“TWEAKING PROJECT MORE FOR STUDENTS IN GRADES 6-8”BY: JESSICA ANDERSONPROJECT MORE COORDINATORGAHANNA MIDDLE SCHOOL EAST
May 20th, 2013
About GMSE Building of 550 students grades 6th, 7th
and 8th 14.4% Economically Disadvantaged 16.2% Students with Disabilities 2011-2012 “Excellent” Rating, AYP Met Value Added Met for 6th and 8th Grade
Reading “Above” Value Added for 7th Grade
Reading Central Ohio school, located in a
suburban area
Project MORE at East Began in February 2011(third school
year) 2012-2013 we had 25 students in the
program See gains of three to five levels annually Program runs from Mid-September until
week before OAA Program Materials are kept in a central
location Sessions take place in 4 different areas
of the building
What’s the problem? Older students reading lower-level
interest books Motivation with students
(repetitive) Pull-out program, away from peers Coordinator cannot be in two
classrooms at once! Students are unaware of progress
Older Students Reading Lower-Level Interest Books
Problem typically with 7th and 8th grade students
Use “Hi/Lo” books with students who choose to focus on provided Reading-Tutors Material
Allow last 5 minutes of each session to work on something outside of class.
8th grade – allow to skip game and develop conversations with mentors
Choose more non-fiction texts
Motivation with Students (Repetitive)
Middle School students quickly become bored with the repetitiveness of Project MORE.
Re-reading book: Ask students to complete some extended response questions. If they are detailed and correct, they do not have to re-read the book. If not, they are expected to read-read.
Change-up steps by day to add variety (example: play game first)
Candy, front of the line lunch passes, stickers (yes, MS students love candy and stickers!)
Pull-out Program
Project MORE is completed during a 30 minute grade level intervention time. MSE provides separate classrooms during intervention time for Project MORE
During intervention time, Channel One is played in other classrooms
Our Project MORE students feel like they are missing out, especially since other classrooms do not have interventions (typically socializing or silent reading time)
Pull-out Program 6th grade PM area is located within the
6th grade classrooms, so our students don’t feel so left out
7th and 8th grade were held in different rooms, away from their peers
Mentors were “hunting down” their students, trying to get them to attend sessions
7th and 8th: Right before lunch, so they always want to leave early!
Coordinator cannot be in two classrooms at once!
Trying to keep small environments for maximum learning (fewest distractions)
One place to store materials that all mentors can access
Need for a teacher to be present at all times Our 2012-2013 schedule allowed for an 8th grade
teacher to monitor one 7th grade classroom A 6th Grade IS teacher helped monitor one classroom I floated between all classrooms once sessions began Sessions from 11:08am-12:21pm – non-stop moving,
assessing, conferencing and planning
Students are Unaware of ProgressHow can students take ownership of their progress?
Do students truly know how much they have gained (benchmark levels, fluency scores)?
Will sharing data motivate students?
Example of Data Sharing Sheet (Handout Provided)
Video Clip of Student Conference
Changes for 2013-2014 School Year
Project MORE Coordinator and the OTES How does this impact you? Do you meet linkage requirements or are
you writing SLOs? Instructional Planning versus
Implementing Instruction LLI+ program in addition to Project
MORE Our goal is to relieve stigma from older-
age (7th and 8th grade) students
Example of 2013-2014 Coordinator Schedule
8:45-9:30 9:32-10:25 10:25 – 11:08 Working with At-Risk Students. One class period will
be a conference period 11:08-12:21 – Project MORE/LLI+ Sessions 12:21-12:40 – Lunch Duty 12:40-1:09 - LUNCH 1:09-1:53 – 6th Grade Study Hall Intervention 1:54-2:40 – 8th Grade Study Hall Intervention 2:41-3:30 - 7th Grade Study Hall Intervention
SUCCESS! End of Year Celebration Breakfast Invite participants and their parents and mentors Menu: Store bought donuts, milk, OJ and Panera
Bagels. “Tote” of Coffee for adults (Panera includes cups, stir sticks, creamer and sweeteners)
Use PM provided certificates Personally acknowledge each student and mentor Purchased each student a book of his/her choice
or a $5.00 GC to Barnes and Noble
Changes to BreakfastFirst year to invite parentsEmailed and Sent home printed invitations
Requested RSVP’s from mentors, students and parents
I knew everyone involved, so it helped with acknowledgements
What I heard… “My child has never enjoyed reading. He
just asked me to take him to Barnes and Noble to purchase more books. Thank-you!”
“I don’t know what you are doing, but my son has never stayed focused on anything, especially reading. I have never seen him so proud of what he is accomplished or this excited about school.”
Goals for Next Year Quarterly conferences with students in order
to share data and progress Pizza party for 8th grade mentors Continue with celebration breakfast Motivational “treats” for all mentors Establish a fluid relationship with Project
MORE and LLI+ Possibly continue sessions past the week of
OAA in order for more students to fully complete the program