Feels like summer today!!! If your school is planning on holding summer school for remediation or invention, call us for some ideas of materials to use.
We have, as usual, been on a dead run. Meetings, conferences, appointments, it is what we do and we can always make time for you. With three members of First Team Education out there actively getting the word out about new materials and becoming knowledgable about the ins and outs of Indiana education, we can assist you with your needs. Have a need or question? Call us.

Happy New Year!!! First Team Education is anxious to get back to work and help you find solutions for your educational needs. One of the greatest moments for us is when someone calls and asks for our assistance. Maybe they need professional books or support for ISTEP+. Sometimes they only have a small amount of money but want to spend it with us. We really appreciate that because you are all important to us regardless of the size of your budget!

People are very anxious to see our Reading Express as a possible remediation for IREAD. It would make a great summer school program for those students who don't pass IREAD. They also like the Finish Line Reading for the Common Core to help get the students ready to take IREAD. If you want to see samples of either of these programs, just call or email me and I will get you a copy.

We wish you all the best in 2012!!!

Common Core materials!

We are starting to hear more and more about the Common Core Standards that are coming to Indiana and First Team Education is ready! Continental Press has an outstanding series that covers the common core standards for reading, writing and math. Lerner Books has put together some leveled books for common core with teaching notes that cover three standards per book. Heinemann Raintree and Perfection Learning also has some common core packages with leveled books and classroom libraries. Perfection also has an intervention program called Reading Express which offers comprehensive coverage of the common core standards. If you want to know more about any of these programs please contact us! These standards are not going away and it is best to be prepared.

Remember also that Continental Press has the best ISTEP+ program on the market and is used widely across Indiana. So while you are transitioning into Common Core keep raising those ISTEP+ scores with some support from Finish Line ISTEP+

Browsing books at Indiana Teachers of Writing.

Well it is exhibit season once again! Last week was ISRA, ICASE, and Literocity of Pike Twp. This week is AdvanEd, Valpo Literacy Conference and ITW and next week is ICE. We appreciate you taking time out of your schedules to attend these conferences and hopefully stop by our table and take a look at our offerings. We know that sometimes the organizations that sponsor these conferences don't give you much time to stroll through the exhibits. This is very frustrating for us, because we pay to attend these conferences and we only want you all to see what is available to help you meet your classroom needs. When you fill out your evaluations after attending a conference, please state that designated exhibit time would be nice! Thanks!

If you belong to the Learning Connection, you saw the call for applications to the Indiana Early Intervention Grant. We have contacted a couple of the companies that we represent and they have put together some packages of materials that would fit into that grant. Road to Reading is a research-based, systematic, sequential reading intervention program. It includes diagnostic testing, mastery tests, hands-on, mulitsensory instruction and detailed lesson plans. They are offering a discount on the price of the kit! So call if you need more info or go to roadtoreading.com.

Another company we are working with is Lerner Books. They are offering a 6 pack of leveled books along with the digital interactive version of the book. This would work great as a read aloud, then small group work followed by the student going to the computer to read or listen to the book. Again, contact me for more information!

By now you are probably back at school and have totally forgotten about your relaxing days of summer! So let's start thinking about how we can assist those kids that haven't picked up a book for the last 3 months. We know that parental involvement is so important to your student's reading habits. First Team Education is working with two different companies to come up with School to Home packages. This is a great idea for Title I schools! You will receive a plastic bag with one to three leveled books plus notes for parents on how to ask questions about what their child is reading. Parents really do want to help their children but don't always know how to go about it. These packages can be used in a Parent Lending Library so kids can take home a package, read for a few days and then return for another package. If you don't have anything like this in your building, just contact us and we can give you a quote.