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Read more about the article Nicholson Elementary’s BIG plan to build strong readers

Nicholson Elementary’s BIG plan to build strong readers

Nicholson Elementary implements a groundbreaking plan to build strong readers

Nicholson’s plan includes training, assessment, instruction & intervention

Nicholson Elementary is going all in to attack reading challenges! Principal Faith Harmeyer wants to prepare her teachers to build the best possible readers. She’s a tireless champion for her large population of struggling readers, including students with dyslexia, English language learners, and economically disadvantaged students. She believes in the potential of every child, and has whole-heartedly embraced the opportunity to revolutionize the way her school educates and supports readers.

REAP is excited when schools train some of their teachers, but Nicholson worked with REAP to create a groundbreaking comprehensive plan for teacher training plus implementation, student assessment, and reading interventions.

Principal Harmeyer is not just along for the ride, but has bent over backwards to facilitate the training and assessments with REAP to ensure her teachers are invested and prepared to teach reading effectively to all students.

Nicholson is committed to moving all readers forward through:

Teacher training in Structured Literacy

Structured Literacy training for all teachers K-2, Intervention, ESS, and ESOL.

Practical Application training

Practical application training includes modeling, co-teaching, and coaching to prepare teachers for success in the classroom.

Consistent implementation in the classroom

Consistently implementing Structured Literacy instruction in the classroom for all children.

Accurate reading assessment with Acadience

Implementing Acadience (formerly DIBELs) assessments to accurately measure each child’s reading skills 3 x per year.

Effective reading interventions

Pinpointing areas of struggle and implementing interventions to better meet the needs of all readers.

What about results?

Nicholson and REAP are eagerly awaiting the data as we implement this plan during the 2019-2020 school year. Stay tuned for details about the results!

Nicholson Elementary is a public school in the Cobb County school district in metro Atlanta.

Continue ReadingNicholson Elementary’s BIG plan to build strong readers
Read more about the article Where’s REAP?

Where’s REAP?

REAP’s team of Literacy Leaders is working hard in 2020! Every month we’re working in multiple schools across metro Atlanta. We’re training, modeling, observing, giving feedback, and creating amazing reading teachers with the power to change their students’ lives.

Two Mixed Cohort Trainings

(teachers from multiple metro-Atlanta schools & districts)

College

Georgia College & State University (training for pre-service teachers)

Preschool

The Boyce L. Ansley School

Atlanta Public Schools

Burgess-Peterson Academy, Atlanta

Hope-Hill Elementary, Atlanta

Cobb County Schools

Brumby Elementary

Blackwell Elementary

Davis Elementary

East Side Elementary

Garrison Mill Elementary

Nicholson Elementary

Shallowford Falls Elementary

Sope Creek Elementary

Tritt Elementary

What is REAP providing?

10-Day Structured Literacy Training

Modeling by REAP Literacy Leaders

Co-Teaching with REAP Literacy Leaders

Grade-level lesson planning with REAP Literacy Leaders

Phonological Awareness Workshops

Acadience Reading Assessment

Individual Teacher Coaching

Small-Group Coaching

Kindergarten Kickstart

Fluency Workshops

Continue ReadingWhere’s REAP?
Read more about the article Kids are failing to learn to read

Kids are failing to learn to read

REAP trains teachers to teach struggling readers using the science of reading

  • 39% of Georgia 4th graders can’t read at a basic level
  • 68% of 8th graders (more than 85,000 in Georgia) aren’t proficient readers.
  • Kids who can’t read proficiently by 3rd grade are 4 x more likely to quit high school.
  • 2/3 of kids who can’t read proficiently by the end of 4th grade will end up in jail or on welfare.
  • 70% of all inmates can’t read above a 4th-grade level.

Without strong reading skills, the future often looks bleak for these kids.

Students are being left behind because traditional teaching methods have failed them.

Nearly every child is capable of reading, yet many schools write off struggling readers as hopeless. Why does this happen? Because they don’t realize that struggling readers need a different kind of reading instruction. Prevalent reading programs such as Balanced Literacy are not based on science, and they’re simply ineffective for the many thousands of Georgia students who struggle with reading.

“Scientific research has shown how children learn to read and how they should be taught. But many educators don’t know the science and, in some cases, actively resist it. As a result, millions of kids are being set up to fail.”

A quote from Hard Words: Why American kids aren’t being taught to read

https://www.apmreports.org/story/2018/09/10/hard-words-why-american-kids-arent-being-taught-to-read

Teachers want to know how to help

There are struggling readers in every public school, yet most teachers don’t know how to help them. It’s hard to believe, but most teachers leave college without the tools they need to effectively teach reading. Struggling readers fall through the cracks. Illiterate kids get passed to the next grade with the hope that maybe the next teacher can help them.

Every child deserves to be a reader

REAP knows there is hope for these readers. Help REAP train teachers to effectively teach struggling readers using Structured Literacy so they can become confident, successful learners! There are many teachers who would love to have REAP training so they can help their struggling readers. There are schools that desperately need this training but have very limited budgets that can’t stretch to cover the costs of this intensive training. REAP works hard to subsidize the training in these cases, but we need your help to do it.

Continue ReadingKids are failing to learn to read
Read more about the article REAP Summer Camp Boosted Reading Skills

REAP Summer Camp Boosted Reading Skills

Every summer REAP provides Summer Reading Camps for struggling readers. The camps are a win-win for students and for REAP-trained teachers; the kids get two weeks of supplemental reading instruction while the teachers gain valuable advanced training in Structured Literacy.

The students received explicit, research-based, multisensory reading instruction in phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. We assessed the students’ reading abilities before camp and again near the end of camp.

The results?
The students in the kindergarten group showed a statistically significant difference in their ability to read rote memory words. In the first-grade classroom, the students showed statistically significant growth in three areas: whole words read, oral reading fluency, and rote memory word reading.

In other words, the kids showed measurable improvement in their reading abilities after only six days of instruction. The students really enjoyed the camp, and one student even asked for materials to practice at home. The students were happy to be able to read books without having to guess at the words. Teachers and students alike remarked on the improvement in students’ fluency over the course of six days. 

Continue ReadingREAP Summer Camp Boosted Reading Skills

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