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Dear Parents: Learning to read and reading to learn are some of the most valuable accomplishments your child will ever achieve. As we all know, reading is the essential skill for success in life. Irvine teachers and administrators have consistently dedicated themselves to providing the best literacy instruction possible for students. This year all elementary schools are using one or more of the following recently adopted reading/Language Arts books and supplemental materials that reflect current, research-based, best practices.
These comprehensive standards-based programs will assist us in furthering our emphasis on teaching students the skills and strategies necessary to become competent readers and writers. Integrated into each of these Language Arts programs are the direct teaching and systematic practice of explicit skills that include phonemic awareness, phonics, comprehension, grammar, and spelling. As students progress from the "learning to read stages," to the "reading to learn stages," the application of these skills becomes increasingly important. Reading comprehension and critical thinking skills are essential to the understanding, analysis, interpretation, and application of information. The schools and community of Irvine have made thinking skills a priority for many years. These programs offer expanded opportunities to use thinking strategies. They also offer rich texts from a variety of types of literature that captures a reader’s interest, informs in many disciplines, prepares for careers, and guides students to learn more about their world. We firmly believe that these programs in the hands of our capable Irvine teachers will assist your child in becoming a better reader and writer. The lifelong reader becomes the lifelong learner, which is certainly one of the most important visions we hold for our students. We encourage you to become informed, involved and support the program at your child’s school. Sincerely, Leah Laule ADDENDUM: IUSD middle schools will pilot and adopt new language arts textbooks during the 2003-2004 school year.
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