'Leveled library' at RWE

At the library inside Ralph Witters Elementary, several shelves are lined with books in open, lettered boxes. Though at first appearing like an alphabetical sorting system, the letters actually denote different reading levels for students.

School principal Laurie Graves said they currently have 2,782 titles and 22,587 books in the "leveled library."

Right now, Graves said, teachers are involved in benchmark testing and professional development, and the instructional level of the child determines the level from which teachers are pulling the books. Teachers can use either fiction or nonfiction from each level and create lesson plans for those books, with a focus on vocabulary. Depending on what the book is also determines the lesson. It could be on different questioning strategies, starting with basic questions and moving into inference – bringing outside knowledge in to support the reading – and then "think and search," where students are thinking about what they're reading and searching for more information within the text to support their answers.

Level M, for example, is a beginning third grade level reader, Graves explained, so if a student is exiting second grade and starting to read in Level M they're right on target. Multiple copies of the books are available so each child in a particular reading group gets the same book and teachers looks at students' vocabulary, fluency comprehension and whether they can write about what they've read.

As students move through the year, they are assessed and Graves noted if there are two areas of focus that need built up according to those assessments, it's vocabulary and whether students can write about their text. "Those have really been a focus for us this year," she said, noting they look at the whole spectrum when assessing.

As an intervention system, staff look at the program to determine if there has been growth among the students and what percentage has made their proficiency mark.

"All of our staff," Graves said, "unequivocally feel like it's one of the best programs they've ever used as far as moving readers forward."

With regard to the lesson plans, Graves noted many of the books have lessons attached. Next year's goal is to have the majority of the books used, with attached lessons. Teachers can still write their own, but the attached lessons will, at least, provide a base line.

The other thing the school has added is the "fundations" piece. Graves explained this is a phonics phonemic program which is helping students with what things such as what syllables are, how that works in trying to spell a word, how to divide words and other guidelines.

The school is exactly one year into the beginning of building the leveled library, and staff feel like they are nearly completion stage, "which is pretty phenomenal," Graves said, expressing appreciation to Sandy Richins, the school librarian and the sole driver responsible for getting all of the boxes, getting them labeled and making sure all of the books that come in are properly leveled.

Richins said it's a fabulous system, and is a work in progress.