Mustang Musings
January 21, 2019
Three Questions Your Students Should Be Able to Answer
1. What are you reading that you love?
2. What is your power goal?
3. How do you practice your power goal?
What are YOU reading?
To develop a culture of reading in our school we must all talk about what we are reading. How powerful would it be if every child heard us all talking enthusiastically about what we are reading!
On Target for IRLA Reading Level
Our goal is for every child to show at least a year of growth this school year.
At this point in the year, our students should be at these points:
K-.40
1st-1.40
2nd-2.40
3rd-3.40
4th-4.40
HES creates readers!
1hour of reading each day equals more than 2.66 years of growth without any other interventions.
On Target for Reading Practice
We no longer have 100% of our students on target for their reading steps. We need to think about what we need to do to have 100% of our students on target. Contact parents? Have reading time first thing in the morning? Partner with another grade level and have the students read together? Let's think about how we can overcome obstacles. It is not really about steps, it is ALL about the engaged reading practice.
Bring Your Bling!
Please continue to encourage your students to wear all their medals for Bling Friday. Let's build engagement and encourage more reading.
ARC Swimming Pool
Are Your Students Growing?
Reading Goal for IOWC-All learners will receive the differentiated support needed to ensure at least a year’s worth of growth.
By now we should see at least 0.4 growth points for students. Things to think about if your students are not showing that growth:
- Have you given them credit in foundational skills for everything they showed they can do during entry?
- Do they have home reading and engagement down?
- Are you able to see those lower students often enough to capture their learning?
- Are they ready for the next level?
Steps calendar for this month
ARC Focus of the Week
- Make sure you are conferencing daily
- All students should know their power goal and how to practice their power goal independently
- Address phonics gaps first
- Reading steps need to be entered daily.
- Every child should be conferenced with at least one time every 10 days. Students in emergency must be met with more frequently.
- Your conference and the evidence you record should be focused on the student's power goal.
Turnaround Tuesday
Our next "Turn Around Tuesday" will be Thursday, January 24. Please count the books in each of the book bins and place a sticky note with the number on top. Books should be in the bookroom by 8:30 am. Please complete the book request form that was included in your initial book delivery and place it in the clear plastic folder near the light switch.
Teach the Teacher
The importance of good instruction and a good vocabulary.
The Title 1 team attended a conference to help struggling readers last Friday. Beth Estill was the presenter and she had some thought-provoking things to say.
- 80% of students identified as having a specific learning disability have a school-induced learning disability. This means that will proper, strategic instruction, these students would not have had a learning disability. They have been identified as having a learning disability because of the actions, or inaction, of educators. We have the power to change this!
- We must be more aware of our word choice when we are talking with our students. Instead of saying "That test was really hard", we can stretch our student's vocabulary by saying "That activity was extremely challenging". We must model what we want our students to do.
Great Idea, Mrs. Smith!
Mrs. Smith and I were working on conferencing when she remembered a document she had used previously to help students with noticing unfamiliar words. She had a great tool! We discussed a few changes and made WOW words 2.0. Great idea, Mrs. Smith!
Unfamiliar Words 1.0
This is the original document that Mrs. Smith used to help her students to identify unfamiliar words.
WOW Words 2.0
This is the document we worked together to improve and meet the needs of her students.
AND it has roots, prefixes and suffixes on the back!
Another goal that her students were working on was roots, prefixes, and suffixes. We decided to put them back to back to provide more opportunities for students to work on their power goals.
Suffolk Reading Council
Isle of Wight County is part of the Suffolk Reading Council (SRC) Chapter and supports teachers dedicated to the promotion of literacy in schools and communities. The SRC membership grants teachers opportunities to access exclusive resources from the Virginia State Reading Association (VSRA), awards, and grants. Along with the many benefits it provides for educators, the VSRA holds an annual reading conference and this year it is in Norfolk! If you would like more membership or conference information, please contact Natalie Street (CAES) nstreet@iwcs.k12.va.us.
What can I do for you?
- Modeling
- Side-by-side coaching
- Coaching and modeling of using the IRLA
- Round up resources
- Assist with differentiating lessons or materials
- Cover your class so that you can observe a colleague's class
- Cooperatively plan a lesson or series of lessons that meet best practices
- Serve as another pair of hands for a lesson
- Offer strategies for classroom management
- Help you connect with other teachers in the district
- Lend an open ear for a topic of your choice
- Reflect on student learning in your classroom through conversation and observation
- Work collaboratively to bounce ideas off one another to address a concern
- Evaluate new students to guide instruction
Hardy Elementary School
We are creating students who are lifelong readers!
Email: lhenk@iwcs.k12.va.us
Website: http://hes.iwcs.k12.va.us/
Location: 9311 Hardy Circle, Smithfield, VA, United States
Phone: 757-357-3204
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Hardy-Elementary-School-205065852892284/
Twitter: @Mrs_Henk