SOLANA HIGHLANDS FRIDAY FOCUS
May 3, 2013 (Vol. 17)
Good News! School Site Council approved funding for 1-to-1 iPads in all of our 3rd classrooms next school year!
Student Discussion
Collaboration
"Scouting" for Good Behavior
High Tides
- Quote of the Week - "I've always heard that Solana Highlands was a Jewell, and now it's very confirmed." Donna Van Dillan
- Happy Birthday - Sherry Doolittle 5-3 and Lindsay Scacco 5-7
- Terry Decker - For coming and speaking to our SSC about the district vision regarding technology and the high levels of learning these tools help support. His experience and expertise was much appreciated.
- Thank you Hollis - STAR preparation!
Motivational Video - "To the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world."
Tortoise helps friend who's flipped over
Announcements/Reminders
- Tonight - Family Heritage Night (5:30-7:00). There will be performances from our students, a costume contest, and food from around the world. Our PTA is expecting around 300 people!
- Math, Science and Beyond - for Kindergartners on Friday 5-10. Volunteers are always appreciated.
- Lunch Cards - Please remind students (1st and 2nd grade mostly) to make sure that they are grabbing their own lunch cards. There have been a couple of instances where students have used the wrong card.
- STAR Testing - No parent volunteers next week.
HAVE A WONDERFUL AND RELAXING WEEKEND!
EDUCATION CORNER - “What Really Matters When Working with Struggling Readers” by Richard Allington in The Reading Teacher, April 2013
“The good news is that we now have an essential research base demonstrating that virtually every child could be reading on grade level by the end of first grade,” says Richard Allington (University of Tennessee/Knoxville).
Why are so many students failing to read?
- Worksheets and isolated lessons targeting specific skill deficits are particularly low-impact.
- Struggling readers are often asked to read texts that are too difficult, versus the high-success texts that will accelerate their reading growth and confidence. Reading at the frustration level is counterproductive.
- Students don’t spend nearly enough time silently reading texts they select themselves. Research shows that silent, self-selected reading is a powerful driver of improvement.
- Struggling readers spend much more time than proficient peers sitting through round-robin reading and filling out worksheets, both of which have been shown to be low-gain activities. “If we want to foster reading development, then we must design lessons that provide the opportunities for struggling readers to actually read,” says Allington.
- Matching struggling students with texts that they can read with at least 98 percent word recognition accuracy and 90 percent comprehension;
- Maximizing silent reading of texts that students select themselves – during school hours and in the evenings, weekends, and vacations, especially the summer; struggling readers should leave school each day with at least one book they can read and that they want to read;
- Using effective teaching practices that get all students involved in reading and writing as much as possible; struggling readers should read and write more each day than proficient readers, says Allington.