School Community Council

Encourages Parental Support of School Improvement Plan

We Need You! As Timberline's School Community Council we would like to encourage you, as a parent or guardian to support this year's school improvement plan. This year's goal is to increase student reading comprehension for all students . Both the staff and the parents are needed to help in this endeavor. We have determined the following strategies to help achieve this goal.

Timberline School Improvement Plan 2004-2005

Improved Student Reading Comprehension

• Schoolwide --Continue Silent Sustained Reading during school.
• Classroom --Foster reading comprehension strategies in the classroom.
• At Home —Parents encourage students to read ½ hour per night at home.
• Parents discuss students' reading with them to help improve comprehension
• Parents use the distributed Bookmark containing ideas on how to do this.
• Schoolwide --Measure improvement by end of level testing in language arts.

We encourage your help in this matter. If you have lost your bookmark, here is the information contained on it to help your student improve their reading comprehension.

Ask questions before, during, and after reading to help the reader understand the text.

•  Do you like this character? Why/not?
•  Why do you think the author chose to write about this idea?
•  What do you think is important about this event?
•  Why would the character do a particular action?
•  What do you think is the main idea?
•  What words do you not understand? How can we figure out what they mean?
•  Can you connect this story to another story or movie?
•  How do you think the author felt about this? Why?
•  Are any of your predictions coming true?
•  Is this good writing? Why/not?
•  What new ideas come to mind about…?
•  Has your understanding/perspective on this subject changed? How/why?
•  What are you wondering about in this section?
•  Were you surprised at anything?
•  What would you like to find out more about?
•  If you were this character, what would you do?

Strategies Good Readers Use to Improve Comprehension

Pre-reading Strategies

•  Establish a purpose
•  Preview the text
•  Activate and use prior knowledge
•  Make predictions
•  Determine how the text is organized

During Reading Strategies

•  Confirm, revise, or reject predictions
•  Create mental images
•  Determine most important ideas and themes
•  Ask questions
•  Connect text to yourself, world, and other texts
•  Draw inferences
•  Monitor your own comprehension

Post Reading Strategies

•  Determine most important ideas and themes
•  Ask questions
•  Clarify understanding
•  Draw inferences
•  Summarize and synthesize
•  Share responses

We will be planning the use of Timberline's Trust Land Monies this next month. As a council we would appreciate your input. Contact us by phone or by email.

School Community Council Meetings

6:00 PM
Media Center
January 4, 2005
February 1, 2005
March 1, 2005
April 12, 2005
May 3, 2005