Module 6:Instructional Challenge

Next year, you will be teaching in a school where the vast majority of students did not meet standard on your state's criterion-referenced test and where more than 75% of the students are eligible for free and reduced-price meals. What are some specific universal literacy strategies you may implement to ensure students success? Include both in-class examples and things you could do outside the classroom. Post it to your blog and name the posting "Module 6:Instructional Challenge."

This year, reading will need to be a focus due to the fact so many of the students did not meet the standard on the CRCT. To help with this, I will implement some specific universal literacy strategies.
Due to the fact that so many of the students are on free and reduced-price meals, I am going to be sure that whenever we begin discussing a topic or reading the book, that the students have enough information that they need to understand the text. It has been proven that students that have a significant knowledge about the topic of the book will gain more meaning from the text versus students who do not have prior knowledge of the topic. These students may have different schemas than what I assume they have. I need to build upon their existing schemas, so that they can use their background knowledge when it comes time to read a book. For example, if I am reading a book about a taxi. I need to be sure that the students know what a taxi is, what it is used for, and where they are commonly seen. This information would help the students understand the story about taxis better.
At home, the students will also need to practice reading. Parents, friends, brother, sisters, cousins, or whoever lives with the children will be responsible for reading books that the children like as well as on their level. This extra practice should help reinforce the reading that is going on in the classroom. Students will be allowed to check-out books from the school library that are appropriate for them. They can take these books home and read them with another person.