Reading A-Z

Gilham Elementary School
 

Readinga-z.com is a web site that provides a wide variety of books and materials in both English andSpanish that can be downloaded and used with students. Each book can be chosen to meet the specific needs of individual students or to teach new concepts or skills to a whole class. Once these books have served their purpose in the classroom and/or for homework, the students then will be allowed to take them home to create their own personal library.

Why is this project important?

Over the past two years we have taken a hard look at our reading curriculum, our reading scores, and the way we are addressing the achievement gap that is evident at our school. We have hired a reading specialist, purchased research validated and proven supplemental reading programs such as Readwell and Read Naturally, and have taken a hard look at our DIBELS data, the District Reading Kit data, and State Test scores. Two conclusions have been drawn from this process: 1) Our students need to read more - both at school and at home and 2) our students have specific phonics and word attack skill deficits that are inhibiting growth in both fluency and comprehension. The District Reading Kit subtests have allowed us to identify specific skills our students are lacking. Readinga-z.com has individual books written with these specific skills in mind. We would have materials at our fingertips to address the individual needs of each student. In my role as the reading specialist, I have been approached numerous times by students wanting to take home the books we use day to day that they've fallen in love with. It breaks my heart to say "no" because I am concerned that a specific book is not going to make it back to my classroom and thus break up a set or leave me short for the next time we need it. This program will put books in the hands of kids to read over and over again. Research tells us that this repeated reading increases fluency and comprehension.

Who, and how many, will be served?

Gilham has a total enrollment of 553 students this year. The amount we are requesting would give access to twenty-two teachers in our building. Each teacher would be able to download books that would be appropriate for the students they teach. Every child in the school would benefit from this program!

How will you evaluate the success of this project?

To evaluate the success we will look at two indicators. First, are the students reading more at home. This will be determined by input from both parents and students. Also, many teachers have assigned reading logs for homework. Second, we will look for improved scores in the Reading Kit subtests as well as the DIBELS and District Reading Kit Fluency tests. Both of these fluency tests will be administered winter and spring terms.

Does this proposal build upon existing programs at your school?

We see readinga-z as a nice complement to the strategies we are already using to close the achievement gap in the area of literacy. We want our students to feel empowered in their reading and to see themselves as life-long readers.

How will the funds be spent?

A one-year subscription to readinga-z.com per teacher and printing costs.