Del Rey Elementary School

Del Rey, California

2024 Read Live School of the Year Runner-up

Submitted by Traci Tucker, Special Education Teacher

Del Rey Elementary School receives a $500 Read Naturally Gift Certificate.

Del Rey Elementary School has been using Read Live for 13 years and was also selected as a Read Live School of the Year Runner-up in 2022. As a Spanish Dual Language school, Del Rey has made the most of the English and Spanish components of Read Naturally Live and Read Naturally Live— Español. The program has resulted in impressive gains for English Language Learners and struggling readers, with students exiting special education thanks to the program. According to nominating teacher Traci Tucker, "The EL site coordinator has commented that she can really tell the difference when ELPAC testing students who use Read Live contrasted to those who do not. Those who use the program are much further along in their journey towards English Language Proficiency."

In her nomination, Special Education Teacher Traci Tucker wrote:

"I started using Read Naturally materials over 20 years ago. When Read Live was introduced, I was quick to get on board. However, I do still use Read Naturally paper materials with some students.

At the beginning of my 14+ year journey here at Del Rey Elementary as the special education teacher, I quickly noticed that some of our second-grade students were really struggling to read. I immediately contacted their teachers, and before-school morning intervention was born. I have never looked back.

We have progressed from Read Naturally, to Read Live just for morning intervention with students on an IEP, to Read Live across Tier II intervention to all students having access both in English and Spanish as we have transitioned to a Spanish Dual Language school.

We use DIBELS as our school-wide reading fluency assessment. Read Live is great for promoting and supporting our students as they progress from at risk to on level readers.

I have had many success stories through the years. One young lady, we will call her Lala, was brought faithfully by her mom to morning intervention from the first through sixth grades. She was originally qualified for special education services because her reading was so low as to be non-existent. Through the years, and much frustration on the part of the child and her mom, Lala left sixth grade testing in the top ten of her class in reading. She even won an award for her writing! All of that hard work paid off.

I may only have concerns about one child in a family; however, to make things easier on the parents, I invite all of the siblings to come for intervention as well. With Read Live they are able to work at their level all the way up to 8th grade. One of my students on an IEP grew so much in his reading that he exited special education. His mom credited the extra time he spent in morning intervention along with his pull-out program. She now has all of his siblings coming as well.

We love Wordtastic. When done correctly, it allows students to expand their vocabulary and learn that different words can have the same meaning or that the same word can have different meanings. This is especially important for our second language learners. The EL site coordinator has commented that she can really tell the difference when ELPAC testing students who use Read Live contrasted to those who do not. Those who use the program are much further along in their journey towards English Language Proficiency than many of those who do not.

Reading fluently is just one of the many aspects of the program that we appreciate. In addition, the reading comprehension portion and the retell help to prepare the students for success on the CAASPP, especially the performance task where they are asked to write to a prompt using academic language.

Thank you for considering us for the Read Live School of the Year Award!"