Notes from the Principal: Mrs. Randolph
It's been said that in the earliest grades, students learn to read; in the later grades, students read to learn. At Thrasher, we go deeper than that. We believe there is a difference between reading and reading activities. Students at Thrasher have a safe place to learn, explore, practice, try, and make mistakes so that they can succeed. This is why we are investing so much (thanks to you, our PTA, and the MEF) in our Leveled Book Library, our STEM Lab, and Video Production Studio.
The Leveled Book Library
As children are able to derive meaning from increasingly complex texts, teachers need to be able to identify each student's strengths in reading and understand what each student is ready to learn next. An instrumental tool, then, for teachers is a leveled book library. A leveled book library is a system for organizing and categorizing texts in a continuum of complexity. For example, once a student understands how to read a text that has multiple episodes around a single plot, then she is ready to learn about texts that incorporate multiple plots. The continuum for leveled books spans all the way from pre-reading skills to deciphering texts that have complex features, and it aids teachers in providing as individualized instruction as possible. We have begun building our leveled text library, thanks to our PTA. Leveled texts will be one integral component of reading instruction at Thrasher this year.
The STEM Lab
I am very excited about our budding STEM Lab! STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. "Technology helps us communicate; Math is the language; Science and Engineering are the processes for thinking; all this leads to Innovation." STEM is more than facts and content. It's problem-solving, application, and collaboration. Check back here soon for more information and photos!
Video Production Studio
Part of our STEM Lab will be dedicated to video production. Through video (and audio) production, students can publish in culturally relevant ways to a worldwide audience. Students can teach back content they are learning, hone communication skills, learn to craft an effective message, collaborate in a meaningful way, and have a great deal of fun! Our Thrasher TV--both in-school and online--will be produced here.
We have several other projects and innovations--agricultural, scientific, curricular, instructional--in the works. We are indebted to our community and parents for their contributions of the time, talents, and treasure. We are looking forward to this year of learning!
e-mail: randolph_a@hcde.org