Dear Duncan Families,
As the fall season begins to take shape in our world, this school year does as well. Our students have successfully
transitioned into their new grade levels and are now routinely experiencing 21st century classroom learning opportunities that will enable them to develop essential skills for college and career readiness. In order for our students to be
academically competitive in their futures, they must be engaged with new technologies, acquire knowledge from
rigorous coursework and routinely participate in activities that foster innovation and creativity. Our students today
are not just consumers of academic content, but rather creators and users of what they are learning.
Our classrooms
prepare students for their future by applying content to real-world applications that call for students to solve problems, think creatively and work with others to develop solutions. Our students are engaged in collaborative groups
to conduct investigations, discuss and share learnings, and create products that demonstrate what was learned. Using appropriate technology tools to complete their task, our students are discovering the most effective and efficient
ways to access and manage the world of digital information that is available to them.
While working through tasks,
students build important life and career skills that teach them to manage their time, to become self-directed workers
and to collaborate effectively with others.
Futurists predict that within ten years almost half of the workforce will be employed in information-based occupations-gathering, processing, retrieving and analyzing information. To be successful, students will need to be prepared
with the knowledge and skills to be information literate. They must have the ability to acquire, critically evaluate,
select and communicate information in ways which lead to knowledge and understanding. Increased awareness of
the importance of developing informational literacy has led to a greater focus during literacy instruction at school.
Research strongly supports improving a student’s overall ability to read informational literacy through exposure to
many different types of informational text.
Today, our students have access to more and better nonfiction trade
books and magazines designed specifically for children. Many classroom practices we are using at Duncan also incorporate nonfiction texts. Our teachers have utilized the research of Harvey and Goudvis, authors of Strategies
That Work, to incorporate the use of short text to effectively teach comprehension strategies. Short text is selfcontained and easily read and reread together for clarification during instruction.
Under the guidance of the teacher,
students practice these reading comprehension strategies during shared and guided reading and continue to practice
using the strategy as they read independently. Our parent group, D.E.C.O., has supported this as well with their
continual commitment to allocating funds for each classroom at Duncan that is exclusively used to purchase new,
exciting books for our students that enhance the classroom libraries and spark an interest for reading.
As parents, you can support the informational literacy development of your child also by encouraging them to self select informational reading material. This will allow students themselves to find texts that build on their particular
interests and knowledge.
There are many outstanding nonfiction trade books and magazines for children. Old favorites like Ranger Rick and Cobblestone, and newer publications like Scholastic News, Weekly Reader, Story
Works, National Geographic Magazine for Kids and Consumer Reports’ magazine for children are some to consider. Zillions, Smithsonian’s children’s magazine called Muse, and the popular Sports Illustrated for Kids are also
great for encouraging informational reading. Please visit page 9 of this publication for additional ideas.
At Duncan, we believe that as a school community, we share a common interest with our parents- the personal and
academic success of all of our students. A quality education is a responsibility shared by the home, school and each
individual student. We are dedicated to doing our part in order that all students feel successful, but we cannot do it
alone.
Students will need to take even more responsibility for their learning.
A child who achieves does so with the help of many people: from mother or father, to the classroom teacher, to
grandparents, aunts/uncles, to that “special someone” who encourages and acts as a “coach” in the process. It is
important to recognize the worth and merit of everyone involved in the process of educating a child. Indeed, students need to be taught to be responsible learners, but having a support system is extremely important. By working
together, students can often achieve results that would be difficult for them to attain alone.