2014-15 Literacy Action Team by Dennis Schug

Essential Questions:

dschug5 — 2015-03-27 14:17:44 UTC

Share your responses to drive our dialogue, both in-person and through Padlet.

Question 1:

dschug5 — 2015-03-27 15:11:33 UTC

As a school, what are we doing well at HBMS in an effort to promote adolescent literacy?

Question 2:

dschug5 — 2015-03-27 15:13:47 UTC

Within your classroom, grade-level, team, or department, what is one current initiative that you feel is making a positive impact on our establishing a literacy-rich culture?

Question 3:

dschug5 — 2015-03-27 15:19:58 UTC

Where do our opportunities lie to grow a literacy-rich middle school school culture?

Question 4:

dschug5 — 2015-03-27 15:24:49 UTC

Share one article (link or hard copy) that we can share, to discuss our next steps.

Answer 4:

dschug5 — 2015-03-27 16:15:51 UTC

Literacy as the Link: Common Core Standards and Content Area Teaching

Article Share:Answer 4

jfarrell2 — 2015-03-31 02:51:46 UTC

For the Love Of Reading-A Lifelong Pursuit

Answer 1

2015-04-02 13:35:52 UTC

As a school, I believe we are promoting literacy by increasing our students ability to read in classroom settings.

Answer 2:

2015-04-02 13:39:05 UTC

In the classroom, students are given more of an opportunity to read. Students are reading for at least 30-60 minutes a week in class. This increase in reading should promote higher literacy rates. At the very least students will develop better literacy skills.

Answer 1

2015-04-03 13:01:56 UTC

Answer1

2015-04-03 13:03:56 UTC

As a school, I think we are promoting literacy by offering library to all of our sixth graders every other day.

Answer 2

2015-04-03 13:17:26 UTC

Our grade continues to have sustained silent reading in our advisory classes. We also have a literacy block which allows students more time to read not only as part of the curriculum but also for enjoyment.

Answer 3

2015-04-03 13:22:18 UTC

I think one way we could continue to promote literacy in the middle school is to work with the PTo to bring in some visiting authors.

Answer #1

2015-04-23 11:15:04 UTC

As a school we are providing Literacy Launch to 5th grade students, as well as a Literacy Lab where we are working to close the gap with struggling readers.

Having it be a school rule for each student to have a silent reading book at all times has promoted our school's view on the importance of literacy.

Answer # 2

2015-04-23 11:19:54 UTC

In the classroom, we use advisory as 20 minutes of uninterrupted reading every day. We use this time for students to read independently, as well as having a book that we read as a class.

This time together helps to build a literacy culture in our classroom.

Answer # 3

2015-04-23 11:24:09 UTC

We should be collaborating more with the public library, along with the PTO, to show how literacy stretches beyond the school.

I also agree with the idea of bringing in more authors and writers that could speak to the students.

Answer # 4: Article Share

2015-04-23 11:30:08 UTC

Genius Hour is one way to promote a love of literacy through student choice.

Answer 1

kambrose4 — 2015-04-23 15:47:02 UTC

I like our connection with the YA librarians at the public library. I believe that we can develop an even stronger relationship with the library to further the needs of our students.

Answer # 2

kambrose4 — 2015-04-23 15:49:07 UTC

Within my classroom, I try to allot for independent reading time.

Answer 3

kambrose4 — 2015-04-23 15:51:08 UTC

Opportunities abound but need to start with scheduling. Perhaps block scheduling for ELA would give us the time needed to develop our literacy rich middle school culture.

Answer #1

2015-04-24 16:55:09 UTC

As a school I think importance we put on the SRI is extremely valuable. It not only gives our students the motivation to improve their reading scores through out the year, but it also allows us to connect our students with appropriate reading materials for their Lexile. I think it is also very helpful that most of the books in our library are labeled with their lexile number.

Answer #

2015-04-27 13:03:15 UTC

We have worked very hard to integrate appropriate research methods into our curriculums in all four grades. Giving students the tools they need to complete research assignments is extremely important to their success as students and life long learners.

Answer #3

2015-04-27 13:06:13 UTC

Although we have made a lot of progress in regards to research, we still have a lot we can do in this area. Students need to be exposed to a variety of resources, but they also need to be able to understand information and be able to not only put it into their own words but also form their own ideas and opinions. To often students copy and paste to put together a research assignment or reword things with out fully understanding the information.

Answer #1

2015-04-28 12:33:33 UTC

One of the things we are doing as a school to promote adolescent literacy is providing struggling readers with support through the literacy lab. As part of the literacy lab, we have the SRI testing. This sends a message to the students and staff that monitoring and building upon student literacy is very important to the school. Both of these components, I believe are key factors in developing and supporting adolescent literacy in the MS.

Answer #2

2015-04-28 12:43:31 UTC

Within my classroom I promote literacy by dedicating one day a week to just reading. For each reading the student practice reading for fluency and understanding. I incorporate the the 3 levels of comprehension (literal, interpretive, and applied) for the questioning. The students are also required to reflect upon their reading and make connections to it.

Answer 4

2015-04-28 17:02:07 UTC

We are currently implementing an intervention that can aid students in "Sensory Cognitive Instruction". Many of us are challenged in the area of having to fill literacy gaps for our special education students and our ELL's. Currently, the programs we are implementing (Visualizing & Verbalizing / Seeing Stars) will improve our students ability to increase comprehension, higher order thinking skills, and the mechanics of literacy - phonemic awareness, word attack skills, etc. All of the above mentioned are crucial skills in common core literacy and content instruction. I believe if we continue to implement strategies such as these, our goals to increase literacy aquisition will grow and the literacy gap will be shortened.

Answer #3

2015-04-28 17:11:06 UTC

It would be helpful to give students the opportunity to read and write not just for the purpose of learning, but for the pleasure of it. Although it is important for students to learn and build skills for critical thinking and analysis, it might be helpful for them to first learn to like reading (which many of our students have never had the opportunity for). So, perhaps a creative writing and reading discussion group would be a good opportunity to grow and foster a creative and literacy rich environment.

Answer #1

jmills1 — 2015-04-28 17:11:29 UTC

HBMS promotes literacy through the Long Walk to Water event. Students take part in this event in every way. There are two student leaders selected, students get to interact with different exhibits in the gym, and they walk through the community while they make stops to review significant events from the novel. Last year, students were excited about it despite the rain.

Answer #4

2015-04-28 17:16:39 UTC

Amplifying Student Voice Through Digital Literacy.

Answer #2

jmills1 — 2015-04-28 17:17:55 UTC

The seventh grade creates a literacy rich culture through cross-curricular projects. The projects begin with either researching texts or reading a text that culminates in a project that requires the students to take what they have learned to create a product like a newspaper that reflects a colonist's perspective or a creative writing activity that deals with human interventions.

Answer #3

jmills1 — 2015-04-28 17:27:47 UTC

We have room to grow when it comes to a literary rich middle school culture. Too often students think or say "I'll never use this when I leave school" or they do not see the real world application of what we teach (this goes for any subject). It's so frustrating! There should be opportunities for students to read about the real world applications what they are learning. For example, a quadratic equation can tell a soldier where he or she should aim to hit the acquired target (according to mathisfun.com).

Answer #4

jmills1 — 2015-04-28 17:54:19 UTC

Promoting after school reading opportunities and regaining access to the library.