This part of the literacy series is going to focus on different literacy “programs”.  I put the word in quotes because I  am not against programs per se, but I really believe the most important aspect of a literacy program is simply letting the kids read.  I am not suggesting we simply tell the kids to pick a book and read.  There is so much more:  getting to know what kids like to read, promoting books, making reading exciting, dedicating the time to reading, setting up reading workshops, making reading “cool”, and on and on.

The best aspect of the things above is they are free.  The only expense, and it can be large, is creating your classroom library (see earlier post).  There are also a great deal of reading strategies that can be accessed for free on the web.  I would suggest starting with this list linked above.  However, today I want to talk about the programs already out there for purchase.

Our school started using Plugged In To Reading this year. We have been very pleased with the program.  Our teachers seem to love it and are using it widely.  The best part of Plugged In is that it offers the teacher a wide variety of strategies from which to choose.  The teacher is still the central figure in the deployment.  It is not a scripted step by step program and takes a lot of teacher insight.  The best part is it gets kids reading. 

This fits in with my philosophy above–we first need to get the kids to read and work to develop a love of reading in them.  Another great aspect of Plugged In is that it gives you a huge assortment of both fiction and non fiction books that are mostly high interest.  Some of our classes have made huge strides so far and I am excited to see how that plays out at the end of the year.

We also have Compass.  Compass is a computer based program that focuses on the specific needs of each student.  The program automatically uses the students MAP data and tailors an instructional experience for them.  This is a pretty powerful program that can be used for both math and reading.  It truly makes it a data driven approach.  Compass is more “self-sufficient” than Plugged In, but if you have a good teacher running it, you will get even better results.

Finally, related to the above information we are giving our kids a heavy dose of SSR.  We are wroking to build their reading stamina which requires us to allow them to read in school!

What programs are you using in your school? Read 180?  SSRA? Are they commercial programs or ones you have created on your own at at your school level?  Please feel free to share.

Great link to a book trailer site