Wahoo!! 92% Pass State Reading Test

[lockhartkitchen]

Wahoo- I'm so excited. So far, 92% of my 4th graders have met or exceeded the state reading test. Two kids will retest, since they had only 2 points off from meeting. (possibly making 100% meeting or exceeding) I had 5 kiddos that were reading at a 1st grade reading level in September. Two met on state test, and one improved by 18 points, one improved by 13 points and the other is only 4 points from meeting:love:! Average growth is only about 7 points.

 

[RMDave]

Major congrats to you and to the kids!

 

[ChefMary412]

that is amazing!! What reading program does your school use?

 

[lockhartkitchen]

My husband and I were just talking about that. ME! I'm the difference. Our third grade is barely passing, yet we both have our students 1/2 hour daily in Title 1. I have put my heart into my kids this year. We're on our second year using Benchmark. It's great. You can search for the strand you want to work on and find books to support it. You can teach whole group, or what I do: I meet in small ability groups. (Not all the teachers do small group, and I believe it makes a big difference.) It takes time to organize 5 different groups weekly, but wow the scores showed it. My lowest kiddos were reading at Level 14 (beginning first grade) in September. I meet daily with them, using the Benchmark books, and Reading Recovery strategies. I cut and chunk vocabulary words. My grade level and upper kids I do literature groups where they take roles like literary luminary, vocabulary enricher, etc. I alternate with this, reader's theatre to build fluency, and Jr. Great Books (these are my favorite). It really builds higher level thinking and vocabulary. I'd be glad to email you a copy of my literature groups roles. PM me.

 

[pampchefsarah]

That is awesome, Julie!! It's wonderful to have teachers out there who really do care about TEACHING, and not just pushing the kids through the grade.

 

[lockhartkitchen]

Thanks Sarah! It's been fun seeing them grow as readers. I made the theme "going for the gold" with the Olympics being this year. I had made their first prize a medal I made with glitter. They wore them proudly around their necks. Then my boss' sister works for NBC and got us a variety of official Olympic pins. These have been the rewards I've given the kids as they reach each personal goal I make with them. The first pins were from 2002. We just got 2010, which are the end of the year prize.

 

[trps]

Wahoo- Two kids will retest, since they had only 2 points off from meeting. (possibly making 100% meeting or exceeding)

How are they allowed to retest? I so wish that was an option.

I have a few that I know will not pass their math but a handful on the bubble. I have a 3rd grader that was at 10% and went to 18% on a practice so how is he going to get to 75%? Does not qualify though!

 

[raebates]

That's wonderful. Congratulations.

 

[lockhartkitchen]

How are they allowed to retest? I so wish that was an option.

I have a few that I know will not pass their math but a handful on the bubble. I have a 3rd grader that was at 10% and went to 18% on a practice so how is he going to get to 75%? Does not qualify though!

Our state offers 3 opportunities for students to meet the state benchmark in both reading and math.

the first opportunity is in the fall and the second is in the spring. If a student has net met on the second opportunity they have a window of time (sometime in May) to take a 3rd time. It's up to the teachers/principal to decide to have a student take the test a 3rd time. A student, who is way off from passing, we are not having take again, as they have done their best and they worked to their ability. A student is only a couple points from passing, we will retest.

 

[lockhartkitchen]

My kids are beaming from ear to ear. In two weeks we take the math test. That may be another story. Our district adopted a new math curriculum and I see a lot of gaps in strands that in the past, we covered a lot more.

 

[beckyjsmith]

My husband and I were just talking about that. ME! I'm the difference. Our third grade is barely passing, yet we both have our students 1/2 hour daily in Title 1. I have put my heart into my kids this year. We're on our second year using Benchmark. It's great. You can search for the strand you want to work on and find books to support it. You can teach whole group, or what I do: I meet in small ability groups. (Not all the teachers do small group, and I believe it makes a big difference.) It takes time to organize 5 different groups weekly, but wow the scores showed it. My lowest kiddos were reading at Level 14 (beginning first grade) in September. I meet daily with them, using the Benchmark books, and Reading Recovery strategies. I cut and chunk vocabulary words.

