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Elementary Literacy in Scarsdale: Meeting All Students Needs

C.H.I.L.D. November 8, 2022

https://www.scarsdaleschools.k12.ny.us/Page/408 CHILD, Children Having Individual Learning Differences a committee of Scarsdale PT Council, offers a network of support, information, and resources to parents and teachers throughout the district with a student who:

CHILD Meeting with Eric and Edgar 10/6/22

K-5 Presentation focused on Reading for Special Ed. 30 minutes; followed by Q&A - Recorded live. November 8th. Fox Meadow New Multipurpose Room Child chairs Nicole Graff and Jessica Freed - speak to ahead of time, what would be helpful for presentation

Co-Chair

Nicole Warren 773-837-0866 scarsdalechild@gmail.com

Vice Chair Jessica Freede 508-662-1550 jessica.freede@gmail.com

How we teach S to read

What does balanced literacy mean

How do we identify and engage S that are having difficulty.

30 minutes

Help parents understand how we weave differentiation and the understanding of phonics cross curricularly

Notes from initial meeting: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1voEliFRbfgONKV-9Uqc-kQu5X5EYQv7gU629Mf3EkyM/edit

Math Presentation for Reveal

Questions from C.H.I.L.D

How are kids flagged for reading concerns and once they are, what steps are taken?

- How do you determine who is at risk or needs additional/different types of support and reading programs?

- Once it is determined that someone needs additional support or another program, what does that look like? What programs are used, how long are they used for, is it in the class or pulled out, etc.?

- Is there a specific test that is used to determine if someone has difficulties?

- If a parent believes their child is struggling, can they request an in school reading evaluation?

- At what age/grade should kids be reading at benchmark and if not, are they immediately evaluated?

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Agenda

Discuss the components of reading instruction at the elementary level
Help families better understand how our different programs serve students and interact with each other
Help you think through how your child may fit into our services

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Michelle

This model is known as Scarborough’s rope which represents foundational research in early language develop. In this presentation we’re hoping to contextualize literacy in Scarsdale, sometimes we think of reading as decoding, but reading is a complex multidimensional process.

Hollis Scarborough created the model to describe the skills involved in becoming an active independent reader.

The Upper strands in red represent Language-comprehension (background knowledge, vocabulary, language structures, verbal reasoning, and literacy knowledge)

The Lower Strands in blue represent the elements in Word-recognition which include (phonological awareness, decoding, and sight recognition of familiar words). All of the strands work together and reinforce one another. As a student becomes a stronger comprehender building a larger vocabulary base, their word recognition and sight recognition of familiar words increases. The reader becomes increasingly more accurate, fluent, and automatic to become a skilled reader.

This does not happen overnight; it requires instruction and practice over time.

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Reader’s Workshop

Shared Reading and Writing

Word Study

Phonics, Spelling,

Vocabulary

Writer’s

Workshop

Small/Group

Reading and Writing

Interactive

Read Aloud

Comprehensive

Literacy Framework

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Reader’s Workshop

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Writer’s Workshop

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Interactive Read Aloud

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Shared Reading and Writing

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Word Study: Phonics, Spelling, and Vocabulary

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Small Group Reading and Writing

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STAR
Foundational Skills
F&P BAS�Embedded Curricular Assessments:
Writing On Demands, Performance Assessments, etc

Monitoring Progress Through Assessments

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Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System

Level D

Beginning of First Grade

Level J

End of First Grade

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What’s next?

First grader
Not reading on benchmark
Difficulty decoding
Tough time during writing

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Reading Program

Step 1:

Student is assessed and does not meet Benchmark on Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System (BAS).

Step 2:

Student receives additional daily instruction in comprehension, phonics, fluency, vocabulary during a reading cycle (~12 weeks)

Step 3:

Student meets benchmark and exits after 1-5 cycles.

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Reading Program

Daily small group instruction
Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) by Fountas and Pinnell
Five pillars of literacy
Ongoing assessments to progress monitor

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What’s next?

The majority of students who receive reading support exit between 2-5 cycles.
Students who do not make adequate progress move into the MTSS process.
Within this process, students receive intervention of varying intensities and durations in the classroom (Tier 1) or from the LRC (Tiers 2 and 3).

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Learning Resource Center (LRC) (Tier 2 and Tier 3)

When students need a specific type of reading support, they come to the LRC.

Decoding: long and short vowels, blends, digraphs, vowel pairs, “magic e” rule, word attack approach, syllabication, etc.
Reading Comprehension: literal (who, what, where and when) and open-ended, inferential type questioning (how and why)
Spelling/Encoding: spelling within the context of a student’s writing or in isolation
Reading fluency and expression (pacing and attention to vocabulary and punctuation).

