HPS MLD News

Dear HPS Families,

As we move in the Fall season, we are here to share ideas on how to support your child(ren) through the months leading up to the Winter Break. October, November, and December are filled with days off which can be seen as opportunities to spend more learning time at home. In this issue, we will share some activities that will support your child’s Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing skills in English. You will also find News from your child(ren)'s schools.

Sincerely,

Afrin F. Alavi/MLD Director

Mirjana Maros/MLD District Facilitator

Amela Kukic/MLD Admin Assistant

Date/Time: October 10, 2024 @ 12:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m. & 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.

Consider taking these steps to strengthen communication with your child’s teacher.

1. Before the meeting, ask your child about how they feel when they are in their teacher’s class and ask if they are struggling with any schoolwork.
2. During the meeting, you can ask about your child’s areas of strength and areas of improvement in the classroom. Find out about your child’s mental and emotional wellbeing by asking about their participation level and moods.
3. After the meeting, speak with your child about what was discussed and share any plans that you and your child’s teacher talked about.

Below you can find some examples of questions you can use to begin discussions with your child’s teacher:

• How is my child doing in class? Does my child participate?
• What can I do to help my child at home?
• Is my child on track to begin college or a career after graduation?
• What programs are available to help my child prepare for college?
• What programs are available to provide more challenging learning experiences for my child?

Remember that you have the right to ask for an interpreter if you are unsure of attending a meeting in English.

For a more detailed list of recommendations, check out the ColorinColorado article, “Tips for Parents: Parent-Teacher Conferences."

Parent Workshop

Join us for a Parent Workshop at Dickinson East Elementary on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, from 1:30-3:00 pm. This workshop will provide valuable information on how to access and utilize Parent Square and Parent Connection. Parent Square is a communication platform designed to keep parents informed, while Parent Connection serves as the parent portal for accessing important information such as grades and attendance records. We look forward to seeing you there! If you have any questions, feel free to contact Afaf Saleh, the ML Home-to-School Coordinating Specialist, at 313-729-9764 or email aasaleh@hamtramckschools.org.

Parent Engagement Male English Language Learner Classess

We are pleased to announce the Parent Engagement Male English Language Learner Classes, scheduled to begin the week of October 28, 2024. The classes for parents at Dickinson East will be held every Monday from 1:30-3:00pm in the cafeteria. Tau Beta parent classes will take place every Thursday from 2pm-3pm in the cafeteria.

Registration for the Dickinson East class is scheduled for Monday, October 21st from 1pm-3pm in the cafeteria. For those interested in the Tau Beta class, registration will be conducted on Thursday, October 24th from 2pm-3pm in the cafeteria.

Should you have any inquiries or require additional information, please do not hesitate to reach out to:

Majid Al-Topai, Parent Engagement Facilitator, Arabic

Contact: 313-977-3788

Email: maltopai@hamtramckschools.org

Ripon Lasker, Parent Engagement Facilitator, Bangla
Contact: 313-903-5214
Email: rlasker@hamtramckschools.org

We appreciate your interest in our male English Language Learner Classes.

• During this time all K-2 Newcomer students and students whose first language is other than English were WIDA screened in order to determine their English level of proficiency for the servicing requirements.

• In addition, our little ones, Newcomers, were extremely happy when they received colorful school backpacks and boxes full of school supplies from the MLD Department. Thank you…you put a big smile on their faces :)

• Open House (09/19/2024) at our school was a big success and a lot of parents attended showing interest in their child’s education and desire to be more involved in the school activities.

Dickinson East recently held a special celebration to honor its Former Multilingual Learners who achieved proficiency on the WIDA assessment. This milestone is a testament to their hard work, determination, and the support they've received from their teachers, families, and peers. Reaching proficiency in English is a significant achievement, as it opens doors to greater academic success and opportunities for the future. We are extremely proud of each student for their dedication and perseverance. As they continue their educational journey, we wish them all the best and are confident they will excel in everything they pursue.

“Hello everyone. My name is Bilaal Parker. I am the WIDA coordinator/ML teacher at Dickinson West. This is my 12th year teaching. I have taught at DW for the last 5 years. I look forward to having another great year working with our wonderful students.”

“My name is Alexis Lambdin. I'm excited to have joined the ML department last spring. Having taught 1st grade at Dickinson West for the last 6 years, and prior to that 3rd grade, I'm excited to grow in my new role servicing our multilingual learners.”

"Hello everyone! I’m Mrs. Zainab Hussain, and I’m thrilled to join Dickinson West Elementary as a Multilingual Lerner Teacher this year. Having previously taught Kindergarten here, it feels wonderful to be back with such a supportive community. I’m grateful for the warm welcome from the staff, students, and parents, and I’m looking forward to an amazing and productive school year together!"

Celebrations:

We recognized some of our students that exited from WIDA at the end of our assembly on Friday, September 13th and some in their classrooms. They were very happy to receive their backpacks. Congratulations to all 14 students!

Happening in October

October 10th - ½ Day for Students

Parent Teacher Conferences at 12:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m. & 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.- come to talk to all your child’s teachers about his/her progress.

Look for the Sign-Up Genius Link in Class Dojo messages and class stories about one week prior to the event.

Research Says

According to S. Krashen (2004), those children and adults who do more recreational reading show better results in reading, writing, grammar, and vocabulary. It helps with both first and second language acquisition. Even if parents do not speak English, there is so much they can do in any language: sing songs, play board games, read books in any language together, learn poems and rhymes with their children. Parents are their children’s first teachers.

Strategies to Try at Home in October

1.While you are cooking, ask your child to write a recipe of what you are cooking in steps using transitional words: first, next, then, after that, finally.

2.Ask your child to make a grocery list in English or in their home language, or in both!

