A Look at Literacy: Students go rah-rah for RAZ!

El Dorado teachers introduce leveled literacy intervention with Innovation Grant fundsThird-grade students come in all shapes, sizes and reading levels. At El Dorado Elementary School, about 75% of students entered third grade this year reading below grade-level.“Their reading levels range anywhere from a beginning first-grade reader to a mid-year fourth-grade reader,” teachers Melissa Nocero and Nikki Taura told us. This isn’t unusual for a school like El Dorado, where 86% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch and 36% are English Language Learners.But teachers like Ms. Nocero and Ms.Taura aren’t alone. Each year, the Education Fund awards Innovation Grants for literacy initiatives at some of San Francisco’s highest-need schools, through its elementary school Literacy Program.Ms. Nocero and Ms. Taura received a grant this year to enhance their literacy instruction and increase student engagement. They introduced their students to two new literacy programs, Reading A-Z and RAZ Kids, which offer a large and diverse collection of online and printable leveled books.Students can read fiction and nonfiction texts during classroom independent reading time, and printed copies can be used in guided reading groups and to expand the classroom library. Students can also print copies to take home to expand personal library, many of which lack appropriate leveled books.“It’s fun,” one student said. “You get to read. It’s not the same as a regular book. It reads to you sometimes. I use it at home sometimes, too.”Each book in these programs is accompanied by comprehension quizzes, which can be easily accessed by teachers and parents. It not only allows teachers to track students’ progress, but also to create data-informed curriculum. Each student is able to quickly access material that is level appropriate, interact with the text through a variety of features and reinforce skills through assessments.Recently, Ms. Nocero’s third-grade class used RAZ Kids to launch a nonfiction research project. Ms. Nocero explained the nonfiction reading assignment and demonstrated how to search nonfiction titles on the projector – the options seemed endless, a stark contrast compared to what their libraries once were.As the students put on their headphones and logged onto their Chromebooks, the room got uncharacteristically quiet. Students were engrossed and focused, each in their own world of research on topics from sea creatures in the coral reef to global warming. Ms. Nocero and her Literacy Program Volunteer Jed Gablemen walked around to answer questions about possible topics and address technical issues.“I love RAZ,” another student said. “You get to read and learn more. I’m learning about trees and the branches get thicker every year!”