Reading First
We extend a warm welcome to each Mark Twain Family. We are excited to begin a new school year and we are committed to working closely with you throughout the year to help each child reach or exceed grade level standards. This year promises to bring new changes and new challenges to Mark Twain. We are excited to be in our third year with the Reading First Federal Grant program. This grant continues to bring us new resources with which we are using to help each child at Mark Twain reach his or her potential. Our WASL scores reached a admirable 82.2% of last years fourth grades passing the reading portion of the state WASL test. This is up from last year. We are very excited and proud of this growth and we continue to work towards our goal of "Success For All".

We have expanded our reading leadership team with the addition of a primary reading coach. Our Reading Leadership Teamhas been working on developing new ideas and activities to help each student achieve our goal of having all of our students reading at grade level or beyond by the end of the year.

Research has shown that students who read each and every day improve their reading skills. Once again this year we will expect each Mark Twain student to read for a minimum of 20 minutes at home each weekday night. Parents are asked to sign their child's read and response forms each evening. To help students who do not have an opportunity to read at home we will begin operating a Reading Opportunity Room at noon. Students will spend 20 minutes of their recess time reading. We are encouraging students to participate in the Reading Counts Program here at school. Students will read a book and answer a few questions about the book to earn points. Individual prizes will be earned as well as a school-wide incentive will be worked for.

These are a few of the things parents can do to help promote reading success for their children.

  • Set aside a minimum of 20 minutes every day to read with or to your child and sign the Read and Response Sheet each night.
  • Work together with your child's teacher to develop and carry out an Individual Academic Plan (IAP) if your child is reading significantly above or below his/her grade level.
  • Let your child see you reading for fun regularly, and share what you are reading with them.
  • Keep a wide variety of reading materials around the house such as books, magazines, newspapers, riddles, poems, and comic books.
  • Encourage your kids to read everything they see--cereal boxes, sports cards, advertisements, and road signs.

The Mark Twain staff looks forward to the 2007-2008 school year. We believe Mark Twain students can achieve high academic standards. We hope you will work in partnership with us as we strive to reach our vision of getting 100% of our students reading at grade level by June 2008.

We look forward to a collaborative partnership and a shared vision for the future of our students. We know open, positive communication is essential in a good partnership. Please contact us if you have comments or questions.

Sincerely,

Doug Rutherford, Principal

 

 

Last updated 9/4/07