Literacy Support
Our long-term vision is to consistently have 90% (or higher) of students performing at grade level by the end of first grade.
1st Grade Poor Reader = 88% Chance 4th Grade Poor Reader
If the child was a poor reader at the end of the first grade, there is an 88% probability the child will remain a poor reader at the end of fourth grade.[1]
4th Grade Poor Reader = 4x More Likely to Drop Out of High School
Students who have not learned to read proficiently by the time they enter fourth grade are four times more likely to drop out of school, and this risk is even greater for low-income children.[2]
Tutoring Program
The Know & Grow Tutoring Program advances each child at his/her own pace. Tutoring occurs online, one-on-one, and in small groups.
Online In School & After School
Tutoring begins with each child receiving an iPad loaded with the Khan Academy Kids app. Led by Kodi the Bear, the award-winning lessons are completed both during the school day and at home. The cellular-powered-internet iPads make it possible for all children to participate whether or not the family has Wi-Fi. Our kiddos love toting the iPads home. Teachers grant the privilege to those most in need of tutoring.
As each child professes at his/her own pace, our emerging readers learn:
- Letter recognition and sounds
- CVC (consonant – vowel – consonant) words
- Reading comprehension
- Syllables, blending, digraphs, long & short vowels, and rhyming
- Sentence types and parts
- Sight words
- Reading fluency
ULFI Support
The District has chosen the University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI) program to teach young readers. Everyone – both teachers and students – love this program! We do what we can to support this learning curriculum.
UFLI Workbooks
We put together workbooks of the “decodable” lessons/drills provided by UFLI. Our workbooks also include manuscript pages. These manuscript pages, which were designed by a Dinsmore Elementary kindergarten teacher, help practice both letter formation and spelling.
There are so many lessons we created four workbooks and titled them: My Blue Book, My Purple Book, My Green Book, and My Pink Book. Each kindergartener receives his/her very own copy.
The teachers love sending the notebooks home with the students once the classroom learning is complete. The teachers hope the students read the books again over the summer. We hope the children keep them and as adults enjoy reflecting on their writings and story illustrations.
UFLI Word Trays
All kindergarten classrooms have been supplied word work sets built specifically for the UFLI program. The magnetic activity trays, durable magnetic tiles, and engaging activity mats provide the tools young learners need for hands-on literacy skills practice!
Because literacy is so very important, we at Know & Grow want our kiddos to have the best.
Etch-A-Sketch Freestyle
All kindergarten and first-grade classrooms have been supplied Etch-A-Sketches for writing practice. Forget the two white buttons – that is now retro. The Freestyle Etch-A-Sketch comes with a handy stylus that’s easy to grip and move.
The students can write, shake to erase, and write again. Teachers report this is an engaging way for kids to hone their fine motor skills while learning their alphabet and spelling.
Secret Stories
We all like a good story, don’t we? Secret Stories, when used alongside a structured literacy program, can “speed-up” access to phonics sounds kids need to read.
The Stories
All kindergarten and first-grade classrooms can now enjoy learning with Secret Stories. Know & Grow proudly provides each classroom:
- Phonics teaching book
- Phonics posters
- Musical “Sound Skill” phonics song download
- Phonics flashcards
Secret Watch
In tutoring, we regularly provide the kids with watches. Each watch face has a Secret Stories phonics image. The kids love wearing a watch even if it is made of paper!
CVC Words
CVC stands for consonant, vowel, consonant and refers to one-syllable, three-letter words that follow this pattern. A common example is c-a-t. Cat follows the pattern and the vowel has a short sound.
CVC Word Trays
We designed this CVC word mat with magnetic letters. The tray makes it easy for a child to see beginning, middle, and ending letter possibilities.
CVC Images
The teachers asked we add images to the CVC Word Trays. We laminated a comprehensive inventory of 128 images. The images are sized to fit nicely into the upper right-hand corner of the CVC Word Tray.
Each kindergarten teacher received six sets of all the images in an indexed storage system.
Literacy Furniture
Literacy furniture:
- makes classroom transitions from one topic to another proceed smoothly which saves time and keeps the productive learning environment intact and
- teaches kids to care for belongings which is crucial to developing responsibility, organizational skills, and respect for possessions.
Big Book Displays
Did you know kindergarten teachers read very BIG books to their students? Every kindergarten classroom now has a Big Book Display. The displays are the perfect height for the teachers to turn the pages as they read aloud to the kindergarteners.
The base has drawers for horizontal storage of the big paperback books.
As an added bonus, the small dry-erase board can be rolled around the classroom for use in small-group learning.
Word Tray Storage
Kindergarten classrooms are provided storage racks for their UFLI and CVC trays. Depending on teacher preference, the racks are either table-top, larger floor models, or some of both.
The statistics are staggering…nationally 82% of students eligible for free or reduced lunches are not reading at or above grade level by fourth grade. This is a great concern as the percentage of adults that did not graduate from high school in the Dinsmore community is among the highest in the nation at 17.3%.
Our long-term goal is to consistently have 90% (or higher) of students performing at grade level by the end of first grade. Currently, only slightly more than half the students meet this measurable outcome. With your help we can put these elementary children on the road to succeed in school – and beyond!
Our Sponsors:
We thank our literacy donors:
Dollar General Literacy Foundation
CSX Transportation
Walmart, River City Marketplace
Roger Mann
Barbara Willson
Every child should feel confident in his/her ability to learn!
1 “Learning to Read and Write: A Longitudinal Study of 54 Children From First Through Fourth Grades” by Connie Juel, The Journal of Educational Psychology, Volume 80, Number 4, Pages 437-447, 1988
2 Double Jeopardy: How Poverty & Third-Grade Reading Skills Influence High School Graduation. 2012, The Annie E. Casey Foundation study
