SVVSD looks to use literacy grant to improve instruction for second language students

Oct. 9—Four Columbine Elementary first graders sat around teacher Lexi Condray, who handed out "pop-its," a piece of squishy colored plastic that resembled bubble wrap.

She asked them to tap down a bubble for each letter as they sounded out the word "slug," then write the word on the top of their desks with dry erase markers.

"How many sounds? How many letters? Four," she said as they successfully spelled the word before a boy asked what a slug is. It's similar to a snail, but without the shell, she told him as she pulled up a photo and asked him how to say snail in Spanish.

Condray and her first-grade partner, Jessica Schrader, say the St. Vrain School District's multi-sensory literacy program is giving their students the repetition, practice and direct instruction on the rules of the English language they need to learn the foundations of reading.

They're also hoping this approach will help their students, most of whom aren't native English speakers, catch up quickly after a kindergarten year marked by online learning and pandemic related disruptions.

"It's been nice to have this very systematic structure," said Condray, who has a master's degree in elementary literacy. "We've seen tremendous amounts of growth with our kids. All kids benefit from multi-sensory instruction, especially 6 year olds. Every kid needs to move their body. Every kid needs the repetition, especially English language learners."

Diane Lauer, St. Vrain Valley's assistant superintendent of priority programs and academic support, said the district has developed a strong literacy program over the last few years and now, with the help of a grant, wants to work on improving literacy instruction for its English language learners. About 15% of the district's students fall into that category.

The district recently was selected for a four-year Comprehensive State Literacy Development grant, a competitive federal grant administered by the Colorado Department of Education. The grant prioritizes improving literacy for children living in poverty, English language learners and children with disabilities.

"The grant was very timely," Lauer said. "This will be a continuation of our work on foundational literacy. When you think about foundational literacy and how we support young students, those practices are also really important when you're learning a new language."

'A lot of materials out there'

Along with St. Vrain, districts receiving the first round of the literacy grants are Cherry Creek, Harrison, Lake County and Telluride. The first year, the five districts will share about $3 million.

St. Vrain's grant will provide about $500,000 in year one, then about $250,000 a year for the next three years, for a total of $1.2 million to $1.4 million, according to district officials. The total amount won't be finalized until near the end of the grant.

The grant will pay for outside consultants, who will look at how evidence-based reading practices apply to second language students, she said. Along with getting help from consultants, the district is planning to create a literacy leadership task force that includes second language parents to assist in evaluating research and strategies.

"There are a lot of materials out there," Lauer said. "Looking at the research is something we're really interested in doing. We don't want to just pick something that looks great or is similar to what we've used in the past."

The money also will help the district buy curriculum, pay for teacher professional development and hire family literacy liaisons at elementary and secondary schools to strengthen the home learning connection.

The district's current program provides professional development on the science of reading and dyslexia awareness to preschool through third grade teachers, a districtwide reading foundations program and targeted support for struggling readers.

The training for teachers in the early grades is required by a 2019 revision to the state's READ Act. That revision also requires districts to use a scientifically based reading curriculum and supplemental support programs.

St. Vrain Valley is using ReadyGEN — a curriculum approved by the state — and, in the early elementary grades, Wilson's Fundations, a "multisensory and systematic phonics, spelling and handwriting program," according to the program's website.

The district updated its literacy program after starting a Dyslexia Parent Task Force in 2016. Working with the task force, Lauer said, the district learned which reading strategies best support all students, including those with dyslexia. Dyslexia is a learning disability that affects language processing and can range from mild to severe.

Barbara Zink, a St. Vrain Valley high school parent and co-chairperson of the statewide parent dyslexia advocacy group COKID, said the structured literacy system the district is building in the early grades "is very promising for kids coming up in the system."

"Unfortunately, this is such a huge project and lengthy, intensive training, it just doesn't happen overnight for everyone," she said. "It happens grade by grade. The district had built this new structured literacy curriculum from the bottom grades up. That means the older children, already within the school system, haven't experienced much change or benefit in the shift, and most likely will not."

Columbine Elementary started using the Orton Gillingham approach, which originally was developed to help students with dyslexia, three years ago. Last year, the school added Fundations for K-3 students.

Columbine Principal Audrey Seybold said she extended Orton-Gillingham training to fourth and fifth grade teachers "so that we are equipped with the knowledge, understanding and skills to support our students at every level."

"It felt like a common movement forward," she said. "Teachers don't have to figure it all out on their own."

Everyone 'talking about the story'

Literacy programs that work for second language students are especially important at a school like Columbine. Based on last school year's numbers, about 60% of Columbine's 240 students are English language learners. In Condray's 18-student class, just six students count English as their native language.

On a recent day, students sat on spots on a colorful rug to listen to Condray read "Stella Luna," a story about a lost baby bat. She started by asking the students what fiction means. They suggested that "maybe it doesn't have real animals" or is about "something not real."

"It's usually a made up story," Condray said before telling them to listen for information about the characters and setting of the story — who is in the story and where they are. "I love this story so much because it reminds me that, even though we might be different, we can still be friends."

After reading the story, she asked the students to find a partner and walk — not run, not skip — around the room while sharing what they learned. After they came back to the rug, she said she was "so proud."

"I did not see a single person running around," she said. "Everyone was talking about the story."

She said her students started first grade with lower literacy skills after a pandemic year. They also missed learning some social skills and some of the basics on how to do school, from sitting together on a rug to sharing supplies.

"We keep saying, 'Why don't they know how to get in a line?,' " she said. "They didn't have to get in a line last year. It's definitely high stress to be a teacher this year."

Added Schrader, "Pencil grip is kindergarten skill, but we have to work on it."

Schrader, who has a master's degree in elementary education and has taught at Columbine for nine years, said the structured literacy program is helping students "catch on a lot faster."

"I have a student who had never been to school before and now knows 20 out of 26 letters," she said. "Before, it was you give them a book and they learn to read. What we're doing now gives me a guide to teaching reading. We know kids love rules. They learn that, in English, words with a 'v' are followed by an 'e.' All that practice and repetition helps kids. They've grown so much already."

Brains growing bigger

Along with catching students up, another literacy challenge this year is masks. Schrader will remove her mask for a few seconds so her students can see how to form trickier letter sounds, saying otherwise they can't see how to make them.

"All of our words will have a 'th,' " she told one small reading group as she slipped down her mask to make the sound. "It's the one with your tongue between your teeth. I want you to underline the 'th' so you remember this is two letters that make one sound."

With another small group, she went through letter cards, asking students to draw the letter with their finger, make the letter sound and say a word that starts with the sound. For "qu," she reminded them that "q and u go together because they're best friends."

After writing a careful "a" on her desk, a girl declared, "that was easy."

"That's because your brains are growing so big," Schrader responded.