Reading A-Z : 2nd Grade

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

I teach second grade at Ryan Elementary in San Jose, CA. I am a Teach For America teacher and have just arrived in the area with limited resources to meet the needs of my students. My students are from predominantly low-income families where limited resources are used to cover the cost of food and housing. At Ryan Elementary, 100% of our students receive free and reduced price breakfast and lunch. In many cases, students have not achieved the reading proficiency commiserate with their grade-level. One of the major weaknesses in our school is the lack of books available to students. Research has shown time and time again that one of the most important factors in raising student achievement in reading is exposing them to books at their level. It is extremely challenging to raise student-reading levels with so few books available in my school and classroom. Additionally, most of my students do not have books at home. I am asking for your help in accessing the printable-leveled book program "Reading A-Z" for my students. I first saw Reading A-Z books used in a high-achieving classroom in Oakland, CA. The system is highly effective in raising student-reading levels. Students are not only proud of the books they are reading, but are also engaged in the reading material, aware of their reading level, and determined to improve and move to the next level. Using Reading A-Z books in my classroom will take an initial investment to set up - and it will be well worth it. This is how it works for members: book templates can be printed from the website, copied, assembled, then given to students to read. Let's say a student is at Reading A-Z level G (mid-first grade). That student would receive two or three level G books in a bag. The student is required to read each book at least ten times. (Repeated readings improve both reading fluency and comprehension.) When the student feels he or she can read the books flawlessly, they read with the teacher and, if they pass, are given new books at the next level. Students keep their old books and build a personal library of books they can read with confidence. On behalf of my students, please consider sponsoring these books. Reading A-Z books are absolutely necessary in this environment to raise student-reading levels. I have seen these books in action; I know they work! I am asking for an Office Depot copy card to copy these books for my students. My school only provides 1,000 copies per month, which is not nearly enough to copy a project such as this and still provide the students with the worksheets necessary for daily classroom operation. Thank you so much!