Assessment: Students are assessed formally and informally in the LRC. Assessing students frequently allows LRC teachers to alter instruction to best meet their needs and determine if additional support needs to be increased or decreased.

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Reading Comprehension in the LRC

Students with difficulty in the area of reading comprehending benefit from the use of visual tools such as charts/graphs, graphic organizers, sequencing activities, retelling, jotting down questions/observations about characters/plot and a focus on the five W’s.

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Strategies and Programs

LRC teachers use scientifically based programs that encompass the multisensory Orton-Gillingham method to decoding. This approach includes practices such as:

skywriting, making words with letter tiles
chunking words/syllabication (breaking apart sounds),
spelling dictations,
specialized games (to reinforce decoding, letter sounds (long/short), blends, digraphs, etc) and
sequential, explicit and include structured word/sound repetition.

Nick LRC teachers use scientifically based programs that are centered around the Orton-Gillingham method. These consist of a multi-sensory, hands on approach that is effective for students having difficulty breaking the code and spelling in context and in isolation.

This systematic approach to decoding includes practices such as skywriting, chunking words (breaking apart sounds), spelling dictations, specialized games (to reinforce, letter sounds, blends, digraphs, etc) and structured word/sound repetition. Students with difficulty comprehending benefit from the use of visual tools such as charts/graphs, graphic organizers, sequencing activities, retelling, and a focus on the five W’s.

Students are continuously assessed formally and informally to monitor their growth and overall success. This close watch on the part of the LRC teachers helps to support the best approach and practice for students moving forward and determine what services are needed. Students meeting benchmark over an extended period of time may be exited from receiving LRC support.

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Integrated Co-Teaching (ICT)

Students in an Integrated Co-Teaching class have individualized education plans or IEPs which ensure they are receiving specially designed instruction in their least restrictive environment. It has been determined by the Committee on Special Education (CSE) that they meet criteria for one of the 13 disability classifications as outlined through IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act)

Not all students in the ICT program have difficulty with reading, but if they do, there are a variety of ways we address this.

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Ways we support literacy in the ICT program

All students are instructed using the general education curriculum. Additionally, the special education teacher is responsible for supporting the students in that curriculum and supplementing with the delivery of Specially Designed Instruction to address the unique needs of individual students.

What is Specially Designed Instruction?

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Individualization and Progress Monitoring

Students are monitored closely to ensure they are making progress towards their individualized goals.Students who show particular weakness in breaking the code are also provided multisensory instruction in addition to the regular curriculum.
In the lower grades,(K-2) all student receive instruction in word study (phonics). Some students receive Teacher’s College word study instruction while others may receive Wilson’s word study program called Fundations. Some of the Kindergarten ICT classes weave in the Heggerty phonics program which just focuses on phonemic awareness.
All classes have a wide range of learners especially in the ICT. Differentiation, small group stations, parallel teaching, and individualized support are all used to allow all students an access point to that curriculum.

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Orton Gillingham approach and Programs we use in ICT

As previously discussed by the LRC, the Orton-Gillingham Approach is a research based approach to teaching reading.

In the ICT program there are two Orton Gillingham programs that we utilize to ensure all students are getting what they need in terms of decoding/phonics instruction. They are:

The Wilson Reading System and SPIRE.

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Wilson Reading System

https://www.wilsonlanguage.com/programs/wilson-reading-system/

The Wilson Reading System is a structured literacy program based on phonological-coding research and OG principles. WRS teaches the structure of the English language. Students learn fluent decoding and encoding skills to the level of mastery.

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SPIRE

S.P.I.R.E. is based on the Orton Gillingham approach. It is designed specifically for struggling readers. It reaches even students who've lost hope they can read. Its teacher-led 10-Step Lesson plan methodically walks them through phonemic awareness and phonics, then spelling, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency — instilling and reinforcing every stage of reading development.

Key Elements include:

Phonology

Sound-Symbol Association

Syllables

Morphology

Syntax

Semantics

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Comprehension

In the younger grades teachers create visuals and games:

While comprehension strategies are woven into every subject area, there are some differentiated strategies to specifically target our student having difficulty with higher level thinking, story elements and retention of material taught.

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In some of the upper grades, work is modified and broken down into smaller parts using a variety of strategies.

This text is chunked and color coded

This image shows modified versions of the same note catcher

This organizer focuses on vocabulary to solidify understanding of a text

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Questions and Comments: