curr 511 instructional inquiry
DESCRIPTION
St. Joseph SchoolBatavia, NYMelanie RothTRANSCRIPT
INSTRUCTIONAL INQUIRYBy: Melanie Roth
BATAVIA DEMOGRAPHICS
Population in 2010: 15,465 Population change since 2000: -4.9 Median resident age: 40.4 Median household income: $37,998
RICHMOND MEMORIAL LIBRARY
Batavia’s community library is located next door to St. Joseph School
Children’s Room – Story Times, Special Programs, Summer Programs, Lego Club
Friendly supportive environment Accessible librarians Homework help Music Games
ST. JOSEPH SCHOOL DEMOGRAPHICS
Average class size: 16 students 12 full-time teachers, 5 part-time teachers, 5
support staff, 2 nurses NYS certified and certification-eligible
teachers Full-time Academic Intervention Service (AIS)
teacher (reading) Speech, Occupational & Physical Therapists
available for K-8 12 SMART Board classrooms
MISSION
St. Joseph School, located in Batavia, New York, is a Pre-K through 8th-grade Roman Catholic school that teaches in partnership with parents and the Church to nurture the unique individuals that God has created. By encouragement, example, and high expectations, we strive to nurture a secure foundation of strong virtues and excellent academics so that our students will continue to grow in holiness and skills to be well-equipped to fulfill their individual missions in life.
SERVICE ACTIVITIES The stewardship program for students in Kindergarten through Grade 8 is entitled
“Celebrate Service.” the purpose of this program is to provide students with the opportunity to make a difference in our Church and surrounding communities through various service and support programs. Each grade will participate in a pre-planned project. All grades have been assigned a specific area of stewardship emphasis. Grades K-2 will be organizing events directed towards helping other children. Projects in grades 3-5 will emphasize the sick and elderly of our community, and the 6th through 8th grades will participate in projects directed toward the hungry and homeless. Examples of service projects include:
Valentines for Veterans Flowers for the Ladies of Sodality and shamrocks for the Knights of Columbus Setting up or working at the Sodality Soup Supper Helping at Special Olympics Working at the Batavia Home Show Creating signs for Brooklyn’s fundraiser Filling eggs for the Kiwanis Easter Egg Hunt Donations to the Batavia Backpack Club Penny Carnival Basket Donations Earth Day Cleanup at Austin Park Participating in Family Masses at area churches Operation Christmas Child (NJHS) Letters to Shut-Ins during the winter months Sponsoring a child’s education in India (NJHS)
FIELD TRIPS Applied learning is an important part of the curriculum at St.
Joseph School. Therefore, field trips are designed to correlate with teaching units and to achieve curricular goals. Sample field trips include: Buffalo and Rochester Zoos
Nazareth Children's Theater Cooperative Extension Dairy Days Arcade and Attica Train Polar Express Hidden Valley Animal Adventure Niagara Falls Aquarium Fort Niagara Erie Canal Caledonia Fish Hatchery Genesee Country Museum Niagara Falls Pittsburgh, PA Zoo, Boat Tour and Baseball Stadium Tour
LITERACY INSTRUCTION METHODS K-6 Classroom instruction
Macmillan/McGraw Hill Reading Connect to Success
AIS Reading For the past 3 years:
1st grade – Early Success K through 3rd – Magic Penny 2nd through 8th – Quick Reads All grade levels – Guided Reading & Literature
Previously usedDevelopmental Learning Materials2nd grade – Sight Word Readers
AIS Reading Teacher, Barb Glenn “I am now seeing more students due to Race to the Top (RTTT) and Response to Intervention (RTI)”
LITERACY ASSESSMENTS K-6
Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA2) All AIS students, all kindergarten & 1st grade
AIMSWEB All students K - 8
LITERACY IN THE COMMUNITY Reading Buddies – Pre-school
(3 year old & 4 year old programs) to 8th grade, younger grades will pair up with students in older grades and will read with their “reading buddy” every week all year.
Community Project – Students K-2 picked a career, created a power point presentation, made a model of their place of employment, and made a presentation on stage in front of all 3 grades about their chosen career.
Reading Buddies – Kindergartenand 5th grade
LITERACY IN THE COMMUNITY CONTINUED
Report – Interview with a grandparent. Student interviewed a grandparent then wrote their answers into a report.
Report – Research a chosen country at home, write a report and present the report to other grades.
Book-It – The students writes down the book read every night in a calendar. At the end of the month they turn in filled in calendar and get a coupon for a free pizza at Pizza Hut.
LITERACY DEVELOPMENT
Author visits to the school Book authors will visit the school, read books and
sign books for the students
School newsletter Students published newsletter – includes
drawings and writings from the students
COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
Radio Students write critiques, go to local radio station
(WBTA 1490) and read critiques on the air
Essay contests In coordination with Cornell Cooperative
Extension State poetry contest
SUGGESTIONS
Daily 5/CAFÉ Reading & Writing Program
Increase the number of journal entries – very few entries were found in the students journals
Writing Buddies – Students currently have reading buddies. This could be extending to include writing buddies as well.
SOURCES
http://www.sjsbatavia.org/index.html http://www.batavialibrary.org http://
www.city-data.com/city/Batavia-New-York.html
Barb Glenn, Mary Case, Anna Perl (teachers at St. Joe’s)