This website is designed to build capacity within a school to improve student reading achievement. It is two-fold in both building teacher knowledge and increasing student knowledge. Teachers can learn about how students learn to read and access resources to aide in instruction. Also, this website bookmarks various e-text sites that can be accessed on ipads for students to read during their small group instructional time. Access to all recommended sites are free for educators. While cost for this resource and technology initiative can essentially be free, if rolled out as intended, it will require district funding. This cost breakdown is for a small school district with 4 elementary schools.
Cost
2 day Bookworms workshop for staff…………………………………………... $5,000
16 coaching days provided by Bookworms trainer (4 days per school)..................................................................................................... $40,000
6 iPads per classroom for small group instructional text………………….....................................................................…………….... $27,400
Total cost to district for year 1 ………......………………………………………...$72,400
Coaching will be purchased through Bookworms and moves this resource to a Blending Learning format. Teachers will have the opportunity to preview the material on this website before the summer workshop sessions, but will then meet with a coach to dig deeper into the concepts presented on the website, practice the structure of the lesson format, and to begin to build out lesson plans. Summer workshop days will provide professional development to grades 1-2 and on day 2 to grades 3-5. Additionally, through out the school year, teachers will be provided coaching and feedback on the these two instructional models from Bookworms trainers. To aide in the cost of purchasing multiple copies of grade level texts, each classroom will be issued a small group set (6) of iPad minis to utilize during small group instruction. On each iPad, the technology department will preload several apps that house free digital books or news articles for educators to use to read with their students.