Impact of Early Childhood Institute 2024-2025 by YOLANDA MCKENZIE

Background Knowledge

2025-05-19 19:36:58 UTC

The most significant change to my teaching this year was to lean into the background knowledge of the module instead of teaching lessons book by book or skill by skill. Really asking how to relate the stories we read back to the essential questions.

Heather Kaminsky PS 380

2025-05-19 19:37:00 UTC

The most impactful session for me was session 3 when we discussed moving away from skill based teaching and more into knowledge building. That really impacted me.

Rebecca Binder PS 319

2025-05-19 19:37:51 UTC

Use of decodable text was an impactful session for me because I was able to have thought partners about Start Right Reader alignment with FUNdations and better plan my instruction for alignment

Data and making actual action plan. It kept me focus.ed and accountable

2025-05-19 19:38:17 UTC

small group foundational lesson planning.

2025-05-19 19:38:22 UTC

Using data to drive small groups and also listening to other teacher ideas on how they tackled nonsense word fluency.

2025-05-19 19:38:27 UTC

I believe the most impactful session was Session 5 because it was important for us as educators to visualize the MOY Data so we can understand how our students are performing.

Hannah Kim PS147

Impact on the School

2025-05-19 19:38:34 UTC

I was able to work with my grade team in order to build up our station teaching across the whole grade band. I worked closely with my co-teacher in order to progress monitor every two weeks and track student improvement and student deficits.

Alignment

2025-05-19 19:38:34 UTC

I learned a lot about alignemnt through screeners and assesment data. Constantly looking at data to drive instruction and adjust groups and small group lessons

Heather Kaminsky PS 380

2025-05-19 19:38:49 UTC

Bringing action plans to data chats allowed teachers to sit together and review what impacts were made and what changes needed to be made.

ENUNEZ PS 319

2025-05-19 19:38:57 UTC

The most impactful session for me was session 6, Shift 2: Use of Decodable Readers. I was able to implement decodable readers in Pre-K and prepare them for K.

Turnkey

2025-05-19 19:39:11 UTC

I was able to turnkey great findings, readings, information, and resources to my co-teacher and the Kindergarten team

Stacy Combs PS 84

2025-05-19 19:39:34 UTC

I was able to turn key many of what I learned during these amazing sessions to my team. We then strategized and created lessons/stations based on our students' needs

Gisel Pena P.S.120k

2025-05-19 19:39:41 UTC

The most impactful session for me were session 5. Analyzing the data and using it to create a plan helped me stay focused on the goal.

Sileni Milanovic PS 147

2025-05-19 19:39:49 UTC

I found the comprehension lesson to be most impactful because it solidified beliefs that comprehension is needed for students to succeed in other areas.

2025-05-19 19:40:04 UTC

Jennat Meali Vasquez PS 147

The session that was most impactful was when we created our action plan focusing on specific skills. Using both heggerty and fundations in the classroom to build their knowledge. This will help students prepare for Kindergarten.

Data Interpretation

2025-05-19 19:40:12 UTC

I think a more targeted shift in how to analyze data would be helpful. Acadience data (Percentile ranks) can be hard to understand and use to drive instruction, especially with PM and how we should always be looking at data

Impact in school

2025-05-19 19:40:12 UTC

During teacher meetings I shared the work that impacted me the most and how it was helping us and the students grow. Lower grades are also following small group instruction planning.

Stacy Combs

2025-05-19 19:40:14 UTC

Decodable texts play a crucial role in providing a structured and systematic approach to teaching phonics. They enable our students to practice essential decoding skills, which helps build their confidence in reading. By using these texts, students can develop the ability to sound out words—a foundational skill necessary for reading fluency and comprehension.

I believe that incorporating more decodable texts into our lessons could greatly enhance our students' reading abilities.

Impact on School

2025-05-19 19:40:25 UTC

The whole school is doing action plans and explicit instruction based on the data. We have seen results school wide with our students.

Session 3

2025-05-19 19:40:31 UTC

I liked learning about how to incorporate background knowledge into my teaching in order to build up vocabulary and build strong reading comprehension. Even in decodable texts, we would pause to make sure we understood words like "grinned" or "nods" signals happiness or agreement. Students don't always use these words and it's important to make sure they don't lose meaning when decoding.

2025-05-19 19:40:43 UTC

The work discussed in these meetings were useful in terms of allowing us to understand the important of how we are introducing phonics to our students.

Hannah Kim PS147

Start Right Reader

2025-05-19 19:40:47 UTC

Being a part of the Early Childhood Institution allowed me to collaborate and learn from fellow educators, particularly in the effective use of decodable reading in the classroom. In my own classroom, I implemented these strategies by introducing decodable texts during guided reading sessions. This not only improved my students' reading fluency but also fostered a love for reading. Additionally, I shared these practices with my grade band during our teacher team meetings, encouraging a unified approach to literacy instruction across our team.

