Local Literacies of Livonia, NY

Kassi Cohen CURR 511Dr. Peck

Summer 2011

Demographics Focus On Livonia Central School

Programs used in the Schools Open Court Reading Clinic NYS Assessment Results. Focus on what is AIS Promotion of Literacy Hooked on Books High School Support Services Literacy Resources

Interview with a Teacher Interview with a Parent Literacy around the Community Sources

Table of Contents

Located in Livingston County Six hamlets, including Lakeville, Livonia Center,

Hemlock, South Livonia, South Lima and the Village of Livonia.

About 40 minutes south of Rochester Population :

2000 Census Information Town of Livonia - 7,286Village of Livonia - 1,373

Median Income: Estimated median income from 2009 was 57, 796. In 2000 it was 49,688

Demographics of Livonia

Demographics Cont.

White alone - 1,417 (95.9%)American alone - 40 (2.7%)Black alone - 13 (0.9%)Asian alone - 5 (0.3%)Hispanic - 2 (0.1%)

Read more: http://www.city-data.com/city/Livonia-New-York.html#ixzz1R42Q5rdx

Vision: Livonia central school is a community of learners where all will pursue

world class standards The entire community will continue to take great pride in the school’s program of excellence and its climate of respect and trust

Mission: Livonia Central School will create the conditions so that each student

will successfully meet the challenges and opportunities to achieve and thrive in a changing world.

Beliefs: A shared responsibility between school and home is advantageous to

student well being Students pursue different pathways to success leading to a future that

requires high expectations and continuous improvement A safe and nurturing school environment is essential for learning to

take place. Instruction should engage all learners and challenge them to achieve

their maximum potential Students are partners in the pursuit of excellence, not mere recipients

of service

Livonia Central School Districts Beliefs

4 different schools For the 2011-2011 School Year Primary PK-3 Intermediate 4-6 Junior High School 7,8 High School 9-12

Livonia Central School

Primary School Accelerated Reader Reading Clinic Open Court

Intermediate School Accelerated Reader Reading 180 (for struggling readers) Reading Groups/ Literature Circles Read Alouds

Literacy Programs In the Primary, and Intermediate

Schools

What is Open Court? “is an elementary basal reading program for grades K-6 It is a scripted reading program, heavily focused on

phonics instruction. It is known for its systematic instruction in phonological

and phonemic awareness and phonics. Student Anthologies textbooks

Open Court Reading Program

Students who need help with decoding, and spelling difficulties These difficulties cause the student to have a slower reading pace, weak comprehension, and poor written expression.

These students typically exhibit the following: inaccurate sound/letter associations difficulty reading and spelling phonetically regular words inaccurate sound blending reversal of letters and words difficulty developing and maintaining a consistent sight word vocabulary poor reading fluency poor written expression and organization

Has connections with the Center for the Study and Treatment of Dyslexia at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Taken from http://www.toolboxpro.org/classrooms/template.cfm?ID=3603&P=104435

Reading Clinic

AR is a popular computer program Students choose books they want to read that

have been marked as an AR book from the classroom or school library.

After reading the book the students takes a quiz.

The computer program keeps track of the scores.

Incentives are used is for gaining AR points.

Accelerated Reading and Assessments

English Language Arts 2008-2009 Grade 4 74% scored at a 3 or higher Grade 5 85% scored a 3 or higher Grade 6 80% scored a 3 or higher

Information from New York State Accountability Website https://www.nystart.gov/nystart/u/index.do

New York State Assessments

Junior High Reading Class / AIS Reading Reading instruction per grade level based on

Teacher’s decisions High School

Support Services Reading instruction per grade level based on

Teacher’s decisions

Literacy In Junior High and High School

“AIS stands for Academic Intervention Services.  This is a service for all students who need reading and writing support in any or all content area classes.  My focus is to encourage students, who have not already done so, to enjoy the reading and writing experience.  Before students can do this, they must know what they like to read and what level reading is comfortable for independent reading.  I try to assist students in finding books that they are truly interested in and can read without too much difficulty.”

