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Equal Opportunity Notice

The Issaquah School District complies with all applicable federal and state rules and regulations and does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, honorably discharged veteran or military status, sexual orientation including gender expression or identity, the presence of any sensory, mental or physical disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability in its programs and activities, or employment related matters, and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following employees are designated to handle questions and complaints of alleged discrimination: Executive Director of Compliance and Legal Affairs, District Title IX Coordinator, Section 504/ADA Coordinator or Compliance Coordinator for 28A.540 and 28A.642 RCW, in writing at or by telephone at 425.837.7060. The Issaquah School District will also take steps to assure that national origin persons who lack English language skills can participate in all educational programs, services and activities. For information regarding translation services or transitional bilingual education programs, contact the Director of Student Interventions in writing at 565 NW Holly St., Issaquah, WA 98027 or by telephone at 425.837.7000.

Reading is one of the quiet pleasures our children experience, and we can help support our young readers. Research shows that reading increases later school success. Help your student find a book for themselves to read with the 5 Finger Rule. Each time a child comes across an unknown word, they hold up a finger.

• 0-1 words (counted on fingers) that are challenging/not understood on a page means this book might be an easy read for your child.
• 2 challenging words: this book is a good choice for fun reading.
• 3 challenging words: this book will be good for reading and will probably teach new vocabulary. It’s a thinking book.
• 4 words that are challenging on a page means this might be a hard book to read. Work together to read this one.
• 5 challenging words on a page tells us that this book may be a struggle and if left to read it alone, a child might feel uncomfortable with their reading ability or bad about their reading experience. This might be a book to read to your child. Take a moment to talk about the challenging words that are important to the story.

Visit the Book Love page for ideas to find the right book for your child or family reading.

Hard working teachers keep track of every student’s reading and comprehension on a daily basis, but three times a year an in-class formal Fountas and Pinnell evaluation helps teachers determine if children are progressing in their reading. The evaluation includes the child reading one or more short selection and then talking with the teacher about that text with specific questions provided by the evaluation’s manufacturer while the child has the reading selection in hand. For any questions about this evaluation, contact your teacher or visit the Fountas and Pinnell parent message board. As these evaluations are only to track reading progress, the school library recommends choosing books based on children’s interests, and when appropriate, the “5 finger” method.

The second reading evaluation in our district is part of the Smarter Balanced tests. Students read a short article and answer questions with the text available to refer to while responding. For more information about this end-of-year assessment, talk to your teacher. The Smarter Balance assessment group has created a web page with information for parents here.

The New Jersey Association of School Librarians created this video to talk about the importance of school libraries for our children’s futures.

The American Library Association of School Librarians maintain standards that are upheld in my classes. Children should be empowered to explore, create, think, and share in the school library, and part of that is recieving instruction and guided experiences with the library materials and technology. Learning to research and to find quality sources as well as how to find and different ways to think about reading are all part of the curiculum. To learn more about the American Library Association’s standards and what that means for your child, visit their Parents Page.

American Association of School Librarians. (2019). Make the case (infographic). Retrieved from http://www.ilovelibraries.org/sites/default/files/AASL19_MaketheCase_IlovelibrariesV2_0.pdf

Coker, E. (2015). Certified teacher-librarians, library quality and student achievement in Washington State public schools: The Washington State school library impact study executive summary. Retrieved from https://wala.memberclicks.net/assets/WLMA/Advocacy/wsslit%20exec%20summary%204.7.15.pdf

Cult of Pedagogy. (2014). Nightly reading homework: Best practices for parents (video). Youtube. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/korfvEOQb14

Gretes, F. (2013). School library impact studies: A review of findings and guide to sources. https://www.baltimorelibraryproject.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2013/09/Library-Impact-Studies.pdf

 New Jersey Libray Association. (2012). NJASL school libraries video (video). Youtube. Retreived from https://youtu.be/KTslgjLEzLw