Focus on literacy includes adding new classes

By By Beth Cooper

LITTLE ROCK — As part of the Russellville School District's focus on literacy, Russellville High School has implemented two new courses: Reader's Workshop and Structure of the English Language, which look different than other English electives.

The courses started as a summer experiment with a two-week literacy camp and have extended into these two semester courses. Both in the camp and in the current classes, students work in stations to improve their reading and writing skills in addition to the work they do in their English classes. This decision by the school is a proactive approach to assisting students to score proficient on the state literacy test at the end of the junior year. Otherwise these same students could be in remediation their senior year.

The sophomores and juniors in this course track take one semester of each of the courses. The focus in Reader's Workshop is improving reading skills like fluency, comprehension and vocabulary. The teachers work in a 1:4 ratio with the students two to three times a week at a learning station where they teach reading strategies and periodically test students' reading fluency. The other stations include high school level SRA (an individualized reading system), a game station, a computer station with Audacity and a reading/listening station. Students in the computer station use headsets and microphones to hear themselves read while watching their voice patters on the screen. There is some whole class instruction centered on vocabulary. In fact, the students in these classes are leading the high school in its yearlong plan to improve student vocabulary. They design the word-ofthe-week display and create announcements using the word of the week.

The Structure of the English Language semester class is designed similarly. The focus in this course, however, is improving students' writing skills and their understanding of their language through grammar study. Again, theteachers work with the 1:4 ratio with students two to three times per week on grammar and writing skills. The students have a computer station where they create their own magazine/newspaper project, using the Comic Life program. The teachers have designed a project based on Mitch Album's book, Tuesdays With Morrie. By the end of the semester, the students will model writing passages after Album's and will interview and describe an individual who influences them. The project will be bound, illustrated and reviewed by the student. In addition to these two stations, students will study sentence patterns and bring models from their readings.

Two of the classrooms will have Smart Boards installed and the other two rooms will have access to their use. Each of the four classrooms has four computers at a station, and each of the classrooms has one to two listening stations for books on tape. In addition to the new and improved technology options, the teachers will use new teaching techniques to reach the students and build on their current knowledge. For example, vocabulary study will involve illustrating words, performing words, playing word games and "word toss," which uses a beach ball instead of the traditional copying words and definitions from a dictionary. The writing classes are using sentence strips to model sentence patterns. Students will share their writing analysis on the Smart Board.

Visitors to classes will see lots of engagement and student involvement in small classes (eight to 16 students per class) and some team teaching with the help of the literacy focus teacher. Students cannot get lost in the crowd in these classes and find that learning - even at the high school level - can be fun. The classes will provide multiple opportunities for success in a positive environment.

(Beth Cooper is head of the English department at Russellville High School. She teaches junior English and journalism.)Danville High School at a glance Grades: 10 through 12 Enrollment: 1,050 Mascot: Cyclones Faculty: 80

Athletics: 7A baseball, basketball,

cheerleading, cross country, drill team, football, golf, gymnastics, softball, swimming, track and field, vol

leyball, soccer, tennis, wrestling Principal: Wesley White Address: 2203 S. Knoxville Russellville, AR 72082 Telephone: (479) 968-3151 Web site: rsdweb.k12.ar.us

River Valley Ozark, Pages 65 on 11/13/2008