Recently, New
Jersey Network (NJN) cameras visited the Roxbury School District to videotape
Mrs. Leslie Fisher, the Franklin School Reading Specialist, doing what she does
so well - teaching a reading lesson. This
taping session will eventually be a part of a professional development video
series, which is being produced by the State Department of Education.
Mrs. Fisher’s
invitation to assist with this program was brought about by Dr. Maureen
McLaughlin, a professor at East Stroudsburg University.
While working towards her Masters Degree at East Stroudsburg, Mrs. Fisher
made Dr. McLaughlin’s acquaintance. As
a result of Mrs. Fisher’s effective teaching strategies and committed work
ethic, Dr. McLaughlin asked Mrs. Fisher to assist her in writing her newest
professional textbook entitled, Guided Comprehension in the Primary Grades.
For the
book, Mrs. Fisher conducted all of the lessons designed by Dr. McLaughlin with
her students from the 2002-2003 school year.
These lessons in turn were the basis of Dr. McLaughlin’s research study
on comprehension in the primary grades.
Due to Dr.
McLaughlin’s outstanding work in the area of reading comprehension, as
evidenced in her book, Guided Comprehension in the Primary Grades, she
was asked by the State Department of Education to assume the role of reading
expert in the area of comprehension for a professional development video series,
which the state is creating to offer professional development to teachers in the
area of effective teaching practices in the area of children’s literacy.
Dr.
McLaughlin then provided the Department of Education with Mrs. Fisher’s name,
as a possible teacher who could demonstrate some comprehension lessons in the
videos, as well as conduct a follow up interview about how to incorporate
comprehension strategies and effective teaching techniques into the classroom.
For the videos,
Mrs. Fisher chose Mrs. Cathy Freund's second grade classroom to teach the guided
comprehension lessons. During the
taping, Mrs. Freund also had a chance to teach a small guided reading group and
to conduct a follow-up interview.
Mrs. Freund
commented, “I was honored that Mrs. Fisher selected my class to demonstrate
their knowledge of the guided comprehension strategies.”
“The comprehension strategies that Leslie has introduced to me and my
students have been very beneficial to their growth as readers. I felt extremely proud of my students during the making of
the video."
Mrs. Fisher
commented, “It was a privilege to take part in the comprehension training
video for the state. I hope many
teachers and students will be able to benefit from the lessons and the interview
on comprehension strategies and teaching techniques.”
When the
training series is completed, it will contain about 10 to 12 videos and will be
supplied to the 29 Abbott School Districts in New Jersey and the other
identified Reading First Districts in New Jersey.
The videos will be accompanied by a manual of best practices, which were
demonstrated in each of the videos.
Dr. Louis
Ripatrazone, Superintendent of Schools, was delighted that Mrs. Fisher and Mrs.
Freund were selected to model teaching techniques and strategies, which are used
to deliver effective reading comprehension lessons.
Dr. Ripatrazone states, “Through Mrs. Fisher’s and Mrs. Freund’s efforts, not only are our Roxbury children benefiting, but countless numbers of other teachers will be able to use the video tapes to enhance the process of teaching reading in other schools. We are very proud of these two outstanding teaching staff members at our Franklin School.”