Estrella Mountain Elementary School

Goodyear, Arizona

2024 Read Live School of the Year Runner-up

Submitted by Amy Johnson & Carrie Jones, Reading/Literacy/Language Arts Teachers

Estrella Mountain Elementary School receives a $500 Read Naturally Gift Certificate.

Estrella Mountain Elementary School has been using Read Live for five years, and students are making significant gains. Teachers, parents, and community volunteers have turned the Read Live lab into a place where students are thriving. According to nominating teachers Amy Johnson and Carrie Jones, "At Estrella Mountain Elementary our kids are excited about reading, and we attribute so much of that excitement to the Read Live stories that light up their curiosity." Amy and Carrie also report that, thanks to Read Live, Estrella is leading its district in many ELA standards this year.

In their nomination, Reading/Literacy/Language Arts Teachers Amy Johnson and Carrie Jones wrote:

"We have been using Read Live for several years, but this year at EMES we have hit our stride, and our students are making significant gains. In the past, we have primarily used Read Live as an intervention tool for our struggling readers. However, now we are seeing the benefits of Read Live as a way to grow readers on all levels.

Read Live is now utilized in grades 1-5 with our struggling, grade level and above grade level readers. This year we focused on 1st and 2nd grades to solidify their foundational skills and eliminate future gaps in 3rd grade and beyond.

We had a collective dream to build a Read Live Fluency Lab for 1st and 2nd grade students, but we weren't sure we had the "man power" to make it work. After collaborating among our team, we decided to train parent volunteers, resource teachers and special area teachers. They would be able to support a lead teacher and our students who were placed in a Walk-To-Read model.

The model has been an incredible success after 5 intervention cycles this year. During our Walk-To-Read block of time, our 1st and 2nd grade students utilize Read Live for 30 minutes per day in the reading lab. The goal is to build fluency, comprehension and reading confidence. Each student has a color-coded folder which includes all of the stories from their Read Live level. Adults have been trained to ask questions of the students after passing a story, which helps us determine their comprehension, especially with the younger students who haven't quite mastered keyboarding on their own. Students keep track of their learning goals, and more importantly, feel the pride of graduating to more challenging folders as their reading skills grow. This year, 90% of our 1st and 2nd graders have spent at least one intervention cycle in Read Live. It truly has been a village of teachers, parents and community members that have made this Read Live dream possible.

Building a nurturing learning community has been an unexpected positive outcome from our Read Live lab. Our students are becoming confident readers in the lab as well as their homerooms. If that was the only positive outcome we would be satisfied, but there is much more! Our 1st and 2nd grade reading scores are soaring, and EMES is leading our district in many ELA standards this year! As a school community, we are so proud of our students and their commitment to learning, our volunteers for their support, and staff who remain committed to our students.

At Estrella Mountain Elementary our kids are excited about reading, and we attribute so much of that excitement to the Read Live stories that light up their curiosity.

We believe that we should be the Read Live School of The Year because this program has become an important ingredient in our successful reading recipe! We can't wait to see what the future holds for our successful readers, and future Read Live loving kids!"