My Week in Focus: Reading Resource

In an effort to be more focused this year in blogging, I want to return to doing some of  my favorite posts and adding a new post.  The new series of posts will be My Week in Focus.  Focus is my word for this 2016 and a way for me to stay focused in blogging is to commit to doing something weekly in relation to my blog.  My Week in Focus will be a post about something in my classroom that I focused on doing or fixing for that week.  So without further ado...


In the past I have taught several resources classes during the day, but because of the needs of the students on my caseload, I am doing more coteaching and less resource and one of my special ed team colleagues is helping with a majority of my resource times, because there is just not enough time in the day to do everything alone. 

In one of my resource class times, I have 3 students reading with a strong focus on comprehension.  I have tried several different resources with this group of students to help them learn and understand basic comprehension skills...some things have worked and other things have been a flop!  As a group, the comprehension skills of these students (all fourth graders) are at least two years behind their peers, but their reading ability (how they decode words) is at or above grade level.  This makes for quite the challenge, because I want them to read book that are appropriate reading ability, but not so far over their head in comprehension that they get no meaning from the story. 

I started out by doing a running record on each student and seeing what level they are on in reading and as I expected the reading ability was much higher than the comprehension skills.  If you are a longtime reader of my blog, you know my love for Reading A-Z and Raz Kids, and you know my love for technology.  After I determined guided reading level, I assigned each of these students to a Raz Kids account.  Each student uses Raz Kids at least twice a week during their time in resource with me and will use it at extra times when I need to work one on one with one of my students from this group.  I love the information I can get from progress reports online.  I know the exact areas of comprehension my students are struggling with and I can tailor my lessons to address these areas.  Below you can see one students comprehension skills report:

I can look at this report and know that I need to meet with this student to zone in on main idea and details!

Another resource that has become an invaluable tool in what I use during this resource group is the comprehension packs from Teaching Special Thinkers.  These are all picture books with accompanying visuals and comprehension questions.  The books are engaging for this group of students and the visuals help aid in comprehension.  As we preview the book, we discuss the title, characters and setting and while we read we add the visuals to the story map in the correct order.  Each comprehension question has multiple choice answers in word and visual format. 

Photo Credit: Teaching Special Thinkers

Get your copy: here

Finally, borrowing the idea from my friend at Teaching Special Thinkers, I use the story map to help aid in comprehension of grade level trade books.  Right now, the 4th grade class is reading Tuck Everlasting.  That book is pretty deep for any fourth grader, but especially for my students.  Listening to a chapter read aloud is hard for my students to do and make meaning from.  Most of the comprehension of this book comes from classroom discussion.  This can be difficult for my students.  I use adapted books and visuals for our story map to help them read and understand harder text and to be able to access same curriculum and texts as their peers.  (On another post, I promise to share more about adapting grade level reading text!)

~Kim

My Letter to Raz-Kids!

This time last year, I was asked to try out Raz-Kids (a leveled reading program available through Learning A-Z) and I must say I am so happy that I accepted the trial!

As my year trial period comes to a close, I thought I would share with my readers my favorite parts of Raz-Kids.

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1.  Highly motivating!  My kids love Raz-Kids!  The students I have in reading resource ask to get on Raz-Kids and you will hear no moaning and groaning when I ask them to use the program.  Sometimes, computer based interventions are not that exciting and don't hold a student's attention.  There could be various reasons for this ranging from the program being not interesting to students finding a program too difficult.  (Which leads to #2)  Oh...wait!  Don't forget that cute little robot you can dress up as your earn points for reading the books and passing quizzes! :)

2.  Leveled reading.  Raz-Kids is never too easy or too difficult for my students.  Using the assessment provided with Raz-Kids or available on Reading A-Z, I know exactly the level in which each of my students are working.  Each student has a program individualized just for him or her.

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3.  Immediate feedback.  I can track progress immediately and so can the students.  The students immediate see how they are progressing through the books.  The students earn stars and coins that they can use to build and decorate their virtual robot.  I can also send messages of encouragement and bonus stars to my students to let them know I can see how hard they are working, motivate them to keep going, and reward bonus stars to reward them for their efforts.  The data that the teacher sees is also invaluable information!  From sound assessments, to running records, to comprehension scores, I can see exactly how my students are performing and which standards students are hitting or missing.  Guys! This program is aligned to Common Core! You can look right at the quiz skills report and see exactly what standards your student is mastering.

4.  Students make growth!  The teachers can see it, the students can feel it, and the parents can watch as their child's reading ability improves.  I have had parents tell me how much their child love Raz-Kids and that they ask to get on and use it.  One of my tutoring students was so excited about all of the stars he had earned by reading his books and passing a level.  He saved all of his stars to buy something for his robot until the day I tutored him so that he could show me what he was going to buy with the stars earned from his hard work!  Raz-Kids really does make learning fun and the kids are making growth in such a motivating way that reading doesn't even feel like work to even the most struggling student.

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5.  Support and training!  Training on how to use all of what is offered on Raz-Kids is right there for you.  If you have a question, there is a probably a video that can teach you exactly what you need to know.  Also, the people working at Learning A-Z have been amazing about answering my questions and incredibly friendly.  They really take pride it what is produced through Learning A-Z and they make quality products that ensure student growth.

6.  Wide range of subjects and interests! There really is something for every student on here!  Fiction and non-fiction, every subject under the sun, Raz-Kids has it all and in every level.  There is no reason for a student to be bored.  There are so many books that even the most reluctant reader is sure to find something they will love.

Raz-Kids: The kids view

7.  Mobile app.  Hello!  We are all using a tablet or a phone these days and Raz-Kids is ready for that, too.  Mobile apps are available for Apple, Amazon, and Android products.  My kids in resource love to use the iPad to access Raz-Kids.  One of my sweets created a recording corner/sound booth to have a private spot to record her readings.  They love wearing the headphone/microphone combination (think Britney Spears headphones) to read and record themselves.

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8.  Combine with Reading A-Z for a beautifully blended reading solution!  Reading A-Z is a CODiE Award winning website for teachers with an amazing amount of resources for reading.  Lesson plans, printable and projectable books, quizzes, and Common Core aligned resources make Reading A-Z my go to spot for all things reading in my resource classroom.  Raz-Kids then joins in to deliver hundreds of ebooks with 24 hours access to provide practice to make students better readers!

I really cannot say enough good things about Raz-Kids and Reading A-Z!  If you are looking for a reading solution...look no more!  This is your solution!
Finally, to sum all of my feeling about Raz-Kids, here is a copy of the letter I sent thanking them for their trial of Raz-Kids:

Hi Jan,

I just wanted to let you know as this year's subscription to Raz-Kids comes to a close how much I have appreciated this program over the past year.  I am so grateful that the people at Learning A-Z found my blog and asked me to use their product.  I love Raz-Kids and believe in the program wholeheartedly.  Most importantly though is that my student are making tremendous growth and they love to use the program.  They ask to use Raz Kids.  Parents love it, too!  I have had several parents tell me that since using Raz-Kids that their child is actually interested in reading and motivated to use the program.  The kids even get on the app without having to be told to do so!  Raz-Kids is such a confident boost to so many of my struggling readers!  

Thank you for creating such a wonderful program and choosing me to use the program!  I truly appreciate it!

Kim H.