TITLE I NEWSLETTER

JANUARY 9-27- FAST PM2 ELA GRADES 3-10/MATH GRADES 3-8;

JANUARY 9-27- i-Ready D2 ELA/MATH GRADES K-2

JANUARY 30- TITLE I MEETING

JANUARY 30- Book Study- Read Chapter 6 for the meeting.

JANUARY 23-27- Celebrate Literacy Week

Topic: Title I Contact/Admin Meeting

Time: Jan 30, 2023 12:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://okaloosaschools.zoom.us/j/7242644354

Celebrate Literacy Week, Florida! is designed to raise awareness about the importance of reading and to inspire Florida's students and families to make reading part of their daily routines. This year's theme is Take a Deep Dive into Literacy: Splash into New Worlds. Living near the beach, this theme can certainly impact our reading initiatives and bring excitement to reading! What ocean-themed books will you read to your students?

To celebrate the love of reading, every Title I student will receive a book during Celebrate Literacy Week. More information to come later.

As families entered the lunchroom, they were given a Passport with different Science and Math Stations listed. Parents and students then traveled to each location and completed the stations as a family. Assigned station teachers demonstrated the activities and helped families as needed. As each station was completed, teachers signed off on the passport. After families had three signatures, they were able to leave the lunchroom to visit the Science Fair, Book Fair, Art Show, and see Santa. If they turned in their passport with signatures at Santa, they received a "steaming cup of cocoa". The event with around 150 parents and students in attendance, received overwhelmingly positive reviews from parents, students, and teachers.

On Saturday morning, December 17, 2022, Wright Elementary School participated in a Jingle Bell Bus to deliver the joy of reading and holiday cheer. The bus traveled through Wright Elementary students' neighborhoods as teachers, staff, and admin passed out books, math games, bookmarks, candy, and cheer. It was a fun day to see familiar faces smile with delight!

We will be reading Chapter 6: Engage for Deep Understanding. As you read, discover the five actions to build deep understanding among students in poverty.

Five Actions to Build Deep Understanding:

1: Understand labels. Labels are the "what" of learning that connects thoughts and ideas. Children from poverty have reduced vocabularies with which to make connections to learning.

2. Discover Properties. Exploring properties extends understanding of labels to deeper connections of content.

3. Develop Context and Meaning. Together, Context and Meaning provided values to the make learning relevant.

4. Get It Right. Are students getting what is being taught? How are you helping learners to get it right? Provide clear expectations for learning the content and instilling confidence in students by assigning work that is relevant and important.

5. Learn to Transfer. Support students understanding of the content to their own lives or real-world situations to promote deeper representations.

Based on studies completed by the National Center on Quality Teaching and Learning (NCQTL), in collaboration with the National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement (NCPFCE):

“Smooth transitions from preschool to kindergarten depend on connections made between participants in the process, such as those between schools and families, and between preschool and kindergarten teachers and classrooms, especially connections made prior to kindergarten entry. Aligning preschool and kindergarten practices, standards, curricula, and assessments is an important element for promoting successful transitions.”

To prepare:

Examples of transition-related activities may include:

• Sharing assessment data
• Promoting summer learning programs and materials
• Engaging families with what to expect in kindergarten

Okaloosa County School District Title I Department is implementing joint professional development opportunities that involve both OCSD and Early Learning Coalition. See link below for additional resources:

https://www.floridaearlylearning.com/vpk/transition-to-kindergarten-resources

How is your school preparing for 2023-2SY kindergarten students?

Parenting is hard work, and as kids develop it’s challenging to understand their wiring. A Grown-Up’s Guide to Kids’ Wiring is designed to help. This session will provide understanding of how kids are wired as well as tools to improve communication and relationships.

*The attached flier will be sent to schools to be shared with families.

Email: Lewisd@okaloosaschools.com