Educational Foundation, PTA Support Reading Initiative at Buchanan-Verplanck

In December, the Hendrick Hudson Community Educational Foundation (HHCEF) awarded a $1,000 grant to the Buchanan-Verplanck Elementary School to help fund a new project, We Are Readers! In mid-January, the Buchanan-Verplanck PTA awarded an additional $1,000 to support the program.

Principal Joshua Cohen and 13 teacher members of the school’s voluntary Book Whisperer Book Club were named in the initial application. The grant will serve all 300 students and 40 faculty members at B-V.

“This year our school and district have made literacy a top priority,” Cohen noted in the grant application. “This grant was discussed at one of our Book Club meetings as a way to help support a love of reading, help improve family engagement and address the needs of our readers.”

The grant proposes that, in order to help improve student achievement, teachers work in small groups with students at their instructional level to address the areas of concern found from a recent benchmark assessment. “Students also need time to independently practice the skills they have been working on with their teachers,” Cohen wrote. He added that, as in sports, “If you practice five times a week with supportive coaching, you will be a better player than if you practice one time a week. We want students reading every day with many experiences being at their ‘Just-Right’ independent level.”

Grant funds will be used to purchase books from the “We Both Read” series for the school’s Book Nook (shared by all teachers) that helps teachers improve students’ reading skills by offering resources students can use as part of their daily independent reading. “We Both Read” books are designed for children to take turns with their parent or tutor, offering both a sophisticated version of the text, and a simpler version on the facing page, geared to specific reading levels.

“At Buchanan-Verplanck, staff members have described students’ reading levels as below grade level, at grade level or above grade level,” Mr. Cohen explained. “Now that we have knowledge of 100 percent of our students’ specific reading levels, we need more leveled books to support this work. Teachers will take books from our Book Nook so students can read independently each day with a ‘Just· Right’ book and teachers can have appropriate books during Guided Reading…one component of the shared reading block during which the teacher provides support for small, flexible groups of beginning readers. The goal of guided reading is for students to use these strategies independently on their way to becoming fluent, skilled readers. We know the more students read, the better their fluency, comprehension and other skills will be. Having appropriate libraries and resources for students/teachers in school (a factor we can control) will help students improve their literacy skills while in school.”

With the new funding, Buchanan-Verplanck will order materials so that staff members can start organizing the Book Nook with these resources. Grade level and faculty meetings are planned with “We Both Read” books on the agenda. Cohen noted that project results would be shared through grade level meetings, the B-V News, district p.r. outlets, social media, PTA meetings and community forums.

The project is aligned with Common Core Learning Standards across content areas so there will be interdisciplinary benefits from an eclectic selection of books. It also supports the district’s mission statement, which references diverse resources for students along with an educational environment that is challenging, creative, exploratory, accessible and nurturing.

PTA President Andrea O’Malley wrote: “We feel that this is an important program for all of our students and staff in the ongoing efforts to provide literacy support.”

“Thank you so much to the HHCEF and the B-V PTA for supporting our efforts to help foster a love of reading, improve family engagement and address the needs of our readers,” said Principal Cohen.

PHOTO CAPTION: Buchanan-Verplanck Principal Joshua Cohen, members of the Book Whisperer Book Club for teachers, and representatives of the HHCEF and B-V PTA gathered for a group photo at the school.