Taken from Mrs. Filice’s Reading website

What is AIS?

Each 8th grade student was required to take a Reading Class for at least 1 quarter (10 weeks)

The Goal of this was to have students actually enjoy reading.  When students experience success with reading, they are likely to become life-long learners.

Taken from Mrs. Filice’s Reading website

2011-2011 School Year

4-6 students Either the teacher chooses the book or the

teacher gives the students a choice of what book they want to read The group is given some title names and brief book

talks by the teacher They go to the Library and narrow the choices down

to 3 or 4 The group then votes on the book that they want to

read

AIS Reading Format

During the brief time I was able to observe I saw The teacher doing most of the reading Students being asked If they wanted to read If a student didn’t want to read they didn’t

have to The teacher asking thought provoking

questions

AIS Format Cont.

Social Studies In 7th grade students learn about Native

American Storytelling. Students see, hear, and perform their own story.

In 8th grade after learning about the Civil War students create their own Civil War Newspaper articles.

During Holocaust Unit the ELA teachers are reading text about the Holocaust.

Promotion of Literacy Through

Social Studies Units

Time set aside for students and teachers to just read for fun. Occurs twice a year through whole school district In Junior High

Happens during two 42 minute class periods a day. For 4 days.

Students and teachers and all supposed to read. Students are given warning and time to go to the school

library and get out a book that want to read In High School

Occurs over 4 days. In one day students and teachers read for 2 80 minute blocks

The Emphasis of this is that students are choosing their own books and reading for fun.

Hooked on Books

AIS Reading and Writing Students learn reading and writing strategies that directly

apply to the English (English Language Arts – ELA), Global History and Geography, and the U.S. History and Government Regents examinations.

Students have the opportunity to work in a smaller class setting on a variety of essays and develop the reading skills and strategies needed to support students in their content areas.

Strategies for the thematic and Document Based Questions (DBQ) essays for the Global and U.S. History exams are taught.

Individualized programs are developed for students with greater reading needs

Taken from LCSD Support Services Website

Support Services in the High School

Book Fairs Voice thread through the Library Reading Buddies Page Turner Book Club/ Page Turner Book Lists Summer Reading Lists on all the Libraries

websites. Teacher Websites Libraries in each school building Book Swap for participating 5th graders

Literacy Resources

What does reading mean to you?Reading is a thinking process. It’s taking ideas from the written word and connecting them up with your own ideas. In order to read one has to learn specific skills such as decoding before they can read, but also have to have a good language background. Need to be able to process language before they can read.

What expectations do you have when teaching reading?First students will be able to understand vocabulary, the necessary language background so they can understand the words that they are reading. They also would be able to connect what they read to what they already know. They would learn new ideas from reading, unlock new knowledge. Reading is a life time hobby, not something just to do for school Be able to talk about books in a social setting.  As a teacher what reading instruction do you primarily use? Are there other reading instruction resources available for your use?I would use a variety of materials, both fiction, and nonfiction. I use materials like that my students would be interested in. try to connect the materials with their lives, and the content area materials. Reading A-Z, Weekly reader Not textbooks (to hard) Charts, Graph and diagrams (science) Reading instruction is geared more towards content area.  Textbooks are available to my students but it’s too difficult. My students need something more simplified.

