Young Lancaster City Readers Filmed for State Online Program

By Sally M. Jarvis

Students showcase PA Reading First’

SALLY M. JARVIS

Correspondent

Carter & MacRae Elementary School students are part of a new video teaching program sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

For two days in May students from kindergarten through third grade were filmed in two classrooms in the school, 251 S. Prince St.

The Lancaster school was selected as a statewide example of “an exemplary school and classroom,” said Amber Olsen, filming project manager for Learning Sciences International. She said the school was chosen because it came “highly recommended” and its scores had improved by “leaps and bounds.”

Teachers Kristin Greenawalt and Ryan Owens conducted classes that demonstrated skills taught in the statewide “PA Reading First,” a free, on-line program sponsored by the state Department of Education.

Greenawalt said the students were “a little nervous,” but were excited knowing their participation was to be filmed.

Carter & MacRae principal Ollie Jones said she “hoped and prayed that the students would all come in uniform” and they did. All had permission from parents or guardians to be filmed, although the students will not be identified.

The 28 hours’ worth of tape will be edited into two- to three- minute video clips and then be incorporated into instructional videos, said Michael Toth, CEO of Learning Sciences International. The focus of the filming was on the instruction and the way the classroom was set up with reading aids such as word walls and phonics cards, he said.

He said the videos are for certified teachers who meet the eligibility requirements for the on-line course.

“It’s an honor to the school to be a showcase and an honor to the teachers who participated,” he said.

The Reading First program is used by six schools in the School District of Lancaster, superintendent Rita Bishop said. She said it is scientifically based reading research translated into a program that has worked well in selected schools and works with students who have great needs.

It is complemented by the Harcourt “Trophies” textbook, used by all schools in the district. This means that even if a child changes schools, the textbooks will be the same, a concept driven by Bishop and Pat Schreibeis, director of curriculum and instruction.

The entire Carter & MacRae faculty took two 60-hour graduate- level Reading First courses; one from October to January; the other from February to June. They worked in small study groups organized by Jones.

“Reading is rocket science,” Jones said. Using scientific methodology, she believes she can teach any child to read. “If a child is at Carter MacRae for three years, he or she will read at grade level. I’m not backing off that.”

(c) 2007 Intelligencer Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.