Winter Literacy Update-January 2025

Here is the PDF Version to share with families! 

 

Family Support for Literacy

My family means the world to me and even just typing that is an understatement. I love and value my family first. A close second is the families I serve. Because family is so important to me personally, I am always trying to reflect and think of our student's families. 

It may not look like it or seem like it, but I truly believe our school families are sending us the best student they can. I might be overgeneralizing here, but I feel...

* Most families just don't know how the school system works like we do because we are on the "inside". 

* Most families don't know what they don't know and therefore, don't ask for help because they don't know to. They trust that we will tell them.

* Most families want to help their student, but they don't want to seem silly or stupid by asking. 

* Most families are wore out doing the best they can to provide for their families. 

...and I feel this way because I have been "that family". My child went to a new school system where I didn't know how it worked, didn't know what I didn't know about high school, didn't want to ask because I felt stupid because I do work in a school district, and I was tired working my butt off in the 9 to 5. 

While all that is true, I know better so I did better. I asked the questions and did what I could to help her. This experience taught me that we have to be clear and kind with our families. We have to presume positive intent and give them the resources they would need to be the parent who helps their student succeed. True, some may not use it. However, that doesn't mean we don't for the few, hopefully many, that will. 

That is why I have put together our Literacy Help for Families website. 

https://sites.google.com/iwcs.k12.va.us/literacyhelpcenter/myview

Here are some new things I have added to help our families. Please join me in spreading the word and providing feedback about what else I should add. 

* Handwriting worksheets for manuscript and cursive - For those students really struggling with handwriting, print these and send home for families. Have the student circle their BEST letter! 

* Fluency Progress Graphs and Kid Friendly Fluency Rubric - You could send home the cold read weekly in grades 1-5 in order to help with this. Another idea would be to send home the weekly foldable decodable texts. 

* Writing Rubrics by grade level - You could print one and send them home to each family at the beginning of the unit. Have kids write at home and bring a writing in for extra credit. 

MyView Learning Letter #27-Engagement, Again!

 

One of the biggest complaints I hear about MyView is how boring it is. One of the biggest things I see is the teacher doing more work than the students. In order to solve both of those concerns, the answer is something as simple as engagement. How do we get students to participate more in their learning?

While it is simple, it's not easy. There are LOTS of explicit things you need to teach your students about how to engage in their learning. And sometimes, let's be honest. It's easier for you to just control what is happening and have kids sit there. While that it is easier, it's not better for kids. 

On our new webpage, I have added a video that shows how I would engage students in ALL of the MyView lessons in order to build engagement. I probably need to go back and add some things for the writing section, but you will get the idea. I have also added other resources to help with engagement on this page and I am always seeking feedback so please share what you think is missing! 

Happy Engaging! ;)

IWCS Vision & Goals-Updated January 2025

In order to support families and be clear and kind about our intentions, we have a Literacy webpage on the Isle of Wight County Schools site. Families would get to it by clicking Departments, Instruction, and then Literacy K-5 on the right. This is the direct link to share: https://www.iwcs.k12.va.us/apps/pages/literacy

Find this section to learn where we are with our goals and how we have been progress monitoring them. 

We have met our Implementation Goal! Yay! You all are doing a fantastic job of implementing MyView. At my last data meeting with Savvas, they said you all are using it the MOST. Thank you for your dedication! 

We are close to meeting our Instructional Goal. We have some areas to work on with ensuring all students are engaged in their learning and we don't overscaffold for students because of the rigor. 

We do have teachers participating in professional learning monthly during PLC on SBRR, EBLI, and HQIM topics. However, not all teachers have finished the VLA Canvas course so we are on our way in our Professional Learning Goal.

For our Assessment Goal, we want our students to increase in their reading skills. Currently in K-2 on VALLSS, we have 60% of our students in Low Risk. Our goal was to have over 50%! YAY!!! In grades 3-5, we wanted to have at least 68% of or students in Tier 1 and we have 71%!