She explains that first she was able to convince her superintendent and school that there was a need for a universal screener in reading. They chose the SRI reading assessment to assess their 3rd-5th graders. They added the 2nd graders to the SRI schedule the following year.
Grades 1 and 2 were using the DRA assessment kit for all their students and following a 4 day a week guided reading model. Any 3rd grade students scoring below grade level on the SRI were put in these grade 1-2 guided reading groups and received an additional 3 days a week intervention guided reading group experience.
With the advice of a consultant, Courtney’s school was beginning to work from an essential component model for language arts. There are many models to choose from which all include instruction in Reading and Writing, as well as Listening and Speaking skills. The 2 essential components of the model in which the Ross school district decided to focus on were Shared and Guided Reading.
The consultant then began to push into classrooms and model guided reading lessons to ensure all teachers were following the same lesson template was being followed. Teachers then were able to refine their guided reading groups and be prepared for admin walk throughs in a non threatening way.
The following year consulting focused on working with teachers as a mentor. She would watch the teachers teach a reading lesson with their own students. There would be a debrief that followed.
For staff development she also focused on the difference between Close and Shared reading. The biggest difference between the two is that when teaching a close reading lesson a teacher will use a short passage of an above grade level text with his/her students to hone in on and dig deeply on the meaning. Shared reading usually involves a high end grade level text which a teacher uses to model comprehension strategy work.
Building relationships and trust with teachers was huge in order to get her team to want to continue their work with the consultant. A shift in their evaluation process helped this be well received. The teachers are now able to peer assess each other and allows for a coaching scenario in the school.
I appreciate the many handouts that Courtney gave us in her session. Courtney points out that she uses a spreadsheet of standards at her reading table and as she notes which standard she’s working on with her group, she also notes their struggles. This way she can make better book choices for her groups and continue to differentiate her questions in her following group sessions. One of my favorites is a template for managing 4 and 5 reading groups that can be implemented in a classroom. I enjoyed the many take-aways given as a first year coach!
~Melissa @melissawest75
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