Avon Primary SchoolLiteracy Instruction

Amber Allenbrandt~ CURR 511~ May 31st, 2012

Avon, New York

Located in Livingston County

Surrounding Towns include: Lima, Honeoye Falls, Caledonia, and Rush

South of Rochester and East of Buffalo

Avon, New York

Located in Livingston County

Surrounding Towns include: Lima, Honeoye Falls, Caledonia, and Rush

South of Rochester and East of Buffalo

Avon Demographics

Population roughly 3,394 as of 2010 census

Median resident age 42.3 years Estimated household income $51, 714 94.4% of population is White

Supportive of instruction

however not all parents contribute to student learning

Community members view reading with purpose more than pleasure

There is a public library but no public book store in the town

Members show an interest in student reading but don’t consider themselves as quality readers

Community Outlook on Literacy

Parents attend the Book Fair (once in

the fall and spring)

Community members are able to be a part of PARP (Parents as Reading Partners) as well as be mystery readers to the Kindergarten classrooms

School Librarian has lots of opportunities to bring in parents for participation with author visits Tedd Arnold recently visited the school in March

Community Involvement with Literacy

“I view the primary teachers as hard working and

I know that they want to instill good reading skills in all of the students.”

Thinks of primary teachers as literacy instructors Middle/High school seems to be too caught up in

NYS testing of reading and ELA skills Administrators have too high of standards for all

students—This is only going to get worse with the new APPR standards

Seem to be caught up in a focus of standards rather than skills

Community Member Interview-Michelle Brothers

Teaches students in grades K-4 Does not have a Universal Pre-K program 364 students attended the school in the 2010-11 year Average class size is 17 students 22% of students were eligible for free or reduced lunch Less than one percent speaks a language other than

English 95% of student population is White Attendance rate of 99% In the 2009-10 school year there were 3 suspensions

Description of Avon Primary School

Mission Statement     Our mission is to develop life long learners and responsible citizens equipped to prosper in the global society.  

Vision Statement Avon Central School will foster an environment where all students will compete globally through the collaborative efforts of the Board of Education, school personnel, parents, greater community members, and students.

https://

reportcards.nysed.gov/files/2010-11/AOR-2011-240101040001.pdf

ELA in Middle/Primary school in good standing

All students are making AYP in ELA

Students with various ethnicities or social economic status did not effect the AYP of ELA curriculum at any grade level

New York State Report Card

Fountas and Pinnell Benchmarks

Leveled Literacy Intervention 6 + 1 Writing Traits Words Their Way

Current Literacy Assessments

Benchmark Assessment System (BAS) to identify

student position and progress on the continuum of literacy

Meant to assess, teach, intervene, and monitor student progress along a

reading scale from levels A to Z Level A-C Kindergarten Level B- I First Level H-M Second Level L-Q Third Level O-T Fourth

Fountas and Pinnell

Level Literacy Intervention (LLI)

A small-group, supplementary intervention program designed for young children who struggle with reading and writing

Created for young children who need intensive support to achieve grade-level competency

LLI include the following: •A combination of reading, writing, phonics and word study•Emphasis on comprehending strategies•Attention to the features of nonfiction and fiction texts•Specific work on sounds, letters, and words in activities designed to help children notice the details of written language and learn how words “work”•Help for students in expanding their vocabularies•Explicit teaching for fluent and phrased reading•Opportunities to write about reading to learn a variety of writing strategies.

Writing Traits are cognitive and metacognitive

procedures writers use to control the production of writing.

6 + 1 Writing Traits

The 6 +1 traits of Ideas, Word Choice, Organization, Sentence Fluency, Presentation, Conventions, and Voice are all assessed as Avon Primary in regards to teacher utilization and assessment

The degree to which these traits are assessed and followed depend in most regards to the teacher

Although all teachers in the school are aware of and have been taught the usefulness of the writing traits in professional development seminars

Program that focuses on phonics,spelling, and vocab instruction

Students are given workbooks to work through during the week

These books are individualizedmeaning that the students work on levels based on their current reading and spelling abilities rather than as a list of whole class instruction

Once given their specific list of words students identify the definition, find the parts of speech, and practice them during word work time of Daily 5 centers

At the end of the week the students are given a spelling test in which they must write the word down and then write it in a logical grammatically correct sentence free from errors.

