English Language Arts and Mathematics…
In the last two years, the Lawrence County Board of Education has spent over $450,000 for new English Language Arts and Mathematics student and teacher resources.
With input from staff members in the fall of 2015, the district chose to purchase the Go Math/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt mathematics series for grades Kindergarten through twelfth grade. This math series was reviewed by teachers in the district along with school administrators and chosen by the reviewers. This series includes many student/parent resources such as an online Student E-book along with an interactive student online textbook which includes Personal Trainer, which allows students to further their math skills at home. Personal Trainer allows students to go beyond the classroom materials or provides remediation of skills if students are struggling.
Students began this current school year with new English Language Arts resources for Reading, Language, and Writing. School staff reviewed resource materials for over eight months prior to selecting Benchmark Advance for grades Kindergarten through 6th grade and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) for grades 7 through 12.
Benchmark Advance is not a traditional series since it involves multiple reading resources including “close readers” and leveled books which are tailored to meet the student’s individual reading skills. Therefore, parents will not see a hardcover textbook for these grade levels but can look for paperback close readers once teachers have utilized them in the classroom.
In grades 7-12, students have been issued a hardcover textbook for English Language Arts in addition to a Performance Assessment handbook to complete various writing and language tasks.
As with mathematics, there are multiple online student/parent resources to extend Lawrence County students’ learning at home in English Language Arts. Following is a chart which summarizes the various resources available to students and parents:
Each child in the district has his/her own login credentials in order to access these materials. Parents should ensure their child knows how to access these resources. If you or your child do not know the appropriate usernames and passwords, please follow this chain of assistance beginning with your child’s teacher, then the main office at the school, and finally the District Technology Coordinator/CIO Thomas Burns at thomas.burns@lawrence.kyschools.us .
The Lawrence County School District wants to ensure that you and your child get the full benefit of these wonderful resources.
