Principal Walder's Monday Memo
For the week of September 16th
The Collaborative Classroom's Approach to Teaching Reading (Taken from CC Blog)
The Collaborative Classroom Blog is full of great information about the new curriculum that we have adopted. The following is part of the blog about teaching reading and the CC Curriculum's approach. It is a great overview of the WHY and HOW of our new curriculum.
We know that learning flourishes when students participate in a supportive classroom community where everyone’s ideas are valued and where they are able to take risks, make mistakes, give an opinion, hear others’ opinions, agree and disagree respectfully.
Our research and experience has informed our three-tiered approach to reading: whole-class lessons to foster students’ ability to comprehend fiction and nonfiction and discuss their thinking with others, small-group lessons that meet students’ decoding, fluency, and comprehension needs where they are in their own developmental trajectory, and individual reading with teacher conferring.
Much of the Collaborative Classroom’s work is based on a constructivist pedagogy. However, research has shown that explicit, systematic phonics instruction best meets the needs of young readers.
Decoding progresses along a continuum of skills, from short vowels and single consonants through complex vowels and consonant blends to sophisticated polysyllabic analysis. Any class of young students will include students at different points along the continuum. And small-group instruction meets all students at their point of need. Some students may have mastered the needed skills, but many students who appear to read fluently at early levels are missing crucial concepts that begin to hinder their reading at later grades. It is imperative that students be screened and assessed for mastery of early reading skills so that gaps can be addressed.
In the quest for highly literate students who love to read for pleasure and information and are able to understand and respond to what they read at a deep level, it is critical that we give students the opportunity to apply all they are learning to their individual reading lives. This independent practice should be accompanied with teacher conferences. Independent reading with teacher conferences is an essential component of moving students to higher levels of comprehension.
Legacy PLC Topic for the Week
Agenda: Dr. Warzecha will be leading PLC this week. There are some changes to the schedule. Please be sure to attend on the date/ time which you have a calendar invite.
We will be in the Meeting Room.
The presentation from last week's PLC on School Communication is linked below for your future reference on the Danielson Framework: 4C: School Communication.
Dr. Walder's Schedule
Monday:
- Per email from Dr. Warzecha, please send out the NWEA Score Report. Please let Dr. Warzecha or me know if you need help printing the correct report.
- 9:20- 10:10 5th PLC
- 10:15- 11:05 4th PLC
- 1:00 pm Instructional Leaders Meeting at DEC
- 3:00 pm Work in K-1 Expansion Room If you have something of yours in here, please make sure to let me know or it may be moved to a new space.
Tuesday:
- 9:00- 10:30 TASD Elementary Principal Meeting
- 2:05 Individual Teacher Meeting
Wednesday:
- 8:00 am Parent Meeting in Dr. Walder's Room
- 11:50- 12:40 2nd PLC in Meeting Room
- 12:45- 1: 35 1st PLC in the Meeting Room
- 1:35- 2:25 3rd PLC in the Meeting Room
- 2:30 Girl Scouts Interest Meeting in the Commons (Call down interested students)
Thursday:
- 7:45- 8:00 Crisis Go Teacher Meeting - Bring your phone or device you access Crisis Go from to this meeting.
- 11:30- 2:00 Area 1 Principal Meeting - Out of Office
- 2:25- 3:15 JK/ K PLC in the Meeting Room
- 3:30 IEP at Legacy
Friday:
- 7:30 Building Instructional Leadership Goal Team Meeting
- Bring Legacy Gold Classroom winners to Heather.
- 2:45 LEGACY GOLD Drawing - Send students to Mrs. Qualseth's Room. (NOTE Change)
Contact Dr. Walder
Email: Samantha.Walder@k12.sd.us
Website: https://www.teaschools.k12.sd.us/
Location: Tea, SD, USA
Phone: 6058817381
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeaAreaLegacy/
Twitter: @swalder7