Elevating Readers to the Next Level and Beyond is a project that will provide students with differentiated texts within their literacy centers. The purpose of this project is use best practices in the Science of Teaching Reading (SOR). I want to enrich my literacy centers with differentiated texts that include fiction, nonfiction, and science decodables. This will provide students with engaging books that will sustain their attention and help them master each skill needed to move up in reading levels. Having text connected to their small group work will also build their background knowledge and vocabulary.
I have taught for ten years. Nine of those years I have taught reading. For seven of those years, I have taught first grade consecutively. In my career having served two school districts, I have been trained on two different tiered reading intervention programs that include Reading Mastery and Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI). I have used Jan Richardson’s Guided Reading Program, trained under Dr. Noel Gray, implemented lessons with the Scholastic and Reading A-Z Leveled Readers. I was also part of the first group to participate in the Reading Academies in the district. With the wealth of knowledge and experience I have accrued; I cannot help but wonder why majority of our students are still not excelling to their fullest potential. If I have received this kind of training, I know others have as well. I have observed a pattern year after year where less than 50% enter first grade “on level”. There is almost always a small group worth of students who do cannot identify their letters and know their sounds. This pattern in data has always gotten the most of my attention to the point where I have meticulously created a system to differentiate literacy centers. Students essentially practice and learn from activities that stemmed from their small group work. To continue learning best practices, I took it upon myself to pursue training in the Science of Teaching Reading in a training called ELEVATE. My training from past has provided me the education to teach students and grow them. My goal is to create a system in the classroom that will address student’s needs from day 1 of their small group work. I want to create a system that will motivate other teachers to adopt, so that together, we can use best practices to serve our Crosby ISD student population. A lot of research based in neuroscience about how humans learn to read supports this new practice. Research states that humans are not prewired to learn how to read. However, we are prewired for speech and language. We are also wired to learn from visual objects and images but with variance. Science of Teaching Reading emphasizes in presenting all skills in a phonological order by teaching students how to spell using a code of sounds. This is done by sequencing phonemic and phonics skills in a certain order. Students first learn how to use speech to print letters. Once they have mastered the small unit of language (phonemic awareness) students then can use print to read, which turns into strengthening their speech. When students have a strong phonemic background, learn how to spell by using a code, they can then learn from print and become strong decoders or essentially readers. To facilitate this process, students need exposure to quality text but in a very explicit and strategic manner. The resources in this project are all aligned with UFLI. This project will provide all students in the classroom with connected decodable texts organized in differentiated literacy centers. In all the years I have taught, there has always been a shortage of books for teachers to create a strong class library. Teachers are certainly given the curriculum resources we need to teach concepts, but we are not provided with a classroom library extensive enough to engage our students all year long. Students need variety. They also need differentiation to meet their needs. An average first grade class will have readers ranging from levels beginning in Kindergarten to beginning of third grade. Differentiated texts will meet the needs of these students. This project will surely create a strong start to the system I have planned to implement. It is with every intention that I continue to build upon my system. By funding this project, students will have a solid opportunity to level up and master reading. Students who traditionally do not have access to quality books will be granted that opportunity in my classroom. Where the library at school will serve as their practice to pursue texts for their interest, my classroom will give opportunities for students to read decodable texts to elevate themselves to the next reading level. This in return, will build their confidence and maximize every opportunity in the schedule to work on their academic goals.
Elevating Readers to the Next Level and Beyond is not just a project title but rather my motivation for this school year. All my first-grade students will be assessed per district guidelines, but also with additional assessments I plan on implementing based on the Science of Teaching Reading (SOR). This project aims to address individual and personalized student need. The goal is to identify their starting point in the scope and sequence and then gather data throughout the year to adjust goals. Most students enter first grade with an understanding that spoken language can be represented in written form. Most students know a lot of sight and high frequency words. Most students enter first grade with an interest in reading activities. With that said, most students also cannot write on grade level. The concern here is that most students have also been taught with a print to speech framework. They are also very dependent on using picture cues, and initial letters to read text. The problem with this is that according to research our visual component part of our brain, can only hold so much data. We find that students are succeeding in kindergarten and first grade based on where they came in, but the progress slows down in second grade, and essentially scores dip when they enter third and fourth. That is because they have not been taught the code which is the basis of SOR and the part of their brain that holds visual memory is full and cannot accept more information. The goal of the assessments will be to identify where students fall within the phonological and phonemic awareness levels. Then skill groups will be created. These groups can change weekly based on mastery levels. Gathering data will begin with the formal district assessments and additional assessments I will administer. As I teach skills using the SOR approach, I will maintain data by using a clipboard in class to determine student strengths and weaknesses within the scope and sequence. This can look like me walking around with a roster and making notations. As mentioned before, students entering first grade vary in levels between pre-K and 3rd grade. When data is gathered, students will be strategically placed into small skill groups. Students will also be informed of where they stand and what the overall goal is to master first grade and “beyond”. Students will track their own data using a personal folder in class that includes the scope and sequence. They will track which phonological and phonemic skills they have mastered and which phonics skills they have achieved. I will in return maintain a data folder on the students as well. All materials in the class literacy centers will be labeled by skill and a given number. For example, short vowels will be marked as #1, consonant blends as #2, digraphs as #3, r-controlled vowels as #4 and so on. Each student in class will have their photo taken (they love this part). I will place a pocket chart in class. Students’ photos will be on display and the correlating numbered skill they will practice. Students approach their center by referring to the class or literacy center chart. They then retrieve the materials labeled in the same manner as the chart. All activities have been taught during their small group time. Advanced students who show leadership skills will have a job where they may assist students when needed opposed to interrupting me at the small group table when I am working with other students. This project is to fund the collection of texts I need for the small group and literacy centers. A lot of the SOR teaching practices has a heavy focus on teaching reading in an isolated context. Although all lessons are finished with connecting text, the project to be funded will provide more opportunities for students to practice decoding using decodable text. The resources for this project include physical items from Junior Learning, Charge into Reading, and Silla Sense. The printable portion of this project is to use funds to purchase resources from Mrs. Winters Bliss. This includes not only 60 decodable books but also passages that will be used in small groups and then tied to a literacy center for continued independent practice. The project will allow me to assign very purposeful activities that prompt for explicit practice based on individual student goals. Student A and Student B may be assigned to one center, but both students do not need to practice the same skill. Therefore, student A can gather what they need and so can student B. When they have completed their tasks, they may be able to share what they have learned which may provide additional spiral review or exposure to other skills we are working on in class
I have taught for ten years. Nine of those years I have taught reading. For seven of those years, I have taught first grade consecutively. In my career having served two school districts, I have been trained on two different tiered reading intervention programs that include Reading Mastery and Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI). I have used Jan Richardson’s Guided Reading Program, trained under Dr. Noel Gray, implemented lessons with the Scholastic and Reading A-Z Leveled Readers. I was also part of the first group to participate in the Reading Academies in the district. With the wealth of knowledge and experience I have accrued; I cannot help but wonder why majority of our students are still not excelling to their fullest potential. If I have received this kind of training, I know others have as well. I have observed a pattern year after year where less than 50% enter first grade “on level”. There is almost always a small group worth of students who do cannot identify their letters and know their sounds. This pattern in data has always gotten the most of my attention to the point where I have meticulously created a system to differentiate literacy centers. Students essentially practice and learn from activities that stemmed from their small group work. To continue learning best practices, I took it upon myself to pursue training in the Science of Teaching Reading in a training called ELEVATE. My training from past has provided me the education to teach students and grow them. My goal is to create a system in the classroom that will address student’s needs from day 1 of their small group work. I want to create a system that will motivate other teachers to adopt, so that together, we can use best practices to serve our Crosby ISD student population. A lot of research based in neuroscience about how humans learn to read supports this new practice. Research states that humans are not prewired to learn how to read. However, we are prewired for speech and language. We are also wired to learn from visual objects and images but with variance. Science of Teaching Reading emphasizes in presenting all skills in a phonological order by teaching students how to spell using a code of sounds. This is done by sequencing phonemic and phonics skills in a certain order. Students first learn how to use speech to print letters. Once they have mastered the small unit of language (phonemic awareness) students then can use print to read, which turns into strengthening their speech. When students have a strong phonemic background, learn how to spell by using a code, they can then learn from print and become strong decoders or essentially readers. To facilitate this process, students need exposure to quality text but in a very explicit and strategic manner. The resources in this project are all aligned with UFLI. This project will provide all students in the classroom with connected decodable texts organized in differentiated literacy centers. In all the years I have taught, there has always been a shortage of books for teachers to create a strong class library. Teachers are certainly given the curriculum resources we need to teach concepts, but we are not provided with a classroom library extensive enough to engage our students all year long. Students need variety. They also need differentiation to meet their needs. An average first grade class will have readers ranging from levels beginning in Kindergarten to beginning of third grade. Differentiated texts will meet the needs of these students. This project will surely create a strong start to the system I have planned to implement. It is with every intention that I continue to build upon my system. By funding this project, students will have a solid opportunity to level up and master reading. Students who traditionally do not have access to quality books will be granted that opportunity in my classroom. Where the library at school will serve as their practice to pursue texts for their interest, my classroom will give opportunities for students to read decodable texts to elevate themselves to the next reading level. This in return, will build their confidence and maximize every opportunity in the schedule to work on their academic goals.
Elevating Readers to the Next Level and Beyond is not just a project title but rather my motivation for this school year. All my first-grade students will be assessed per district guidelines, but also with additional assessments I plan on implementing based on the Science of Teaching Reading (SOR). This project aims to address individual and personalized student need. The goal is to identify their starting point in the scope and sequence and then gather data throughout the year to adjust goals. Most students enter first grade with an understanding that spoken language can be represented in written form. Most students know a lot of sight and high frequency words. Most students enter first grade with an interest in reading activities. With that said, most students also cannot write on grade level. The concern here is that most students have also been taught with a print to speech framework. They are also very dependent on using picture cues, and initial letters to read text. The problem with this is that according to research our visual component part of our brain, can only hold so much data. We find that students are succeeding in kindergarten and first grade based on where they came in, but the progress slows down in second grade, and essentially scores dip when they enter third and fourth. That is because they have not been taught the code which is the basis of SOR and the part of their brain that holds visual memory is full and cannot accept more information. The goal of the assessments will be to identify where students fall within the phonological and phonemic awareness levels. Then skill groups will be created. These groups can change weekly based on mastery levels. Gathering data will begin with the formal district assessments and additional assessments I will administer. As I teach skills using the SOR approach, I will maintain data by using a clipboard in class to determine student strengths and weaknesses within the scope and sequence. This can look like me walking around with a roster and making notations. As mentioned before, students entering first grade vary in levels between pre-K and 3rd grade. When data is gathered, students will be strategically placed into small skill groups. Students will also be informed of where they stand and what the overall goal is to master first grade and “beyond”. Students will track their own data using a personal folder in class that includes the scope and sequence. They will track which phonological and phonemic skills they have mastered and which phonics skills they have achieved. I will in return maintain a data folder on the students as well. All materials in the class literacy centers will be labeled by skill and a given number. For example, short vowels will be marked as #1, consonant blends as #2, digraphs as #3, r-controlled vowels as #4 and so on. Each student in class will have their photo taken (they love this part). I will place a pocket chart in class. Students’ photos will be on display and the correlating numbered skill they will practice. Students approach their center by referring to the class or literacy center chart. They then retrieve the materials labeled in the same manner as the chart. All activities have been taught during their small group time. Advanced students who show leadership skills will have a job where they may assist students when needed opposed to interrupting me at the small group table when I am working with other students. This project is to fund the collection of texts I need for the small group and literacy centers. A lot of the SOR teaching practices has a heavy focus on teaching reading in an isolated context. Although all lessons are finished with connecting text, the project to be funded will provide more opportunities for students to practice decoding using decodable text. The resources for this project include physical items from Junior Learning, Charge into Reading, and Silla Sense. The printable portion of this project is to use funds to purchase resources from Mrs. Winters Bliss. This includes not only 60 decodable books but also passages that will be used in small groups and then tied to a literacy center for continued independent practice. The project will allow me to assign very purposeful activities that prompt for explicit practice based on individual student goals. Student A and Student B may be assigned to one center, but both students do not need to practice the same skill. Therefore, student A can gather what they need and so can student B. When they have completed their tasks, they may be able to share what they have learned which may provide additional spiral review or exposure to other skills we are working on in class
$1,333
Value:
priceless