Sawtooth Elementary Principal Gwen Carman meets to review students’ reading progress with teachers Deonn Cicak, Betsy Jorgenson, Joan Ege, and Dena Schliep.
In 2007-08, Sawtooth Elementary School teachers became students themselves, reviewing reading research and recommended best practices for reading instruction. Betsy Jorgenson, a Minnesota Reading Corps (MRC) “coach” explained, “Although Sawtooth’s veteran teachers were already teaching the key components of reading in a variety of creative and engaging ways, they wanted to tie curriculum for one grade to the next, and to meet the needs of every student.”
To meet that goal, Jorgenson said, the school board approved the purchase of the curriculum StoryTown
and the Barton Reading and
Spelling System.
With Storytown,
all students are introduced to “Robust Vocabulary” that incorporates art and movement. Beginning readers learn letter names and sounds and how to manipulate those sounds. First-graders become proficient at identifying beginning, middle and ending sounds and moving them around to create new words. Each grade level enjoys fiction and nonfiction literature and develops stronger reading and writing skills. Students move along at their own pace.
Some students receive additional reading instruction with the Barton System. Veteran teacher Deonn Cicak is the Title I reading teacher, and she and several generous and trained volunteers, including one school board member, meet with students to offer one-on-one reading lessons.
In addition to the Title I instruction, Sawtooth Mountain is a Minnesota Reading Corps (MRC) site. Heather Kemp, the 09-10 reading tutor, is trained to assess and determine which reading intervention best fits a given student’s needs. Kemp also works with additional students daily to strengthen reading skills and track student progress using AIMS Web, a computer-based data collection program. Kemp does this work under the guidance of Betsy Jorgenson, MRC internal coach.
Jorgenson is also responsible for the implementation of Response to Intervention (RTI), which ties each component of the reading program together using AIMS Web. Each K-5 student is tested three times a year. Teachers use the benchmark data to monitor progress and adapt instruction as necessary. Students participating in MRC or Title I instruction are often given weekly or monthly assessments to ensure that the interventions are helping students make progress.
Gwen Carman, Sawtooth principal, meets with Cicak, Jorgenson and grade level teachers monthly to review the reading data and to support teachers as they accommodate the diverse needs of students.
“Building a solid foundation in reading skills is the heart of developing successful learners through high school and into adulthood,” said Jorgenson.
Sawtooth Mountain Elementary teachers, administration, volunteers and parents are working together to help assure that every student achieves this critical reading success.
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