Our Vision for Literacy – from Julie Richards
Our vision for literacy in Bend La Pine is that 95% of our students are reading at or above grade level by the end of 2nd grade.
We have some “wins” to celebrate!!!
Kindergarten mid year Acadience data has grown from 57% in 24-25 to 68% at or above benchmark in 25-26!!!! AMAZING!
Today we are recognizing the SRE kindergarten team as they had amazing growth on DIBELS. With a composite score from 61% at BOY to 88% MOY, the highlight is that 95% of kindergartners know all their letters and sounds. They said “I think our success can be attributed to our work with the Early Literacy Cohort. We’ve used intentional goal setting, altering practices and routines to focus on the most important goals first, prioritizing our Foundational Skills block and maximizing the time spent, providing students more opportunities to respond and “do the work”, and every student being in decodable text daily.”
Over the next few TLC blogs we will continue to celebrate growth in Early Literacy and celebrations from the Math Growth and Engagement Network!!!
Literacy Happenings
Have you been eagerly awaiting fluency passages that align with EL topics?
Would you like to join a small team of teachers to develop these?
Signup here before February 24th
What: create weekly fluency passages for grades 1st – 5th grade to support fluency development while also building background/vocabulary for EL topics
- The majority of this work will be timesheeted at the curriculum rate
- We will come back together a couple of times in person to calibrate our work across the grade levels
When: we hope to launch this group on April 8th during SIW time (exact time to come)
- Scheduling this during teacher SIW time is in an attempt to
- Avoid folks needing subs and being out of buildings
- Avoid after school when people’s schedules are busy
- Avoid any SIW’s before conferences (so choosing an April date)
- Folks will be paid for trading this time
- You can give feedback if this time doesn’t work for you when you sign up here (same link as above)
- We will come back together between April and the end of the year to calibrate our work across grade levels
4th grade 19th Amendment Resources
Here are some resources designed to provide support and background knowledge in Module 4.
EL training opportunity with Better Lesson
Some slots have opened for the following Expeditionary Learning training provided by Better Lesson. Email Lindsley Gehrig if interested in coming.
| WHEN: March 6th WHERE: Education Center boardroom WHAT TIME: 8 – 2:30 (45-minute lunch) WHO IS PRESENTING: Better Lesson in-person trainer WHAT TO EXPECT: Leveraging Curriculum Supports for ALL Learners OverviewThe EL Curriculum provides support and resources for differentiated instruction, which allows teachers to support students with disabilities, as well as those who may need academic extension. In this workshop, participants will build an understanding of how to leverage curriculum resources to engage and support all learners. Participants will explore foundational understandings, learner attributes, and approaches and then have an opportunity to plan for an upcoming lesson. Learning Experience – Define EL’s framework for and philosophy for supporting all learners – Explore curriculum resources to support all students to engage and achieve – Build a plan for an upcoming unit and lesson that utilizes curriculum resources to support diverse learners. |
Student Well-Being
During Community Connection time, morning meetings can be a powerful way to build connection, belonging, and a positive classroom climate. They create intentional space for students to greet one another, share their voices, practice social-emotional skills, and start the day feeling seen and valued. Teachers can choose from a variety of structures depending on their goals, grade level, and time available.
Consistent 15 minute connection right when school begins matters, and mixing up formats throughout the week keeps students engaged while strengthening classroom community. Here is a menu of ideas and options to run your morning meetings/community connection time.
Movement Moment
Space Jam Chase – Basketball Brain Break
Basketball Would you Rather Brain Break
Mario Basketball Brain Break
Be Balanced – Fists on Fire – Kids Yoga
Be Kind – Breathe in Kindness – Kids Yoga
EdTech in the Classroom
What if a cereal box could connect math, sustainability, and marketing in one project?
One class redesigned traditional cereal boxes into cubes while keeping the exact same volume. That discovery led to a thoughtful class discussion about packaging choices and waste. Students documented their process in Seesaw and created original cereal commercials using Green Screen, weaving EdTech into real learning as one cohesive experience.
Take a look at this example from Page’s class, and reach out to [email protected] if you’d like to explore tools like this together.
