2010

2010/10/26

Parents of students in Kindergarten and G1-2 were invited to TYiS for a presentation of the new school wide Language Arts Reading and Writing workshop that was put into place this year. Teachers representing these grades met with parents for one hour to discuss the overall content of the program and how it will benefit their children's English Language skills.

The new reading/writing workshop finds its roots from The Teachers College at Columbia University in New York City, which is on the leading edge of approaches to teach reading and writing to young students. The name of our new program at TYiS is The Complete 4 and was written by Pan Allyn. The Complete 4 is a balanced form of instruction that addresses four key components: a knowledge of genre, an awareness of and application of strategy, the development of good reading and writing habits, and a growing understanding of how to use the elements of grammar and punctuation effectively.

At the meeting, teachers explained what each of the 4 components of the program are, and how they are used in the classroom with the children. Parents learned that the program is not textbook based, but rather relies on a large variety of resources from the school library, classroom libraries and additional resources utilized by the teacher. Most importantly, they learned that this new program relies heavily on the student experience of "learning in the moment". Students consistently conference with their teachers and are required to work in groups and independently in order to improve their ability to read with understanding and be able to effectively communicate that understanding through writing and speaking.

Overall, the presentation/meeting went very well and parents had ample opportunity to ask questions about how they could help to contribute to the success of The Complete 4. We are all very excited about the new reading and writing program here at TYiS, and look forward to its future success.