Fluidez = Fluency! Take-home books en español

Moderation state
published
Other Applicants

Amy Meierotto

Julie Miescke

Number of Students
75
Grant Category
Grant Cycle
Fall
Description

This program will give families home support for our dual-language program in reading and language development throughout the school year. It will increase fluency by giving students quality Spanish books to practice at home with. It will provide books for this year, but we are hoping to re-use most of them for future years also.

Success of Program

We assess each child with a running record of their reading level every 2 to 3 weeks all year long in First Grade. Using these assessments, as well as testing the children on the specific books they have been practicing, we will gauge their fluency level. We will know the program is effective by doing pre-and post tests of the students reading these take-home books at week intervals. Then we can gauge how long most students need to work for fluency with these books, and how it has affected their overall reading progress and pace.

Implementation

Each child will be given 40 books to take home and read and re-read, as part of their home reading homework, so they will attain fluency. These will be given after they have been introduced the book and the language in class, so that they are familiar with it. Students will read and re-read the book many times, and then be asked to bring it back in to class so teachers can test them on their fluency. We will ask that books are returned to school when the child has thoroughly learned the book, so that we may re-send them in future years also! 

Can you share this grant with your grade level or subject team?

In our first PLC meeting of the year, our first grade team identified our top priorities/ needs. Getting more Non-fiction readers for guided and individual practice was #1 (see the Nonfiction for Common-Core Success grant!) and providing students with more at-home, on-level reading practice books was #2. We have seen so many of our books that get sent home either not come back, or get ruined with so much use, that this seems like a cost-effective way to get students reading quality Spanish and English books at home.

Shipping
$84.00
Taxes
$0.00
Other funding sources
No
Notes
We are hoping that the majority of the books would be returned in good condition and would be able to be sent home again next year. NOTE**This site offers great English titles for First grade also, and could easily be spread to other sites. They offer bundle pricing for 5 sets. They are especially great for second language students (EL's) who do not have access to English books at home, and of course for our program - vice-versa.
Comments
We get $200 per class for supplies, and this far exceeds that budget. Homework books are not covered under txt funds, and since it is for all students, it is not covered in Title I either. We thought about asking parents to pay, but it is difficult to get even $5 donations for AFTS events right now.