Saturday, February 27, 2010
PSSA Question of the Day #1 - Math
Thank you Mr. Miller, and Mark for your work!
Please be patient as the video loads...
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Role Playing In Sixth Grade
Students in Mrs. Fry's sixth grade class learned how to role play a scene from the novel they are reading in class. They are shown in action.
PSSA Preparation
Dear Parent/Guardian:
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
Loyalsock Township Middle School (LTMS) is gearing up for the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) tests, which will be administered during the month of April.
The PSSA’s are given to all public school students in the Pennsylvania, in an effort to measure if students are learning and grasping the academic standards which have been established by the state.
While the PSSA tests are not the only measure of student achievement, they are a very important component, and we appreciate your partnership in promoting a positive message to your son/ daughter about doing their very best. After all, as parents, teachers and administrators, our main goal is to teach our students to always do their best, in everything they do!
Our goal as a school district is to help all students perform at a proficient or advanced level. To aid us in that goal, we administer 4Sight Tests (Benchmarks) five times per year. From those results, we compile data specific to each student’s needs and then target instruction to improve upon areas of deficiency.
To assist in the preparation for these state tests, LTMS will be posting a PSSA Question of the Day on our website. It can found under Mr. G’s Blog (beginning next week), on the middle school web page. These questions will be presented by teachers, students and student teachers. In addition, you will find helpful links which we urge you to visit and share with your child.
The PSSA Test results indicate what the student knows and is able to do in mathematics, reading, science, and writing. Similar to the 4Sight’s, the PSSA results provide additional help to teachers, indicating where extra help is needed to continue growth.
The results of the tests are closely monitored by principals, teachers, government, parents, and the general public, to see how well a school is performing. The Loyalsock Township School District has always been recognized as a top-performing school, and we hope our partnership in education will continue to show growth and indicate our desire to always do our best!
Below, you will find general strategies, compliments of PaEll.com. Also, please visit our web site at www.ltsd.k12.pa.us. continue helping your child take big strides in education at LTMS!
General Strategies
*Right before you begin the PSSA, relax and think positive thoughts.
*Don't work too fast - take your time and think carefully.
*Remember, you can write whatever you want in your test booklet.
*Be sure that you fill in your answers on the answer sheet ("bubble sheet"), and do not write anything extra on that answer sheet.
*Read all the answer choices before you select an answer andwatch out for trick answers - there may be a better answer choice.
*Watch out for words like never, always, all, and onlytry to put the question in your own words.
*In your test booklet, cross out any answer choices that you know are wrong.
*Answer all the questions, do not leave any blank. If you cannot answer, guess.
*Try not to waste too much time on a question - you can skip a question, and move on to the next one, but remember to go back later and answer questions you skipped.
*In your test book, if you skip a question, circle the number so you can go back to it later.
*If you skip a question, also skip that number on your answer sheet so you are still on the right question number if you answered a question. But if you are not sure about it or you guessed, circle that number in your test book so you can go back later to try again.
*When you answer a question, circle the answer choice in your test book and fill in the bubble or circle on the answer sheet - then when you are finished, you can go back to make sure you filled in the right circle for each question.
*Carefully fill in the circles on the answer sheet, so the circles are completely filled and dark.
On the answer sheet, be careful not to fill in two circles for a single question.
*Do not make any extra pencil marks on your answer sheet - extra marks can be counted like wrong answers.
*When you're finished, go back and check your answers - answer any questions you skipped and check ones you weren't sure about.
*Don't be afraid to change your answer when you go back if you find a better answer.
As always, if you have any questions regarding this information or any information forthcoming, regarding the tests, please ask us. We are all here to help.
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
Loyalsock Township Middle School (LTMS) is gearing up for the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) tests, which will be administered during the month of April.
The PSSA’s are given to all public school students in the Pennsylvania, in an effort to measure if students are learning and grasping the academic standards which have been established by the state.
While the PSSA tests are not the only measure of student achievement, they are a very important component, and we appreciate your partnership in promoting a positive message to your son/ daughter about doing their very best. After all, as parents, teachers and administrators, our main goal is to teach our students to always do their best, in everything they do!
Our goal as a school district is to help all students perform at a proficient or advanced level. To aid us in that goal, we administer 4Sight Tests (Benchmarks) five times per year. From those results, we compile data specific to each student’s needs and then target instruction to improve upon areas of deficiency.
