Literacy Lookout

I think we can all agree how quickly this year is flying by. There have been a lot of changes that we have implemented over the past few years (with more to come this year) and your willingness and patience to ride this wild Literacy rollercoaster with us has not gone unnoticed. Our students are growing, we are improving, and none of this would be possible without the blood, sweat, and tears (both figuratively and literally) that have been put into Mapleton Local Schools!

To say these changes and growth have been easy would be an understatement...but they have been so worth it! This growth is what is making other districts look at us, little ol' Mapleton, as an example and for guidance. Our staff (yep, that's you) are the rock stars....and we're your #1 fans!

In accordance to Ohio's Dyslexia Guidebook and House Bill 33, ALL districts in Ohio are required to screen students for the risk of dyslexia. This is not a Mapleton change...this is an ODE change.

Who gets screened?

This year, all K-3 students were screened with our tier 1 universal screener (DIBELS). Next year, 2024-2025, only Kindergarten students will be screened at the winter benchmark as well as any 1st-12th grade students who are referred or have transferred into the district.

What's the screening process?

Click the flow chart below to view Mapleton's Dyslexia Screening process and Parent Letters.

Screening vs. Diagnosing

Mapleton is only screening for the risk of dyslexia in students. The results do not diagnose a student with dyslexia.

Ohio's Dyslexia Guidebook offers more thorough details and explanations regarding the changes Mapleton is making.

If you have questions regarding our Dyslexia screening process, please don't hesitate to reach out to the Literacy Team and we will do our best to provide you with answers.

A RIMP (Reading Improvement Monitoring Plan) will now be required for any 4th grade student who did NOT score Proficient (700) on the Spring Ohio State Test. This score is NOT affiliated with their TGRG (Third Grade Reading Guarantee) score or their DIBELS fall benchmark score.

These students, along with all elementary students, will continue to receive quality tier 1 instruction and tier 2 small group intervention (WIN Groups) with the understanding that their RIMP will follow them after this year until they score Proficient (700) on a Spring OST.

There have been a few changes to the TGRG for the 2023-2024 school year.

Promotion Score Increase:

The promotion score has been increased to 690 and the alternative assessment subscore increased to 48.

Parent Request Exemption:

Regardless of a student's score, parents may request promotion to 4th grade.

Parent Communication:

Districts must communicate the connection to the child's proficiency level in reading to long-term outcomes of success related to proficiency in reading.

High-Dosage Tutoring:

Districts are required to offer high-dosage tutoring opportunities to all K-4 students on a RIMP.

For more information regarding these changes, visit ODE's Budget Bill Changes.

* Please realize that we, the Literacy Team, along with district administration are working hard to keep Mapleton in compliance with these changes. There are still topics where we are asking for guidance and additional information, as we do not have all of the answers. We will be continuing to improve our district plan and framework as well as update staff and parents as quickly and thoroughly as possible.

Mapleton Middle School has decided to continue our One School, One Book program, however, we will be partnering with Black River Middle School and making it "Two Schools, One Book"! Both schools will be reading the same novel school-wide and we are planning some activities to do across districts. The goal of the One School, One Book program is to captivate staff, students, and families in an opportunity to read, discuss, and engage around the same text to build background knowledge, promote character, and the importance of literacy.

The book, Restart by Gordon Korman, is about a boy who's been a bully and hanging out with the wrong friends. He gets a new start after a memory-loss-inducing accident. He knows he is Chase, but who is Chase? Soon he’s hearing stories of the alpha jock and bully who held a reign of terror over an entire school. Is that the person he was … and is destined to be again? Is it possible to restart? Each student and staff member will receive a copy of the book to find out.

We will launch the program with a school-wide assembly in October. Our hope is that our students and staff will enjoy reading this book. We are very excited to see what the One School, One Book program can do to help build students background knowledge, develop their character, and create more literate mounties.

Mountie Mentoring is a program designed for high school students interested in mentoring younger Mapleton students, from PreK to 5th grade. We seek responsible high school students with strong communication skills, patience, and a positive attitude. This presents a fantastic opportunity for high school students to give back to their school community and explore whether education might be their future path.

Senior Emilee Dennison, who has participated in Mountie Mentoring for two years, shares her experience: “I enjoy helping in the classroom. I would like to be an elementary teacher one day, so this program has been fun." This year, nineteen high school students have been paired with elementary students for mentoring. Students provide one-on-one assistance, work in small groups, and, in some cases, even share lunch or play during recess with their younger mentee.

Sophomore Audrey Hellickson explains her motivation for participating: "I participate in Mountie Mentoring because I like younger kids; they are fun to be around." The Mountie Mentoring Program firmly believes that even the smallest positive influence can alter the course of a life. Junior Hailey Bergosh expresses her sentiment, saying, “I enjoy interacting with the kids and making connections with them."

To recap from our September meetings we focused on sentences being the building blocks of all writing. We looked at how we could have students determine between complete sentences and fragments in each of our content areas. Furthermore, we focused on the strategy of sentence types (statement, question, exclamation, command) and having students write varied sentences around a focused topic of study.

Tips for Implementation:

1. Always model the activity first.
2. Have all students practice orally and in writing.
3. Use the content you are already teaching.
4. Pre-teach necessary background knowledge.
5. Differentiate activity levels when necessary.
6. Continue to practice previous activities.

As we meet for our October meetings we will discuss the strategies that you tried and then focus on the rest of Chapter 1, pgs. 39-58. Be sure to mark your calendar for your departments meeting time and the pages that will be covered! If you didn't get a chance, sign up for a free account and access to free resources!

As we continue the transition from balanced literacy to structured literacy with our curriculums, interventions, and instruction, our fall 2023 benchmarking data offers hope that the work we are putting in is paying off. As this preliminary data shows, our students are showing growth! From Fall 2022 to Fall 2023, the majority of grades K-6 students have grown on their grade level composite score.

Sixty-five percent of 4th graders in the United States are reading below proficiency. We have an invisible crisis hiding in plain sight! Join us for a local documentary screening of "The Truth about Reading".

The Truth About Reading looks at the illiteracy problem in America, highlighting people who learned to read as adults, and sharing proposed solutions for working towards a future where every child learns to read proficiently.

Date: Tuesday, October 18th

Time: 6:00 pm

Location: The Shisler Conference Center

1680 Madison Avenue

Wooster, Ohio 44691

Q & A Session with Local Literacy Experts will follow the screening!

Register for your FREE ticket today!!

The Truth About Reading Movie Trailer