Week Zero Day 2: Orientation with Learning Partners

Orientations for Grades 1-6
The orientations for the Elementary Education Department started with the Scholastic orientation by Ms. Nicole Digao, a Prime English Consultant of Scholastic Philippines. She introduced the Scholastic Reading Zone; a platform by Scholastic that holds the features available by students. These are the Literacy Pro, Bookflix, Trueflix, PR1ME English, and PR1ME Reading Comprehension Skills Assessment.

The Literacy Pro, which contains the library and the reading logs of students, was the first feature shown by Ms. Digao. The books shown in a student’s library are customized to their Lexile Level, a measure of their reading and comprehension ability. The Lexile Level is determined by the Scholastic LitPro Test, an assessment taken twice every year. 

The Bookflix and Trueflix, where non-fiction video adaptations of fiction books are paired with reading, was the next feature shown by Ms. Digao. Students can watch a video made for their chosen book, which they can read afterward. The feature contains various games designed to increase a student’s reading and comprehension ability. 

Lastly, the PR1ME English was the last feature shown. This feature is used by teachers to send lessons and activities to students. This is paired with the PR1ME Reading Comprehension Skills Assessment feature, where students can complete their activities. The next orientation was by Scholastic PR1ME Math with Ms. Kim Cabrera. This learning platform has similar features to its counterpart, PR1ME English. PR1ME Math offers coursework books that are adjusted for various grade levels and an online platform to aid students with their skills in mathematics. These options can help students advance in their learning if they are aligned to their liking.
 
Ms. Digao also presented the awards that students can get from reading books. Some awards include prizes from Scholastic, such as books and pins. Other awards that are open to the whole department have greater prizes and merit. 

Orientations for Grades 7-10
The orientations for Grades 7-10 were hosted by Mr. Elizer Syrus Paule, the Junior High School Coordinator of FEU Roosevelt Cainta. After Mr. Paule’s opening remarks, he introduced Mr. Christopher Bayani, a consultant of Scholastic Prime English. This learning partner helps nourish students’ literacy proficiency through reading books. Scholastic Prime English contains more than 5000 books to help students expand their knowledge and increase their competency in grammar and reading comprehension. Mr. Bayani demonstrated how to access the online platform and its features to keep track of the reading journey of the students and to make it more fun to use. Scholastic Go was also introduced as a learning platform available for students, that contains non-fiction books to improve the literacy skills of students.Subsequently, Scholastic Activities was also introduced in different year levels, including some of the awards that students with consistent competency in using Scholastic Prime English will receive. After that, Questions and Answers commenced to open for more inquiries and consultations about utilizing Scholastic Prime English.  

Ms. Chrisitine Mae Trajano, a Solutions and Implementation Specialist, introduced Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces, also called “ALEKS,”  a platform to help students improve their mathematics skills, master critical thinking skills, and grow their time management mindset. Ms. Trajano demonstrated how to access ALEKS and how to utilize its features to monitor students’ progress, such as the Pie Progress Chart, Timeline Carousel, and Knowledge Check. After that, the Questions and Answers segment was also opened to seek questions about ALEKS. 

Orientations for Grades 11-12
They first introduced Cengage, a website wherein students are able to access educational content digitally. With their e-books available any time, paired with the options to highlight important passages and have their entire lessons read out loud while they do their chores and other responsibilities, Cengage offers much versatility in the students’ daily lives and supports them as they study. Following the introduction of Cengage, they introduced ALEKS, a program specifically designed to guide students on their mathematical journeys. ALEKS tailors lessons to each student’s capabilities using a pretest, after which it carefully outlines a personalized set of lessons to aid students in their math studies. Lastly, the McGraw Hill Connect was also introduced, a learning platform with topics adjusted for the Accountancy and Business Management strand.  

With the students now familiar with both Cengage, ALEKS, and Connect—various programs designed to aid them in their studies—there is no doubt that they will help extinguish the students’ anxieties in their subjects, particularly math. There is only hope that they will use these tools and strive to enrich their learning. 

These learning platforms will help students increase their competency in the upcoming school year. They will serve as guides for the students to master all their lessons in different subjects. With this, FEU Roosevelt’s Week Zero officially ended.