Category Archives: Literacy

Finalists announced in last round of Read to the Final Four literacy competition

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Of the eight schools that advanced to the Elite Eight, only the Final Four remained standing on Feb. 5, during the Read to the Final Four Literacy Competition pep rally at the University of Houston’s (UH) Hofheinz Pavilion.

After an activity-filled morning that included a dance-off, a science experiment by UH professor Dr. Simon Bott, and lots of cheering (assisted by the UH cheerleaders), the Final Four schools were announced. They are:

  1. Dogan ES
  2. Carrillo ES
  3. Janowski ES
  4. Browning ES

“It was so much fun!” said third-grader Braniya Banks, from top team Dogan Elementary. “All of Dogan helped us log our time to win.”

The Read to the Final Four Literacy Competition began in the fall of 2015, with 6,800 third-graders participating. Since that time, they have logged 6.4 million minutes of reading and, according to the Houston Public Library, checked out more than 5,000 books from its shelves.

Approximately 800 students attended the pep rally, which aimed not just to inspire the students, but to reward them as well for all of their hard work.

The top reader from each of the 68 participating schools will receive a bicycle, courtesy of CYCLE (Changing Young Children’s Lives through Education). The winning school will also receive a monetary award.

“This is a great event,” said Rachel Quan, vice president of External Operations for the Final Four Houston Local Organizing Committee. “It’s the culmination of a lot of different partnerships with the Final Four and the local organizing committee, the NCAA, the Houston Public Library, Cycle, UH and, of course, HISD. There’s a lot of folks involved in seeing that these third-graders get more excited about reading.”

The remaining four schools will continue competing until the final event in April, when the top school will be announced. Students at the other 64 schools should not stop reading, though, as there may be additional prizes for the top individual readers.

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Lanier MS masters 30,013 words to earn top honors in National Vocabulary Bowl

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Students at Lanier Middle School screamed in excitement as they learned that Lanier came in first in the U.S.—beating more than 16,000 schools—in Vocabulary.com’s December Vocabulary Bowl.

The annual Vocabulary Bowl pits schools against one another in a friendly competition of word mastery. Students log onto the interactive learning game, select their grade level, and learn the meaning of words they may never have seen before. Teachers can also create vocabulary lists based on reading students have done in class.
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New principal plus new librarian equals new library for Hogg MS students

martha3When Angela Sugarek took the helm at Hogg Middle School in the summer of 2015, one of her priorities was to continue the work of her predecessor. Her goal: to have a fully functioning library, complete with its own certified librarian.

That dream became a reality recently, when the campus celebrated the complete renovation of its library with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Jan. 21. The library at Hogg is now state-of-the-art, with warm wood accents, rolling shelves filled with tempting and informative titles, and a presentation area that invites students and teachers to linger while they learn.

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Generous donation leads to learning series with noted authors

A generous donation from a community member has led to a unique professional learning opportunity for HISD teacher development specialists and school support officers.

Jill Carter’s $5,000 donation was enough to bring noted authors Kylene Beers and Bob Probst to the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center to host a very unique training centered on literacy. The donation also highlighted the amazing impact donors and the community can have on the education of our city’s students.

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Parents get tips on helping young children learn to read through partnership

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Many HISD parents will soon know how to read more effectively with their young children, thanks to an on-going partnership with the Houston Area Urban League (HAUL) that provides training on how to support Guided Reading activities.

HAUL’s Director of Family Support John Robinson led a literacy lesson in Guided Reading at Bastian Elementary School on Jan. 19.

“We provide Guided Reading training to parents in HISD elementary schools, because Guided Reading is the solution teachers are using in their classrooms all across the district,” said Robinson. “We are working to help parents understand how to support their children at home with the same tool being used in HISD classrooms. We started the program last year, and it was a huge success.”

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Street artist, Codwell ES students re-imagine NCAA March Madness logo

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Well-known Houston street artist GONZO247 shared his craft with about a dozen Codwell Elementary School students on Jan. 20, creating a colorful painting of the new men’s NCAA March Madness logo.

The painting will hang in a soon-to-be-restored basketball court at the Jim & Barbara Morefield Boys & Girls Club, which serves nearly 1,000 predominately African-American youth.

The new NCAA logo was announced immediately following the art lesson at a press conference celebrating the NCAA men’s college basketball Final Four tournament, which will be held in Houston April 1–4. The painting was unveiled at the press conference, along with a plan to restore the basketball court.

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Schools advance to ‘Elite 8’ round of Read to the Final Four

Eight HISD elementary schools advanced to the fourth round – the Elite 8 – of the NCAA Read to the Final Four Literacy Program, as we count down to The Final Four.

The third-grade students logged an additional 1,112,338 minutes of reading time for a total of more than 3 million minutes since the launch of the literacy competition.  More than 1,700 students at 16 schools logged reading time during this round.

Here is the ranking of elementary schools that made it to this round:

Number 8: Janowski

Number 7: Kennedy

Number 6: Marshall

Number 5: Browning

Number 4 : Tijerina

Number 3 : Anderson

Number 2: Carrillo Elementary

Number 1: Dogan

Congratulations to all the elementary schools in the contest. Third-graders participating in the fourth round received a book to keep, courtesy of the 2016 NCAA™ Men’s Final Four™. The competition was created by HISD in partnership with the Houston NCAA Final Four Local Organizing Committee, Houston Public Library, and University of Houston.

Students who did not advance should keep reading, because there may be additional prizes for top individual readers in April 2016.

You’ve given thanks, now give back on ‘Giving Tuesday’

Would you like to volunteer for Read Houston Read?

Sign up for Read Houston Read by clicking here. Show your support by downloading the attached badge and add it to your Facebook page or share it on Twitter.

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The turkey has been eaten, the pies are gone, and the day set aside for American families to give thanks for the blessings in their lives is over. Now it’s time to give back. “Giving Tuesday” on Dec. 1 is an annual global day for giving back to the community through service, as well as celebrating generosity in all its forms.

The idea is simple: Give of your time and/or your money and inspire others to do the same by telling them about it. Use the hashtag #GivingTuesday on social media to let everyone know how you are helping to make change.

Consider giving to the Houston ISD Foundation to help build a future generation of educated adults who are prepared to serve as tomorrow’s leaders.

HISD’s Read Houston Read volunteer program is another great way to give back to your community. Read to a first-grader and give them a gift that grows exponentially in value — the love of reading. Read Houston Read is part of HISD’s Literacy by 3 movement, which calls for every child to be reading on or above grade level by the time they leave the third grade.

Sign up for up to an hour each week, either in person or virtually, to mentor a child by reading to them and listening to them read aloud. Then use #GivingTuesday on Twitter or download this badge on Facebook to tell everyone about your service.

If you can’t make the weekly commitment, there are plenty of other ways to volunteer in HISD. Register through VIPS and discover campus-based opportunities to get involved.

Schools advance to ‘Sweet 16’ round of Read to the Final Four

Sixteen HISD elementary schools advanced to the third round – the Sweet 16 – of the NCAA Read to the Final Four Literacy Program, thanks to some very determined third-grader readers.

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The students logged an additional 763,804 minutes of reading time for a total of 1,905,097 minutes since the launch of the literacy competition. Nearly 4,000 students logged reading time during this round.
Here is the ranking of elementary schools that made it to this round: Continue reading →