Welcome to South Kingstown High School’s
Literacy Enhancement Program’s
Family Page
Literacy Enhancement Overview
The Literacy Enhancement Program consists of a freshman and sophomore course designed to provide support to students reading below grade level. All students in the program have a Personal Literacy Plan. Curriculum is directly connected to the GSEs. Progress is measured through the teacher’s assessment of work samples and the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test(s) which is administered half-way through and at the end of the school year. Throughout the program, students receive both direct and guided instruction in the following areas: decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
Decoding: (process of converting the printed word into its spoken form)
· Strategies to enhance decoding include developing phonemic awareness, strengthening awareness of letter sound – relationships, sounding out words and utilizing context clues, and employing strategies for multi-syllabic and unfamiliar words.
Fluency: (accuracy and rate with which students read)
· Strategies to enhance fluency include practicing high frequency words, re-reading familiar text daily, student/adult reading, partner reading, participating in reader’s theater, reading at independent level, teacher modeling; for phrasing, punctuation, intonation, etc., reading while listening to books on tape, and monitoring; cross checking and self-checking.
Vocabulary: (body of words students must understand in order to read with
text fluency and comprehension)
· Strategies to enhance vocabulary include building schema (memory banks), accessing background (prior) knowledge, acquiring synonyms/ antonyms/ homonyms/ homophones, utilizing context clues, reading extensively, listening to adults read, word analysis study: prefixes, suffixes, roots, and derivations.
Reading Comprehension (constructing meaning from text)
· Strategies to enhance comprehension include activating student’s prior knowledge, scaffolding lessons, retelling/discussing, reading/thinking aloud, using graphic organizers, participating in book talks and literature circles, and maintaining reading journals.
Literacy Enhancement will strive to develop proficient readers who have the skills that enable them to maintain and monitor their own comprehension. These abilities include:
· Using existing knowledge to make sense of new information
· Asking questions about text before, during, and after reading
· Drawing inferences from text
· Using fix-up strategies when meaning breaks down
· Determining what is important
· Synthesizing information to create new thinking
· Creating sensory images
· Monitoring their comprehension
The Culminating Activity for the Literacy Enhancement program will be for students to write their own children’s book. When they have finished writing their book, the class will walk to Peace Dale Elementary School and students will read their book to a first grader. The first grader will then read a book to them.
Texts that will be referenced throughout the course include:
Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction by Isabel L. Beck, Margaret G. McKeown, and Linda Kucan |
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The Fuent Reader: Oral Reading Strategies for Building Word Recognition, Fluency, and Comprehension by Timothy V. Rasinski |
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Mosaic of Thought: Teaching Comprehension in a Reader’s Workshop by Ellin Oliver Keene and Susan Zimmerman |
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7 Keys to Comprehension: How to Help Your Kids Read It and Get It by Susan Zimmermann and Chryse Hutchins |
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Strategies That Work: Teaching Comprehension to Enhance Understanding by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis |
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The Struggling Reader by J.David Cooper, David J. Chard, and Nancy D. Kiger |
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Questioning the Author: An Approach for Enhancing Student Engagement with Text by Isabel L. Beck, Margaret G. McKeown, Rebecca L. Hamilton, and Linda Kucan |
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To view a copy of the Literacy Enhancement Course Template, click on the following icon.
Literacy Enhancement.doc
Literacy Enhancement
Classroom Expectations
Behavior:
Each student is expected to behave appropriately and give respect to others so that all students have the same opportunities to learn. Students should be seated at their desks when class begins and should work diligently throughout the entire class period. Everyone is expected to do his/her best.
Materials:
Each student is required to have the following materials in class daily:
· Three ringed binder with white lined paper inside or five subject notebook
· Assigned materials
· A silent reading book or magazine
· Pens/pencils
Homework:
The purpose of homework is to extend and reinforce the daily activities.
· Students are expected to complete all homework assignments on time.
Homework will not be accepted late.
· Homework must be completed on standard sized paper, unless otherwise instructed, and it must be done neatly.
· Answers to assignments must be written in complete sentences, unless otherwise instructed.
· Spelling and grammar are important. Homework turned in with numerous spelling and/or grammatical errors will be returned, in order to be rewritten, and points will be taken off.
· The heading of all papers should be in the upper left hand corner of the paper and should follow this format:
Name:
Date:
Period:
Absences:
If a student is absent or misses a class for any reason, it is their responsibility to see us promptly on return to retrieve all assignments that he or she missed. Students who know that they will miss a class should notify us beforehand.
Grades:
A student’s grade in this class will be based on the following components: quizzes and tests, writing assignments, projects, homework, and class participation.
Bonus Points:
Students may earn 2 pointes on their quarter average provided 90% of all assignments have been turned in on time and they have no unexcused tardy marks on my class attendance card. A student is late if they are not in class when the bell rings.
Extra help:
We are available for extra help by appointment.
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