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Re: updating teaching skills
Posted by Penny on 3/08/08

I teach a middle school Read 180 class. I don't agree that "it's a
scripted program that anyone can do." In my mind, the strength of
the program is in the small group lesson. There is an Rbook that is
scripted, but my district hasn't mandated that we use it. Even when
we do, we don't follow the script exactly and we do implement other
teaching strategies. I'm constantly pulling in supplemental
material and the beauty of the Read 180 set up is that I can focus
on a few students at a time and modify my lesson as needed. I
haven't used the Rbook since last sememster. I like my own lessons
much better.

The computer software is not bad and does help their fluency,
comprehension, and spelling, but I would never solely rely on that
piece to teach the students. It is a good supplement and keeps the
students focused and busy while I meet with my small group.

The most challenging part of the program is the SSR component. The
students don't want to read, hate reading, and since I'm focused on
my small group, it's hard to keep them on task. I have a good
monitoring sheet they're required to turn in after the rotation to
prove to me they've read, understood, and thought about their
reading. I also allow my students to use that time to do homework,
since I operate with a loose definition of what "reading" means. I
also believe I'm there to support other teachers and will sometimes
replace my small group lesson with a tutorial to assist kids with
their homework.

I don't think Read 180 is the end all of reading instruction, and it
is really expensive, but it does have advantages and really the
program relies on the strength of the teacher.

On 3/06/08, co-teacher wrote:
> Great!! Please let me know what you think of it when you do have
> a chance to go. I'm curious to see what others think of it. It's
> nice of your middle school to invite you to see it - I know that
> our middle and elementary schools are pretty teritorial, and don't
> ever mix! :-)
>
>
> On 3/06/08, suzy wrote:
>> I appreciate your information. Reading 180 is used at our
>> middle school. I do not know much about it but I thought it
>> might be worthy. Today I presented what we do at the elementary
>> level at the middle school faculty meeting. I was invited to
>> observe Reading 180 at the middle school. I think I will. My
>> gut feeling is that you are right.
>>
>> On 3/06/08, co-teacher wrote:
>>> Read 180 is simply a scripted program that anyone can do. I
>>> am not a fan of scripted programs, and particularly do not
>>> like Read 180. It has 3 components to it
>>> 1. a computer program that the child sits at for 20 minutes
>>> watching videos and answering questions to.
>>> 2. silent reading for 20 minutes
>>> 3. guided reading in small group.
>>>
>>> It is not geared for students who have severe reading problems
>>> (i.e. special ed students). Anyone who can read the "script"
>>> that comes with it can do it. It's not any different than
>>> those God awful basals that we all grew up with.
>>>
>>> Better trends:
>>> Reader's workshop and writer's workshop. Look into those. I
>>> really love a book called Teaching Reading in Middle School by
>>> Laura Robb. It talks a lot about making connections, mini-
>>> lessons, reader's reflection journals, etc.
>>>
>>> Hope this helps.
>>>
>>> On 3/04/08, suzy wrote:
>>>> Reading 180
>>>>
>>>> On 3/04/08, shannan wrote:
>>>>> Help! I have been out of the classroom for 3 years. What
>>>>> are the new trends/programs in junior/senior high reading
>>>>> and writing? Any suggestions on books to read to stay
>>>>> current?

Posts on this thread, including this one

• updating teaching skills, 3/04/08, by shannan.
• Re: updating teaching skills, 3/04/08, by suzy.
• Re: updating teaching skills, 3/06/08, by co-teacher.
• Re: updating teaching skills, 3/06/08, by suzy.
• Re: updating teaching skills, 3/06/08, by co-teacher.
• Re: updating teaching skills, 3/08/08, by Penny.
• Re: Question for Penny, 3/23/08, by literacy teacher.
• Re: Question for Penny, 3/24/08, by Penny.
• Re: Another Question for Penny - Thanks!, 3/24/08, by Literacy teacher.
• Re: Another Question for Penny - Thanks!, 3/25/08, by Penny.