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.
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.