My grade level and upper kids I do literature groups where they take roles like literary luminary, vocabulary enricher, etc. I alternate with this, reader's theatre to build fluency, and Jr. Great Books (these are my favorite). It really builds higher level thinking and vocabulary. I'd be glad to email you a copy of my literature groups roles. PM me.

Julie-
So you use the Lexile system thingie? Sorry for the terrible terminology. We are moving away from Renaissance based programs ( AR, Read Now Power Up) and our central office staff is looking at Scholastic 180 for a Reading Intervention Program.
I love your groups. I would love to chat with you sometime!
I teach inclusion reading to struggling high school kids. Most of my sophomores read on the 3-4th grade level. I have seen a lot of growth this semester. It is really exciting.

 

[trps]

Our state offers 3 opportunities for students to meet the state benchmark in both reading and math.

the first opportunity is in the fall and the second is in the spring. If a student has net met on the second opportunity they have a window of time (sometime in May) to take a 3rd time. It's up to the teachers/principal to decide to have a student take the test a 3rd time. A student, who is way off from passing, we are not having take again, as they have done their best and they worked to their ability. A student is only a couple points from passing, we will retest.

Wow that would be great!! Congratulations! What a relief for you and the kids.

Ours are in 2 weeks so one more week to finish preparing!

 

[lockhartkitchen]

Julie-
So you use the Lexile system thingie? Sorry for the terrible terminology. We are moving away from Renaissance based programs ( AR, Read Now Power Up) and our central office staff is looking at Scholastic 180 for a Reading Intervention Program.
I love your groups. I would love to chat with you sometime!
I teach inclusion reading to struggling high school kids. Most of my sophomores read on the 3-4th grade level. I have seen a lot of growth this semester. It is really exciting.

Definitely like to talk sometime. PM me with your email. Our books in the book room are leveled 20 (second grade), 30 (third grade), etc. I have to use a convertion chart because the reading program uses letters S, T, U, etc. The literature group format would work great for your high schoolers. It gives a focus to each student. The kids love readers theatre. It really builds their fluency. In the roles- One is looking at the reading for vocabulary, one passages of importance, etc. The roles change each week.My upper groups, meet with me once a week. The roles are shared within the group, then assigned new roles to work on the assigned reading during reading time. Once students have experienced each of the roles, these roles are then used in a letter to the teacher once a week. To be a 4 (on grade level score), students much have at least 4 different roles included in their letter to me. Ex. they found vocabulary, wrote a connection supported from the text, made a prediction, etc.

 

[pampchefsarah]

Julie, you're making wish I was a teacher!

 

[lockhartkitchen]

Thanks Sarah. I wish I always felt that way. With all the demands being put on us lately, I'm wanting to do PC full-time. The kids are worth it, but I have to look at what cost sometimes. To save money, our district took away our grading day. Report cards had to be done on our own time. Too stressful.

 

[iteachurkid]

Julie-
So you use the Lexile system thingie? Sorry for the terrible terminology. We are moving away from Renaissance based programs ( AR, Read Now Power Up) and our central office staff is looking at Scholastic 180 for a Reading Intervention Program.
I love your groups. I would love to chat with you sometime!
I teach inclusion reading to struggling high school kids. Most of my sophomores read on the 3-4th grade level. I have seen a lot of growth this semester. It is really exciting.[/QUOTEM]

My school used the Scholastic Read 180 program and everyone who teaches it LOVES it. I'm in a middle school, so we use the program for all of our self contained Language Arts students as well as offer it as an elective. The kids really enjoy it and the kids SRI (lexile scores) who are in the program normally improve greatly. As a history teacher I love having access to SRI scores. It helps me so much to see how much my students are going to be comprehending. I think you guys decide to go with it, you'll be really happy with it!

Julie, congrats on an AWESOME pass rate! Isn't seeing your and your students hardwork pay off great?!?!

 

[lockhartkitchen]

Thanks iteachurkid. It does feel good. They knew they were low readers, but that never stopped them. I've always focused on personal short term goals, and celebrating when they reach it. I actually have them begging me to test them to see if they have reached their goals. One boy, tested two weeks ago and is really wanting his next Olympic pin. He's asking a lot to test again. (testing= reading with me and answering a few questions). They are actually enjoying it. Off to bed now. Leaving 6:30 AM to drive to Director Success. (my other life as a PC consultant)