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By MAGGIE PETRUSHEVSKY The New Tanner While Halton's Early Lit- eracy poe is only one reason Halton pupils did so well on last year's provincial tests, the new program is an important one. Allison Mitchell, board contact with the Ministry of Education's Evaluation, Education Quality and Ac- Georgetown DENTURE THE NEW TANNER Early literacy program proves to be successful countability office, says known as the Early Literacy Halton implemented a new program, was created and Halton-created literacy pro- _ turned into a full curriculum gram in 1996. Halton did a reading and writing test several years ago and saw a need for change in those results, Mitchell says. Then, with the clear motiva- tion of helping pupils to learn better in the classroom, a committee began researching ways to achieve that goal. The resulting plan, for Halton schools. Teach- ers began using it in the classroom in experimental portions before the full pro- gram was completed, testing methods, refining strategies and generally. working out ways to make their ideas work. Despite provincial test re- sults in which Halton lead CREATING CONFIDENT SMILES SINCE 1982 CLINIC Alexander Trenton, D.D., F.C.A.D., (A) ~ Denturist - SS eS hed - NEW COMPLETE & PARTIAL DENTURES - RELINES - SAME DAY - EMERGENCY REPAIRS - IMPLANT DENTURES + QUALITY SERVICES GUARANT ED - NO REFERRAL NEEDED; SIMPLY CALL OUR OFFICE DIRECT 877-2359 18 CHURCH ST. GEORGETOWN (Across from the Library, corner of Church & Market Sts.) the province, seeming to in- dicate the value of the pro- gram, Mitchell says it is still too new to receive all the credit. "Teachers have been do- ing good things all along," she says. "This just solidifies the ideas into a system for everyone. But not everyone has received training in all the parts yet. We started out offering in-service work- shops for people's individual areas of interest. Now we are trying to fill the gaps so that everyone will eventually get training in all the compo- nents." Those components con- sist of 12 segments says McKenzie-Smith Bennett vice-principal Brian Speed. Language development follows very sequential steps and placing students on that path allows teachers to help them sort out problems and progress. The stages are known as emergent, early and fluent. "Each stage has clear defi- nition so teachers know where students are at and what strategies to show Custom Pipe Bending Lic. Safety Inspection Stn. 17 Agnes St. Acton 853-0900 YOURWAY CORNER AU AE CLE DDE SAY WITH VILLAGE CONSTABLE FLOWER SHOP FREE In-town Delivery 75 Mill St. E. Acton 853-5534 FREE ESTIMATES -- FULLY INSURED HALTON HILLS WINDOW CLEANING Residential & Commercial Windows, Eaves & Siding Heinz Krzyzik 853-1753 1-800-371-8806 Royal Jug City Competitive Prices 853-2460 In the Glenlea Plaza £4 The )Wutore HPriar For the Finest Fish & Chips! 14 Mill St. E. 853-1053 | Ph: 853-5531 Fax: 853-5366 2. Parents should know the areas that their children 3. Make sure that your child knows his home area; point out landmarks to him. 4. Teach your child his phone number and his address, 5. Parents -- do not let your child wear clothing with his name printed on the outside where strangers can readily identify him by name. 6. Instruct your child that if someone is bothering him to yell "You are not my daddy," or "my mommy", etc. Tell them to run if they can. Don'ts for children . Don't hitch hike. . Don't tell anyone on the phone that you are Nu~-- a him. play. home alone. Always know how to contact your parents. Tell your parents where you are going and when you will be back. - Don't let strangers into your house - Never accept a ride in a vehicle from a stranger. Remember: Don't be a victim! Beside IGA BILL RIDDLE Streetproof | your kids' I have had a lot of requests to provide information to parents regarding streetproofing of children. The following is a checklist of responsibilities of parents. 1. Explain to your child that a stranger is anyone he does not know, even if the stranger seems to know ROAD BUILDING EARTH MOVING RR. #1 Acton 853-0960 Soft Water Plus Simply the Best in water Softeners THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 1998 them," he says. It also helps teachers pro- gram for pupils at differing levels in the same classroom. While the spread may only be a couple of grades in the early years, by the time pu- pils hit the senior grades their reading abilities can range from Grade 1 to high school levels. The Literacy Workshop Model used in the primary grades includes 12 compo- nents. These are Read Aloud, Write Aloud, Shared Writ- ing, Guided Writing, Inde- pendent Writing, Authoring Cycle, Home Connections, Responding, Conversation, Independent Reading, Guided Reading and Shared -- Finding a way to get those older pupils who have diffi- culty involved with less chal- lenging material without embarrassing them is one of the big challenges in those senior grades, Speed says. Propaganda to the con- trary, phonics is, and always has been, a major part of teaching youngsters to read, 'says Marie Wiens, Gr. 1 teacher at McKenzie-Smith Bennett. "You just use it in differ- ent ways. Instead of the old specific lesson on a sound you work it into all sorts of lessons. That's all this new program is, full of phonics." Marie Wiens, of McKenzie-Smith Bennett, takes her Gr. 1 class through a session of Chime-Ins. Pu- pils work out the words in the poem, then read it aloud together. - Maggie Petrushevsky photo SAVE 80% on salt & water 853-0757 - Mitch Lajeunesse Braida & Henry BARRISTERS & SOLICITORS Serving the Community for 40 Years 67 Mill Street East Acton 853-1160 J & E VIDEOS 120 Mill St. W. Acton 853-1526 Service At Its Best! McINTYRE FUELS LIMITED Sales + Service « Rentals « Installations Furnaces * Oil fired water heaters Automatic delivery of home heating fuels Full line of gas, diesel fuels & lubricants 24 Hour Burner Service 44 Young St. Acton 853-0000 Acton Precast Concrete Limited Quality Concrete Products Since 1963 853-1529 --@\ Vs O Beautiful cat needs a home To the Editor: I am writing this letter to your paper in hopes that you may be able to help us. On Friday, March 13, 1998, we took possession of our house in Acton. Friday evening, a cat appeared at our back door. I took for granted that it was a neigh- bour's cat snooping around, and never gave it a second thought. However, on Satur- day the cat was still there, meowing and refusing to leave. Sunday morning, a neighbour across the street informed me that it was the previous owners' cat, and they had abandoned it over a week ago. When I heard this, imme- diately I let the cat in the house. We have three cats already, but they were stay- ing at my parents' house while we moved. Unfortu- nately, I only had some bologna to offer her, which she took gladly. I have never seen a cat drink so much water and eat so fast in such sr ep of time. These pie iterall i cat for dead! ly left this She appears to be a Per- sian/tabby mix with a domes- tic cat's facial features, and may I add. A VERY BIG cat -- just gorgeous! I have contacted the area Humane Society and they have been great, however, the best they could do is give her a cage where she might end up staying for months, till they find her a home. They have been able to get an Ani- mal Clinic that will gladly giver her all of her shots at no cost. Could you please print this letter in your paper with our hopes that someone will adopt our new friend, and give her the loving home that she truly deserves. Barb Burrows-Morrison Arthur Street Clarification The Tanner story on the Achilles Mazda anniversary mistakenly said Les Pelitis was mayor of his hometown in Greece. We should have said he was a councillor and stood in for the mayor in his absence. We also incorrectly identified Les Politis' home town. He lived in Langada, a suburb of Thessalonki.