Northern Alberta school tries new method to improve student literacy

A child is seen reading a book in this undated file image.

A northern Alberta elementary school is making progress on literacy.

At the Oct. 19, Northland School Division meeting, St. Theresa principal Shelley Stevenson and vice-principal Dawn Powers reported on the school’s literacy and numeracy program.

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It is difficult to be a teacher, said Powers. For example, in Grade 5 a teacher may have students reading at a Kindergarten level, some reading at Grade 5 level, and everywhere in between.

In the 2023-24 school year, Powers said, one of the Grade 2 teachers started using the University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI) phonemic awareness course. She used this from October to June daily with students. Powers taught Grade 1 off and on throughout the year, and taught the course to the students when she did.

“It covers everything everyone needs to read,” said Powers.

At first, each lesson took about an hour to get through, she said. However, as the students got used to it, they would finish in 20 minutes.

“It’s very engaging,” she said.

The course has 128 lessons and uses various activities to help students recognize words.

“It fits in with the Alberta curriculum,” added Stevenson.

All of the students who did the course improved, said Powers, including skilled readers and those who were well below grade level at the beginning of the year. In some cases, the improvement was small, but there was always some.

The Grade 2 teacher was very excited this fall when all of the children coming up from Grade 1 could read, she added, which was a big improvement over the previous year.

This year, the school has paid for the course for all teachers, who have the option of using it. The Grades 4 to 6 teachers can use it for intervention when children are reading below grade level.

For most students, phonemic awareness is the gap, said Stevenson.

Jesse Lamouche, trustee for East Prairie Métis Settlement and Grouard, asked how often the student’s reading was assessed.

“We’re constantly assessing these things,” said Powers.

Also, the teachers submit formal assessments three times a year to the school administration.

The other Grade 2 teacher uses a different but similar course.

“Again big progress …,” said Powers. “Even the kids who are good readers enjoy it.”

Teachers also meet regularly to discuss their strategies to help students learn to read.

“It gives the kids confidence,” said Stevenson.

Coun. Robin Guild made the connection between confidence in reading and attendance. He assumed that lack of confidence would negatively effect attendance.

In response, the school administrators mentioned that both St. Theresa Grade 2 classes have good attendance, which seems to support Guild’s theory.

St. Theresa School is the public school in Wabasca, Alta. It is run by Northland. Students from Sandy Lake, 37 km southeast of Wabasca, are bused to this school. As of Oct. 2024, this school had 239 students from Kindergarten to Grade 6.

The other elementary school in the community is run by Bigstone Education Authority.

Wabasca is 325 kilometres north of Edmonton. The M.D. of Opportunity estimates the population of the Wabasca as 3,300 including people in the hamlet and on several Bigstone Cree Nation reserves.