Read to Me

School:: Van R Butler Elementary
Subject:: Literacy
Teacher:: Janet Sherman
: Melissa D'Amico
Students Impacted:: 50
Grade:: K-5
Date:: October 6, 2021

Investor

Thank you to the following investor for funding this grant.

The St. Joe Community Foundation - $1,375.00

Impact to My Classroom

# of Students Impacted: 50

We wanted our ESE Children to become more independent and rely less on the teacher reading items and answer choices aloud to them. The E reader Pens allowed for this to happen. It benefited the children who need the read alouds, the classroom tteachers and the other children in the classroom.

The children who needed the read alouds could now work at their own desk and did not need to be called over to small group for read alouds. This can be embarrassing and lower self esteem for those in need. The individual in teh group no longer had to wait for the group to finish an item before the teacher moved to the next question. They were allowed to move at their own pace while using the reader. They could hear a question as many times as they needed, when using the pen. They didn't need to feel pressure that they were slower then the rest of the children. This also lessened wait time for the quicker workers and lessened off task behaviors.

The teachers benefitted becasue they were now free to walk around the room to help and monitor all the children in the classroom. They were no longer in the back or side of the class with a small group reading and repeating questions and answers. This was especially helpful during testing situations.

The other children in the classroom benefitted as well. They were no longer distracted by the teacher reading question an answers to those in need of a read aloud. Hearing the teacher read questions can be distracting and the break concentration of those working independently. The use of the E pens by some also made the teacher more available to help those working by themsleves. The teacher was readily available to answer their questions.

Original Grant Overview

Goal

To help our struggling readers, who show signs of dyslexia, become proficient readers and also perform better in math. The technology of the C-Pen Reader will empower our students to read, understand and learn more independently. This will increase their confidence and self esteem by making them more successful. They will no longer be viewed by other students as the struggling readers who need help all the time.

What will be done with my students

Our students will use the C-Pen Reader daily in ELA and Math class during independent reading activities and to solve math word problems. It will enable each student to read the assigned text or math problems without the teacher. The C-Pen Reader slides over the text and reads the printed words out loud to the student. Each C-Pen Reader comes with a set of headphones, so the read aloud will only be heard by the student in need of this technology. Our students will also use this technology to take any subject tests. Many of our students have testing accommodations which include “read out loud questions and answer choices.”

Benefits to my students

Teachers are very limited in time and the size of our small group remediation groups gets bigger and bigger every day. It becomes harder and harder for us to adequately focus on the individual needs of each child. By adding C-Pens to our classroom resources, students can become more independent. They will no longer have to be pulled to a small group to have the text or word problems read to them. They won’t have to wait for the teacher to read the next question on a test. They will be able to move at their own pace and hear the question as many times as they need to. The C Pen Reader has a built-in dictionary. If a student encounters an unknown vocabulary word, it will be defined by the press of a button. Each student can become more independent, which is our goal. Having the C-Pen Readers will also promote self-esteem for our students by building independence and confidence.
We currently have 10 students who would benefit from this new technology that does not need internet. However, the number of children who we identify as at-risk readers increases by the day. The number of students in need of reading support like this is sure to increase throughout the year.
It will indirectly benefit all 50 of the students we see daily. We will not have to spend as much time, outside of our daily reading instruction, focusing on those children who can’t read. We will be able to give more individual attention to our proficient readers. This is especially important in math. Much of our time to individual attention and help with math problems is taken away by having to read the word problems to individual students.