Dewitt Elementary receives $4,000 grant from DG Literacy Foundation

You’ve seen their stores, but did you know that Dollar General supports literacy efforts?  Dewitt Elementary received a $4,000 grant from the DG Literacy Foundation to continue the development of vocabulary and phonics skills in new and creative ways.

According to Sierra Frost, teacher at Dewitt who wrote the grant, "students will be grouped for daily skills group time based on academic abilities and grade level performance."

As part of the student schedule, it will create small skills groups so specific interventions and enrichments can be provided.  Teachers will be assigned a skills group with specific standards for foundation skills and vocabulary.  Students fall, winter, and spring diagnostic scores in vocabulary and foundational skills will be monitored to assess the effectiveness of our program.  

Vocabulary building books will be purchased from scholastic books. These books will focus strictly on building vocabulary and language skills.  We have set goals for these additional instructional strategies.  New technology will also be added. Six iPads will be used in a phonics center station in the library for primary students.  Chromebooks will be used for a phonics/vocabulary stations in the library for intermediate grades. Both digital tools will be used to implement phonics software.

"Students will reach 55th-99th percentile in both foundational skills and vocabulary to indicate the improvement."

"I expect this to be achieved," said Frost.