Issaquah School District Continuous Improvement Plan- Step IV Action Plan School: Grand Ridge Elementary CIP Goal:

Gap Closing Goal:

Content Area: Reading

90% of all 3rd, 4th and 5th graders will meet standard on the 2012 and 2013 Reading MSP.

Research-identified strategies

Desired student products and behaviors All students will be able to pick a just right book.

1. When students have the strategies, confidence, and knowledge to continue learning on their own, not only does learning accelerate but also much of the responsibility for learning gradually (but actively) shifts from the teacher to the student. (Routman,
2003).

How this can be accomplished? Steps to implementing the strategy Professional development Visits Additional research Literacy Support Teacher (LST) will model/support just right book lesson in every classroom LST will support teachers in leveling classroom libraries for student access.

How often? Frequency Timeline For those that need the support.

What evidence will you be gathering relative to the desired student products and behaviors? Formative Summative Teacher Anecdotal Records on student reading levels Reading Logs/book boxes Individual student conferring to monitor progress Assess classroom libraries where are we lacking?

Ongoing

Librarian will begin to compile student reading level database (levels provided by classroom teacher) and will be able to help students choose a just right book based on assessment.

Ongoing throughout year

When children do not have the opportunity to read lots and lots of books with ease, their reading suffers in dramatic ways.
(Allington, 2005).

2. Proficient readers search for connections between what they know and the new information they encounter in the texts they read.
(Pearson et al.,1992)

Students will make connections with text in various ways.

Teachers will model text connections for students. Teachers will find texts that have genuine connections for them as they model. Teachers will provide students opportunities to make connections through discussion, questioning strategies, activities, projects, etc Teachers will activate schema and allow students Turn and Talk processing time. Teachers will push students thinking to understand how the connections deepen the meaning of the story or text. Literacy Support Teacher and classroom teachers will model their thinking strategies throughout the four components of Balanced Literary; readaloud, shared reading,

Daily

Exit slip

Weekly

Daily/Weekly

Survey response Post it notes within student text

3. Students are more likely to increase their reading comprehension when we show them how we understand a text and model a variety

Students will be able to apply higher level thinking strategies including prediction, questioning,

Ongoing

Teacher Anecdotal Records on student reading comprehension Individual student conferring to monitor

of strategies.
(Routman, 2003)

creating images, seeking clarification, and summarizing as a tool for facilitating and extending comprehension.

guided reading, and independent reading. Attend district MDSD days and implement suggested strategies Implement appropriate strategies from the Literacy Study Guide. Effective implementation of Writing About Reading. Teachers will model their thinking as they teach. STAR protocol thinking strategies will be revisited throughout school year Thinking About Thinking in Staff Bulletin. Professional development around Thinking Habits and strategies. Thinking posters will be displayed throughout the building and classrooms. Laminated F/P questioning cards. Blooms Taxonomy questioning flip charts. As posted on Calendar.

progress

Monthly focus

4.

Ongoing

Student Work

Daily Ongoing Teachers may use the STAR lesson planning tool and protocol to plan and gauge their use of higher level questioning strategies Staff has access to resources to aid in questioning strategies Structured reflections in staff meeting Admit One tickets.

Higher-level questions tend to produce deeper levels of learning.

(Hamaker,1986; Osman& Hannafin, 1994; Pressley et al., 1988; Pressley, Tenebaum, McDaniel, & Wood, 1990; Pressley et al., 1992).

Students given the opportunity to engage in higher level thinking.

Weekly

Ongoing

5. Students who read more, in school and at home, receive higher achievement scores.
(based on data collected through The National Assessment of Educational Progress)

Students will read for pleasure.

Students will be provided opportunities within the school day to choose what they read. Teachers will model and discuss reading for pleasure and share personal stories related to books. Principal will read to every classroom a book in class and model the love of reading.

Daily

When given free choice time, students will choose reading. Students will recommend (either formally or informally) books to peers.

Weekly

93% of research on comprehension shows that students who read more achieve higher comprehension assessment scores.
(Krashen, 1993)

Every other month

6. The availability of reading materials greatly impacts childrens literacy development.

(Routman, 2003).

Students will have access to a wide variety of reading materials.

LST will support individual teachers to organize/level their classroom libraries Work with PTSA to add to the building leveled book room Librarian will purchase books based on teacher and student input/feedback to expand and enrich number of books in a variety of genres and literary text.

Ongoing

Student reading inventories

Throughout the year

If we want readers to be critical thinkers, inquirers and problem solvers, we need to introduce them to challenging, interesting texts.
(Routman, 2003)

Ongoing

Monthly Circulation Statistics