August 20, 2009
Ronan elementary school implements new reading program
Erin Gallagher/Valley Journal
Soon these new StoryTime textbooks will be used to teach the students who occupy these chairs at K. William Harvey Elementary School.
Valley Journal
RONAN — Though Alice Cooper may have popularized the notion of "no more pencils, no more books" during the summer months spent out of the classroom, Ronan's K. William Harvey Elementary School opted to invest in even more books this summer. In fact, they bought a whole new set of books to go along with a new reading program they will be teaching kids with from now on.
The new program is called StoryTown, and it follows a completely different model than its predecessor, a program called Success for All. Under Success for All, students were grouped into different reading levels according to their skills. The groups would then relocate to a different classroom with a different teacher when it was time to work on reading.
Under StoryTown, students will stay with the same teacher all day. Teachers will spend 30-45 minutes instructing their class as a whole group before splitting them into three groups. The groups, which are determined according to skill level, will spend another 30-45 minutes working amongst themselves.
K. William Harvey principal Dave Marzolf said the new program's format will "target all learners," as well as help teachers get to know their students better.
When the search for a new program began about four months ago, a curriculum committee was developed to scout out and choose the program best suited for Ronan elementary students. After extensive research, which included visits to area schools to learn about the programs they used, the committee selected StoryTown out of a pool of four different program choices. (br)
Marzolf said the committee "thought the stories in the text were best suited to the children" based on what the students know and are familiar with.
But why switch to a new program now after 11 years of successfully teaching with Success for All?
"Change is good," Marzolf explained. "Programs and strategies change and improve. We want to provide the best programs and strategies for our students."
Marzolf said that even though it's "tough to take away something people are used to," the staff hopes StoryTown will be a positive change. The faculty hopes it will increase the students' test scores, as well as much more.
"My personal goal is to increase reading comprehension and fluency for each student," Marzolf said.
Marzolf went on to say that the faculty is "committed to fidelity" with the program and will not switch back to the old one should StoryTime not be what they expected.
To familiarize themselves with teaching the new program, teachers recently attended three days of training with the new material, and will have follow-up training sessions throughout the year.
Marzolf said that anyone curious about the new program is welcome to visit the school to find out more. |
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