Re: Question for Penny
Posted by Penny on 3/24/08
Our classes are currently 50 minutes long--next year they'll be 45.
Read 180 ideally would be 90 minutes, but it's easy enough to make do--
it just takes longer to get through all the rotations. I don't do much in whole group--just about all my teaching is done with
my small groups. I feel they get more out of it and can't zone out.
Some teachers do the whole group lesson on Monday as a set up for the
week. It's individual. I also don't strictly time my small group lessons. I do have a timer
and do set it for 20 minutes, but I find I do better by finding a point
in the lesson to get to. I keep my small group until we get to a
particular segment of the lesson--sometimes it's for a shorter period
and sometimes it's for a longer time. I do use the SRI test to figure out the students' lexile scores, but I
also like to do oral assessments--I use the San Diego Quick. I also try
to do fluency checks with the students whenever I get a chance (usually
about once a month.) I pull passages at their level and time them for a
minute to get a gauge of where they're at. As far as content area reading--I love textmapping. I'll post the link. I hope this helped! www.textmapping.org On 3/23/08, literacy teacher wrote:
> 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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