Resources

1.Practice sight words with your Kindergarteners, 1st and 2nd graders here:

Kinder 1,

1st

2nd

2. Encourage your children in Grades 3-8 to work on Summit K-12 daily (after they take a placement test at school). This program is in Clever and working on it consistently will help your child exit the English Language Program/score proficient on the WIDA ACCESS.

September Activities and Celebrations

On September 10th during Tau Beta’s Open House Event, our ML Team: Ms. Larsen and Ms. Prys recognized 22 Tau Beta students who have scored proficient on WIDA ACCESS 2023-2024. If students score proficient on the WIDA ACCESS test, their overall score is 4.8 and higher. This means that they can function in any classroom without additional language support and will not have to take this test again. Our English Language Proficient students were rewarded with certificates indicating their scores and with backpacks stuffed with school supplies provided by our amazing ML Department. Later in September, Tau Beta Multilingual Learners worked on analyzing their last year WIDA scores and set goals for the WIDA ACCESS test 2024-2025, which will take place in January-February 2025. In addition, Ms. Prys and Ms. Larsen discussed the benefits of bilingualism with some of their students.

We are excited to begin our new year at Kosciuszko Middle School! Students have learned about what they are expected to do to be successful at KMS. We are delighted to host our first Parent and Teacher Conferences on Thursday, October 10, 2024 from 12:30pm - 3:00pm and 5:00pm - 7:00pm. Also, we are thrilled to have Dr. Cackett, Physicist from Wayne State University, come with his daytime telescopes on October 7, 2024. Thank you Mrs. Housey-Johnson for organizing this in house field trip!!! You rock!

Welcome to the start of an exciting new school year! We are thrilled to have our students back and eager to embark on another year of learning, growth, and community. We hope you find this newsletter informative and helpful as we kick off the year. Let’s make it a fantastic one together!

ML Department generously provided HHS ML students who exited the ML program with backpacks that has school supplies. The students were so happy to get these backpacks, and they considered it as a caring act. Another contribution to our ML student was providing some of them, especially the Limited English Speakers, with a Voice Translator device that help the students communicate easier.

Mr. Lawrence Stroughter, our Hamtramck High School principal shares important messages daily to the whole school, especially after the morning announcements. He says, "As always Cosmos, remember to take care of yourself, so that you can take care of others, and by doing so we will take care of Hamtramck High School." We want our students to be healthy. This is why we have a clinic at HHS that offers health support and services (e.g., vaccines, therapy and many more) to our students, especially ML newcomer students. Parents and students can call (313) 591-7411 to schedule an appointment.

September is a month when not much is happening. Students are returning to school, some are old and a lot of new students. As soon as the new ones come in, we WIDA screen them, so they are placed in the correct class. We gave out some backpacks to those newcomers who needed them, and they were so pleased to get them. We teach our students about the school and class expectations and how important attendance is. On September 12, we had an Open House so that parents could come and see where their child goes to school and meet the teachers. On September 18 we had iReady testing for reading, and on September 19, it was iReady for math the portion. The majority of the students were tested during those two days. Make-up testing will be as soon as the student is back at school. Mrs. Jovanoska started Summitt K12 with both her classes, in hopes that it will help with WIDA testing. Her newcomers will be doing it every day because she has them for two 90 minute classes, but the Integrated Studies class will be doing it on Fridays.

Bookbot

Target: FREE online Books

Recommended Grade Levels: All

Bookbot offers a selection of free books with audio to be read at home.

When it is time to read and your child doesn’t have a book, go to Bookbot to find a free one.

1. Go to Bookbotkids.com and click “Free Books.”
2. Scroll down and have your child select a Category.
3. Have your child click “Read Now” under the book of their choice and begin reading.
4. Click the arrows to move pages.
5. When finished with the book, be sure to talk about it with your child. Ask “What happened in the beginning, middle, and end?”, “Who are the main characters?”, and “What is the setting?”

You can download the app, so you can take reading anywhere you go, or download the PDF if you want to save the books for later.

Outspell

Target Skills: Vocabulary and Spelling

Recommended Grade Levels: K-12

This is a spelling game that allows the player to select a difficulty level and score points based on the words created on a game board.

The easiest way to use this resource is to:

1. Open Outspell and click the Play button.
2. Select your difficulty level or Practice Play.
3. Drag the letter tiles to the game board to build a word, then click Submit.
4. Your digital opponent will add their word, then you play again until the board is full.

This is a fun spelling game that can improve vocabulary and spelling skills. Your child can use it on a phone or computer.

• Hanan Muhsin (Dickinson East)
• Aieda Dabish (Holbrook)
  
• Yulia Akulshina Prys (Tau Beta)
  
• Violetta Kuzniar (KMS)
  
• Roberta Jovanoska (Horizon)
  
• Dobrila Spiroska (ECE)
• Bilaal Parker (Dickinson West)

• Dalia Hadi (Hamtramck High School)

ML Home-to-School Specialist

• Afaf Abdo-Nagi Saleh (Arabic)

Parent Engagement Facilitators

• Majid Al Topai (Arabic)
• Ripon Lasker (Bengali & Urdu)

Interpreters

• Jasmin Akther (Bengali)
• Farzana Akhanjee (Bengali)
• Amirah Saleh (Arabic)

October 2: Fall Count Day

October 4: End of Progress Report Period 1

October 7: Grading Window Closed

October 10: Progress Report #1 Distributed at PT Conferences

October 10: ½ Day for Students

• PT Conferences @ 12:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m. & 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.

October 11: ½ Day for All Students (AM)

September MLD News

Afrin F. Alavi (aalavi@hamtramckschools.org)

Mirjana Maros (mmaros@hamtramckschools.org)

Amela Kukic (akukic@hamtramckschools.org)