Mineola Delivers Reader Friendly Curriculum

By James Kennedy

Delivering on a promise made last year at a Mineola Board of education open meeting by Superintendent of School Dr. Harry Jaroslaw, the School District has implemented one uniform reading program for the entire district.

Dr. Deanne Gerstel left the dais where she normally sits with the other members of the board of education to give a presentation describing some of the particulars of the program at the Nov. 13 Board of Education Regular session.

She explained that a committee comprised of herself, Middle School Assistant Principal Fern Moskowitz, Director of Language Arts Clare Cooper, and the four principals of the Mineola elementary schools, examined the different reading philosophies and available programs.

The philosophy settled upon was one that encompassed the following elements: the curriculum must be standards-driven and performance based, there must be informal and standardized formal assessment of the students across the district, the school's programs must be in alignment with the district wide philosophy and priorities.

Furthermore there must be on-going training for both students and staff, the programs must be evaluated so that the proper attention goes to the proper areas and parents must be made active participants in their children's literacy education.

Jackson Avenue School Principal Ida Ayres said, "You heard the promise about literacy, one program," and went on to say that the selection of a program was approached with interest and in a scholarly fashion.

Research was conducted, she continued, and the program that was best suited to the Mineola students was chosen. After interviewing and questioning, they agreed to present one program to the teachers.

Through what Ayres called the inventive training techniques of Gerstel, the teachers began work this past summer developing criteria for assigning students to the different skill levels.

After the different skill levels were determined the children in groups of five to six children for an eight to 10 week period concentrate on a narrow concept with the motto "to grow and go."

The concept of the program is to train the children in the skill area to make them an informed reader.

The main ingredients of the program are designated as follows: Read To, Shared Reading, Guided Reading, Guided Writing, Independent Reading, Independent Writing and an element added by the Mineola School District called Operation Jumpstart..

Reading To the children provides contiguous access to books, introducing the students to a variety of authors and helping to ensure the students understand concepts, vocabulary and language. It also provides the opportunity to share what the books they read mean to them.

In Shared Reading while the teacher demonstrates the skills of how to read, the children learn through enjoyable experiences in a collaborative effort with the entire class.

During Guided Reading a teacher works with a small group of children for a time of 15 to 20 minutes reading leveled stories that provide an opportunity for learning specific skills and strategies.

Bill Bauer, learning specialist from Meadow Drive School presented a brief video to the audience demonstrating guided reading through a lesson and hands on testing.

The video showed a young boy as he worked with Bauer, carefully going through a book moving blocks as he made the sounds in the pronunciation of the words.

It also showed children reading books, both alone and in groups, and explaining what the meanings of the books were to them.

Diane Glickman, learning specialist for Cross Street School, presented a series of overhead projections and explained that there are various levels to teach the children voice print match, oral fluency and directionality when reading.

She gave an example of sight vocabulary that is used in the program in a book that read with phrases such as "A little pot" and "A big flower" which were printed on pages with correlating pictures.

As the students get older, she explained, they will be taught repetition, variation and more sophisticated phonics.

As a result of Independent Reading the students will learn to select meaningful texts by themselves, read silently, respond to literature, and share interests with fellow classmates.

Guided Writing provides for the student to try different styles and forms of writing in content and mechanics. Students will participate in a project including the different steps of writing; pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing and publishing.

In Independent Writing, the student, supported by the teacher, develops an individual style and an ability to assess needs and learn when to ask for help.

In Operation Jumpstart a group of children are invited to an after school program from between two to four times a week to give the students a jump start on the learning process.

Gerstel concluded suggesting that parents attend some of the workshops that are presented and speak to their children's teachers about the program.