Wow! Can you believe we are wrapping up the third quarter? This year has flown by and we are seeing some major growth in our students...all because of you, our amazing teachers and staff! We have seen your willingness to try something new and we appreciate how welcoming you have been to change. Success grows when the vision is shared, so thank you for putting our students first and diving into this literacy initiative with us!

You know the saying, "all hands on deck"? Well, it's evident that Mapleton has adhered to that saying whole-heartedly! Our staff has dove into interventions both in and out of the classroom and our students are soaring! Both the Elementary and Middle School have been implementing Tier II interventions since January. The data proves our students are growing and becoming more successful readers, writers, speakers, and listeners!

Check out these numbers! The charts below show the decrease in the number of unmastered skills in Phonological Awareness from January to March. Even though we have made great progress, there are still so many skills our students are working to master.

When we aim for the middle while bowling, which as teachers we are often encouraged to do to "reach the most students", it results in a 7/10 split with one pin left on each side. Those pins are the students who need the most support, the ones who need the most challenge. So the question becomes....How do we teach in a classroom that has a wide variety of needs?

How could this be tied to literacy? Think leveled texts. It's not about leveling the texts for students, it's about leveling the support you give them! When our support within the classroom covers the wide variety of needs, everyone benefits! As Dr. Alfred Tatum states, "Leveled texts lead to leveled lives."