Fall is always a time for adjusting to new routines, as the regular academic year gets underway. But in HISD, many students also spent the first five weeks of the new school year adjusting to a new method of reading.

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“Principled habits,” which are a part of the district’s Literacy By 3 movement, are designed to allow students to build literacy skills independently while their teacher works with smaller groups of students.

“This structure allows you to meet with students in a small group setting where you can work on the different strategies and skills to make them successful readers,” explained Hobby ES teacher Tiffany Moody. “And during that time … all the rest of the students in the class are moving through stations.”

During the first 25 days of literacy instruction, teachers modeled principled habits that support independent work, such as reading to oneself, reading to someone else, working on words, working on writing, and listening to reading. Now, teachers are providing targeted instruction at small-group tables to move readers forward.

“We’re trying to empower our students to still enjoy reading without the teacher,” said HISD Curriculum Manager Malene Golding. “Principled habits are what we want our kids to have when they’re working independently so that they’re not constantly interrupting. It really makes the classroom a community of learners.”

For more information on Literacy By 3, please visit the HISD website.