Category Archives: Literacy

Reading Institutes preparing teachers to make the most of Literacy By 3

This summer, thousands of HISD elementary teachers are boning up on the best ways to conduct Guided Reading lessons, manage their students’ independent reading efforts, and even set up their own classrooms to better facilitate learning, as a part of the district’s new Literacy By 3 initiative.

The office of Professional Support and Development is offering multiple sessions of a four-day Reading Institute to teachers in grades K-3 over the next three months so that they’ll be ready to hit the ground running when regular classes resume again in August. Continue reading →

HISD librarians code for literacy at ‘hackathon’

HISD librarians are participating in a new twist on the usual computer codefest this Saturday, from 12-7 p.m. when they take part in a “literacy hackathon” at the Houston Public Library.

At least six librarians, representing Lovett ES, Colter ES, Bonner ES, Scroggins ES, Johnston Middle School and the Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion School, have signed up to participate in Literacy Hack – a free, collaborative event where designers, writers, educators, software developers and other citizens work together on projects to help the literacy community. The event is sponsored by the Houston Center for Literacy.
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Schools already gearing up for fall with ‘guided reading leveled bookrooms’

The summer break has just barely begun, but faculty and staff members at hundreds of schools around the Houston Independent School District are already getting a head start on the coming school year by setting up something called “leveled bookrooms” on their campuses.

The bookrooms are being stocked with some of the more than $8.5 million worth of reading materials the district purchased from Scholastic, Inc. with approval from the Board of Education. They are sorted by reading level and contain multiple copies of more than 5,000 titles in a wide variety of text types, themes, genres, topics, and content areas. The bookrooms will serve as an integral part of the Literacy By 3 (LX3) initiative by providing materials for teachers to use in guided reading exercises. The goal of LX3 to have all third-grade students reading at or above grade level by the end of the third grade.

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Bonham ES students get free books from Books Between Kids

Every student at Bonham Elementary has books to read over the summer thanks to Books Between Kids. The organization stopped by the school on Monday to give each child six books.

“One of the things that’s great about distributing the books this time of year is that the kids get excited about reading,” said Sandra Alhorn, co-founder of Books Between Kids. “They’re done with testing, they’re pretty much done with school, they get their books to take home. All of a sudden they’re excited and can’t wait to go read.”
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First Book helps Neff ES students start personal libraries

Students at Neff Elementary got a special surprise on Tuesday. First Book donated more than 5,000 books for students to take home and start their personal library.

“If they don’t become better readers during the summer, they will start back at a negative situation because they will have lost the ability, the concentration, the confidence that they are good readers,” said Sheila Long Armstrong, greater Houston chair of First Book, which teams up with the Disney/ABC Television Group and its owned-and-operated Houston TV station, ABC-13 (KTRK), for the program.
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FotoFest program helps students improve literacy skills

Students at eight Houston ISD schools have been improving their literacy skills through a program created by FotoFest, and you have a chance to check out their work.

Literacy Through Photography utilizes photography as a tool to develop basic learning skills, particularly writing and critical thinking, for students in grades 3-12. It includes a curriculum aligned to state standards, professional development for teachers, and artist-educator residency programs for students in both in-school and after-school environments.

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Mayor: Read during summer to continue sharpening skills

Houston Mayor Annise Parker stopped by Blackshear Elementary on Monday to encourage students to keep reading over the summer.

“I happen to think the No. 1 reason to like to read is because it’s fun,” Parker said. “You can read about different places. You can read about things that are completely imaginary.”

Parker said teachers can tell which students read over the summer and which ones didn’t because reading skills tend to fall back when children don’t read.

Officials from Houston ISD and the Houston Public Library told students, many sporting Cat in the Hat hats, about their summer reading programs. Students can participate in both programs without having to read separate books — and can gain separate sets of incentives.

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Persistence pays: Neff’s campaign hooks J.J. Watt as guest reader

Neff Elementary students had a dream that Houston Texans star J.J. Watt would come to their school to read to them, and it came true this week.
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The school had posted photos on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram of students reading, along with a plea for Watt to come read to them. They created a hashtag, #Neffreads4JJ, and tagged Watt in the posts. “The purpose of the campaign was to show our students that literacy is important not just among what your teachers say or your principal says, but everyone thinks literacy is important,” Principal Manoj Gandhi said.

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HISD, Barbara Bush Foundation team up to tackle literacy crisis

The Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation on Thursday unveiled a plan of action to boost literacy rates across people of all ages, and is partnering with the Houston Independent School District and other organizations to make literacy a top priority.

“We will not end the cycle of poverty until we end the cycle of low literacy,” said Bush Foundation President Julie Baker Finck in unveiling “Houston’s Literacy Crisis: A Blueprint for Community Action.”

“The blueprint’s purpose is to increase awareness of Houston’s prevalent literacy crisis, elevate literacy as a top priority, and mobilize the community into action,” she said.

The announcement follows the presentation of HISD’s comprehensive literacy plan – Literacy By 3 – to the Board of Education at a workshop last week. The plan engages students, teachers, parents, and community members around the goal of having every student reading with proficiency by Grade 3.

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