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Many of our Title I students are considered to be At-Risk in meeting grade level academic rigor. In order to meet the needs of our students Title I employs the strategies of Differentiated Instruction. Differentiated Instruction simply means that the instruction provided is individualized for a student based on data.
Listed below are a number of strategies and their definitions which are used with students in a typical Title I group:
Differentiated Instruction Strategies |
Student Progress Monitoring |
Grades K-2 |
Grades 6-8 |
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Grades 1 & 2 |
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select grade K students |
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(all students) |
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(all students) |
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Grades 1-5 |
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Reading Mastery I
Reading Mastery Classic Edition, Level I is a beginning reading program that teaches all the skills the non-reading child needs to master the basics of beginning reading. When children complete Reading Mastery I, they go into Reading Mastery II, which is designed to mesh perfectly with the skills the children have acquired in Reading Mastery I. The concept underlying Reading Mastery is that virtually all children can learn if we teach them carefully. The program therefore attempts to provide the kind of careful instruction that is needed to teach basic skills. Another assumption of the program is that this instruction will be implemented only if the teacher does what is required to ensure that the children master each skill. Reading Mastery I includes prereading exercises, activities associated with
beginning decoding, work with symbol identification, rhyming, comprehension activities, and so forth. Unlike many other programs however, Reading Mastery I presents each of these activities in a carefully programmed sequence.
1. The tasks are sturctured as simply as possible. The vocabulary used by the teacher is reduced. The procedures that are followed with one task are followed with a similiar task so that the children can see how the tasks are the same.
2. The practice the children receive is carefully controlled and realistic. For example, symbols like b,m, and t are instroduced at the rate of one every three four days, so that the children receive enough practice to master each of the symbols. The practice for every other skill the children are taught is controlled in a similiar way.
3. The sequence of skills is structured so that the children master all the skills they need for later, more complicated tasks. The prereading activities in Reading Mastery I are unique. The purpose of prereading activities is to ensure that every skill needed for beginning decoding is taught, and only those skills are taught. No activity is introduced because it "might" helo the children. The prereading tasks focus on the specific behaviors the children will use when they begin decoding words.
4. A final aspect of the program design has to do with the teacher's behavior. What the teacher does and says is specified. The teacher is not given general instructions; rather, the teacher is provided with the exact words that are to be used when presenting each of the tasks. Other behaviors-pointing, signaling the group to respond, and the like-are specified precisely. The program indicates where the children are likely to make mistakes and precisely what the teacher should do to correct each mistake.
Reading Mastery II
Reading mastery II is the second level in the Reading Mastery Classic Edition program. The skills, vocabulary, procedures, and intructional details that are presented at the beginning of Reading Mastery II are carefully geared to what chldren learned in reading Mastery I. The Reading Mastery program controls all aspects of reading development through the direct teaching of every skill needed for decoding and comprehension. Extensive practice reinforces all skills and strategies.
Reading Mastery Language Arts and Literature Strands
Reading Maastery Langauge Arts is strongly recommended for teachers of at-risk students in Grades K, 1, and 2. These students particularily, need to become familiar with the language of intruction- the language they will encounter now and later in textbooks. The Language Strand:
* teaches the oral language skills necessary to understand what is said, written, and read in the classroom.
* helps students communicate ideas and information effectively.
* develops students' ability to use writing stratgeies and processes successfully.
Reading Street Supplemental Materials
Scott Foresman Reading Street - Elementary Reading Comprehension Program 2008© is an all-new reading instruction program for Grades PreK–6. Reading Street is designed to help teachers build readers through motivating and engaging literature, scientifically research-based instruction, and a wealth of reliable teaching tools. The reading program takes the guesswork out of differentiating instruction with a strong emphasis on ongoing progress-monitoring and an
explicit plan to help with managing small groups of students. In addition, Reading Street prioritizes skill instruction at each grade level, so teachers can be assured they will focus on the right reading skill, at the right time, and for every student.
