I. General Information
School Name: Rock City Elementary
School District: SD#68 Nanaimo-Ladysmith
Inquiry Team Members: Rachelle Neave, rachelle.neave@sd68.bc.ca; Krista Betts, kbetts@sd68.bc.ca; jamie.shewaga, jamie.shewaga@sd68.bc.ca; Jennifer Schmidt, jschmidt@sd68.bc.ca
Inquiry Team Contact Email: olga.poyner@sd68.bc.ca
II. Inquiry Project Information
Type of Inquiry: NOIIE Case Study
Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Primary (K-3), Intermediate (4-7)
Focus Addressed: Literacy
In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Using UFLI as a foundation, we explored ways to strengthen students’ knowledge of phonics and other reading skills and investigate how this practice can influence spelling and writing capabilities.
III. Spirals of Inquiry Details
Scanning: Last year, the primary teachers started their journey with UFLI as they were finding students were struggling with phonics, and some teachers were new to teaching primary. They found that many students were able to apply the concepts in their reading but not always in their writing, especially for students in the upper primary/lower intermediate grades who are past the ‘invented spelling’ stage. They also noticed that some of these students were ready to move beyond phonics and into morphology and more complex reading comprehension skills. We use the First Peoples Principles of Learning, “Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential and relational” in that UFLI was only one small part of their literacy learning and that there were many other pieces.
Focus: UFLI not only provided a structure for teachers to follow but also a predictable routine for students with lessons and activities that met them in their Zone of Proximal Development; however, we wanted to find ways for students to apply this knowledge in other aspects of their learning, particularly in their writing.
Hunch: Our hunch is that students needed more time and practice with reading and writing more voraciously. They also needed explicit instruction with spelling and morphology skills. We also felt that teachers needed more professional development and time to collaborate.
New Professional Learning: We explored the Island Literacy Network Writing Continuum. Our Literacy Coordinator was able to build capacity by demonstrating and helping teachers set up programs such as Reading Rev for Intermediate Spelling, 6 Minute Solution for Fluency, Lexia for online literacy and UFLI.
Taking Action: The new strategies that we implemented this year that supported our literacy goals were:
- Introducing morphology concepts to all students above and beyond UFLI, especially since many of the students who are in upper primary/lower intermediate were ready to move on from being taught specific phonics concepts. We used the UFLI phonics words from the unit taught that week and expanded the word by adding prefixes and suffixes and discussed their meaning and structure. This both challenged their learning and taught them new skills on how to decode longer words
- Spent time investigating vocabulary and phonics concepts to enhance knowledge and comprehension. We did this by working on antonyms, synonyms, and definitions of words.
- We implemented the “6-Minute Reading Solution” after noticing that students’ fluency wasn’t increasing half-way through the year. This involved similar-ability reading partners reading grade-level passages out loud to each other and tracking their Words Correct Per Minute (WCPM) every day, each week.
Checking: We utilized the district’s reading assessments, including the Primary Assessment of Reading Screener (PARS) and the Intermediate Reading Screener, to evaluate students’ reading abilities. PARS focuses on phonics concepts and reading fluency, while the Intermediate Reading Screener assesses oral reading fluency and comprehension through maze tasks.
Our analysis revealed that 90% of students are reading at or above grade level. Importantly, all students demonstrated improvement since the fall assessment period. To monitor spelling progress, we conducted weekly assessments at the conclusion of each UFLI Foundations and morphology unit, typically on Fridays. These assessments indicated notable enhancements in students’ encoding skills. Students who engaged in additional practice at home showed superior results, underscoring the value of consistent exposure and reinforcement in mastering spelling words.
Using the one-minute oral reading fluency assessment at the beginning, middle and end of year, we were able to see their reading fluency levels increase (WCPM, accuracy and prosody). We also noticed that as fluency levels increased, comprehension increased. This was measured and observed through the maze comprehension.
Reflections/Advice: We will continue to use UFLI for our primary grades but would like to expand our professional development in phonics and morphology programs in the intermediate grades or for kids that have moved beyond phonics. We would also like to incorporate more fluency practice throughout the school, as we noticed how much this helped with students’ reading comprehension.