The Yuletide Villager
Week of February 12, 2018
GCS Mission: Through outstanding employees and community partners, Gaston County Schools provides innovative educational opportunities for all students in a safe and nurturing learning environment.
The vision of GCS is to inspire success and a lifetime of learning.
It is not complete but very close...please let me know if there are questions.
This Week!
Support Staff here is your chance to spend time in a classroom reading to students or sharing a book review of your favorite children's book. I'll be asking you for your contribution so start sharing. Yes, I'm talking to you! Everyone that works at MES you can be a part of our challenge.
10 days is not a long time but it is long enough to begin a beautiful habit for children to peak curiosity and help our students want to explore more of the books we have and desire ones we don't. How can you contribute to our We Heart Books Campaign?
Make sure your students know.....And tucked away in our prize chest is this opprotunity!
We Heart Books Campaign School-Wide Kickoff
Students receive package and information on how to love books with us and build our classroom libraries.
Wednesday, Feb 14, 2018, 01:30 PM
McAdenville, NC, United States
“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.”
― Joseph Brodsky
“Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.”
― John Locke
DUTY WEEK B
School Events Agenda
- 2/12 - Chick-Fil-A COW will visit to kick off PTO Spirit Week at Belmont Location
- 2/12 - Gaston County Schools Accreditation Review
- 2/13 - AdvancEd in schools today
- 2/14 - Wildcat of the Month info due in the spreadsheet, please.
- 2/14 - Valentine's Day - RED & JEANS DAY
- 2/14 - WE HEART BOOKS KICKOFF
- 2/15 - 16 - Teachers spend time talking about what it means and how students read and parents and community can help build our classroom libraries and listening to how kids can help
- 2/19 or 20th - Our 1st activity We Heart Books Activity
- 2/19 - Workday (or Weather Makeup not sure yet)
- 2/22 - Interim Reports Home
3/2 - Final day of "WE HEART BOOKS"
- Coming in Mid - March -March Madness
Looking Ahead:
- National Teacher Day
May 8, 2018 - National Teacher Appreciation Week
May 7-11, 2018
March 2nd Read Across America
6 more minutes: Struggling readers, reading practice, and growth
What are the differences between a student who starts and ends the school year as a struggling reader, and a student who starts out struggling but ends the year succeeding?
A recent study comparing the two groups noted several differences in their reading practice characteristics, and one of them was the time spent reading per day. Students in the latter group—the “successful” readers—read approximately six minutes more per day on average.
In the world’s largest study of the reading habits of K–12 students—encompassing nearly 9.9 million students in more than 30,000 schools across the United States over the 2015–2016 school year—the authors also found differences in average words read (successful readers read more words) and quality of the reading practice as measured by the average comprehension level (successful readers had higher comprehension).1
The study first looked at third-grade students who began the school year in the bottom quarter of reading achievement—struggling readers who would typically be identified as needing “intervention” or even “urgent intervention.”
On average, the third graders who failed to meet grade-level benchmarks by the end of the year had 14.6 minutes of engaged reading time per day. In comparison, the third graders who met the college- and career-readiness benchmarks for their grade read for 20.0 minutes—a difference of less than 6 minutes of daily reading time. On average, these students also read 100,448 more words and had 11% higher comprehension than their peers who did not meet benchmarks.
The study next looked at sixth-grade students. Sixth graders who started the year in the bottom quarter and ended the year below benchmark read an average of 12.4 minutes per day. Sixth graders who started in the same place but achieved college- and career-readiness benchmarks averaged 18.0 minutes of engaged reading time per day. Once again, the difference in daily reading time was less than 6 minutes. These students also read more words on average (230,422 more) and had higher average comprehension (9% higher).
New SCOOP from DPI
Make Referrals Here:
MES Social Worker - Whitney Hill
Please use this referral form for student Social Work Request.
MES School Counselor - Eric Otis
Please use this referral form for student School Counselor Request