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BUT MOST KIDS HERE ARE THRIVING, AND WALTON’S SUCCESS IN TEACHING READING HAS BEGUN TO DRAW ATTENTION AROUND THE STATE. Ms. Kemp: Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. TODAY MS. KEMP WELCOMES TEACHERS FROM KOPPERL, TEXAS, A SMALL TOWN, SIXTY MILES SOUTH OF FORT WORTH. KOPPERL’S PRINCIPAL, KEN BARROW, VISITED WALTON ON HIS OWN BACK IN NOVEMBER. NOW HE’S BROUGHT HIS TEACHERS ALONG TO SEE WALTON’S READING PROGRAM. THIS IS MR. BARROW’S FIRST YEAR AT KOPPERL. Barrows: 77% of our students in third to sixth grade read below grade level. We have sixth graders reading on a first grade level. KOPPERL IS LIKE THOUSANDS OF SCHOOLS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. THEY WORK HARD, BUT THEY USE A HODGE-PODGE OF TECHNIQUES FOR TEACHING READING. Ms. Reece: What word? Students: Africa. Ms. Reece: Spell Africa with a capital letter. Get ready. Barrows: I visualize what we’re doing as 11 teachers and 11 different boats, tied to the dock, going in 11 different directions. Rowing very, very, very hard. But we’re not going to go anywhere. SO MR. BARROW TURNED TO WALTON FOR HELP. Ms. Kemp: I said, ‘Mr. Barrows, what is your ethnicity breakdown?’ And he just looked at me and he said, ‘They’re all white.’ And in my heart I was like, Wow, this man is awesome. I mean, to come to Walton, when he knew this school was African American, and that his school was all white. It was like, ‘Okay world, you have to wake up now.’ Cause it’s not about color, it’s about children. Mr. Barrows: Doesn’t have anything to do with black or white. What we got are kids who can’t read. Period. And we’ve looked for a solution. And the solution happened to be found at a inner-city, black school. That’s it. Ms. Kemp: Now we’re in Reading Mastery 2, where they have mastered the sounds, the blending, and we have moved to words. Ms. Morgan: Okay, finger under the first word of item number one. First word. Get ready. Students: Win. Ms. Morgan: Yes, win. Next word. Get ready. SOME OF KOPPERL’S TEACHERS ARE LEERY. THEY THINK READING MASTERY IS TOO REGIMENTED. BUT THE KIDS HERE ARE LEARNING TO READ. Ms. Morgan: First word. Get ready. Students: Uh. Ms. Morgan: Yes, uh. Next… Mr. Barrow: What I see is a bunch of disciplined little kids, I mean just really focused and really doing a great job… SO MR. BARROW ASKED MS. KEMP TO HELP HIM INTRODUCE READING MASTERY AT HIS SCHOOL IN JANUARY. Barrow: That’s my ambition, as it is the teachers’. They realize we have a problem, and they want a solution. WALTON WRAPS UP THE YEAR WITH A CHRISTMAS PROGRAM. THE KIDS HAVE BEEN REHEARSING FOR WEEKS. IN THE AUDIENCE IS A FATHER VISITING WALTON FOR THE FIRST TIME… KEVIN GROSS. HE’S COME TO SEE HIS TWIN DAUGHTERS, JASMINE … Jasmine: A is for all the little children at Christmas time. AND JADE … Jade: I is for icicles that glitter and glow. AND HIS SON TAVARES. |
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© 2003 WETA/Reading Rockets. All rights reserved. Photo Credit for Bearden Elementary: Maude Schuyler Clay |
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