests are not time-based but take on average 45 minutes to
complete.
New parents often ask how their children
can study for these tests. Really, the best way to prepare for these tests is to make sure your child gets a good night’s sleep the night before a test and
has breakfast the morning of the test. These are healthy practices in general.
Students cannot study for a MAP test.
MAP test scores are not reported on the
elementary school report card. You will receive a MAP Student Progress Report
after the Spring Break.
For more information on resources for
parents, download the Parent Toolkit at www.nwea.org >> Partner Support.
Staff Professional Learning and
Development Day
Last Friday, our teachers and teacher
assistants engaged in a full day of professional learning. We spent the morning
working with Mark Church, who continued his work on visible thinking, and what
it means to create a culture of thinking and inquiry in our classrooms. In the
afternoon, homeroom and English as an Additional Language teachers engaged in
conversations about aligning our assessment across grade levels in the area of
English/Language Arts. Specialist teachers worked on unit design and curriculum
mapping. Our teacher assistants attended sessions on guided reading, strategies
to teach phonemic awareness and phonics to early literacy learners and beginner
language learners, and conferring with English Language Learners. Our counselors
facilitated the continuous work that all counselors are doing to align services
for your kids, pre-school to grade 12. It was a great day of professional
learning!
Virtual Learning Drill - March 25th
Distance learning for continuity of
instruction is a complex process requiring considerable training, alignment,
and communication. To be ready in the event of a forced school closure,
AISC must help all stakeholders build capacity to support distance learning.
On March 25th, AISC will host a
comprehensive virtual learning drill in which all students PK-12 will stay at
home and complete one full day of learning consistent with AISC’s Continuity of
Instruction Plan. Teachers will be on campus during this exercise. All
athletics and after-school activities will be cancelled on this day.
To learn more please read more about the
event in our full brochure here.
To help parents with their Internet
access at home, AISC will host an Internet provider business fair on March 5th
& 6th in the Main Entry.
Further information will be shared
during a brief presentation at our upcoming parent coffee on March 10.
Parent Coffee with the ES Administration
Please join the counselors and me on
March 10th for our next parent coffee. This month, our topic is, “Transitions:
Managing the Move.” This session will be most applicable to parents who are
moving at the end of the school year, however, anyone may join us because some
day, most of us will leave Chennai. We expect participants to come away with
new ideas and strategies that will assist you as you prepare to leave Chennai.
You might have noticed last week in my
blog that I referred to a couple of visible thinking strategies students have
engaged in. During this session, we are going to use a visible thinking routine
called, “compass points.” This will be a fun way of sharing the similar
excitement and concerns we have about moves.
Nutrition Month Comes to AISC
AISC
celebrates the month of March as Nutrition Month. The campaign is
designed to focus attention on the importance of making informed food choices
and developing healthy eating habits in our students.
Below
is a quick list of some activities that are planned:
Guest
Chefs: Teachers will have the
chance to don a chef coat and join the Taj Madras Flight Kitchen staff in
serving meals to students. They will encourage students to make good
nutritional choices as they serve up healthy servings of fruits and veggies.
Recipe
Contest: Students, parents and staff
will have a chance to submit a healthy recipe for the following categories:
muffin, pasta, pizza, Asian non-veg, vegetable side dish and quiche/frittata.
The Nutrition Committee will be using a rubric to judge the entries in
the following categories: Nutritional Content, Creativity, Flavor,
Availability of Ingredients and Ease of Preparation.
Parents
and students may drop their recipe in the boxes found in both Main Reception
and Elementary School Reception. Please note that the contest will close on
March 9th; we will announce the winners of this contest on March 13th.
Kindly include the students’ name and grade level on the recipe. The
winning dishes will be named after the person or family that submitted the
recipe; the Taj Madras Flight Kitchen will be preparing the winning dishes in
April in the secondary and ES cafeterias.
Fresh
Snack Friday: All
elementary students will be provided a nutritious snack, courtesy of AISC, on
each Friday in March. March 6th and 13th will feature both fruit and vegetable
sticks with dip.
Mini-Muffin
Monday Morning: The
winning muffin recipe will be prepared and served free of charge by the Taj
Madras Flight Kitchen. These will be served on Monday, March 16th to all
visitors in the iHub on this day.
Look
for posters, banners, videos and surprise performances in the cafeterias.
Please
join us in celebrating good nutrition during March at AISC!
If
you are interested in having your child learn more about nutrition, check out
the following websites:
Choose
from a variety of games that help you learn about food groups and exercise.
Choose
from a variety of games including items for teens and videos
A
variety of games, quizzes and even nutrition Sudoku
Build
a Meal, Pyramid and Arcade Games
Have a great weekend!
Kevin Hall
Elementary School Principal