Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Longview School - Let Your Learning Soar

(Page 13)

In regards to our school improvement plan, we continue to work towards strengthening and improving upon the quality of our core program and our PAT results by improving student learning through literacy. Literacy has always been the keystone of learning and we want our students to develop a broad and deep range of literacy skills. Learners with strong literacy skills, acquire, create, connect and communicate meaning in a wide variety of contexts. During our Soaring Literacy time students learn different strategies to improve their literacy skills. Staff training in Pearsons First Steps Literacy Program is nearly complete and in our professional learning community we continue to read the book, “40 Reading Intervention Strategies for K-6 Students” by Elaine K. McEwan-Adkins. We have implemented literacy strategies from this book in both our tier 1/core program, as well as, our tier 2 Literacy Soars program.  “Research shows that students need opportunities to use literacy knowledge and skills in a variety of contexts to master and efficiently transfer them from one area to another. Students may not automatically transfer literacy knowledge and skills without explicit instruction…..literacy instruction must be embedded across the curriculum to both support meaning and developed by the growing complexity of text....teachers must have a deeper understanding of what literacy means in their subject areas. Each academic discipline has its own particular text features, formats and vocabulary….Students need to develop literacy skills that transcend subject areas as well as the subject-specific applications of those skills.” (Literacy First: A Plan for Action 2010: Government of Alberta)

The Grade 5/6 class was specially recognized by the Village of Longview for their accomplishments in the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program. Students received individual letters of recognition, as well as, Village of Longview decorative pins. In the letter, Ivor McCorquindale, Mayor of Longview; Cliff Ayrey, Deputy Mayor and Tracy Howk, Councillor stated, “On behalf of the Village of Longview it is truly our honour to know you are a part of this community. Your commitment to DARE shows you have taken time to fully understand the choices you make in regards to drugs and alcohol at present and into the future. We stand as a community in recognizing your effort.” The highlight of the DARE grad was when students shared and presented their DARE projects to the audience and made their personal pledges. Student accomplishments were acknowledged by presentations made by Mrs. Roberts, Constable DeGroot and Ms. McCreary-Burke. In an effort to include all of our Longview Students in recognizing this important accomplishment and in the spirit of our Eagle Pride, we had the Grade 5/6 students speak about choices and influences of both good and bad peer pressure to the rest of the students at Longview School during Eagle
Pride Time.

We would like to invite everyone to our Spring Theatre presentation of 'Pinocchio' being held on Wednesday, April 20th at 6:30pm. The overall goal of our drama presentations at Longview School is to foster positive self-concepts in students by encouraging them to explore life by assuming theatric roles and acquiring dramatic skills. Throughout the year we have presented a number of dramatic performances in meeting the learner outcomes outlined in the drama program of studies. Our students and staff have been very busy in rehearsals, memorizing lines, organizing and designing sets. Students very much look forward to sharing their dramatic skills with an audience.

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