Literacy Lookout

Who is ready? This time of the year feels heavy as we prepare for state testing, deal with the increase of student squirrely behaviors, and with the lack of warm weather and sunshine! During your break, we encourage you to think about the joyful times you have had this year. Reminisce on a moment when you saw a student's light bulb go off or when a student just needed your smile and conversation. Think about the growth you have created in your students and the ability to reach them where they are each day. As educators, we tend to let the negativity and heaviness of the job carry all on our shoulders. We charge you with looking for the positive and know that you ARE making a difference in our student's lives.

We hope you find a way to unplug, relax, and refresh as you have a much-needed and well-deserved break! Put yourself first and don't feel guilty about it!

The Right to Read shares the stories of an NAACP activist, a teacher, and two American families who fight to provide for our youngest generation with the most foundational indicator of life-long success: the ability to read.

Our literacy coaches had the opportunity to watch the screening of this film back in October at The Reading League Conference. It has now been made available for others to view till March 9th, 2023. To learn how you can watch it please visit the link https://www.therighttoreadfilm.org/watch-the-film.

In March, the literacy team along with administrators will be attending a Dyslexia Letter Writing Workshop at Tri-County ESC. This will help guide our communication with families next year as we begin the Dyslexia Screenings in the 2023-2024 school year.

Students in grades K-6 completed winter benchmarking with DIBELS 8th edition. We are happy to share that the data shows that students are making gains in their reading skills! Literacy improvement is not going to be seen overnight, but we are headed in the right direction!

Mapleton Local District has been awarded the Reaching All Students Through Language and Literacy project grant for the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years. Mapleton is one of 25 districts and community schools throughout the state of Ohio that received a grant award in the amount of $200,000 from the Ohio Department of Education.

The goal of the grant is to help districts improve their literacy instruction by drawing on structured literacy approaches and proven literacy strategies. This includes understanding language and dialect in the classroom, family, and community engagement, and building students’ background knowledge and vocabulary to improve reading outcomes.

During this school year, the district literacy team has been working with the Ohio Department of Education, the American Institute of Research, and various recognized experts in literacy, student culture, and family and community engagement to develop a project that will have the greatest opportunity for student growth in the area of literacy. This project will then be implemented during the 2023-2024 school year. The purpose of the grant is to fund all elements of this project.

Ohio Department of Education is returning live and in-person on June 8, 2023, to hold the Sixth Annual Literacy Academy. This no-cost event provides professional learning to support the use of evidence-based language and literacy practices. More information and registration will be available in late spring 2023.