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Grandparent Connection Zone: Mentoring our Students To Become Reading Superstars!

School:: George Marks Elementary School
Subject:: Language Arts
Teacher:: Marie Bracciale, Ph.d.
: Jocelyn Baker, Asst. Principal
Students Impacted:: 50
Grade:: K-5
Date:: August 22, 2023

32% Funded

Only $345.29 Needed

Impact to My Classroom

# of Students Impacted: 75

Our Grandparents Connection Zone program role models with young people with exceptional needs.

One student who did not speak English, was paired with Spanish Speaking Mentor to learn English and build a bond of report and respect. We had 3 grandparents one worked with whole group reading in 1st grade, one worked in another classroom 1 to 1 and in whole group, another worked in 4th grade classroom large group and one to one reading support, a total of 75 children where helped by this grant.

This same mentor assisted STEAM classes in the lower grades providing small group instruction and support with reading. See the picutre below.

Another mentor assisted a student with parents with domestic violence and read to him weekly, boosting his self confidence and reading abilities. See picuture below.

Another mentor came in multiple mornings to read to whole group in 1st grade.

We Targetied our high needs classrooms another mentor comes in 4 times a day to read a story to a 1st grade class and she has seen tremendous growth in trust, social emotional skills, kindness and improved reading and comprehension with the regular story reading. Her students look forward to her coming each day. It has made a big difference.

The Grandparents support group also was effective assisting the grandparents with help for their grandchildren at the school with special needs or concerns. We provided small counseling groups monthly, provided refreshments, handouts on legal and behavioral issues and brought in Dr. Ivan Fleishman to discuss any concerns.

The Grandparents responded positively to the support and told others about it, some attend the group and others attend the group and tutor, some just tutor.

Both classes were able to benefit from having the volunteer in their classrom for 1/2 of the year, showing improved outcomes in reading, summative tests, reduction in referrals and improvement in attention seeking and action out behaviors. We are very grateful at George Marks for the funding of this program which improved the classes the mentors worked in as well as the students who benefits. Thank you sponsors for your support this year, it made a big difference in our students lives and reading scores.

Original Grant Overview

Goal

Our Grandparent Connection Zone program connects role models with young people with exceptional needs. Our school improvement goals is to move our Reading levels in ELA Reading from 58% to 62% as a school. We are getting creative offering a grandparent support support group to read to young learners from a state approved book list and assist them with additional reading. Based on our data from our EWS Early Warning System, we gathered our baseline scores the lowest 30% involved at-risk readers, 25 from 2nd grade, 23 from 1st grade. Our goal is to bring up Reading levels in grades 1 and 2 as well with identified students participating in the program. We have our established baseline data, with a goal of improving scores/grades by .25%.

What will be done with my students

Florida B.E.S.T. Standards:
ELA.2.F.1.4: Read grade-level texts with accuracy, automaticity, and appropriate prosody or expression.
ELA.1.R.1.1: Identify and describe the main story elements in a story

According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation found 16% of children who are not reading at grade level by 3rd grade will not graduate high school. In crowded classrooms, teachers are often unable to provide these children with the attention they need to succeed. Grades 1st and 2nd grade will be identified as a priority based on our school data. Using the EWS, the lowest 1/3 of grades level based on ELA Reading scores assessments will be place on our list, and paired for intervention/mentoring by our Grandparents Support Group. From the 50 selected students from grade 1 and 2, 28 are identified ESE and 22 are identified as ELL. Funds will be used to purchase State Approved Books for 1st and 2nd grade level that have been approved by our Media Specialist and the State of Florida. We will also have name lanyards, Clearview folders, pencils and bookmarks. To ensure success, we would like to include certificates and medals for of our volunteers.

Benefits to my students

Low Readers will be identified for the targeted Reading program. assessed /Lexile will be used to match books for the Florida State Approved Reading List. So all interventions will be differentiated based on student need and reading level. Research shows this type of intervention not only benefits the student but the mentor as well. The primary benefit is to improve the students Reading level, improve Reading accuracy and be able to describe the main story events in a story. Students confidence and self-esteem will improve as their Reading level improves. The mentoring program will also benefit the Mentors. Research shows becoming a mentor can improve cognitive abilities and overcomes loneliness and depression.

Budget Narrative

All books are either SSYRA books or FDOA books both approved by our Media Specialist. Books and Book Sets are purchased for their required Reading Lexiles. Some of the box sets include a puppet for help in assisting the story. Clearview folders, name lanyards, pencils, and bookmarks to use with their mentors to assist in showing progress.
Total Budget: 510.29

Items

#	Item	Cost
1	Tomatoes in my lunchbox	$18.93
2	Not that Pet	$13.52
3	The Three Billy Goats	$10.87
4	Knight Owl	$14.39
5	A Mouthful of Minnows	$10.54
6	Bug on the Rug	$14.29
7	Maybe...	$12.79
8	When Glitter met Glue	$14.69
9	Big Truck, Little Island	$16.49
10	Doggo and Pupper	$8.17
11	Cornbread and Poppy	$11.89
12	Chickadee Criminal Mastermind	$14.99
13	Wanted Dead or Alive: The True Story of Harriet Tubman	$15.99
14	Clifford the Big Red Dog Set	$74.02
15	Disney Bibbid Bobbibi Academy #3	$12.99
16	Disney Bibbidi Bobbidi Academy #2	$14.99
17	Disney Bibbidi Bobbidi #4	$6.99
18	Doggo and Pupper #3	$9.64
19	Doggo and Pupper #2	$9.99
20	Pupper and Doggo: Coloring Book	$10.99
21	Odder	$11.80
22	Don't Worry Little Crab	$10.99
23	Corn Bread and Poppy at the museum	$15.99
24	Cornbread and Poppy for the win #4	$15.99
25	Clear Cover Report Covers 30 set	$26.99
26	Printworks 100% recycled 20 lb 92 bright	$43.99
27	(2) 24 Pack Bulk Colored Lanyards	$38.90
28	60 pieces scented pencils for kids	$19.99
29	Kosiz 60 pcs Scented bookmarks	$8.49
	Total:	$510.29