To assist in the preparation for these state tests, LTMS will be posting a PSSA Question of the Day on our website. It can found under Mr. G’s Blog (beginning next week), on the middle school web page. These questions will be presented by teachers, students and student teachers. In addition, you will find helpful links which we urge you to visit and share with your child.
The PSSA Test results indicate what the student knows and is able to do in mathematics, reading, science, and writing. Similar to the 4Sight’s, the PSSA results provide additional help to teachers, indicating where extra help is needed to continue growth.
The results of the tests are closely monitored by principals, teachers, government, parents, and the general public, to see how well a school is performing. The Loyalsock Township School District has always been recognized as a top-performing school, and we hope our partnership in education will continue to show growth and indicate our desire to always do our best!
Below, you will find general strategies, compliments of PaEll.com. Also, please visit our web site at www.ltsd.k12.pa.us. continue helping your child take big strides in education at LTMS!
General Strategies
*Right before you begin the PSSA, relax and think positive thoughts.
*Don't work too fast - take your time and think carefully.
*Remember, you can write whatever you want in your test booklet.
*Be sure that you fill in your answers on the answer sheet ("bubble sheet"), and do not write anything extra on that answer sheet.
*Read all the answer choices before you select an answer andwatch out for trick answers - there may be a better answer choice.
*Watch out for words like never, always, all, and onlytry to put the question in your own words.
*In your test booklet, cross out any answer choices that you know are wrong.
*Answer all the questions, do not leave any blank. If you cannot answer, guess.
*Try not to waste too much time on a question - you can skip a question, and move on to the next one, but remember to go back later and answer questions you skipped.
*In your test book, if you skip a question, circle the number so you can go back to it later.
*If you skip a question, also skip that number on your answer sheet so you are still on the right question number if you answered a question. But if you are not sure about it or you guessed, circle that number in your test book so you can go back later to try again.
*When you answer a question, circle the answer choice in your test book and fill in the bubble or circle on the answer sheet - then when you are finished, you can go back to make sure you filled in the right circle for each question.
*Carefully fill in the circles on the answer sheet, so the circles are completely filled and dark.
On the answer sheet, be careful not to fill in two circles for a single question.
*Do not make any extra pencil marks on your answer sheet - extra marks can be counted like wrong answers.
*When you're finished, go back and check your answers - answer any questions you skipped and check ones you weren't sure about.
*Don't be afraid to change your answer when you go back if you find a better answer.
As always, if you have any questions regarding this information or any information forthcoming, regarding the tests, please ask us. We are all here to help.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Super Bowl Trivia Winner
Bailee M., 8th grade, was the winner of the Lancer Court Super Bowl Trivia Contest. Bailee answered all trivia questions correctly and came closest on the tie-breaking question. Bailee was awarded a $25.00 Dick's Sporting Goods gift card as his prize. Congrats Bailee!
Friday, February 19, 2010
Students Can't "Hide" Behind Their Creativity
Masks have been used in varying cultures for thousands of years. Masks are worn to hide, disguise, and transform oneself for celebration, drama, hunting, other ceremonies, or simply as decorative works of art.
These are some of our seventh grade students who created their own decorative masks from clay during Mrs. O'Brien's art class.
These are some of our seventh grade students who created their own decorative masks from clay during Mrs. O'Brien's art class.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Quarterly Letter- LTMS is where you belong...
Do you believe that if a person is content, feels secure, and truly believes he or she belongs in a certain place that person’s performance will improve? If a person can honestly say, “This is where I belong,” will that person’s productivity increase? Do you subscribe to the idea that a feeling of being in the right place brings about pride in self and pride in a job well done?
At Loyalsock Township Middle School (LTMS), we do believe in those theories. We believe that a student must feel secure and have a sense of belonging before he or she is ready to reach their potential in learning. We believe that when a student can say honestly, “This is my school; this is my classroom; this is where I belong, then that student is ready to learn. We believe that a feeling of belonging goes hand in hand with motivation, cooperation, and increased learning performance.
We believe so strongly that a feeling of belonging is vital to school performance that we do some specific things to improve students’ feeling of belonging in the school environment.
First of all, we give attention every day to ensure that the school environment is a safe and secure setting for students. This attention means taking the steps necessary to provide safety and security on the buses, in the halls, in the rest rooms, and in the cafeteria. It means, also, that classrooms are safe places where students can participate in all kinds of learning, questioning, and experimenting in an atmosphere of security and acceptance.
