Region 14 3rd and 5th Grade Language Arts Teachers, As I am sure you are aware, the Reading TAKS Test is scheduled for February 20. What you may not know is that the Distance Learning Department at Region 14 and The Grace Museum are here to help you by providing pre-paid DL programs related to the 3rd and 5th grade TAKS Reading Test.
During the summer of 2005, a committee consisting of teachers, reading consultants, DL consultants, and representatives from The Grace Museum meet to review the Region 14 2005 3rd and 5th Grade TAKS Reading results. Although students in Region 14 did VERY well on the Reading TAKS Test, our lowest performing objective ‘region wide’ was Critical Thinking Skills. The Grace Museum went to work and has developed an excellent Distance Learning Virtual Field Trip designed to assist you by working directly with your students on Critical Thinking Skills. These DL programs are titled "Reading Safari" for 3rd grade students and "Reading Roundup" for 5th Grade students.
In addition to being excellent programs, your district has pre-paid for the programs through your membership in the Region 14 network called WTTC. You read that correctly - these programs have already been paid for by your district. (Schools outside of Region 14 pay a fee for DL programs from The Grace.) Your school qualifies for as may programs as you have 3rd and 5th grade classes. The Grace wants to work with your individual classes in point-to-point video conferences.
Here is a quote from Belinda Heller, a 5th Grade teacher at Anson Elementary School who recently took advantage of the TAKS Reading program offered by The Grace Museum:
"I told my students after we had participated in this VFT that we were so fortunate at AES to be able to be a part of such cutting edge technology. I believe that it so important to try and reach our students through as many different "avenues" as we can and using the distance learning lab has proven to be a very valuable way to teach my students. They were very excited about the book that was presented and many of them read the book again after we returned to the classroom. That in itself was worth it....the excitement and joy of reading was shared by The Grace!"
Now let’s review: excellent programming, programs geared towards the most difficult TAKS Reading objective, programs that are pre-paid for by your district, a program for each class of 3rd and 5th graders at your school, and all of this is available at your district through Distance Learning technology. What is even better is that all you have to do to register for the program is call Pam Harman at The Grace Museum (325) 673-4587. Pam needs at least 2 weeks notice to schedule a program.
The program from The Grace Museum may not be anything different than what you have been doing with your student already, but the instruction is being delivered in a totally different fashion. It could be the one factor that helps you reach some of your most difficult to reach students.
I want to highly encourage your to take advantage of this excellent opportunity to help your students master the Critical Thinking Skills objective of the TAKS Reading Test. Please do not wait until the last minute to schedule a program because slots are already beginning to fill up. If you do not want to schedule the program until late January or early February – go ahead and contact Pam now to reserve a slot.
After your students “excel” on the TAKS Test, contact The Grace again to schedule other Virtual Field Trip as a “reward” for your students. The Grace offers a wide variety of educational programs. To find out about other programs offered by The Grace Museum, go to: www.thegracemuseum.org/teachers/teachers_distance.html Just like the TAKS Test Reading Programs, additional programs from The Grace Museum have also be pre-paid for by your district.
If you have any questions about programs from The Grace Museum or other Distance Learning activities available for your students, please do not hesitate to contact Tommy Bearden.