The Eagle on Reading

SMA Literacy and Language Initiatives

 This year SMA has taken on four literacy and language initiatives, in ALL classes.  The first is a continuation of the last two years—READING.  Once again, reading is a focus of the school.  All students are required to carry an independent reading book, of their choice, at all times.  When there are a few minutes before a class ends students will be asked to take out their independent book and read.  It is strongly suggested that all cadets read a minimum of 15 pages a day.  Research indicates that the only way to improve reading abilities—is to read.  Fifteen pages a day is the minimum suggested in order for improvement to be noticed.  Of course, we would encourage reading more than 15 pages daily.  The second initiative is WRITING.  All content area classes will be doing, at least, weekly writing.   Writing will consist of short answer responses, long answer responses, essays, research projects, and/or quick writes.  Teachers are encouraged to use the FCAT holistic method and scale for scoring writing in order for students to become familiar with what good writing looks like for high scores on FCAT.  Good writing for FCAT is GOOD writing in general.  The third initiative is VOCABULARY.  Since one can only learn and understand the world around them through language, vocabulary is a vital component of academic success.  Teachers have received professional development in identifying tier one, tier two, and tier three vocabulary words; and will be focusing on tier two and tier three words within their content areas.  Tier two words are words that students are familiar with but that take on different meanings within different content areas.  Tier three words are content specific technical terms.  The fourth initiative is critical thinking skills.  Critical thinking transcends subject area divisions; it examines elements of thought implicit in all reasoning.  Critical thinking employees a set of skills and questioning strategies that help guide students to an enhanced clarity and better comprehension.  If you have any questions about the initiatives or if you would like me to help suggest reading materials, please contact Pamela Donehew, Reading Specialist/Literacy Coach, via email or phone at SMA.