As mentioned in the September newsletter, we will focus our attention this year on some of the earlier pillars of reading instruction to help understand the current interventions being employed within our curriculum and to potentially play with some of their elements in our own classrooms. To establish some common language, I am going to begin by defining three important terms of reading: dyslexia, phonemic awareness, and phonics. The first, dyslexia, is an often used, and largely misused term. Depending on who you ask, you are likely to get a different answer. In a general sense, people use it to indicate someone struggling with reading. Perhaps they have observed that the reader or writer transposes letters backwards or flips the order of the letters as they decode. Perhaps the reader struggles with multisyllabic or unique words. Or perhaps they read very slowly and deliberately. While all of these are ...
I must admit that my thinking around having students read aloud for me has evolved over time. Asking some of these vulnerable students to read aloud can truly be an intimidating experience for them, and so for the longest time, I have been hesitant to have them do so. I also know that for older students, gathering data from their read alouds can be misleading. In other words, in some cases their oral reading skills are substantially lower their silent reading skills. However, my recent studies of reading intervention and assessments has changed my thinking. As I have begun to learn more about reading difficulties, I realized that to truly get a “read” on what the problem might be, we really need to hear the student read aloud. Let me back up. Reading research indicates that there are five important pillars of reading instruction that hold up the roof of good reading practices: phonemic awareness, phonics,...
Guidelines for Writing a Commencement Address The draft you write for consideration does not need to be a final version, but should give the panelists a clear idea of what you plan to say in your speech. The traditional commencement address has had content which reflects back on the class's experiences and also gives advice or guidance for the future. The tone should be one which inspires and motivates the listeners. Although the Commencement Address is directed at the graduating class, the message needs to be meaningful and appropriate for the adult audience present as well. Content, language, or style which parents or grandparents might find offensive is not suitable for a Commencement Address. Humor can be an effective minor element of a Commencement Address. The predominant message, and consequently the predominant writing style, should be serious, thoughtful and inspirational. Format: This a general map of graduation speeches. It is not required. Feel ...
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