RTI Update

We've been hard at it. Working in our reading skills to "close the gaps."

Just to recap. We started with Aimsweb testing. Sorted kids into groups. The kiddos with the highest need were give the QPS (Quick Phonics Screener) to identify specific needs, and now we are into the heart of it. Teaching. Progress monitoring. Trying to find materials that work and keep students engaged.

I work with two groups of students. One group is working on short vowels the other on long vowels. These are relatively "low" on the trajectory of increasingly difficult phonics skills.  These are heterogeneous groups for our MTSS/RTI groups. It doesn't matter what the child is labeled, if they even are, all that matters is that they need a particular skill and these groups are in place to try and get them the skills they need.

The biggest problem that I have come against is finding materials that are both age and skill appropriate. There are many great resources for lower elementary with these two skills. However, my fifth graders, feel that words such as "cat" "hat" "beg" are babyish, and really not engaging. I would have to agree. I'm constantly on the search for materials that work for this group of students.  Until I find the perfect mix of materials or program that really seems to click.

There are parts of West Virgina Reading First, that I really like. It is very explicit and systematic...thorough too. But I tweaked it. I didn't spend an entire week on one short/long vowel sound. That was way too boring, not only for the students but for myself as well. So I modified. We covered a sound or two a day with days to review several sounds at a time. That helped.

Click to see the lesson and activity books. A free resource from LINCS.

Then, I changed things up a bit more. The last couple of weeks, I have pulled almost exclusively from LINCS (Literacy Information and Communication System) adult reading program. What I like about this program is that a a single lesson focuses not only on a vowel, but syllabication, reading more age appropriate text, as well as other skill work. I still use West Virgina as a bit of inspiration incorporating activity ideas, just not the full program.

So, as I cut and paste and put things together, I try and supplement as I can. An quick activity I whipped up to start a lesson was a simple word sort. In my long vowel group, I wanted my students to understand the basic VCe pattern as well as knowing that not all VCe words are long, and some words are just flat out rule breakers. We had covered long vowels and variations for a couple of weeks, so this worked as a good warmup/informal assessment.

To get a free copy for yourself click here to go to TPT or here to go to TN.