Loel Olson's fifth-graders are among all Luverne Elementary School students participating in the new reading program. Pictured are (front row, from left) Matt Christensen, Caitlyn Deutsch, Jessica Dorhout, Amanda Ericksen, Matthew Jacobsma, Dakota Steensma, Maleeka Sandager, (second row, kneeling) Brianna Thode, Andrew Henderson, Tanner Skattum, Erin Ernst, April Norman, Sarah Schneekloth, Devin Nelson, Melanie Baloun, (back row, standing) Alex Wiese, Micah Hewitt, Sam Dooyema, Steven Walker, Wyatt Sprecher, Ashley Hanson, Kaylee Smook, Brittany Liebhard and Carrie Bauer.
By Lori Ehde
Luverne Elementary students are reading about more than Dick, Jane and Spot lately.
They're reading classic literature and popular fiction, they're playing challenging word games and they're writing articles far more advanced than the traditional book report.
It's all part of the new "Four Blocks" reading model implemented this year in grades K through 5. The four blocks include guided reading, self-selected reading, working with words and writing.
Curriculum coordinator Jan Olson said the self-selected reading block allows students to read material that interests them at their own level.
"We're not grouping kids anymore according to their reading abilities," Olson said. "I know a lot of parents are pleased about that."
The curriculum still includes "guided reading" - books read aloud by the teacher - but "self-selected reading" allows students to read anything they like within a predetermined difficulty level.
Loel Olson, who teaches fifth grade, is one of the strongest advocates of the Four Blocks. "I compare it to playing basketball," he said. "We've taught them how to pass, dribble and shoot, but they never got to play."
Each book has accompanying material to test students' knowledge of what they read. If test scores are consistently low or high, the teachers adjust students to a greater or lesser difficulty level.
Grades are determined by how well students attain pre-set goals. That way, struggling readers aren't tested on the same materials as advanced readers, yet all students are challenged to meet goals and are graded on how close they get to those goals.
"The key to making it work is tracking the students' reading progress," Loel Olson said, adding that students challenged at the right level won't be bored or discouraged.
Because of accompanying material, Loel said there's no way students can guess their way through the quizzes and work sheets.
In addition to the follow-up material, students practice their own free writing skills, followed by editing to clean up spelling and grammar.
Loel said this replaces the structured grammar and spelling lessons students used to do. "This is a huge change," he said. "I think we're moving in a whole new direction. It's really good stuff."
For further spelling instruction, the curriculum comes with challenging word games, such as rhyming and unscrambling. "The kids just love it," Lowell said.
Jan Olson said math problems now require stronger reading skills, so the program addresses that need, and the writing component helps students perform better in all academic areas.
A few teachers had implemented parts of the Four Blocks in their classrooms, but this year, thanks to a grant from the Rock County Collaborative, all K-5 teachers are using the curriculum.
First-grade teacher Sandy Klosterbuer said even in the lower grades she sees advantages to the program.
"I really enjoy the writing part of it - to see what they can do," she said. "I think it's really wonderful."
Since writing is built into the program, she said it's nice to have time to allow students to use the skills they've been taught.
"They can write about what they're happy about, what they're sad about, what they're looking forward to," Klosterbuer said.
"One little boy wrote about the plane crash and drew a picture. I can see this gives them an opportunity to let us know how they're feeling and get it down on paper."
Grant money was used to purchase $58,700 worth of books and related materials. The Rock County Collaborative is comprised of local agencies serving children and families.
Money for the Four Blocks came from a grant from the Department of Children, Families and Learning.