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Everyone should
be officially back from spring break and ready for the homestretch
to the end of the school year. The past week has brought some
particularly stormy weather and now is a good time for you to review
your emergency procedures and plans for continuity. Whether it is a
tornado, flash flood or the rising waters of a river, natural
disasters are a part of life and the only thing we can do is to
prepare for them as best we can.
I hope you, your
students, staff and communities are spared from the worst. More
information about preparation, planning and responding to weather
related disasters follows this column.
I also wanted to
let you know that we are once again promoting summer reading and the
use of the 'Find-a-Book' website at
http://lexile.com/findabook as a resource toward that effort. As
you may know, one review of the impact of summer reading found that
children can lose up to 60 percent of their skills during a
two-month vacation. Reading during the summer months, however, can
sustain those gains and ensure students are better prepared when
they return to school in the fall.
We are working
with the offices of the Governor and Secretary of State on this
summer reading campaign and we will soon be sending out letters to
principals and public library directors about the 'Find-a-Book'
website. We're also developing a letter that schools and library
districts will be able to download and send to parents.
The 'Find-a-Book'site
uses a student's Lexile score to provide quick and easy access to a
list of books that will match a child's reading level. Students can
also search by their grade level and interests for books that appeal
to them. The site allows users to narrow their search by
investigating more than two dozen categories, from adventure and art
to travel and true crime. Book lists can be further refined by
award-winning authors.
A few moments
discussing or visiting this website in the classroom can lead to
increased summer reading and learning for students. Most
importantly, a student's positive experience with reading can lead
to lifelong habits of reading for pleasure and for learning. To
learn more about this program, please visit our summer reading page
at
http://www.isbe.net/htmls/summer_reading.htm.
Have a great
week!
Chris
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