Reading Around the District This statement, "Everyone a Reader" is frequently seen, read, and heard from the national, state, county and local level.
Our district has developed a vision statement which targets the district goal that every child will be a reader by grade 3. We are very active in multiple ways to meet this target and implement our vision. The district had made a commitment to provide a complete reading program to our students. Financial and personnel resources include: • allocation of categorical funds to the area of Language Arts A complete reading program includes instruction in phonics, semantics and syntax. Activities, workshops and inservices have been supported with school based and federal funds. Some of the areas which are being addressed include: • Teachers from each site participating in "good first teaching"
training A district wide staff development workshop took place on February 26 with Leanna Traill making presentations to the primary and upper grade teachers. More training and emphasis on reading instruction will occur throughout the school year to provide teachers with training and strategies which will help achieve the vision of "Every Child a Reader by Grade 3!" When she first began as a district library-media teacher in 1993, Willy Ginaven discovered that not all schools had a Project Boost program in their media centers. The program at Ocean Knoll where she had been for 20 years had been so successful that she was eager to see it established throughout the district. Now all our schools with primary students have BOOST. What is Project BOOST? "It is a very successful beginning home reading program designed by teacher Jane Schatt in 1980 and established at her home school of Park Dale Lane through a grant from the County Department of Education," Willy tells The Envoy. "Teachers decide on which level a child should begin. The child then receives a list of books and a letter explaining the program to the parents. Parents read the books with their children and then check off the books read on the list. Then the child reads the book on his own. He is encouraged to read the book many times. After the child has read a certain number of books the list is returned to the media center for a certificate. "BOOST is not an instructional reading program. It is designed to give students much practice at reading at their own level. The books chosen should not be too difficult for the child but should bring pleasure to him/her because he/she feels successful. BOOST programs are available in both English and Spanish." Parents: Looking for a gift idea for your child’s birthday? State Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin has a suggestion. "Books are one of the greatest gifts that we can give our children, and I urge families and friends to buy books when they are looking for that ‘perfect gift.’ I fondly remember receiving new books as a child on special occasions and turning the crisp new pages with that magical smell, in anticipation of the stories that awaited me. I was transfixed as I expanded my horizons far beyond my own room." She continued, "Books don’t break; they don’t have little pieces that can get lost; they can be savored and read and reread. Unfortunately, because of lack of resources, California’s public school libraries rank last in the nation in terms of their book collections. Elementary classrooms should have at least 1,500 books on the shelf so that there is a sufficient supply of age-appropriate books. For some schools, this is not an easy goal to achieve, and family and community support for this effort will be greatly appreciated." |
