As the mother of a freshly turned 16 year old boy, the mere mention of the word "driving"
makes my poor old heart skip a beat. "Will he be OK?" "Is he prepared?" "Did I teach him well enough about ___________?" (insert just about any possible scenario here!) These essential questions play like a mental loop in my head as I watch him face the brave new world ahead of him. As a teacher of 3rd,4th and 5th grade struggling readers, I often ask myself these same questions about my students. I worry that my 5th graders are not prepared as I send them off into the uncharted waters of middle school. I am concerned that I didn't teach my 4th graders all of the essential skills they will need as they become the big kids on campus. The statistics describing 3rd grade as a pivotal year in reading development and predictor of future academic success pressures me to have each and every one of them achieve grade level reading. I have taught Read 180 and System 44 intensive reading intervention classes for 8 years and I have seen the power of these amazing programs. They really have transformed the lives of many of my students as they journey toward their goals of reaching grade level. However, through the years, there have also been students that were still behind despite having had received intensive reading intervention for 2-3 years. It is these students that lead me to my own driving question- "What can be done to help elementary age students who don't respond to intensive reading intervention?" More and more this is becoming a topic of conversation at district level meetings, but so far I have never received a satisfactory answer. If the student has qualified to receive Special Education services, than I completely understand that many of them will need the gift of time and cannot be expected to reach reading mastery at the same pace as their peers. Yet I have students who have not qualified for Special Education, have very supportive families, are very motivated personally, have a wonderful teacher (if I do say so myself) and still do make the expected gains. My beginning list of "Need to Knows" include:
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Dana HandI teach Read 180 at Northwood Elementary School and I am passionate about reading (obviously!) In my "free time" I love hanging out with my 2 teenagers and taking our two dogs for long walks. Archives
March 2017
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