Mustang Musings
November 24, 2019
It is time for data digs again?????
ARC Focus of the Week
- We will use equitable conferences to meet the needs of all of our students.
- Our emergency students must be conferenced with 3 times in a 10 day period.
- At-risk must be conferenced with 2 times in a 10 day period.
- Proficient students must be conferenced with once in a 10 day period.
- Log home and school steps daily
- We will continue to focus on entering quality evidence into School Pace.
- Update reader and writer engagement scores. Students with a 1 or a 2 on reading engagement need an action plan.
IWCS Reading Goals
ALL learners will receive the differentiated support needed to ensure 1 year of reading growth.
And we are striving for GREATER with this added part of our goal...
Proficient learners will make at least 1.0 (1 year) of reading growth.
At-risk learners will make at least 1.25 (1 year and 2 and half months) of reading growth.
Emergency learners will make at least 1.50 (1 year and 5 months) of reading growth.
On Target for IRLA Reading Level
K- .20
1st- 1.20
2nd- 2.20
3rd- 3.20
4th-4.20
HES creates readers!
On Target for Reading Practice
STEPS calendar
Teach the Teacher
LITERACY Putting an End to Fake Reading Five ideas on how to get students to really read books—and enjoy themselves while doing so. By Jori Krulder March 22, 2018
We still have students who are fake reading! This is harmful for so many reasons. This author has put together a toolkit of ways to help her students become engaged with reading. Click here to read the whole article and get more information on these great ideas.
5 TIPS TO GET STUDENTS REALLY READING
1. Make time for what’s important: One crucial understanding I gleaned is that real readers read every day.
Without a love of reading and the opportunity to practice reading skills, nothing else in my curriculum matters, and choice reading every day is one of the most effective ways I’ve found to support students in developing these skills. This is why daily independent reading is non-negotiable.
2. Give students ready access to books: There’s something powerful about having a good book immediately available to hand a student. This is why we rotate books every other week.
3. Make reading visible: Students don’t always see the reading that’s going on all around them, so I’ve made it my mission this year to make reading more immediately visible.
At the back of my room, there’s a whiteboard labeled “Books We’ve Read” that’s divided into four sections. Everyone adds the titles of books as they finish them.
At the start of each month, I take a picture of the previous month’s books and then clear the board to begin again. What a great idea!!!!
4. Talk about books: Another way to make students aware of the reading all around them is to talk about it in the classroom. In addition to regular book talks, I make it a habit every day to ask the class, “How many people finished a book last night?” and “How many people read their choice books yesterday?” Although I know this isn’t a scientific measure of growth in my classroom, it does give students a quick, daily opportunity to see the reading happening among their classmates, and it’s a reminder of how much we value reading. Another gem!!!
I’ve also started conferencing individually with students about their reading. (We are already doing this!) Before we start our daily reading, I ask students to tell me what page they’re on in their book. Since I write this down each day, I can quickly assess which students may want to discuss a book they’ve just finished and which students aren’t making much progress in their reading—we’ll discuss their thinking about their book, and if necessary I can suggest another that might better engage them. Great idea!
5. Be patient and relentless: The most valuable realization I’ve had in this decades-long endeavor to help my students learn to love reading is to just keep trying. There are so many brilliant teachers out there with so many good ideas for making things better in our classrooms, and if we stay connected and keep suggesting new books, talking about books, and trying different techniques—both new and old—our students will respond.
What can I do for you?
- Modeling
- Side-by-side coaching
- Coaching and modeling of using the IRLA
- Round up resources
- Assist with differentiating lessons or materials
- Cover your class so that you can observe a colleague's class
- Cooperatively plan a lesson or series of lessons that meet best practices
- Serve as another pair of hands for a lesson
- Offer strategies for classroom management
- Help you connect with other teachers in the district
- Lend an open ear for a topic of your choice
- Reflect on student learning in your classroom through conversation and observation
- Work collaboratively to bounce ideas off one another to address a concern
- Evaluate new students to guide instruction
Hardy Elementary School
Email: lhenk@iwcs.k12.va.us
Website: http://hes.iwcs.k12.va.us/
Location: 9311 Hardy Circle, Smithfield, VA, United States
Phone: 757-357-3204
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Hardy-Elementary-School-205065852892284/
Twitter: @Mrs_Henk