Title I students receive both core instruction plus strategic intervention. The Title I teacher uses the Response to Intervention Kit to focus on priority skills. Instruction is organized by strand, so teachers can provide targeted focus and leveled Mini-Lessons for individuals or small groups. Skills include phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
EnVision It! visuals focus students’ attention, capture the abstract, and help students understand and remember important ideas. Most of the visuals are available online or built into the student editions. The student editions are powerful teaching tools on their own. They are interactive and learner-centered to promote independence.
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Number Worlds Math Program SRA Number Worlds is an intervention math program that focuses on students who are one or more grade levels behind in mathematics. All the tools teachers need to assess students' abilities, individualize instruction, build foundational skills and concepts, and make learning fun are provided in this math remediation program. And only SRA Number Worlds includes a prevention program for Grades PreK-1 that builds foundational math skills and prepares younger children to understand
more complex concepts later.
Prevention Levels A-C Number Worlds is the only program that includes instruction in grades PreK-1 to prevent math failure in later grades. Each level provides thirty weeks of daily instruction to improve students' grasp of the world of mathematics. These levels are appropriate for students who come to school with impoverished math understanding, but other students will benefit from them as well.
Intervention Levels D-J For students in grades 1-8 who are one or more grade levels behind in math, Number Worlds builds on students' current level of understanding with six 4-week intensive units per grade. At these grades, students may have difficulty with one, two, or many different math concepts. The goal of the Number Worlds units is to develop foundational understandings in each concept so that students develop on-level mathematical proficiency. |
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Accelerated Math Program
Accelerated Math's advanced technology helps you provide the essential math practice component of your math curriculum. This classroom-proven software:
* Creates math assignments tailored to each student's current level.
* Automatically scores all math practice, including assignments and tests.
* Provides ongoing feedback on students' daily practice.
* Helps you differentiate math instruction, addressing each student's individual needs.
Accelerated Math enables monitored, differentiated math practice. Recognized as a mastery measure by the National Center on Response to Intervention, Accelerated Math provides daily information about student progress towards math mastery, skill by skill, adding a robust dimension to each student's data profile.
Word Families A group of words that share a common feature or pattern, for example: stay, play, day, hay are all part of the ay family, and stick, stop or stuff are part of the st family
Fluency Strategies The ability to easily speak, read, or write a language; automatic word recognition, rapid decoding, and checking for meaning
Echo Reading Strategies Reading of a text where an adult or experienced reader reads a line of text, and the student repeats the line. A good technique for Emergent and Early Readers to build fluency and expression.
Decoding Analyzing text in order to identify and understand individual words. Figuring out the written code.
Context Clues Information from the surrounding text that helps identify or gives meaning to a specific word or phrase, i.e.: "yesterday I read the book". The words surrounding "read" help us know how to pronounce it.
Sight Word Practice A word that is immediately recognized as a whole and does not require word analysis for identification
Activating Background Knowledge The knowledge and understandings of the world that students have acquired through their everyday experiences -- riding in cars or buses, playing and talking with other children and adults, that help them to make sense of the texts they read.
Choral Reading Two or more individuals reading aloud from the same text -- this can help students to develop oral reading fluency.
Word Studies 5-10 minutes of focused instruction on syllabication, roots, prefixes, suffixes, affixes. Key component of Intensive Reading classroom
Student Progress Monitoring
In addition, a very critical component of differentiated instruction and response to intervention strategies is the need to monitor student progress. Title I uses both Formative and Summative Assessments in determining student growth. All Title I students in Cambridge Isanti Schools are also weekly or bi-weekly Progress Monitored to ensure the interventions we use with them are working:
Progress Monitoring Ongoing assessment (various forms) that track the progress of students as they attain certain skills and work through different content
Formative Assessments Assessments become formative when the results are used to adapt learning and teaching.
Summative Assessment Measurement or tools used to determine the outcome of a student's academic progress.
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