Second, we give utmost attention to the students’ need to find a high degree of success. We all feel we belong in those endeavors in which we are successful, and this belonging is equally true of children. We give personal help with learning tasks, we encourage, we applaud efforts, we review, we repeat instruction, and we monitor progress carefully. If a student needs remediation, we provide it, and we encourage the student to repeat the effort until his or her mastery level is attained.
The third thing we are doing to help each student feel a sense of belonging is enhancing the structuring of activities that develop students’ social skills through our Transition Program. The entire school staff is challenged to be student centered, to be mentors, to take on the role of student advocate. We structure activities and clubs for students so that they can develop friendships with many different people. We strongly encourage all staff members to be willing to make a personal investment in the students of our school and that they serve as models of caring and concerned human beings.
Our goal at school is to arrive to the point at which students can say honestly, “This is where I belong!” Then we can claim success in having our students ready to learn. We embrace the cooperation of parents and community members as we try to reach this goal. As we prepare to take on the challenges of the New Year we look forward to our continued partnership, aimed at providing the very best for the most-prized people in the school, the students. Together, we can make a difference!
Sincerely,
Robert J. Gaetano/ Principal
At Loyalsock Township Middle School (LTMS), we do believe in those theories. We believe that a student must feel secure and have a sense of belonging before he or she is ready to reach their potential in learning. We believe that when a student can say honestly, “This is my school; this is my classroom; this is where I belong, then that student is ready to learn. We believe that a feeling of belonging goes hand in hand with motivation, cooperation, and increased learning performance.
We believe so strongly that a feeling of belonging is vital to school performance that we do some specific things to improve students’ feeling of belonging in the school environment.
First of all, we give attention every day to ensure that the school environment is a safe and secure setting for students. This attention means taking the steps necessary to provide safety and security on the buses, in the halls, in the rest rooms, and in the cafeteria. It means, also, that classrooms are safe places where students can participate in all kinds of learning, questioning, and experimenting in an atmosphere of security and acceptance.
Second, we give utmost attention to the students’ need to find a high degree of success. We all feel we belong in those endeavors in which we are successful, and this belonging is equally true of children. We give personal help with learning tasks, we encourage, we applaud efforts, we review, we repeat instruction, and we monitor progress carefully. If a student needs remediation, we provide it, and we encourage the student to repeat the effort until his or her mastery level is attained.
The third thing we are doing to help each student feel a sense of belonging is enhancing the structuring of activities that develop students’ social skills through our Transition Program. The entire school staff is challenged to be student centered, to be mentors, to take on the role of student advocate. We structure activities and clubs for students so that they can develop friendships with many different people. We strongly encourage all staff members to be willing to make a personal investment in the students of our school and that they serve as models of caring and concerned human beings.
Our goal at school is to arrive to the point at which students can say honestly, “This is where I belong!” Then we can claim success in having our students ready to learn. We embrace the cooperation of parents and community members as we try to reach this goal. As we prepare to take on the challenges of the New Year we look forward to our continued partnership, aimed at providing the very best for the most-prized people in the school, the students. Together, we can make a difference!
Sincerely,
Robert J. Gaetano/ Principal
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Board Report- February
Loyalsock Township Middle School Board Report
Submitted by: Bob Gaetano/Principal, 2-3-10
Teaching/Learning/Enrichment:
• There are a lot of great things happening at the Middle School, and in my classroom visitations and observations; I came across something I would like to share with the board this month. Mr. Mike Frederick’s health classes recently discussed the F.I.T.T. Principle. This is a training principle that every coach, and especially trainers utilize. Frequency, Intensity, Time, and Type of exercise. Students learned how to use brand new heart rate monitors (purchased last year) to find their resting heart rate following the cardio-respiratory exercises. (Money well spent)
• On Friday (February 5th) Special Agent LaCadre of the Attorney General’s Office will be providing a presentation on harassment through communications, inappropriate texting, sexting, cyber-bullying etc. The sixth and seventh grades will attend the presentation at 12:30 PM and 8th and 9th will attend at 1:45 PM. We will be scheduling a special presentation for parents and adults in the near future, and would also like to invite board members to stop by either session this Friday.
Community Service/School Community Relations:
• A friendly grade level competition is being conducted by our Guidance Counselor Mrs. Kate Preisch. It will begin Monday during lunch periods through Friday, to raise funds for the Haitian relief effort. "Open Your Heart to Haiti" will urge students and staff to donate spare change, and by the end of the week, it is our hope that all the three grades will be able to celebrate a significant donation to the effort to help bring hope to Haiti.
