The Science of Reading

Thank you to Sue Grisko for leading our team in learning more about the science of reading, and how we can apply this knowledge and these strategies to our classroom practices to ensure all of our students are competent and confident readers.  Our kindergarten, first, second, third, EL, and special education teachers embarked on this two year exploration utilizing The Reading Teacher's Top Ten Tools yesterday.  Our big picture goals are to:

• improve teacher knowledge of literacy development and understanding of how to teach reading, spelling, and writing.
• improve use of reading materials and use of teaching methods to teach whole group, small group, and intervention groups.
• provide support for teachers as they deepen their understanding of how students learn to read and how to assess and plan instruction to improve literacy skills.

This school year we are focused on best practices for developing foundational skills and advanced word study.  I think everyone left yesterday's initial session full of energy, ideas, and a conviction to continue to learn, grow, and improve our practices.

Curriculum Night gratitude

 Last evening's family event radiated positivity and joy - it was wonderful to see so many of you at Curriculum Night! Here is a link to the slides shared during our welcome and overview sessions. 

Thank you again for your involvement, investment, and care in sharing this journey with us!

Social-emotional learning update

 As you are well aware the mission of our school is to “value the uniqueness of all and ensure the highest levels of learning.”  Inherent to this purpose is the belief that at East Prairie we support the social, emotional, and behavioral wellbeing of children AND their academic growth.  That trust, positive relationships, and a sense of community are as critical to learning as high expectations, individualized support, and care.

We are continuing to use RULER developed by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence as our curricular framework for social-emotional learning (SEL).  Each grade level has 30 minutes of morning meeting time devoted to social-emotional learning, in addition to our collective expectation of embedding this learning with massive amounts of care throughout our day.

 

New this year is our practice of using the community circle tool across grade levels to develop student agency, empower student voice, build relationships, and proactively create a restorative culture schoolwide. 

For those wanting to learn more, here is a link to additional information and professional development on the topic.   

Preschool through eighth grade, our first SEL unit is “emotions matter” - our learning goal in student-friendly language is “I can show kindness and and respect diversity.”  We are grateful for your partnership as we work together to grow our children into the very best version of themselves.

Bilingual Parent Advisory Committee

 Thank you to Ms. Torres, Mrs. Dovijarov, Mrs. Kowalewski, Ms. Wydmanski, Mrs. Warner, and many of our multilingual students and families for coming together for an outstanding first Bilingual Parent Advisory Committee (BPAC) meeting.  We collectively explored our instructional programs and strategies to support the unique needs of our students.  Great company and great questions made for a great afternoon and kick off event!  We look forward to continuing to partner with our families to ensure we serve our East Prairie community to the fullest extent possible.

Check us out online!