“Our project is used to promote literacy and love of reading among all English Language Learners and their families while bridging the language and cultural gap through books,” said office staff employee Beth Wilburn.

The program is also open to other students in need of reading remediation, Principal Paige Moore said.

The Gamma Pi chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International has provided funding for the program, which the school has matched, since its inception last year. It’s a professional honor society of female educators.

Title I teacher Karen Morris said she recommends students listen to the audio book first and then try to read the hard copy on their own. When they finish reading a book, students can return to Morris’ room for another of the more than 200 available titles.

“This is our way of giving them a library to take back and forth from home,” said third-grade teacher Laura Patterson.

Moore said the Book in a Bag program is a very important component of the overall reading program at Coltrane-Webb.

About 99 percent of incoming kindergarten students weren’t able to recognize letters in the alphabet and how they sound, Moore said. She attributes that to the school’s high poverty rate.

Now, half of those same students are reading and all but 5 percent know their letters and sounds, she said.

The school has used other strategies to get students reading at grade level, such training teachers to use Direct Instruction, a research-based teaching style, and encouraging students to carry books with them in line to the cafeteria or restrooms.

Reprinted with permission from Justin Vick, Independent Tribune