More Intentional Reading Instruction
The NWEA (Northwest Evaluation Association) is the educational non-profit organization responsible for the MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) assessment. For first graders, The MAP assessment is given three times throughout the year to measure students’ growth in reading and math. The test is given in the fall, winter, and again in the spring.
After each test is given, teachers use the students’ data to create goals for each student. The results from the MAP assessment allows teachers to determine strengths, as well as areas to improve. Then the intense small group instruction begins. This is where students with similar scores are grouped together to work toward the same goal(s).
“You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas.”
–Shirley Chisholm
Results from the winter reading test revealed only 48% of expected growth for my class, which was a bit discouraging at first for myself and my students. Instead of feeling defeated and giving up, my crew chose to persevere by coming up with ways to better prepare for the spring test. First, I worked with Ms. O’Donell to form small groups and assign their goals. Some of the goals that students worked on included decoding CVC words, recalling details from informational text read aloud, understanding the meaning of vocabulary words, reading words with consonant blends, and understanding the main idea of a text, to name a few. Then, the hard work began.
I met with each group multiple times throughout the week to help them work toward their goals. We used a combination of books, worksheets, games, and other strategies to help them better understand different concepts. I also provided them with more intentional homework that aligned with their goals and learning targets that were addressed in our lesson plans for each week. Once May arrived, I could feel a shift in my classroom. My students were much more confident with different reading skills and were eager to meet/beat their reading goals on the MAP test. Once completed, the spring results revealed 78% of expected growth in reading, which made us all very proud of the progress that they’d made. They were determined and worked hard for those great scores! Great job 1B!