Re: Question for Penny
Posted by literacy teacher on 3/23/08
Penny, Can I ask how many minutes long your classes are? I will be teaching
middle school literacy in the fall and I believe we will be using Read
180. Our classes are 50 minutes long and I know Read 180 recommends
longer class periods. I am wondering if it will work with classes that
are only 50 minutes long. I agree with you about pulling supplemental material! We are
considering adding content area instruction into our literacy classes
as well. Our students have difficulty reading charts/graphs, word
problems in math, non-fiction textbooks, etc. We would like to add as
much as possible into our literacy classes as we can. I am glad to
hear that it is doable with Read 180. Do you have any tips for classroom set-up or organizational set-up?
We hope to have the training from Read 180 before fall, but I am
looking for things I can prepare for before then. Thanks!
Mel On 3/08/08, Penny wrote:
> 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.
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