Staff/Personnel Updates:
• On February 12th- at our In-Service day, Mrs. Rogers and Mrs. Phillips will be reviewing a power point which they authored. They will be sharing what they learned at a recent Co-Teaching Conference they attended. Our goal is to orchestrate an enhanced working relationship with the Co-Teaching model, between the Learning Support and Regular Education Teachers.
Leadership:
• On Monday, February 1st the Middle School launched its ASAP- After School Academics for Progress. Teachers will be providing academic support from 3:15 until 4:00 Monday through Thursday. The program will be available to every Middle School student, and while it is a voluntary program, there is a teacher referral process and we will be recruiting the “at-risk” students. Mr. Matt Johnson is spear-heading the efforts as chairperson for the program. Mrs. Antonnacci, Ms. Dewar, Mrs. Krout and Ms. Stieber are the instructors.
• I am in possession of a letter from a teacher at Williamsport who had one of our former students, Sgt. Lorin Cooper speak to her classes about her experiences in Iraq. She was also quick to point out that she was inspired to join the Armed Forces following 9-11 and from information learned about the current event, in Mr. Weaver’s 8th grade Social Studies class. It’s moments like that which make us all happy to be educators. Kudos to Mr. Weaver and Sgt. Cooper.
Highlights and Upcoming Events:
• Please continue to access our Middle School blog. It is now linked to both the district website and the high school blog.
Submitted by: Bob Gaetano/Principal, 2-3-10
Teaching/Learning/Enrichment:
• There are a lot of great things happening at the Middle School, and in my classroom visitations and observations; I came across something I would like to share with the board this month. Mr. Mike Frederick’s health classes recently discussed the F.I.T.T. Principle. This is a training principle that every coach, and especially trainers utilize. Frequency, Intensity, Time, and Type of exercise. Students learned how to use brand new heart rate monitors (purchased last year) to find their resting heart rate following the cardio-respiratory exercises. (Money well spent)
• On Friday (February 5th) Special Agent LaCadre of the Attorney General’s Office will be providing a presentation on harassment through communications, inappropriate texting, sexting, cyber-bullying etc. The sixth and seventh grades will attend the presentation at 12:30 PM and 8th and 9th will attend at 1:45 PM. We will be scheduling a special presentation for parents and adults in the near future, and would also like to invite board members to stop by either session this Friday.
Community Service/School Community Relations:
• A friendly grade level competition is being conducted by our Guidance Counselor Mrs. Kate Preisch. It will begin Monday during lunch periods through Friday, to raise funds for the Haitian relief effort. "Open Your Heart to Haiti" will urge students and staff to donate spare change, and by the end of the week, it is our hope that all the three grades will be able to celebrate a significant donation to the effort to help bring hope to Haiti.
Staff/Personnel Updates:
• On February 12th- at our In-Service day, Mrs. Rogers and Mrs. Phillips will be reviewing a power point which they authored. They will be sharing what they learned at a recent Co-Teaching Conference they attended. Our goal is to orchestrate an enhanced working relationship with the Co-Teaching model, between the Learning Support and Regular Education Teachers.
Leadership:
• On Monday, February 1st the Middle School launched its ASAP- After School Academics for Progress. Teachers will be providing academic support from 3:15 until 4:00 Monday through Thursday. The program will be available to every Middle School student, and while it is a voluntary program, there is a teacher referral process and we will be recruiting the “at-risk” students. Mr. Matt Johnson is spear-heading the efforts as chairperson for the program. Mrs. Antonnacci, Ms. Dewar, Mrs. Krout and Ms. Stieber are the instructors.
• I am in possession of a letter from a teacher at Williamsport who had one of our former students, Sgt. Lorin Cooper speak to her classes about her experiences in Iraq. She was also quick to point out that she was inspired to join the Armed Forces following 9-11 and from information learned about the current event, in Mr. Weaver’s 8th grade Social Studies class. It’s moments like that which make us all happy to be educators. Kudos to Mr. Weaver and Sgt. Cooper.
Highlights and Upcoming Events:
• Please continue to access our Middle School blog. It is now linked to both the district website and the high school blog.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
In the Midst of Week One - A.S.A.P. Program
With day number two down, our ASAP program numbers have grown already. Beginning with 7 students and now working with a group of 18, the LTMS teachers are extending their reach beyond the school day. I am confident in the days and weeks ahead the work that everyone is doing to reach higher levels of success will be evident. Already, students are seeking help when needed, finding a quiet place to work, and asking great questions of our teachers. Let's keep it up LTMS!
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