Books on display and a welcoming message greet visitors to Ness Middle School, where language learning and the development of students’ literate identities drive instruction and encourage excellence.
In our classrooms, teachers put best practices for literacy instruction into action, thanks in part to the Regie Routman in Residence program. Last April, the Ness teaching staff were joined by other middle years teachers for a week of demonstration lessons and professional conversations, taught and facilitated by author Sandra Figueroa. Figueroa is a professional development leader who works closely with literacy guru Regie Routman and she shared how teachers can guide students toward mastery of both content-area and literacy-learning goals.
“Sandra confirmed that what we do in our classrooms does indeed work,” said Grade 6 teacher Mme McKenzie.
Students are continually encouraged to see themselves as readers and writers. On the first day of classes, Mme Careen’s students celebrated International Literacy Day as they were invited to bring their favourite books to school.
“I got to share my favourite picture book that my aunty gave me,” said Grade 6 student Declan B., “and everyone thought it was really funny.”
But literacy extends far beyond the English and French language arts classrooms. For instance, Mme Schmidt’s students in home economics have just published a French-language safety procedures book.
“I noticed we didn’t have any sewing safety books written in French, so we wrote one together,” explained Mme Schmidt.
Teachers and staff are also sharing their personal reading lives to help grow student connections and encourage reading identities within the school. For instance, at the triad conferences at the start of the school year, many families stopped to read the large bulletin board display, which was decorated with blurbs and titles of the staff’s favourite summer reads.
“Having so many books in my class,” explained Grade 7 student Lennon Y., “definitely helped me to be a better reader.”
