Engage In Literacy!

 Not only is that our theme for the year, it is also our goal.  We want every child to be truly engaged in reading on a daily basis.   Books can take us places that we've never been, make us laugh, cry, and hungry to learn more.  At Rocky Run, we offer many opportunities for students experience the wonderful world of reading in fun and engaging ways. 
                                 
So How Do We Engage in Literacy?

Reading Month

October is always reading month at RRES.  We will be meeting soon to plan an event packed month for your child. 

Author Visits

We are very excited about a special author visiting us on September 29th, 2009.  Jerry Pallotta is the author of numerous counting and alphabet books.  His books appeal to children and adults of all ages.  We are very excited to have him as our special guest. 

STAR Time  (students and teachers are reading)

Something special happens at RRES every day.  STAR stand for "Students and Teachers are Reading".  At 3:15, everyone stops what they are doing and participates in 10-15 minutes of sustained silent reading  What a great way to end each school day!

At Rocky Run, we constantly emphasize the goal of reading, enjoyment and comprehension.  Keeping the "Super 6" reading strategies in mind helps us to make sense of what we are reading.   

1.  MAKING CONNECTIONS - As you read with your child, are you able to make connections with other books that you have read, with personal experiences or with world events?  
2.  PREDICT/INFER - Readers comprehend better by making a predictions about what they are about to read or to make an inference concerning the material. 
3.  QUESTION-  Asking questions as you read aids in focusing on comprehension. 
4.  MONITOR/CLARIFY- The reader looks at what they are about to read and makes sure that they undeerstand unknown words and concepts. 
5.  SUMMARIZE - Summarization should not be a re-telling of all events in the story but a two or three sentence statement covering the the most important facts. 
6.  EVALUATE - Everyone should have some sort of reaction to what has been read.  This can be done by discussion, answering the questions created before the reading, discussing the author's purpose and so forth. 

Accelerated Reader

AR is a computer data base of quizzes on many popular children's books.  Students earn and accumulate points by reading the books and then taking quizzes.  Our library has many of these books marked and ready for check out and students can also quiz on the story from their class basal reader.  Quizzes can be completed in class, or every Tuesday and Thursday morning in the library. The kids love it when they are recognized and rewarded for points earned.  Click on the link or look under student resources to see if you may have some AR books at home!   AR Book List

Book Exchange

 Your child may bring a previously read (and gently used) book to exchange for another every Tuesday morning in the guidance hallway.  We have quality books on hand at all reading levels.  If we can always use volunteers to help with this endevor and donations of gently used books!  Give us a call!

Reading Assessments

PALS

Has your child mentioned something about a PALS test?  All students K-3 are given the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening every fall and spring.  It is simply a tool used to see where your child is developmentally in reading and to identify students who would benefit from additional reading support.  Please check out their web-site for more information about PALS and some wonderful parent resources.  
 pals.virginia.edu/Instructional-Resources/Parent-Corner.asp

RAI

Third, fourth and fifth graders take a test called the RAI (Reading for Application and Instruction) the in fallm mid-year and spring.   This is an assessment used to find specific strengths and weaknesses in reading comprehension. 

Word Study is a program that is fairly new to the world of literacy. This program was developed by Dr. Ed Henderson of the University of Virginia and Dr. Charles Read at Harvard University. They discovered that children do develop through stages of spelling as they do when they develop as readers.  Dr. Henderson and Dr. Read were able to determine that children need to learn one stage of development before they moved on to another, and WORD STUDY was born.
Using this spelling approach children are taught to look at patterns and sound in words in an analytical way. Students are taught to apply the patters and sounds they learn to other words, either when reading or when writing.  Word Study is a much more efficient and effective way to teach spelling. Please refer to the links below for more infomation about Word Study:
Reading First Information on Word Study
Information and Activies Dealing with Word Study

Fluency

Research shows a direct link to a child's ability to read fluently and comprehension.  To make sure all of our bulldogs are on track with fluency, we do one minute reading checks quarterly in grades 1-5.