May 20 th , 2013

“TWEAKING PROJECT MORE FOR STUDENTS IN GRADES 6-8”BY: JESSICA ANDERSONPROJECT MORE COORDINATORGAHANNA MIDDLE SCHOOL EAST

May 20th, 2013

About GMSE Building of 550 students grades 6th, 7th

and 8th 14.4% Economically Disadvantaged 16.2% Students with Disabilities 2011-2012 “Excellent” Rating, AYP Met Value Added Met for 6th and 8th Grade

Reading “Above” Value Added for 7th Grade

Reading Central Ohio school, located in a

suburban area

Project MORE at East Began in February 2011(third school

year) 2012-2013 we had 25 students in the

program See gains of three to five levels annually Program runs from Mid-September until

week before OAA Program Materials are kept in a central

location Sessions take place in 4 different areas

of the building

What’s the problem? Older students reading lower-level

interest books Motivation with students

(repetitive) Pull-out program, away from peers Coordinator cannot be in two

classrooms at once! Students are unaware of progress

Older Students Reading Lower-Level Interest Books

Problem typically with 7th and 8th grade students

Use “Hi/Lo” books with students who choose to focus on provided Reading-Tutors Material

Allow last 5 minutes of each session to work on something outside of class.

8th grade – allow to skip game and develop conversations with mentors

Choose more non-fiction texts

Motivation with Students (Repetitive)

Middle School students quickly become bored with the repetitiveness of Project MORE.

Re-reading book: Ask students to complete some extended response questions. If they are detailed and correct, they do not have to re-read the book. If not, they are expected to read-read.

Change-up steps by day to add variety (example: play game first)

Candy, front of the line lunch passes, stickers (yes, MS students love candy and stickers!)

Pull-out Program

Project MORE is completed during a 30 minute grade level intervention time. MSE provides separate classrooms during intervention time for Project MORE

During intervention time, Channel One is played in other classrooms

Our Project MORE students feel like they are missing out, especially since other classrooms do not have interventions (typically socializing or silent reading time)

Pull-out Program 6th grade PM area is located within the

6th grade classrooms, so our students don’t feel so left out

7th and 8th grade were held in different rooms, away from their peers

Mentors were “hunting down” their students, trying to get them to attend sessions

7th and 8th: Right before lunch, so they always want to leave early!

Coordinator cannot be in two classrooms at once!

Trying to keep small environments for maximum learning (fewest distractions)

One place to store materials that all mentors can access

Need for a teacher to be present at all times Our 2012-2013 schedule allowed for an 8th grade

teacher to monitor one 7th grade classroom A 6th Grade IS teacher helped monitor one classroom I floated between all classrooms once sessions began Sessions from 11:08am-12:21pm – non-stop moving,

assessing, conferencing and planning

Students are Unaware of ProgressHow can students take ownership of their progress?

Do students truly know how much they have gained (benchmark levels, fluency scores)?

Will sharing data motivate students?

Example of Data Sharing Sheet (Handout Provided)

Video Clip of Student Conference

Changes for 2013-2014 School Year

Project MORE Coordinator and the OTES How does this impact you? Do you meet linkage requirements or are

you writing SLOs? Instructional Planning versus

Implementing Instruction LLI+ program in addition to Project

MORE Our goal is to relieve stigma from older-

age (7th and 8th grade) students

Example of 2013-2014 Coordinator Schedule

8:45-9:30 9:32-10:25 10:25 – 11:08 Working with At-Risk Students. One class period will

be a conference period 11:08-12:21 – Project MORE/LLI+ Sessions 12:21-12:40 – Lunch Duty 12:40-1:09 - LUNCH 1:09-1:53 – 6th Grade Study Hall Intervention 1:54-2:40 – 8th Grade Study Hall Intervention 2:41-3:30 - 7th Grade Study Hall Intervention

SUCCESS! End of Year Celebration Breakfast Invite participants and their parents and mentors Menu: Store bought donuts, milk, OJ and Panera

Bagels. “Tote” of Coffee for adults (Panera includes cups, stir sticks, creamer and sweeteners)

Use PM provided certificates Personally acknowledge each student and mentor Purchased each student a book of his/her choice

or a $5.00 GC to Barnes and Noble

Changes to BreakfastFirst year to invite parentsEmailed and Sent home printed invitations

Requested RSVP’s from mentors, students and parents

I knew everyone involved, so it helped with acknowledgements

What I heard… “My child has never enjoyed reading. He

just asked me to take him to Barnes and Noble to purchase more books. Thank-you!”

“I don’t know what you are doing, but my son has never stayed focused on anything, especially reading. I have never seen him so proud of what he is accomplished or this excited about school.”

Goals for Next Year Quarterly conferences with students in order

to share data and progress Pizza party for 8th grade mentors Continue with celebration breakfast Motivational “treats” for all mentors Establish a fluid relationship with Project

MORE and LLI+ Possibly continue sessions past the week of

OAA in order for more students to fully complete the program