3. Xpect to Achieve Portfolio of Implementation

Guided Reading is something I struggled to complete or do with the students when it was called for in the program. We end up getting caught up with practicing the strategy and running out of time. I plan on trying to do a better job with implementing Guided Reading and setting it aside for the last 10 minutes. I tried to incorporate that this year but sometimes, it did not happen. Having said that, I need to work on "thinking aloud" about why I'm using a particular strategy. I need to give students the Word Parts list so students can assist with dissecting and/or word mapping when I get to it. During the video, the students were very engaged with the lesson and I was able discuss the different strategies effectively. 

Our first novel is "Freak the Mighty", which is a novel I used last year as well. Guided Reading is still something I would like to further improve and do more often. The following is the list of words, why they are chosen and what days they would be introduced

Day 1: Chapter 1 - Unvanquished as this is great word to introduce word mapping and/or word id; glimpse is chosen next due to it's unique ending sound that might trip up some students
Day 2: Chapter 2 - Miniature which can be broken down with word id and word mapping; this reasoning also applies to prehistoric
Day 3: Chapter 3 - Scraggly is chosen due to it's blend of sounds and ornithopter is next as even I can't pronounce this word. Even this year, I still struggled saying it the correct way.
Day 4: Chapter 4 - At this point, I might have students start helping me break down the words. Words chosen would be sobriequet, a word unfamiliar to students that we do together. The next word would be postulated, which has the suffix -ed. Invincible would be next as it can be confused with invisible (even reading that word now, I did this mistake). 
Day 5: Chapter 4 continued - This chapter has lots of words to break down so again, we would do it together. The words would be limitations that can be broken down easily along with ignorance. We would also break down sophisticated as this a great multisyllabic word to attempt to break down. Opiate would be are next word as this is a word that might not be familiar to students. Depending on time, we would also do gargling which is a easy word to break down. We would most likely finish the chapter this day.

Xtreme was set at the end of the day and due to lack of data from elementary, did not truly begin until schedule changes took place (around September). There were originally 12 students selected based on Achieve3000 LevelSet and San Diego Assessment (given while students took Achieve 3000 pre-test). The class now sits at 10 as two students moved away with one returning to my Achieve class. Due to missing key instruction, she was unable to return to Xtreme. The students are all general education with one ESE student, who is doing well in class.

The class is setup with rows and columns where students pushed desks together when doing paired practice. There is a small group table to provide differentiated instruction based on student needs. Posters of the strategies were created along with poster on ACHIEVE expectations (see pictures in separate post).

Students are told they have been selected or chosen for the program, that it's an advanced intensive reading class. If they put forth the work, they could test out for next school year based on data from last year. Journal Entries are utilized as an arrival activity students complete when they first walk in; the lesson frame is used to describe the lesson for the day. A document camera is used to project examples along with serving as device to project the computer screen. The computer is utilized to show PowerPoint Slides for notes on the strategy we are learning. When modeling, I do a gradual release where I start and then have students chip in at the end. Paired practice has been done with my selection of partners and also allowing students to choose their partner. The difficulty of the passages is brought up as students show mastery in the strategy. Since I teach 6th grade, I start with level 4 passages with being able to get to grade level by the end when I get to Inference. This year, students are doing more practice with Achieve but not doing as well as I would expect; the students are not using the strategies effectively yet do well on the Xtreme materials. Due to testing, we were not able to practice Inference as much as I had hoped but most students showed mastery once they started underlining the clues and going back to check their work. At the end of the year, we review for the upcoming post-tests on the strategies by completing an exercise practice or two plus review games like Kahoot, Blooket, or Jeopardy Labs. Visual Imagery will not be taught like last year but might be touched upon during the last week of school. 

Introducing Xpect to Achieve starts out by telling the student they were hand-picked for this special class that will learn about several strategy to help them with reading, comprehension, and how they can become an active reader.   They had to start out by writing out three things that are important to them.  It was fun sharing.   The students where told about all the things that they would be expose to in this class from value of each student, connect reading to goals or dreams and let them know they will see results if they just try in this class. We are learning about procedures to start, stop, or change to different activities.  That part was easy.  We learned about PRIDE and what it stood for.  We looked at what the word Achieve stood for so they would understand I was here to teach them something new that would help them learn better.  We had a separate area for their Start up (Do Now) and what was going to be on the agenda.  I had a separate area for the posters and information. The students had to learn how to talk to each other in a safe manner and the “Talking Together Skills” helped them do learn how to take turns, how to listen, and how to be understanding. I introduced what guided reading was going to look like.  My students look forward to that 10 minutes of reading.  I explained how this program will close the gap in their reading level.   We complete the pretest on Word Identification and the Word Mapping Pretest.   Xpect to Achieve does just that, it sets the tone of the Xtreme class and sets them up for a successful year.

I had 15 students and because of Cov-19 the class size was reduced to 10.  I have 3 boys and 7 girls and out of those I have 6 students that are ESE and 1 student that is ESOL - Tier C.  Most of the students were at least 2 grade levels below the 11th grade.  All but one has been in intensive reading since the 6th grade.  One student was put in intensive reading in the 10th grade because he slept through his 9th grade test and they did not test him in 10th grade because of Covid so he is in my class.  He has a high Lexile, but low comprehension so it is all good.  Again, the students have around 650-900 Lexile level.  Most of the students come every day.