Title I Newsletter

Neshaminy School District, March 2021

Dear Neshaminy Families,

The Title I Newsletter is published to keep you up to date and informed about what is happening in Title I. This issue is dedicated to familiarizing families with the nuts and bolts of five big areas of reading plus print awareness. The red buttons at the end are linked to home-strategies to support parents and guardians in working with their youngsters at home.


Sincerely,

Ms. Maurizi

Title I Reading Specialist & Coordinator

Reading 101: Reading Basics for Parents

What are the core skills that young children need to become successful readers? Learning to read is complex. The below overview can help explain key terms and demystify the process. Having an understanding of these terms supports meaningful communication between you and the teacher about your child's progress in reading and related areas.


Click the underlined, blue bolded words to read more about each area of literacy. The links include an in-depth explanation of each term as well as information about what parents/guardians can do at home to support developing readers.

Home-Activities for Developing Readers

PHONEMIC AWARENESS: SEGMENTING & BLENDING ACTIVITIES

These activities can support you as you teach your child how to string sounds together and pull them apart. Blending and segmenting sounds are integral to beginning reading. The ability to segment helps all ages with spelling.
Sound Boxes

Use these sound boxes to help children segment sounds in words. Place one game chip under each box. Students say the name of each picture and then push up a chip for each sound in that word. Great for small group instruction!

SOUND BLENDING I SPY

Blending sounds primes kids for print. Play a new variation to a favorite children’s game. Play "I Spy". For directions to this game, see activity 3 in the link.

Alphabetic Principle & Phonics Activities

These activities are designed for young children just learning to read or older children who are struggling with learning to read. They help children associate sounds with letters.
Letter-Sound Mapping

To master the alphabetic principle, students must identify the number of sounds in a word and then associate the letter or letters that represent each sound. Mapping the letters to the sounds moves students from phoneme awareness to phonics!

Pool Noodle Phonics

Use pool noodles to practice making and reading real and make believe words. Thumbs up if the word is real, and thumbs down if the word is a nonsense word. Have fun with these manipulatives.

Vocabulary Activity

Vocabulary plays an important part in the reading process and is critical to reading comprehension. Children learn the meanings of most words indirectly, through everyday experiences with oral and written language. Other words are learned through direct instruction.
Building Your Child's Vocabulary

Directly teach your child new vocabulary with this easy four step process.

What is Title I?

Title I, Part A (Title I) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act provides financial assistance to school districts and schools with high percentages of children from families that may have various disadvantages. The federal funding is used to help ensure that all children meet challenging state academic standards. Title I is the largest of the federally funded education programs.


This year, there are 4 Schoolwide Title I Schools at Neshaminy School District. As such, our Title I funds and services can provide comprehensive strategies for improving the entire school so that every student achieves high levels of academic proficiency. Listed below are some of the benefits to being a Schoolwide Title I school:


  • All students may participate in Title I funded initiatives
  • Maximizes flexibility in using Federal funds
  • Serves as a vehicle for whole-school reform with focus on improving achievement of lowest- achieving students.
  • Addresses student needs through a Schoolwide plan based on a comprehensive needs assessment.


How Parents/Guardians Can Get Involved in Title I

Parents/guardians are notified about Title I services and encouraged to participate in school activities/meetings. Families may participate in informational meetings and learning opportunities throughout the school year. Parents/guardians are provided information via newsletters, emails, social media, conferences, school web pages, meetings and workshops.

NSD TITLE I PARENT HANDBOOK

Learn more about Title I at Neshaminy !

Neshaminy School District

Please feel free to contact Michelle Burkholder, Director of Elementary Education, at anytime with questions, concerns or suggestions regarding Neshaminy School District Title I.