Nunez PS 319

2025-05-19 19:40:51 UTC

I taught FUNdations and Heggerty with fidelity. This was evident by seeing how all my students know all letter names and sounds.

Ms. Serrano PS 147

2025-05-19 19:41:29 UTC

Session 6: Shift 2 Use of Decodable Text was one of the most impactful sessions. Creating a decodable text station is important because it gives students the opportunity to apply the phonics skills they are learning in a meaningful and controlled way. It helps them to build confidence, improves word recognition and supports reading fluency.

Enunez PS 319

2025-05-19 19:41:39 UTC

Turning key and working as a team to create a plan for literacy was impactful.

Santa Salomon PS23

2025-05-19 19:41:45 UTC

Focusing on phonics instruction helped me better understand how to teach and engage students on how to break down letter sounds and its first letter sounds in students first name and on other words.

2025-05-19 19:41:58 UTC

We enhanced our understanding of Heggerty which was important to build the foundations our students needed to progress into understanding.

Hannah Kim PS147

Jessica Yepez PS59

2025-05-19 19:42:07 UTC

Session 6: The use of decodable texts in the classroom - Using decodables not only during stations but also after every fundations lesson and how we can differentiate with decodables during buddy reading.

Impact on school community

2025-05-19 19:42:07 UTC

I believe that we helped students become even more prepared for their transition into pre-k and in turn kindergarten. I feel that we are building a solid foundation for reading and literacy in these students by introducing letters and letter sounds early. Early exposure is important in developing a love of learning.

2025-05-19 19:42:44 UTC

The session that was most impact was session 3 comprehension lesson. Teaching students comprehension helps them succeed and reach their goals.

Nataly Cando PS 147

2025-05-19 19:42:58 UTC

Jennat Meali Vasquez PS 147

We were able to plan as a team to create activities that helped our students with letter recognition and identifying sounds. We discussed ideas that we heard from the district meetings and tried to incorporate these ideas in our classroom.

New Knowledge

2025-05-19 19:42:59 UTC

Talking about comprehension was an interesting topic. The importance of prior knowledge.

Implementation

2025-05-19 19:43:03 UTC

implementing these sessions for pre-k, how can we tweak it?

Stacy Combs PS 84

2025-05-19 19:43:19 UTC

Progress monitoring plays a crucial role in helping educators track student performance and adjust instruction to enhance learning outcomes. By regularly assessing our students and collecting data, we can identify areas where they excel or may be struggling. This enables us to provide timely interventions and individualized support, making a significant difference in their educational journeys.

For our students, this approach translates to more personalized learning experiences. They receive targeted help when needed, which increases their opportunities for success. I've noticed it has set clear goals and expectations for my students, fostering both knowledge acquisition and confidence as they work through their stations.

2025-05-19 19:43:38 UTC

Our entire school develop action plans which we discuss weekly with our grade teams and admin.

Knowledge Building

2025-05-19 19:44:11 UTC

Shifting the focus from skill-based learning to building content knowledge is essential for student success. By fostering a deeper understanding of the subject matter, students can better apply their skills in real-world contexts. This approach not only enhances retention but also encourages critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. Learning about how to shift from skills to knowledge building.

2025-05-19 19:44:42 UTC

Jennat Meali Vasquez PS 147

The use of decodable readers in Pre-K is something that I gained from these sessions. I will use it more in my classroom in the next school year.

2025-05-19 19:45:05 UTC

We enhanced comprehension by using picture cards and help students learn their name letters and sounds.

Nataly Cando PS147

Stacy Combs PS 84

2025-05-19 19:45:08 UTC

This was so helpful. I learned so much throughout these sessions. I would love to have a station share so we do not always have to recreate things that are made.

2025-05-19 19:45:18 UTC

While we understand that the idea of introducing Heggerty/Phonics/FUNdations to 3k/Pre-K is only so they can begin to get familiar with the ideas of new topics and not to lead to mastery, it will be interesting to go further into detail on how this can be further explored.

Hannah Kim PS147

Stations and Action Plans

2025-05-19 19:46:08 UTC

I think using the action plan and the teacher led station resources that was shared was definitely a gain for me. The action plan is a really great tool to use as a grade.

2025-05-19 19:47:26 UTC

Early learning and exposure of communication, social emotions, cognitive, literacy....is a very good exposure for students to have an experience for when they go to the next grade level.

Nataly Cando PS 147

2025-05-19 19:47:52 UTC

How to introduce decodable readers to Pre-K students without overwhelming them.

Impact on School

2025-05-19 19:48:51 UTC

Turning Key: I was able to share this information and all of the resources with my grade band.