Welcome to our fall Title I meeting! Please help yourself to treats while everyone gets settled.

District Reading Professionals  Mrs. Erin Luther  Mrs. Kathy Ricker  Mrs. Mary Smaby  Mrs. Deb Truyman  Title 1 Administrator- Mr. Jim Neubert

 Title I is a federally funded program for students identified as needing reading and literacy assistance.  Funds are determined by amount of children in the district receiving free and reduced lunch.  Services occur in grades K – 5 at Little Chute Elementary and Intermediate Schools, and at St. John’s School.

1.Standardized test scores 2.Benchmark reading assessments

Small group pull-out using special curriculum based on students’ individual learning needs.

Communication with classroom teacher. Ongoing informal assessment. Standardized testing. Benchmark assessments.

 The goal of the program is to increase students’ reading ability to match those of their peers and to be able to succeed in the classroom without extra assistance.  Some students reach these goals in a very short time, while it can be a longer process for others, depending on many different factors that affect student learning.

Informal Phone calls Written notes and Homework bags and folders Website- Formal Parent – Teacher conferences Report Cards Parent Meetings Newsletters

» Report lists skills being developed and areas where improvement is still needed. » Report notes which Benchmark Reading Level the student is currently working at in class. ˃Word solving ˃Sight word recognition ˃Fluency ˃Comprehension ˃Extending the text ˃End of year expectations ˃Work and study habits

» This year, the Title I program sent a bag of books home over the summer for each student in the program to read during the summer. » Bags contained 8-14 books at the child’s approximate reading level. » Families were asked to keep track of how much the children read during the summer.

» Change in student achievement in students who took part in the summer book program Amount of reading % of studentsAverage Change in benchmark achievement Greatest change Consistent Summer Reading 29%Decrease by 1/3 benchmark level Decrease 3.5 levels Inconsistent Summer Reading 71%Decrease by over ½ benchmark level Decrease 4.5 levels (over half a year’s growth) Summer is a time when some students experience a loss of reading ability, due to a lack of practicing their skills. With our summer reading program, we found that the students who read regularly either increased their skills, or had smaller decreases in their skills during the summer months. Students who did not read regularly had a greater loss of reading skills, which would take longer to gain back in the fall.

» The vast majority of parents liked the program. Over 95% said that they would like to have the books available to them again next summer. » Some kids didn’t read all of the books. » Sometimes it was hard to get kids to read over the summer. » Most families either read every day or occasionally, but there were also many who read very little. » There were still many children who did not read at home on a regular basis, and did not take full advantage of the program. As a school, we will continue to look for ways to promote and encourage summer reading for all of our students.

1. The power of parents: Parents are a child’s first and most important teacher. 2. Pick books that are at the right level. 3. Be Patient: When your child is working on a word, give him/her time. (Handout with list of prompts.) 4. Gently correct your young reader. Gently point out letters he or she may have overlooked. Readers may guess wildly based on a first letter or may only use the beginning and guess at longer words.

5. Be sure that your child sees you reading. You are a role model. 6. Encourage “how”, “why” and “what it” questions. 7. Once is not enough. Encourage your child to re-read favorite books and poems. Re-reading helps kids read more smoothly and accurately 8. Encourage writing and conversations.

☺ Grades K-1 Learning Contract ☺ Grades 2-3 Learning Contract ☺ Grades 4-5 Learning Contract ☺ Please read through the contract with your children. Sign both copies and turn in the black and white copy to a reading teacher tonight. Please take home one copy for your records.

Please contact your child’s reading teacher at any time by phone or . Little Chute Elementary School HAVE A GREAT EVENING AND HAPPY READING!