Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
國際處主任 賴國宜
The idea of reading for passion is foreign to many students when reading is just something that teachers make them do in school. Mr. Claassen explains how the Monthly Must Reads at KCIS aim to change that. Instead of the teachers assigning reading materials, the students are given chances to choose the kind of story they are interested in reading or the kind of nonfiction they want to learn from. We hope that by providing students with plenty of opportunities to explore reading by themselves, the Monthly Must Reads will turn reading into a successful and pleasurable experience for them. The grade 5 students just finished their persuasive speech project which allowed them to see how many of da Vinci's ideas and sketches inspired modern day inventions. Please enjoy the students' articles to see if you agree with their arguments.
I can't believe how fast this year is going; it is the time again when we get excited about Christmas. We are currently running several Christmas activities at the school, such as Christmas Calendars, making Christmas posters and cards, and carol shows. I would like to wish all our students and families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New year.
「去念書！」這大概是所有父母最常跟孩子說的一句話，我們多麼希望孩子能「主動」閱讀且「樂在」閱讀，而不是被師長規定才讀書。Monthly Must Reads的設計就是讓孩子擁有閱讀的主控權，每位學生都有一個虛擬的書架，自己利用時間，瀏覽書目，選擇有興趣的書籍閱讀。根據統計，每個月有超過一千人次持續利用Monthly Must Reads進行線上閱讀並完成評量，期盼康橋小讀者們能因此養成主動閱讀的習慣。這個月，五年級剛完成有關「達文西」專題的演說文章，他們將帶我們認識更多與達文西相關的發明。
歲末，最令人期待的莫過於聖誕節，今年我們除了聖誕海報和卡片設計活動之外，還有聖誕行善月曆(Christmas Calendar)活動，國際處的中外老師，每天都有溫馨善舉，陪孩子一起倒數聖誕節的來臨。
最後，祝福每個孩子和家人都平安幸福，我們一起迎接嶄新的一年。
~ Roland Claassen
Teaching Coordinator, International Department
Reading is just like everything in life, the more you do it the better you get! The better you get, the more enjoyable the things you read are, the more you'll stick with them and develop the reading skills that you'll need for the future. KCIS provides those extra reading opportunities and makes reading for pleasure an integral part of the school curriculum with our Monthly Must Reads.
The Monthly Must Reads at KCIS provide students with five books per month with different DRA levels for students with a diverse instructional level in reading. These readings are accompanied by five comprehension questions to encourage critical reading.
Let’s take a look at the graph on the right. For the first book, with the easiest DRA level, over 1000 students moved Look at My Neighborhood to their library and over 900 students completed the online assessment for this book. Even with the most challenging book, Toby’s California Vacation, it was great to see that over 400 students started reading the book. This shows that KCIS students have confidence in their reading ability and it’s apparent that the Monthly Must Reads have become a good independent reading habit for many of our students.
Why does Kang Chiao encourage independent reading and how does it benefit students to do the Monthly Must Reads at home? Let’s take a look at a few reasons!
Reading opens doors - doors to factual information about any subject on earth. There's so much more reading and writing going on these days with the advent of things like the internet and mobile technology. Children are growing up in a much richer literacy world. To effectively utilize all the information, both reading and critical thinking skills are of prime importance.
Reading exposes children to proper grammar and phrasing. It builds vocabulary, enhances the development of their spoken language skills and their ability to express themselves verbally. With the audio file available online, students can listen and improve their pronunciation as they see the words on the page, even if they can't yet read the words on their own.
I've saved the most important point for last. Reading can provide children with endless hours of entertainment. Stories allow children to dream and give them a good start on the road to viewing reading as a lifelong source of pleasure. For the rest of their lives, they will have access to all of the accumulated knowledge of mankind, access to all of the great minds and ideas of the past and present. It truly is magic!
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