In
recent months, four Roxbury School District teachers have been busy assisting
Dr. Maureen McLaughlin, professor at East Stroudsburg University, with the
creation of three of her most recent textbooks: Guided Comprehension in
Action, Guided Comprehension in the Primary Grades and Critical
Literacy.
Together, Mrs. Leslie Fisher – Franklin School Reading Specialist, Miss Amy Homeyer – Lincoln/Roosevelt Fifth Grade Teacher, Miss Karolyn Martin – Kennedy School First Grade Teacher and Miss Jennifer Sassaman - Lincoln/Roosevelt Fifth Grade Teacher have been contributing lesson ideas, work samples, anecdotes and valuable classroom teacher insight into these texts.
For Guided Comprehension in Action, a book geared toward teaching grades 3-8, Miss Homeyer and Miss Sassaman contributed ideas from a mystery unit they had created. According to Miss Sassaman, “Dr. McLaughlin incorporated some of our ideas into the mystery unit section of her book.”
Miss
Martin and Mrs. Fisher documented the progress of comprehension when using the
Guided Comprehension Model as described in the book Guided Comprehension in
the Primary Grades. They then
used their documentation to provide Dr. McLaughlin with work samples and
feedback on the strategies.
In addition to contributing to the
above textbooks by Dr. McLaughlin, the four teachers are working again with Dr.
McLaughlin on an up and coming critical literacy book.
Miss Martin states, “We are creating lessons and teaching them in our
classrooms. We are then giving Dr.
McLaughlin the lessons we created, the work samples, and feedback on their
success.”
“By
having actual classroom examples, teachers that will use the book as a resource
will be able to see how the lessons could look if they were to teach it,”
states Miss Sassaman.
As
a way to assist Dr. McLaughlin in presenting her Guided Comprehension in the
Primary Grades textbook to professionals in the field of education, Mrs.
Fisher, Miss Homeyer and Miss Sassaman attended the International Reading
Conference with Dr. McLaughlin in Orlando, Florida in 2003.
These
three teachers will again join Dr. McLaughlin at the 2004 International Reading
Conference. This year they will be
presenting Dr. McLaughlin’s new book focusing on critical literacy.
Miss
Martin comments, “It has been wonderful to work closely with Dr. McLaughlin.
These experiences have greatly enhanced my teaching. They have allowed me
to gain new knowledge immediately. It
was also very helpful to be able to ask questions and offer input with the
author of the book.”
School
Superintendent, Dr. Ripatrazone recently commented, “This is an exciting
opportunity for our teachers to participate not only in the development of the
textbooks for reading, but also to be able to attend the national conference on
reading.”
Dr. Ripatrazone went on to state, “Through this opportunity our staff members are able to learn cutting edge ideas that can be used with the children of Roxbury. This opportunity not only expands the repertoire of instructional strategies that our teachers can use, but also allows the staff members to share their ideas with their fellow colleagues. From my perspective, ultimately the children of Roxbury will benefit from these wonderful opportunities which are teachers are experiencing with Dr. McLaughlin.”