Words Their Way

Book bins Classroom Libraries School Library Public Library Reading Book Room in Specialist classroom Posters on the wall Book Flix – website that contains stories the

students listen to and follow along with the words Word Central- online student dictionary students

use to look up their Words Their Way weekly spelling list

Available Literacy Resources

K-2 students take a book home each night to read with

parents and return next day

Students may also practice sight words at home

Students in grades 3-4 will have chapters to read out of either whole group book or book being read in small groups along with corresponding activities

All students are expected to practice weekly spelling words and are always encouraged to read to self or read to someone for at least fifteen minutes while at home

Home to School Literacy Connection

Students work in twenty minute center rotations where they

switch between word work and vocabulary, LLI lessons with classroom teacher, and guided reading groups with Aide or Assistant

At each center there is a teacher for support or direct instruction

Occasionally read alouds are done as a group center to bring all the students together in learning or reviewing a reading skill

Students are also frequently assessed during this time with short words their way assessments, running records, fountas and pinnell activities, or simple sight word identification practices

3rd-4th SPED Classroom Literacy Block

How do you feel about the reading instruction materials

currently being used in your school?

“I think that it is great that there are so many options to choose from. Most teachers seem to use Fountas & Pinnell's guided reading program (with a bookroom full of leveled books for teacher and student use).  There are also other programs such as Daily 5, CAFE, Scott Foresmann Basal Series, etc.  While it's nice to have all of these resources, it can also be overwhelming and a confusing when deciding what to actually use in your classroom to help your students become successful.  Hopefully by using the common core standards to create a more unified curriculum, what needs to be taught will become more clear and choosing the best fitting program(s) to get the job done will be easier to do.”

 

Opinions of Classroom Teacher-Alicia Gosnell

Do you feel that they are effective programs for

struggling readers?

“I think that guided reading is a good approach but needs to be more structured/intense sometimes for struggling readers. I like CAFE and the idea of choosing specific strategies for students to work on to keep students and teachers more focused on goals for students to meet and skills to address (for all students and struggling readers). We have access to LLI (leveled literacy intervention) by Fountas and Pinnell that I have seen work well for struggling readers.  It is a structured guided reading program that includes daily work with word work, writing and reading.  It has helped many students, even in our district but doesn't work for all.  We also have access to the WILSON reading program, which is a more phonics-based approach that I haven't used yet but would be willing to try to help a struggling reader if needed.”  

Opinions of Classroom Teacher-Alicia Gosnell

If you could change the literacy instruction of your school

what would you change?

“I would continue to monitor and support students to not only become effective readers but to enjoy reading as well.  I think that using the same material/format/lesson day after day (i.e. write in a reading log everyday) can become boring to students (and teachers) so teachers should be more considerate of ways to effectively monitor student reading and comprehension that also instills a love of reading as well.  I think we need to be more aware of strategies to help students, especially those that are not considered "good readers" and those that don't really enjoy reading.”

Opinions of Classroom Teacher

-Alicia Gosnell

Miss Gosnell follows a very directed

balanced literacy plan already so I find it difficult to add on or extend what she already has in place.

If I were to add to or increase the balance I would suggest incorporating more emphasis of student responsibility of spelling. Sometimes the students really struggle with spelling because it is not as highly incorporated in their day. When they read and write they see the words but don’t pay that much attention to them. With more instruction on the actual spelling of the words I believe that the students will be able to improve their writing abilities which will in turn improve their reading abilities.

Suggestions for Balanced Literacy Extension

Avon New York ~ a community of life long

learners

https://www.heinemann.com/fountasandpinnell/faqs_lli.aspx

http://www.avoncsd.org/

http://avon-ny.org/

http://gse.buffalo.edu/org/writingstrategies/pdffiles/1_6Traits_Intro.pdf

http://www.city-data.com/city/Avon-New-York.html

http://www.pearsonhighered.com/educator/product/Words-Their-Way-Word-Study-for-Phonics-Vocabulary-and-Spelling-Instruction/9780137035106.page

Alicia Gosnell and Michelle Brothers

References