Shelton presenters show reading workshop units, district staff cite early gains on growth and sixth-grade SBA growth
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Summary
District literacy staff and teachers presented the readers/writers workshop model, unit planning and celebration activities and shared early assessment data indicating increased growth percentiles and higher proportions of sixth-grade students achieving year-over-year growth on state tests.
District teachers and instructional leaders described a districtwide readers-and-writers workshop model Monday and presented classroom examples, unit planning templates and early assessment results the district said show reading growth.
Adrian Minnery, presenting the literacy work, framed the model around “the science of reading” and the district’s strategic plan, telling the board the approach connects word recognition, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. He said teachers map standards into 16-lesson units, schedule classroom celebrations and align reading and writing instruction with science and social studies content.
Why it matters: District leaders said the model aims to produce consistent literacy instruction across elementary schools and to build transferable skills that support learning across subjects. Teachers showed students’ readers theater, opinion and nonfiction projects and said the celebrations help students practice public speaking.
Data presented: Minnery told the board the district’s fall-to-winter benchmark data show measurable growth at primary grades; he also cited sixth-grade year-over-year SBA growth, reporting that the percentage of sixth graders who achieved high year-over-year growth rose from 41% in 2022–23 to 48.18% last year. The presentation linked classroom routines and teacher-led unit development to those gains.
Classroom examples: Second-grade students performed a readers theater during the meeting. Teachers from Bordeaux and Olympic schools described unit planning, success criteria, and family-facing celebrations such as published writing displays and oral presentations. Sixth-grade teacher Beth Chapin described an argumentative unit in which all 55 students presented speeches tied to social-studies standards.
Ending: Board members praised the work and said they saw the program’s benefits in student engagement and test-score trends; no board action was required beyond the presentation.
