|
|
|
Welcome to the March/April 2006 edition of
Connections! In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week (May
7–13) and National Teacher Day (May 9), we want to be the
first to express our gratitude for all you do. Sopris West is
committed to supporting educators like you.
“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in
creative expression and knowledge.”
—Albert Einstein
Your friends at Sopris West
Please send comments and suggestions to webmaster@sopriswest.com.
|
|
|
|
|
Urban
Schools Show Some Progress |
|
Students in America’s urban schools are posting gains in
fourth-grade reading and mathematics assessments, according to
a recently released study from the Council of Great City
Schools, a Washington,
D.C.-based coalition representing 66
of the nation’s largest urban public school systems.
The “Beating the Odds VI” study included results from 11
big-city schools that voluntarily took the National Assessment
of Educational Progress (NAEP), the federal test that is
considered more rigorous than many of the state
assessments.
|
|
View full article |
|
|
Read
Well® Teacher Headlines Canadian News |
|
Read Well teacher Wendy Fouks is an “Everyday Hero,”
according to Canada’s Global National. Recently, the
television news program profiled Fouks because of her mission
to help students in one of Canada’s poorest neighborhoods
learn and love to read.
In 1998, 21 percent of the first-grade students at the
Vancouver, British Columbia elementary school could read at an
acceptable level. Now with Read
Well, Sopris West’s research-based primary reading
program, and staff and community support, “we’ve had 96 to 100
percent (first-grade students) . . . able to read at a grade
two or higher level,” Fouks told Global National.
|
|
View full article and link to
video |
|
The Gold
Standard in Professional Development: Sopris
West
Implementation Services |
|
More than ten years ago, our Implementation Services
team started the concept of providing ongoing product-specific
professional development and has since worked with thousands
of educators across the country.
Many of our product trainings are available for
graduate-level credit and/or continuing education education
units for professional development. Our commitment to your
success is our hallmark. To find out more, visit www.bettereducator.com.
|
|
Click here for more
information |
|
|
Spelling
Out the Importance of Spelling |
|
Spelling doesn’t matter anymore, thanks to spell check,
right? In fact, spelling is still vital and benefits early
reading, reading comprehension, and vocabulary development,
says Louisa Moats, developer of Sopris West’s LETRS™,
Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading
Spelling.
Dr. Moats addresses 1) how spelling can be taught so
“students understand how the spelling system works and see the
ways in which spelling is predictable” and 2) “key content
students in kindergarten through seventh grade should master”
in “How
Spelling Supports Reading,” in the winter issue of
American Educator, the professional journal of the
American Federation of Teachers.
|
|
|
|
|
On the
Road |
|
Look for Sopris West at the following national
conferences:
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Annual Meeting
and Exposition
"Asking Questions—Generating
Solutions"
St. Louis, Missouri
April 27–29
International Reading Association 51st Annual
Convention
"Great Teachers Inspire the World"
Chicago,
Illinois
April 30–May 4
|
|
|
|
|
Success
with LANGUAGE!® |
|
“At the beginning of the year, one of my students was not
reading at all. I had planned to have the special education
teacher test her for a learning disability. However, after
five weeks in our classwide LANGUAGE!
program, I began to see amazing gains in her reading level and
speed. Now, after six months, she is reading at grade
level.
Many other students in my class also have made remarkable
progress. They now enjoy reading, and during free choice, they
partner read and play with the sound cards.
I have been using LANGUAGE! in my classroom for two
years and am amazed at the reading levels my students have
achieved.”
—Karen Fox, Ma.T., NBCT
First/Second Grade
Teacher
South Toe Elementary
Yancey County School
System
Burnsville, NC
Have a success story involving your school and Sopris West
products or professional trainings? Send your stories to e-newsletter@sopriswest.com.
|
|
|
|
|
By the
Numbers |
|
Just in time to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week and
National Teacher Day, here’s a statistical snapshot of U.S.
public school teachers.
- About 3,250,600 full- and part-time teachers taught in
public schools
- About 80% have taught four or more years full time
- 41% of teachers reported that their highest degree was a
master’s degree
- 7% have earned higher than a master’s degree
- 80% of their schools provided professional development
training in curriculum, instruction, or assessment
Source: Public Elementary and Secondary Students,
Staff, Schools, and School Districts: School Year 2003-04.
U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for
Educational Statistics.
|
|
|
| |
