By Andrew Hackmack
The District 13 school was just a handful of schools from New York state and Canada honored with an Exemplary Reading Award from the International Reading Association.
Principal Stephanie Capozzoli and reading teachers Ilona Goldstein, Mairead Dorry and Elena Bagge recently attended a conference in Saratoga to accept their award. They got to share their best teaching practices, as well as attend numerous workshops.
Capozzoli said before being selected as a finalist, a panel of eight people visited the school and interviewed many people about the school¹s reading program including teachers, students, parents and administrators. Willow Road School last year was a finalist, finishing just short of first place, and is a finalist again this year still holding a chance to be named the top school. ³It¹s a very prestigious award,² Capozzoli said. ³We want to be the winner eventually.²
Just being one of three or four finalists, she said, is an honor in itself.
But the teachers say its not about the awards and recognition, it¹s about improving childhood literacy. Goldstein works with the youngest children in the building kindergarten, first and second grade students. She supports them as they develop their reading skills such as letter recognition, phonemic awareness and comprehension.
Students with Goldstein use a computer-based program called Waterford, which monitors their progress and gives the teacher a comprehensive report. ³It goes with the pace of a child,² she said, noting how if a student struggles with a particular skill, the program will continue to give activities focusing on that concept.
Goldstein also works with students in small groups to provide them with additional support. The computer program is just one aspect of a comprehensive reading program, she explained.
Bagge works with students in fifth and sixth grade. With sixth graders, she works with them in small groups for 40 to 50 minutes per day.
The fifth graders, as well as the third and fourth graders who work with Dorry, participate in 100-minute literacy blocks. The first 20 minutes is devoted to a lesson for the entire group. The next hour the children rotate activities, spending 20 minutes in guided reading, 20 minutes using a computer program, and the rest of the time doing independent reading. The last 20 minutes is again dedicated to whole-group instruction.
Dorry, like Goldstein, noted how important the software component of the program is. ³Students have the opportunity to work at their pace and their level on the computer,² Dorry said. ³It¹s hard not to include technology these days. They are very motivated on the computer.²
What¹s great about the computer program, she said, is that students can monitor their own progress. The software can record a child reading, which they can listen too months later and realize how far they¹ve come.
Goldstein said that children are first recommended for additional support in reading by their classroom teachers. The reading teachers then test those students further to see what kind of program, if any, is needed. Once a student begins work with the reading teacher, there is constant communication with the classroom teacher about each child¹s progress. It is a team effort, the reading teachers say.
There are many indicators of progress, the teachers say. Just one of those is the New York State assessments, which are given every year in English Language Arts and math to children in grades 3-8. Students scoring in Levels 3 and 4 are considered passing. But if a child goes from the Level 1 one year, to Level 2 the next, the teachers see that as a step forward. ³We celebrate every success,² Goldstein said.
Goldstein, Bagge and Dorry are in their third year together at Willow Road School and all share the same vision. ³Every child can read,² Goldstein said. ³We want lifelong learners, readers and writers.²
Their work is not just limited to the school¹s struggling readers. They also offer programs for those reading at or above grade level to keep them motivated and keep them challenged.
Capozzoli said the dedication of her reading teachers, with the support of the teachers in the classroom, makes for a positive environment, conducive to learning at Willow Road School. She hopes to see continued success as children throughout all four schools in District 13 develop their reading skills and the tools to be successful beyond their elementary school years.
³You can have tons of programs in your school,² she said, ³but if you don¹t have the right teachers doing it, it could all be for naught.²