Do you utilize grouping during reading instruction? If yes, what type of grouping do you use (i.e. flexible, strategic etc.) Yes, flexible, some kid’s process more slowly, some can decode but don’t comprehend. No set reading groups. Depends on the task. Some kids can’t decode at all, need to be read to. Sometime I mix them up and use heterogeneous and how well they work together. More by personalities of students

Interview with a Junior High Self- Contained Teacher

What reading assessments do you use with your students and what are your thoughts about them?Used to use IRI (Informal Reading Inventory) - Read passages, scoring CRI (Critical Reading Inventory) is used by other teachers. The Wilson approach used to be in the school. It is a phonetic approach to decoding. This method doesn’t work for a lot of kids because they don’t have the proper phonemic awareness. Used with younger, dyslexic students. Need to find an assessment and program that fits for the kid, not all programs are good fits for the kids  In your opinion does the community provide enough literacy for students to read on their own?Not really, maybe I’m not aware of it. The school does a lot with reading. Reading competitions for stronger readers are common. Not much for weaker kids. I find that it’s more up to the parents to get their kids to read or participate in summer reading program. Summer Special Skills program in reading and math The Community as a whole doesn’t do much, only the library and the summer reading program. The school does put a fairly big emphasis on reading.  What would you like see change?I would like to see a summer reading camp. Bring in famous authors and have book talks in the school library, as I feel it would be attended by more people there. Book Club for the primary school Important to start the love of reading at the Primary level to build the love of reading Kids should be reading every night, fun reading, and not content area reading.

Interview with Teacher cont.

What does reading mean to you? Reading means learning about people and places, ideas and

experiences, discovering yourself and others. It engages you in a way that movies and TV cannot.

What are your expectations of the reading instruction at Livonia? My expectations are that my child will love reading and have the skills to

explore any genre of reading that interests her. If she values reading and becomes a lifelong reader, I would consider the program a success.

In your opinion, does the community provide enough literacy for your student, whether it is reading, or writing.

Yes, I believe that literacy is highly valued at Livonia. Students are given a wealth of reading experiences. There are numerous opportunities for expression, not only in writing but in the excellent theatre program.

What would you change? Perhaps the addition of a Book Club for the Primary School would

enhance the program.What do you and your child do during the summer months in regards to reading and literacy?

Hurray for Summer. It gives us more time to read. We read nightly at bedtime, make weekly trips to the library, attend plays when possible. Maybe this summer we will try keeping a journal of our adventures.

Interview With a Parent

The most utilized library in Livingston County.

Is currently beginning their summer reading program

Livonia Public Library

Grocery Shopping

Summer Concerts in the Park Hemlock Fair- The “Social Summer Highlight”

Students are required to read often to enjoy themselves here.

Autumn in the Village- A craft fair held in early September.

Thursday Field Trips (Summer program for students in grade k-7) – Focuses a lot on sports, but does have some literacy thrown in.

Festivals filled with Literacy

Many teachers send home weekly newsletters about what is going on in their classroom. While the school principals (at least in the intermediate does) sends home a monthly newsletter/calendar regarding up coming events. A school calendar is sent out in the beginning of the year.

Literacy is promoted through the rich history of Livonia that is discussed on signs around town.

Besides the basics of road signs, and other types of signs there is not much in the way of promotion literacies practices.

School Community Connections

More promotion of literacy and the value of education instead of the promotion of sports or other activities.

Replace the basal programs with more authentic reading instruction such as the Daily 5 and Café methods.

Reading buddies. Pair older students with younger students to have them read and practice literacy together.

Promotion and encouragement to join the book clubs. Before finding these on the Libraries’ webpage I have never heard of them. Also with the Book Swap. I only saw this take place with 5th graders who had brought in books to swap. I would like to see all students in all grades be able to participate.

Guest Read Aloud in the classrooms and school/public library.

A bigger focus on authentic learning and using authentic learning practices in classrooms.

Suggestions

Information came from 1. Interview with a Junior High Self- Contained Teacher

2. Interview with a Parent of a student in Junior High 3. Livonia Central School Website

www.Livoniacsd.org 4. Experience in Long Term Substitute Positions at the

Junior and High Schools5. City Data website

http://www.city-data.com/city/Livonia-New-York.html6. Livonia’s Historical Society Website

http://www.livonianyhistory.org/index.html7. New York State Accountably Website

https://www.nystart.gov/nystart/u/index.do

Sources