Spofford Times Newsletter 

At this mid-year point, we want families to reflect on their home-to-school practices. For example, if children were reluctant to work on homework, reading, or math practice in the first half of the year,

then now would be the time to have conversations about how to change or improve. The pace of the curriculum is quicker. The

gradual release of responsibility in the classroom and at home means third grade teachers expect students to show more independence and initiative in their learning. Talk to your third-graders and ask them if they are aware that they should increase their efforts for this coming term. A new year can promise an even-better approach to school!

How to Help Your Child Develop Good Keyboarding Skills

Computing is a way of life today. The average computer user spends at least 2.4 hours a day actively engaged in computing at work (Usernomics, 2007). Computer-based communication, work, and leisure is an important part of our daily lives. Well-developed keyboarding skills are essential to being able to use computers effectively and efficiently.

Good keyboarding habits have additional benefits that include improvements in spelling, writing and reading comprehension. Without guidance, children develop "bad habits" (such as the two-finger hunt and peck method). When students hunt and peck, they are looking at the keyboard instead of the screen with the text they are composing. It is very hard to unlearn bad typing skills down the road; it is better that we teach our children to develop good habits now. Children can practice their keyboard skills at home, much like they practice the math facts to develop mastery.

In a series of international studies, children as young as fourth grade reported eye strain, neck & shoulder pain, and headaches. (Hajic, 2008, para. 4). Proper habits need to be reinforced by teachers and parents.

To help your child develop good keyboarding skills, monitor and encourage them to:

* Keep both hands on the keyboard, on home row.

* Maintain proper posture while typing: sitting up; having feet in front, on the floor; looking up more than down; and using the home row keys.

* Set a reasonable, reachable goal. Example: practice four times a week for 15 minutes each time. Example: to increase speed and accuracy (words per minute).

Watch him at practice. Show an interest in the progress and encourage proper technique.

* You might consider monitoring an initial typing test online to find out how many words per minute your child types. (Remember, we are starting small, here!) By retesting periodically, you can see the progress. Set a sensible goal to ensure success.

Resources to Use At Home

There are many online games to practice typing skills; there is something for every level from learning the letters to improving speed and accuracy. Many of the games are arcade-like, and they provide instant reinforcement to the student on their performance and progress. Some of the sites listed below include advertising. Others are more instructional and have lessons to teach proper fingering. It is important to remember that while keyboarding games can improve keyboarding speed, they won't teach students how to type correctly. Your specific encouragement is key to building good habits for the long term.

First: Type to Learn 4 is the program we use here at school. It is a comprehensive program which teaches keyboarding skills and increases accuracy and speed. You can go on the web, download a copy and your child can practice at home. Here's how:

For use at home, you need to download and install the program to your home computer from this site: http://ttl4.sunburst.com/downloads. There are support documents at that website, as well.

Master Account "superuser" username: boxford

Master Account "superuser" password: ttl4

Your Account Code: 118720

Other online sites:

http://www.sense-lang.org/

Sense Language: no-nonsense site with tutorials and games; minimal advertising

http://www.davis.k12.ut.us/cjh/appliedtech/business/keyboarding/Index.html

Centerville Junior High, Utah: no-nonsense site with a series of 17 drills

http://www.freetypinggame.net/play.asp

FreeTypingGame: arcade-like games; lots of advertising and links off-site

Of course, you can use these resources to improve your keyboarding skills, too!

References:

Teaching Keyboarding: More Than Just Typing

http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech072.shtml

Type to Learn 4: http://ttl4.sunburst.com/resources.htm

A New Look at Research-Based Keyboarding Instruction; a white paper by Leigh E. Zeitz, Ph.D. Univ, Northe

From the ELA Instructional Support Specialist - Donna Morton

One of the major focus areas in reading for students in grades 3-6 is Reading Fluency.  Studies have shown that there is a direct correlation between oral reading fluency and comprehension and that poor fluency may negatively impact a student's performance on reading assessments.  Students who are fluent readers, not only are better able to understand what they are reading, they are able to do so efficiently and in a timely way.  This allows them to be able to handle ever increasingly longer and more difficult text with ease and efficiency.   With this in mind, it is always a recommendation that students add daily reading fluency practice to their after-school homework practices.  The article below, from Reading Rockets (www.readingrockets.org) looks at the skill of reading fluency, the behaviors of students who may be struggling with fluency, and offers some ideas for helping students develop better skills in this area.

Fluency - Fluency is defined as the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and proper expression. In order to understand what they read, children must be able to read fluently whether they are reading aloud or silently. When reading aloud, fluent readers read in phrases and add intonation appropriately. Their reading is smooth and has expression.

Children who do not read with fluency sound choppy and awkward. Those students may have difficulty with decoding skills or they may just need more practice with speed and smoothness in reading. Fluency is also important for motivation; children who find reading laborious tend not to want read! As readers head into upper elementary grades, fluency becomes increasingly important. The volume of reading required in the upper elementary years escalates dramatically. Students whose reading is slow or labored will have trouble meeting the reading demands of their grade level.

What the problem looks like

A kid's perspective: What this feels like to me.

Children will usually express their frustration and difficulties in a general way, with statements like "I hate reading!" or "This is stupid!". But if they could, this is how kids might describe how fluency difficulties in particular affect their reading:

• I just seem to get stuck when I try to read a lot of the words in this chapter.
• It takes me so long to read something.
• Reading through this book takes so much of my energy, I can't even think about what it mean

A parent's perspective: What I see at home

Here are some clues for parents that a child may have problems with fluency:

• He knows how to read words but seems to take a long time to read a short book or passage silently.
• She reads a book with no expression.
• He stumbles a lot and loses his place when reading something aloud.
• She reads aloud very slowly.
• She moves her mouth when reading silently (sub vocalizing).

