PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT - ORTON GILLINGHAM!

Each week, we will be highlighting one of our programs or offering resources for parents to illustrate The Radcliffe Way!

Reading the Radcliffe Way

One major component of the Orton-Gillingham reading program is the development of phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. Before learning to read, it is necessary for students to be aware of how sounds in words work.  

Developing these skills can be accomplished through various activities, such as counting sounds in words, identifying and categorizing sounds, blending sounds to form words, deleting or adding sounds to form new words, segmenting sounds and syllables in words, and substituting sounds to make words. Without these skills, it is often very difficult for students to make the connection between the actual written letter to the sound of that letter(s), therefore making it even harder to read connected text.

"One of the most compelling and well-established findings in the research on beginning reading is the important relationship between phonemic awareness and reading acquisition." (Kame'enui, et. al., 1997)

Douglas uses picture cards to segment syllables, clipping each number as he says the syllable aloud.

"CREATE NIGHT" AT RADCLIFFE CREEK!

Please, join us as we continue to celebrate The Radcliffe Way!  The Radcliffe Way embodies our uniqueness as a school, where  Discover.Create.Thrive happens daily. This is an on-going series that started on our Back to School night with "DISCOVER." Our upcoming event will highlight how the teachers and the students CREATE together at Radcliffe.

To ring in the holiday season, Radcliffe is offering its families a chance to experience what it is like to create  The Radcliffe Way, on December 15 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Please bring the whole family to Radcliffe to enjoy a night of creativity, kindness, and celebration. Radcliffe's Design Lab and Art Room will be open for creating several craft activities that have been planned for you by Radcliffe teachers.  

Additionally, that night, Radcliffe's Scholastic  Book Fair will be open for business! A pizza dinner will be provided for all who attend and we hope that the whole family will come and enjoy a Radcliffe Creek style "Create Night."

A Special Note: Radcliffe Creek School's K-8 program will open with a 90-minute delay on Friday, December 16; doors will open at 9:30 a.m.

To RSVP to CREATE NIGHT, please e-mail Julie Blyman. See you there!

CHESTER RIVER BRIDGE UPDATE

Due to weather, deck patching on the MD 213 bridge over the Chester River is now scheduled for Thursday, December 1 and Friday, December 2.  This work will require daytime single lane closures and flagging; motorists are reminded to plan a little extra time for travel through Chestertown between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. both days.

ALEX AND ANI CHARMED BY CHARITY EVENT

PARENT SPEAKER - DR. DUANE ISAVA

On Tuesday, December 20 from 9:00 - 10:00 a.m., Dr. Duane Isava ("Dr. D.") will present a Parent Education Seminar.

Dr. D. is executive director of the Halcyon Wellness Center who specializes in neuro-developmental disorders and during his presentation he will:
-Explore reasons why your child may challenge or resist your good parenting skills;
-Talk to parents about different approaches to strengthen your relationship with your child;
-Teach parents some strategies that will help your child become more motivated and compliant to your directions and expectations;
-Help parents understand developmental and gender differences that promote socially and emotionally adjusted children.

This event is free and open to the public; please either RSVP on Facebook or e-mail.

OVERFLOWING LOST AND FOUND!

Our lost and found is overflowing! Do you recognize any of these items? If so, please contact Jacki Payne so we can send them home with your student. Any items that are not claimed by December 13 will be donated!

LITTLE CREEK MITTEN TREE

In connection with Little Creek's holiday theme of "Christmas Around the World," Little Creek parents will be coordinating a "Mitten Tree," collecting donations of cold weather items like hats, scarves and mittens for refugee children and their families who have recently been resettled in Maryland. These families have not only survived terrible humanitarian crises, but they arrive here with only the clothes on their backs. Your donations would keep them warm throughout the winter season.

Donations will be collected in the Little Creek Lobby through December 13 and then taken to the  International Rescue Committee Headquarters in Baltimore, an organization that helps about 1,100 people every year who are fleeing from war and persecution in their home countries. To learn more about the organization, click here.

ORNAMENT CONTEST!

AROUND THE CREEK

Our students enjoyed a great visit to Heron Point the day before Thanksgiving Break!

 

The Little Creek Four's Class learned about St. Nicholas Day, which is celebrated in Germany. Students made their own clogs, stuffed them with reindeer food, and left them outside hoping that Santa would come and fill them with goodies!