Welcome to the Office of Language Arts
"United We Read" Mountain View Elementary
Penguins Penguins Everywhere!
2nd Graders share their non-fiction Penguin stories they wrote!
Check out the black and white outfits on the final day of "United We Read!
Kindergartners and first grade students worked together to create stories about the penguins on the "Discovery Cam".
Mountain View Cougars had a very busy month of March. They began their “United We Read” program for the first time ever! The mission of the “United We Read” was to have an entire community reading the same book at the same time! They chose the book Mr. Popper’s Penguins, by Richard and Florence Atwell to engage all students in grades K-5. Through fund-raising, community sponsors, and school support they were able to purchase one copy of the book for every family.
Every night, students and parents had a reading assignment. The parents read aloud one chapter daily and had book discussions at home. With the ever growing technological society and everyday busy lives, families often do not take the opportunity to spend time together—especially time to read together. The goal, with this project, was to reignite the value and love of reading with MVES students and their families!
Students came into school daily and were very excited to discuss the happenings in the book. Classroom teachers supported this project greatly and the creativeness flowed throughout the school. Teachers and staff shared penguin facts, read penguin literature, participated in school wide trivia, and were extremely engaged in the Discovery Channel’s Penguin Cam live at the San Diego Zoo! (http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/frozen-planet/penguin-cam/)
On the final day of the program, all staff and students wore “black and white” to celebrate their reading success and classroom teachers could choose to share the award winning Disney movie, March of the Penguins.The project brought the entire school and community together while emphasizing the importance of literature. They hope you get the opportunity to read Mr. Popper’s Penguins, by Richard and Florence Atwater. The Mountain View Cougars highly recommend it!
Jim Burke Workshop
Many PWCS secondary teachers attended a workshop with Jim Burke, author of educational publications including his latest, What's the Big Idea?: Question-Driven Units to Motivate Reading, Writing, and Thinking.
Mr. Burke shared many best practices for deepening students' motivation
and skills in thinking, reading, and writing.
You can visit his website (www.englishcompanion.com) for more information.
The Language Arts Program supports Prince William County Schools' vision that all students will learn to their fullest capacity. Central to Language Arts is the development of a continuum of literacy skills and strategies for students in kindergarten through grade twelve. This continuum includes processes critical to reading, writing, speaking, listening, information management, and the use of technology.
