RIT AT FRCTransition Program

Credit ProgramOptional Credit

Cathy Oresnik coresnik@pembinatrails.cawww.literacytakesflight.com

TRANSITION PROGRAM

5-10 At Risk Students

Grade 9 to Grade 10

Individualized

Half Day Program

Flexible Time and

Assignments

Built onRelationship

and Community

RIT IN TRANSITION PROGRAM

• Independent Programming– Student topics/ genre of choice– Appropriate level of material– Modeling and think-alouds– 7 Strategies bookmarks– Discussions– Connections to community– Building confidence

Repetition, Repetition, Repetition

CREDIT PROGRAM Designed for at-risk students

Failed course previouslyCourse work was incompleteRecently moved to country or catchmentNeed credit to graduateAre unsuccessful in regular classrooms

RIT IN CREDIT PROGRAM Working on a subject (English, Social

Studies, Family Studies) and RIT outcomes simultaneously.

RIT strategies are used to make sense of curricular material.

Assessments measure curricular outcomes and RIT thinking ‘big ideas’.

As a result, student will receive both credits.

RIT AS AN OPTION CREDIT 12-15 students per class

Teacher/case manager/ parental recommendation

Student choiceMixed class in terms of

grade ability engagement in learning

COURSE FOCUS Individual choice within a structured

class Community building

COURSE STRUCTURE RIT big ideas of Thinking about Self, Text and

the World are interwoven throughout the semester

1. Identity building, goal setting, reflecting 2. Independent Reading3. Strategy instruction Inquiry Project

1. GOAL SETTING AND REFLECTING Interest inventories, bio poems, reading

identities Conferencing on goal setting at

beginning, midterm and end of course

2. STRATEGY INSTRUCTION Gradual Release of Responsibility

Teacher modeling/think alouds/talking to the text

Student practice: groups, partners Individual work: journals, think sheets,

handouts, discussions

Content and Scaffolding

Current events, print and onlineLeveled texts Published seriesStudents’ own textbooks

INQUIRY PROJECT

FOCUS The goal of the inquiry project is to help

students put into practice the strategies we have been working on, and learn skills that will help them complete projects in other subject areas.

Students work on following the inquiry model through exploring a topic or question of their own choice.

Topics may be related to individual interests or may tie into a course the student is taking.

INQUIRY TOPICS Hockey lockout Basketball teams Human cloning Cyber bullying Homophobia Environmental

protection Water rights Animal welfare Art vs graffitti

Iraq (history) Chess Gambling Professional

athlete salaries Drugs in sport

3. INDEPENDENT READING

Develop a reading identity Set goals Explore genres Read at own level Share experiences with other students

INDEPENDENT READING ACTIVITIES

Journals (paragraph/double entry/reading logs

Shelfari book cards Big Ideas Books Book talks Group activities: dinner party, title

cycles, six word memoirs, card sorts (genre, narrator, setting, etc)

ASSESSMENT continuum conferencing portfolio of student work RIT big idea tracking sheet

IN CONCLUSION RIT allows for the flexibility our at- risk

students need to succeed. In our option course, we allow lots of

choice in reading material for independent work but still include many group, community building activities.