A teacher's perspective: What I see in the classroom.

Here are some clues for teachers that a student may have problems with fluency:

• Her results on words-correct-per-minute assessments are below grade level or targeted benchmark.
• She has difficulty and grows frustrated when reading aloud, either because of speed or accuracy.
• He does not read aloud with expression; that is, he does not change his tone where appropriate.
• She does not "chunk" words into meaningful units.
• When reading, he doesn't pause at meaningful breaks within sentences or paragraphs.

How to help:

With the help of parents and teachers, kids can learn strategies to cope with fluency issues that affect his or her reading. Below are some tips and specific things to do.

What kids can do to help themselves

• Track the words with your finger as a parent or teacher reads a passage aloud. Then you read it.
• Have a parent or teacher read aloud to you. Then, match your voice to theirs.
• Read your favorite books and poems over and over again. Practice getting smoother and reading with expression.

What parents can do to help at home:

• Support and encourage your child. Realize that he or she is likely frustrated by reading.
• Check with your child's teachers to find out their assessment of your child's word decoding skills.
• If your child can decode words well, help him or her build speed and accuracy by:
• Reading aloud and having your child match his voice to yours
• Having your child practice reading the same list of words, phrase, or short passages several times
• Reminding your child to pause between sentences and phrases
• Read aloud to your child to provide an example of how fluent reading sounds.
• Give your child books with predictable vocabulary and clear rhythmic patterns so the child can "hear" the sound of fluent reading as he or she reads the book aloud.
• Use books on tapes; have the child follow along in the print copy.

What teachers  do to help at school:

• Assess the student to make sure that word decoding or word recognition is not the source of the difficulty (if decoding is the source of the problem, decoding will need to be addressed in addition to reading speed and phrasing).
• Give the student independent level texts that he or she can practice again and again. Time the student and calculate words-correct-per-minute regularly. The student can chart his or her own improvement.
• Ask the student to match his or her voice to yours when reading aloud or to a tape-recorded reading.
• Read a short passage and then have the student immediately read it back to you.
• Have the student practice reading a passage with a certain emotion, such as sadness or excitement, to emphasize expression and intonation.
• Incorporate timed repeated readings into your instructional repertoire.
• Plan lessons that explicitly teach students how to pay attention to clues in the text (for example, punctuation marks) that provide information about how that text should be read.

Extended Studies for Advanced Learners Pilot Program at Spofford Pond School

Important Dates!

• Parent Nominations for students in Gr. 3 and 4 are now being accepted.  Parents should click on the online form link below to nominate their child for the program.  Nominations should be completed by Monday, January 16th (If you have already nominated your 3rd or 4th grader, you do not need to do so again)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDZMeUtqOWVvNXREY05VVG85Yk9TWFE6MQ

• Teacher Nominations for students in Gr. 3 and 4 are now being accepted.  Teachers should click on the online form link below to nominate a student for the program.  Nominations should be completed by Monday, January 16th.  (If you have already nominated a 3rd or 4th grade student, you do not need to do so again)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dExsdk5YVVU4TmRRcGl2OE9rTWlGQlE6MQ

• Grade 5 ESP students will begin classes the week of January 23rd. 

Classes will run for (6) weeks, ending March 9th.   Parents and students will be receiving an email with more information. 

Please contact me with any questions or concerns you may have about the program.

Thank you,

Barbara Boulay

Teacher Liaison

PRESCHOOL SCREENING

Boxford Public Schools

Cole Preschool

1/25/12   9:00-11:30 am

If your child is between the ages of 3 and 5

and will not be attending kindergarten in

Sept. 2012, and you have concerns about

his/her development, please contact

Cole School (978)887-2856 to

set up an appointment.

Please send resume to:

Lana Spillman, Conservation Administrator

lspilman@topsfield-ma.gov or

8 West Common Street

Topsfield, MA  01983

(978) 887-1510

UPCOMING PROGRAMS FROM TRI-TOWN COUNCIL

HORIZONS After School Programs

 On-line registration is now OPEN for HORIZONS winter programs.  Horizons classes, which include Science, Lego Engineering, Art, Physical Fitness, and more, begin the week of January 23rd.  Go to www.tritowncouncil.org to view the complete list of classes and to access on-line registration (available by selecting the Horizons tab). Please contact horizons@tritowncouncil.org or call 887-6512 with any questions.

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Path of the Courageous Parent

Thursday, January 19th @ Emerson Center, Topsfield

10:00am-11:30am OR 7:30pm-9:00pm

 Join Stephanie Meegan & Meredith Shaw for another installment of the Path of the Courageous Parent series.  This is a a relaxed environment to engage in ongoing dialogue and problem solving. With both morning and afternoon sessions, you choose your time.  The readings for this session are Good Kids Tough Choices by Rushworth Kidder and Five Reasons to Stop Saying "Good Job" by Alfie Kohn. The excerpts are available on the TTC website www.tritowncouncil.org.   Read the book excerpts and join us for enlightening discussion.

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Social Skills Workshop Series

Wednesdays - January 26, February 1, 15, 29 - 10:30am-12pm @ Topsfield Library 

Please join author/educator Stephanie Meegan as we explore strategies for supporting children's social skill development.  Social skills can boost a child's happiness and success at school and at home.  In this 4-part series, we will review the tools and language to support this critical life skill.  This program is designed for parents, guardians and educators interested in expanding children's social competence and confidence.  RSVP to programs@tritowncouncil.org or 887-6512.