Tag Archives: literacy

Thirty-two schools advance to the next round of Read to the Final Four

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Celebratory pep rally gives special shout out to top five

In a fun-filled ceremony at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center, a crowd gathered (and some watched live, online) to hear the announcement of the 32 schools who will advance to the next round of the NCAA Read to the Final Four Literacy Challenge.

The competition was created by the district in partnership with the Houston NCAA Final Four Local Organizing Committee, Houston Public Library, and the University of Houston. Houston will host the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four April 2–4 at NRG Stadium. Thus far, elementary school students in the literacy challenge have reported 1,141,283 minutes of total reading time. Continue reading

Personalized literacy activities help build student excitement about reading

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A big part of getting secondary students excited about the idea of reading for pleasure is finding the right incentives.

That’s why East Early College High School’s (EECHS) librarian and principal invited popular young adult author Rosemary Clement-Moore to be the keynote speaker at the campus’ second annual Literacy Day celebration on Sept. 25. It’s also why they awarded a free autographed copy of the author’s latest novel to senior Alejandra Guerra, the student who read the most books over the summer.

“A lot of our students come from neighborhood schools that don’t have budgets to invite authors to come speak, so this is a new experience for many of them, particularly the freshmen,” said EECHS librarian Cynthia Ramos. “Events like this build enthusiasm among students for wanting to read, as opposed to being required to read. Hopefully, that will lead them to texts they wouldn’t normally have chosen. This is only our second author visit, but last year, students told me they really enjoyed the talk.”

Personalizing instruction will be a key aspect of the support provided to secondary students this fall through HISD’s Literacy By 3 movement.

“We want to meet students where they are,” said Mechiel Rozas, the district’s director of secondary literacy, “so a big part of the proposal we’ll be making to the superintendent and Board of Education will deal with continuing the personalized aspect of the curriculum as students move into middle school, because that’s what they have come to expect. We want there to be multiple ways to engage with the content, so we can meet the needs of all students.”

 

Summer reading camps keep students from falling behind

HISD’s Literacy by 3 initiative is getting aid from other Houston sources.

The Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation has allied with the Houston Area Urban League to create several summer reading camps at various affordable housing communities in Houston, several of which serve HISD students.

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At those camps, volunteers read with children, discuss the books, and then guide the children in answering questions and writing out reflections. Each child takes home a packet of books to add to their personal libraries. Many of these children come from homes that do not have a surplus of reading material. Continue reading

HISD elementary school receives $50,000 grant for smart boards, books

Bruce Elementary School was selected this week to receive a $50,000 grant from the Leonore Annenberg School Fund for Children, an organization that provides educational resources to underfunded schools in urban and rural communities.

Bruce Elementary was one of nine schools from across the country to receive the grant, which will be used to purchase interactive whiteboards and nonfiction books for existing classroom libraries to boost literacy through student engagement and teacher effectiveness.

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Elementary Literacy Summit prepares teachers to be literacy experts in classroom

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More than 800 pre-K through fifth-grade teachers attended HISD’s Elementary Literacy Summit on Saturday, Jan. 10 to participate in sessions on quality reading and writing instruction and hear presentations by national literacy experts. Continue reading

Businesses learn about role they can play in Read Houston Read

Read Houston Read volunteer Fatima Barnett works with a student at Woodson Elementary School, November 18, 2014. (Houston ISD/Dave Einsel)

Representatives from dozens of local businesses gathered Friday, Jan. 9 to learn how their companies could help Houston ISD first-graders learn how to read. It only takes 30 minutes per week, and volunteers can make a difference without ever leaving their desk.

Neil Bush, chairman of the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation and a Read Houston Read volunteer, said he plays games, including an educational version of Tic-Tac-Toe, with his assigned student, Savannah. They also go through digital flash cards and read a book each session. Continue reading

Early college plus early childhood equals innovative family literacy event

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HISD’s East Early College High School (EECHS) recently held its very first family literacy day—but it wasn’t for the benefit of its own students.

Instead, the event was designed to get some of the district’s youngest pupils interested in reading, and all students from nearby Laurenzo Early Childhood Center were invited to attend.   Continue reading

Central Office department dedicates time to volunteer for Read Houston Read

The ELA secondary team was recognized  by Superintendent Grier at the December Central office meeting. (Houston Independent School District)

The ELA secondary team was recognized by Superintendent Grier at the December Central office meeting. (Houston Independent School District)

Community members, parents, and former HISD students have signed up to read to a first-grader through HISD’s Read Houston Read campaign. Now HISD employees are also volunteering to read to a student, and one central office department is leading the charge.  Continue reading

Don’t close that book just yet: Summer reading competition now has prizes

HISD’s summer reading program just got a lot more competitive.

The district’s corporate partner, myON, has announced that it will be extending students’ access to its online library through Aug. 31 and offering prizes to students who read the largest number of books and/or spend the most time reading there. HISD joined forces with the company earlier this year to expand students’ access to age-appropriate reading materials.

HISD students who place in one of the following four categories will receive a free mini home library from Capstone: Continue reading

Meet HISD’s new Literacy Director, Cindy Puryear

On June 9, Cindy Puryear became HISD’s new director of literacy. We sat down with her recently to talk about how she overcame her own reading difficulties as a young person, when she first knew she would be a teacher, and what her goals are for the first year of Literacy By 3. Following is a condensed transcript of that conversation.

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