A CRISS stands for CReating Independence through Student-owned Strategies. The goal of Project CRISS is to help students better organize, understand text, and become strategic learners. Students are taught to integrate new information with prior knowledge. They are actively engaged in their own learning by discussing, writing, and organizing. Students are taught to self-monitor their own learning.

Q How can parents promote Project CRISS at home?

A Engage your student in a conversation about their learning at school. Some ways you can initiate this conversation is to ask: how are you going to start your assignment? What have you already learned about the topic? How will you organize your notes? It has been statistically proven that humans learn information better when they have to explain the ideas to others.

Q How can parents assist students to study for final exams?

A Background knowledge and purpose setting are key to improved comprehension and learning. Students are far more likely to attend to information when they already have some previous knowledge or mental priming about the topic. Prior to engaging in studying, encourage your student to think about what he/she already knows about the topic. Effective learners read with a purpose in mind. When your student is studying at home, remind him to think about: the focus of his reading, specific topics that will be covered on a test, and his learning goals.

Q How can parents help students successfully complete homework?

A Parents can encourage their students to do the following:

► Take notes. Taking notes requires one to make decisions about what is read, and selecting what is written down, based on the purpose of the assignment.

► Transform the information. Taking information presented in one format and changing it into another format, such as diagrams, pictures or charts, allows learners to retain and recall concepts more easily.

► Ask questions. Encourage your student to write questions down as he/she reads. If they can't find the answer, encourage them to be a proactive learner and bring their question to class. The more you encourage your student to practice effective learning habits at home, the more likely they will be to apply them automatically in all learning situations.

Q How can parents assist their students to prepare for the ACT exams?

A Some tips for parents:

► Encourage reading. Share books you enjoyed as a 16 year old, the daily newspaper, and articles of interest.

► Work together on building vocabulary. Note new and interesting words found while reading and try to use these words in conversation.

► Take an ACT yourself. You may appreciate their efforts and may even be able to offer some suggestions of your own.

► Be positive and encouraging. These are not easy tests; supporting and sharing can work wonders.

Q How can parents promote interest in reading at home?

A A few suggestions:

► Focus on your student's interest and explore a variety of reading materials on those topics.

► Visit the public library to find out what's new and recommend it.

► At home, have a variety of reading materials available.

► Modeling is a great way to engage your student in reading. Read the same book together and talk about it. After reading, discuss what they liked or disliked. What changes would they make to the ending? What did they learn from the book?

Q How can my student get help in any subject area or get help with visual products/aids such as a PowerPoint or Photo Story presentation, a poster, or an edited video?

A Academic tutors are available from 7:00 AM - 3:10 PM, and computer tutors are available before school and during all lunch periods. Students may simply drop in as needed, or by filling out a "student request for tutoring" form, they may 'reserve' a tutor one or two days a week to guarantee weekly service.