From the State Superintendent of Education

Message From State Superintendent Christopher A. Koch

Everyone should be officially back from spring break and ready for the homestretch to the end of the school year. The past week has brought some particularly stormy weather and now is a good time for you to review your emergency procedures and plans for continuity. Whether it is a tornado, flash flood or the rising waters of a river, natural disasters are a part of life and the only thing we can do is to prepare for them as best we can.

 

I hope you, your students, staff and communities are spared from the worst. More information about preparation, planning and responding to weather related disasters follows this column.

 

I also wanted to let you know that we are once again promoting summer reading and the use of the 'Find-a-Book' website athttp://lexile.com/findabook as a resource toward that effort. As you may know, one review of the impact of summer reading found that children can lose up to 60 percent of their skills during a two-month vacation. Reading during the summer months, however, can sustain those gains and ensure students are better prepared when they return to school in the fall.

 

We are working with the offices of the Governor and Secretary of State on this summer reading campaign and we will soon be sending out letters to principals and public library directors about the 'Find-a-Book' website. We're also developing a letter that schools and library districts will be able to download and send to parents.

 

The 'Find-a-Book'site uses a student's Lexile score to provide quick and easy access to a list of books that will match a child's reading level. Students can also search by their grade level and interests for books that appeal to them. The site allows users to narrow their search by investigating more than two dozen categories, from adventure and art to travel and true crime. Book lists can be further refined by award-winning authors.

 

A few moments discussing or visiting this website in the classroom can lead to increased summer reading and learning for students. Most importantly, a student's positive experience with reading can lead to lifelong habits of reading for pleasure and for learning. To learn more about this program, please visit our summer reading page at http://www.isbe.net/htmls/summer_reading.htm.

 

Have a great week!

 

Chris