Tyler Wright reviews a common core standards workbook to prepare for the K-PREP tests during Stephanie Sanders’ 8th-grade reading class at Page School Center (Bell County). Photo by Amy Wallot, Feb. 29, 2012
Article Excerpt:
Stephanie Sanders, who teaches 7th and 8th grade reading at Page School Center (Bell County), said she has incorporated several new strategies for teaching this year.
“K-PREP and Kentucky’s adoption of the Common Core Standards has entirely affected my instruction this year by changing the way I deliver instruction and how I teach my students to think about what they’ve read,” she said. “I’ve spent more time this school year reading a more diverse selection of texts and instructing my students on the most effective ways to read for information in those texts.”
She said one new strategy aided her students in inferring, summarizing and making generalizations in the text they read.
“This strategy benefited my students when taking their ACT EXPLORE assessment in September and has carried over to their daily reading,” she said. “I use these new strategies on a daily basis with multiple-choice questioning, finding contextual evidence to support writing in short-answer and extended-response assessments.”
Sanders also has been using 3×5 index cards for her students to write their short-response answers in reading class, along with timing her students.
“I give them a minute for each multiple choice question they have to answer. I did this for ACT EXPLORE preparation because it is a 30-minute, 30-question test,” she said. “My students had great success with this strategy on EXPLORE, and I believe because of the new time constraints on K-PREP this will also benefit them.”
Pictured Above (L-R): Jennifer Wilder, Bell Central Assistant Principal; Sydney Jones, Bell Central 5th Grade Student; and
Mrs. Belinda Brock, Bell Central 5th Grade Teacher.
Bell County Schools recently sponsored an Energy-Education Efficiency BannerContest where students (Grades 4-12) were asked to participate by creating a design that conveyed a message of Conserving Energy, Saving Money, and PromotingEducation.
The winner was Sydney Jones, a student in Mrs. Belinda Brock's 5thGrade class at Bell Central School Center.
Sydney's design has now been made into a banner that will be presented monthly to the school that has shown the most energy savings.
Congratulations Sydney!
Wow!
BCHS graduate and former FFA student, Ashley Jones,
is featured on the cover of the FFA New Horizons magazine.
Ashley is recognized for her success in selling wool on ebay from the sheep she has raised. The article reflects well on her participation in FFA and the entrepreneurship skills she developed as a student at BCHS.
