What’s Right With Our Schools: TG Scott Elementary uses county-wide program to increase students’ literacy

FORSYTH, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Reading and understanding it can be challenging for some students.

A county-wide initiative is helping children “Balance their Literacy.”

“It gets them on a reading level that their instructional level is on, that they are being instructed on,” says first grade teacher, Barbara Dye.

Teachers at TG Scott Elementary are seeing improvements in students’ reading skills while using the balanced literacy initiative.

Fourth grader Ella Britt says, “Normally, I get lower grades, but my grades have gone up more.”

The initiative allows students to expand their vocabulary and strengthen their ability to understand what they read.

“Beginning of the year they were reading “A” and “I” and they are looking at words like “went” and “beautiful” and “clever” and “basket” to read. It’s really nice to see them, see the excitement in their eyes when they’re reading and knowing that when I ask them questions at the end of the story, that they are comprehending what they are reading,” Dye continues.

“In comprehension, I went from probably getting 85s and 90s to getting a scale of 100,” says fourth grader Hunt Mcateer.

Fourth grader Bella Marshall says, “I think I’m reading higher level books now and I can understand what I’m reading.”

Students meet in reading groups for 20 minutes per day to read together. Each group is on different reading levels.

“Throughout the year they change levels. So, it’s not like you’re in this level reading group and you stay with that level the rest of the year. You have a chance when you master that level, to go up and change your groups,” says fourth grade teacher, Patricia Waite.

When students come across those difficult words, the picture walk enables them to determine the meaning and pick what’s going on.

“It’s very important to use the illustrations especially for those kids that are reading a little below level because a lot of times the illustrations can help make since of the words that they might not yet know,” Waite adds.

The school has been using the program for over 10 years. School leaders credit the program for students’ increase in reading and language arts scores.