FSSD Schools use grants to help children learn to read
By wherald
Children in two Franklin schools will receive some extra reading assistance thanks, in part, to funds from Dollar General’s Youth Literacy Grant program. Moore Elementary School reading coach Kim Smith will use a $2,000 grant to help fund Eagle Eyes, a reading intervention program that targets below grade level readers and fledgling readers in kindergarten and pre-first grades.
“This program will be added to our school’s arsenal of layered interventions to narrow the achievement gap,” Smith said. “Some children require years of quality instruction and interventions that are sequenced, focused, and consistent.” Smith points to longitudinal studies indicating that students who are poor readers at the end of first grade are 90 percent more likely to remain at low reading levels by the end of fourth grade. However, research also reveals that 90-95% of students can overcome their issues if they get intervention at an early age.
Eagle Eyes, named for Moore’s mascot, uses a supplemental literacy kit with leveled readers, which is ideal for beginning readers in kindergarten and pre-first grades.
Freedom Intermediate School teacher Janet Parker also received a $2,000 Youth Literacy Grant from Dollar General, which will be used for reading intervention for students with fluency and vocabulary concerns at the fifth and sixth grade school.
“Our plan is to use the funds to support reading intervention for students who are below proficient and who need fluency and vocabulary instruction,” Parker said. An iPad will be purchased and equipped with an online fluency and comprehension program. A powerful, research-based supplemental program, called Take Aim! at Vocabulary, will also be used to support core reading programs through explicit, systematic instruction in vocabulary. Additionally, pre- and post-assessment materials will be purchased and used to document student growth, Parker said.
"I am grateful to the corporations in our community who support education with the funding of special projects,” she said. “The Youth Literacy Grant from Dollar General will provide additional materials that specifically focus on the selected student needs, allowing me to tailor instruction with highly engaging materials, applying our technology in targeted areas of reading.”
The Dollar General Literacy Foundation awarded a total of $246,500 in grants to 26 Nashville area nonprofit organizations, schools, libraries and community groups. “We award the Youth Literacy grants to provide schools and nonprofit organizations with resources that support their efforts to strengthen literacy skills and education,” said Rick Dreiling, Dollar General’s chairman and CEO, in a press release announcing the grants.
Freedom Intermediate School also benefitted from the Big Lots Lots2Give local store donation program. The school received approximately $675, which has been earmarked for a new movie-making club designed to support the acting and technology interests of students. “The students will have the opportunity to write, perform, and film their own movies thanks to the generous support of Big Lots and our community,” Parker said. “We are preparing students who will be ready to handle the skills necessary to use technology in new and creative ways when they get to high school and beyond."
Posted on: 9/11/2012
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