I. General Information
School Name: Southlands
School District: SD#39 Vancouver
Inquiry Team Members:
Wendy Phung: wphung@vsb.bc.ca
Alexandra de Montigny: @demontigny@vsb.bc.ca
Sarah McKendy: smckendy@vsb.bc.ca
Inquiry Team Contact Email: mpaxton@vsb.bc.ca
II. Inquiry Project Information
Type of Inquiry: Numeracy & Literacy Project
Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Intermediate (4-7)
Curricular Areas Addressed: Language Arts – Reading
Focus Addressed: Indigenous understandings (for example, Traditional Knowledge, oral history, reconciliation), Flexible learning, Inclusion and inclusive instructional strategies
In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Our focus was on creating flexible groupings for targeted reading instruction in grades 5, 6, 7.
III. Spirals of Inquiry Details
Scanning: When we asked students the four questions, 97% could name two or more adults at the school who knew that they would be a success in life, but 65% struggled with the questions about learning, in that they could not be specific about what they were learning and why it was important. According to the Student Learning Survey, 26% of grade 7s believe they are not getting better at reading.
Focus: We selected this focus because we believe that reading is a foundational skill that impacts a student’s success across the curriculum as well as their self-esteem, dignity and identity as a learner. Due to a number of factors, including COVID 19, too many of our intermediate students are reading below grade level – 23%. We wanted to learn how to support these students without pulling them out of class for remedial instruction.
Hunch: Our hunch was that if we collaborated to assess and group students according to their DRA levels, then dedicated 40 minutes a day in the afternoons (time formerly used for individual silent reading) using resource teachers, the teacher-librarian, and support staff to make groups smaller, we could provide targeted, just right instruction.
New Professional Learning: We as intermediate teachers had to learn how to teach beginning readers. We used the Rime Magic program, as well as Heggerty and other resources such as Reading Power. We attended pro-d days with Robin Bright and Marian Small. We requested the support of the District Resource Teaching Team who met with us to help design classroom practices.
Taking Action: We divided 4 classes of intermediate students into 6 groups according to DRA results. The 10 students with the lowest scores were in one group with a teacher and an EA. Eight of the 10 are Indigenous. With small group and individual instruction, these students made many gains averaging an increase in 12 DRA levels. The students confidence and self-esteem improved – our evidence was engagement and smiles.
Checking:
– Increased confidence in reading
– Increased fluency and decoding
– Increased comprehension
– Decreased misbehaviour
We have not yet asked the Four Questions again, but we predict students will be able to be more specific about how they are learning to read.
Reflections/Advice: We were uncertain if this structure would work. We took a risk and tried it!