Yep----24 out of 33 on intervention plans! You just do it because you have to. But here's the supports that I have:
1. A principal that let's me teach children-not a program. Not follow a prescribed one size fits all mentality but truly teaching kids what it is they need to know to be successful. Sad that not all principals aren't like this. You would think that would be the model-after all that is what I am-a teacher-not a reader of a script. 2. Two fantastic reading coaches. They each take groups of my kids out during the literacy block and before school to do interventions using F&P Leveled Literacy Interventions. Both are former reading recovery teachers so they aren't reading a script either but giving the kids instruction right where they are at. 3. I took my absolute lowest student and tutored her before school as well. Then I would have her do the Lexia computer intervention program immediately when school started as she needed a LOT of intervention in phonemic awareness. I also gave her and a few others double instruction in phonemic awareness. Then I met with her (or TRIED to) 5 times a week in guided reading. She was also in one of the LLI groups. For a period, the reading coach also took her out separately to give her more phonemic awareness instruction and reading instruction. 4. That left me with about 8 kids on intervention that only met with me in the classroom. Plus the 2 kids that had attendance issues and started late. And...the kids on grade level or above (9). I also met with the kids the coaches tok, so they also got guided reading in the classroom. But, mathmatically, there is no way I could have done it all without these two wonderful ladies giving these kids extra guided reading instruction. 5. Every single minute was used-not a moment could be wasted in the day. 6. And again, a principal that lets me teach kids what they need to know to be successful. At the end of the year, if you just look at F&P reading levels as the "mark of success" I have 14 kids that didn't make Level I (this years benchmark-next year J) I guess according to the legislators I wasn't successful and should be fired. But, the student who said synthesis is "changing our ideas and what we know in our schema." she's a level G-BELOW-but she is growing and loving to read. She will be successful if she continues to get the instruction she needs. And the rest of the kids grew as readers as well no matter what their "level letter" says. Sandi ________________________________ From: Susanne Lee <susannelee...@yahoo.com> To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group <mosaic@literacyworkshop.org> Sent: Sat, May 28, 2011 5:09:47 PM Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Synthesis in 1st grade Sandra, I also cannot believe you have 24 students on intervention (is that RTI)??!!! I should be RTI'ing half of my class, but I could only handle 4, so I feel really guilty now............. How do you do it? --- On Fri, 5/27/11, Sandra Stringham <sos...@sbcglobal.net> wrote: From: Sandra Stringham <sos...@sbcglobal.net> Subject: [MOSAIC] Synthesis in 1st grade To: mosaic@literacyworkshop.org Date: Friday, May 27, 2011, 10:15 PM Its been a very long year and yet today I felt hope for my little ones. I teach a class of 33 at risk 1st grade students at a Title I school. I can't even begin to describe the behavior and social issues I have faced this year that interfered with learning and still interfere! Some I have never faced before.....a long, long year...but today... I've been teaching about synthesis. We began with retelling as a step before, then we moved into summarizing and now this week, by using a think aloud, the kids observed last week that synthesis is changing your thinking as you read. This week, using the book Jin Woo by Eve Bunting, with think aloud and conversations, the students decided that synthesis was changing your thinking as you read and using your synthesis. I asked the students to draw a picture of what synthesis meant to them. Here are a few highlights: One student (and this was a student that had severe behavior issues and I was happy if she held a book in her hand, right side up, earlier in the year) said: I think synthesis is changing our ideas and what we know in our schema. I told her I hadn't thought of that before...but she is right...sometimes we have the wrong idea in our schema, and as we read, we have to change that as well. I told her how smart her thinking was!!! Her smile could light the room!!! Another student--one who used to sing and hum through readers workshop- compared synthesis to adding details to your writing. As you read, you are adding to your schema-the details that make the story bigger-so your thinking gets bigger. And when you use your schema-you get smarter! A 3rd student said when you synthesize...your schema gets bigger, too. Another student (1 of the 24 I had on intervention plans) drew a picture of a person growing from a baby to an adult...just stick figures, but you could clearly see the progression. She said synthesis is like growing up. You change as you grow and learn and as you synthesize, your thinking gets bigger and bigger. Finally, one student compared synthesis to planting a seed. Your first thinking is like planting the seed. Then just like the seed begins to grow, so does you 2nd thinking (her words)....then your 3rd thinking (her words) she compared it to the flower that the seed grew into. She drew a picture of the seed...the seedling....the full plant...and labeled it with the synthesis stages. So.....with 1 more week to go....today made it all worthwhile. Through it all, I guess I was reaching them. I just wanted to share because we had some behavior issues in the afternoon that really brought me down...and I wanted to end my day...remembering the great things they can do. Why we persevere-it makes it all worthwhile! Sandi Elgin, IL And I'm going to sign my name for the first time as: National Board Certified Teacher-Literacy; 2010 (Hey...I never get to do that---so humor me!) _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
