Leading the way with Reading

School:: Freeport Middle School
Subject:: Literacy
Teacher:: Nancy Griner
: Janice Balentine
Students Impacted:: 30
Grade:: 6-8
Date:: September 26, 2023

Investor

Thank you to the following investor for funding this grant.

The Alys Foundation - $1,500.00

Impact to My Classroom

# of Students Impacted: 30

The project was a huge success. A new classroom library was able to be funded from the ALYS Foundation, enabling our Leadership class to read leveled books to special education students each week. On Thursdays, Leadership students selected several new books from the classroom library and read to their "buddy" for 45 minutes. The project benefited the peer tutors as well as the students being read to. Not only did the project benefit the 30 students impacted by the grant this year, these books will be enjoyed by students for many years to come.

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Earth Day reading & Activity

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Leadership Buddy Reading

Original Grant Overview

Goal

To provide a classroom library for special needs children. The average of reading level of these students is 2nd grade and the FMS library does not have books to accommodate these learners.

What will be done with my students

Students selected for the Leadership elective at FMS engage in Buddy-Reading every Thursday for 45 minutes with special needs students in the ESE Inclusive classroom. Leadership students select a book from the classroom library and read to their assigned "buddy." It is the highlight of the school week for many of the students.

Benefits to my students

Leadership students are benefitting from reading to their "buddies" and creating a sense of community while building character. The ESE students benefit from reading for 45 minutes and are highly engaged in the process. According to the DOE website, "There is strong evidence that peer tutoring, as a form of cooperative learning, has a positive
impact on tutor and tutee outcomes."

Budget Narrative

Funds will be used to purchase reading level appropriate books. The school library does not have a large selection of books for this reading level since we are a middle school. Funds will be used to purchase books on the WCSD approved resources list and then scanned into Libib.