RtI: Here We Go Again

Have you had school this week or have you been off for snow/ice days?  We FINALLY got back to school!  We have had a total of 18 snow days so far this winter!

In between all the days off for snow, my school did manage to get in our RtI committee meeting.  This is an all day meeting where we meet with classroom teachers to discuss how each student in RtI progressed and how they did on their recent DRA assessment.  It is a long day full of  making decisions based on data and what we think will be the best for each student individually.  

After this meeting, I take those students who will continue to be in Tier II and III and add any new students that now qualify due to their DRA score being too far below grade level and make up new RtI groups.  That is what I worked on this past week.  I grouped students together based on like needs.  We are ready to begin this next week.  

At our school, the beginning of RtI looks like this:  we first take 3 days to do baseline assessments with each student and then average the 3 scores to plot on a graph.  I have already looked at the students' DRA and other assessments to analyze what areas they need interventions.  All the teachers have to do is come to my room to pick up those baseline assessments and give them.  There is no teaching during this time.  Only baseline assessing.  Then next week, we will begin teaching the interventions and do weekly progress monitoring to see if the interventions are working.  

One of the places I use for assessments is Reading A-Z.  This week I will be using their fluency passages for my Tier III third grade students.

Reading A-Z fluency passages are easy to use with a copy for the teacher with the word count and a clean copy for the student.  One thing about trying to improve a student's reading fluency is that they must understand that it isn't about reading the words as fast as they can.  That is not the point.  Fluency is all about being able to comprehend what you are reading.  We do a variety of activities to help improve fluency and we discuss that it isn't about just trying to be speedy!

Be sure to link up your visual plans with Mrs. Wills!

Enjoy your day off tomorrow if you are lucky enough to have President's Day off.  Me...I will be in school making up one of those many days I already had off!