Parents are truly their children’s first and most important teachers, and sometimes, they need a little information to help their children succeed. That’s where Raising Readers comes in.For the fifth year, Kathryn Senor Elementary hosted the event to provide parents with resources to help their students become better readers. The event provides information about the Success For All reading program and also teaches parents tools so they can help their students at home.
“We are teaching parents what they need to know and what to do to help their kids at home,” said Kathryn Senor Elementary counselor Kristin Greenstreet.Though traditionally held during the school day, this year’s event was in the evening to accommodate working parents who cannot take off from work. This year’s event also took place earlier in the school year, and the turnout was fantastic.”We heard from parents that they wanted information up front about what to do at home to help their kids,” Greenstreet said.The changes paid off. Attendance, which is typically high, was up by more than 100 parents. It is estimated that more than 300 parents attended.Kathryn Senor teachers teamed up and presented information to parents about the SFA program, and the skills used during reading. Topics included the expectations of homework, how to partner read, reading comprehension, and fast-track phonics. At the end of the session, the teachers switched rooms so that parents could stay with their students in the same place.While each of the teachers could have spent the entire evening teaching all four topics to the parents, the rotations were deliberate.”Parents realized that their child may not have the same SFA teacher for the entire year,” Greenstreet said. “That is important because each teacher had a slightly different style.”Each teacher – including music, physical education, counselors and regular homeroom teachers – at Kathryn Senor is involved in the reading program, Success For All. Teachers are responsible for a group of students at a specific reading level, but as those students improve, they may move to a different teacher who is responsible for the group of students at that higher level.At this year’s Raising Readers event, the students got very involved in the education of their parents. Parents were asked to read a tall tale, and then answer questions about the material the students wrote. The kids then graded the written answers based upon a rubric so that the parents had a better understanding of what is acceptable and unacceptable work.”These types of activities help the efforts that parents already put into their child’s reading. Parents want to know the expectations and strategies to help their kids,” said Kathryn Senor academic coach Barb Miller. “This allows us to share common terms, share strategies and share a common understanding of SFA.”One other addition to the Raising Readers event included note cards, displaying student artwork celebrating literacy. The cards are available for purchase in sets of five, one card representing each grade-level art project, kindergarten through fourth grade. Sets cost $5 and are still on sale through Kathryn Senor Elementary (Call 625-7700 for more information).The community support for Raising Readers included more than 80 sponsors from Rifle, New Castle and Glenwood Springs, and the event would not have been possible without that support.Bus Safety weekTo celebrate School Bus Safety week (Oct. 17-23) the Garfield Re-2 Transportation Department is hosting the Stop Arm Rally on Oct. 23. A convoy of nine buses will begin in New Castle with a police escort and travel through New Castle, Silt and Rifle, ending at the Super Wal-Mart in Rifle. Information on school bus safety and statistics on school bus drive-by’s will be available and there will be a “smoked” bus for parents and children to understand the importance of emergency evacuation drills. Of course Little Bear will be there to charm all who attend. The event will begin in New Castle at and is scheduled to be at the Rifle Super Wal-Mart from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.Dates to rememberOct. 17-23Bus Safety WeekOct. 19RIV parent conferencesRifle Volleyball at BasaltOct. 20October 2nd Cup of Coffee at KSEand Terrific Kids AssemblyRIV Parent ConferencesOct. 21Freshman Football at PalisadeRifle volleyball versus Eagle ValleyOct. 22Rifle football vs. Moffat County, 7 p.m.Oct. 23Stop Arm Rally 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. atWal-MartRifle volleyball vs. Battle MountainOct. 25 JV football vs. Steamboat SpringsRHS Choir Coffee House 7 p.m.Oct. 26KSE Education Rocks programRME parent-teacher conference5-9 p.mRME awards assembly 3 p.m.School board meeting at KathrynSenor Elementary, 7 p.m.Oct. 27RME parent-teacher conference,5-9 p.m.Oct. 28Literature Day Parade at KSE, 2 p.m.RIV Harvest DaysOct. 29NO SCHOOLRifle football at CortezTheresa Hamilton is director of districtwide services for Garfield School District Re-2.Theresa Hamilton is director of districtwide services for Garfield School District Re-2.
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