Getting North Marion Students Excited About Reading

By Jillian Daley

An Instructional Coach is a teacher who supports and guides her peers, and her colleagues say that title certainly fits Middle School IC Chelsea Landry.

“She is definitely the teacher of teachers,” says Mat Demski, who began working at the Middle School with her this fall. “She does what she says; everything that she recommends, in terms of good teaching practices, she does.”

One of those things that Landry, also the Literacy Coach, recommends is having more books in the classroom. So she applied for and landed two grants to acquire stacks of paper backs to establish libraries in all seven Middle School Humanities teachers’ classrooms. Landry scored still another grant to support the Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID) elective class, which she teaches.

“No joke, she did all the work on this, completely on her own time,” says Timothy Treen, Sixth-Grade English Language Arts and Social Sciences Teacher.

Half of her $1,000 grant from SELCO Credit Union went to establish the classroom libraries and the other half went to purchasing book club titles. Another $500 from Oregon State Literacy Association added more paperbacks to the libraries. 

Doing Her Research

“Our goal as a Humanities team is to have students reading more and to really establish a culture of literacy at North Marion and to get students at North Marion excited about reading,” says Landry, also  Instructional Coach

Why the focus on books and literacy? Landry tapped into research to explain the need in her grant applications, citing educational technology and services company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s article, “The Value of Independent Learning.” The piece says: “Researchers have found that students who have access to a collection of quality books in their classrooms read 50-60% more than students who don’t.”

Students who read more tend to achieve more academically, the article also states. However, students don’t cherish every book, so Landry selected them strategically to stoke enthusiasm.

“We were going for a variety of genres in high-interest novels to get our students excited about reading,” Landry explains.

Treen says she’s succeeding.

“These are the books that the students are nearly fighting over,” he says.

“— And that’s a good problem to have,” adds Kelly McGuffie, Eighth-Grade English Language Arts and Social Sciences Teacher.

Sixth-Grade ELA and Social Sciences Teacher Kestrel Lockwood holds up Kwame Alexander’s “The Crossover,” a graphic novel about 12-year-old basketball stand-outs, saying that it remains an irresistible favorite for students.

“When we do choice book reading, someone always pulls this off the shelf,” Lockwood notes.

Her colleagues, including McGuffie, are proud of what Landry has achieved with this library initiative, and how she implemented the initiative.

“This gives students access to books that they probably wouldn’t pick up, so it’s expanding their interests, but it’s also within their interests, so she’s meeting the students where they are at but also pushing them to another level,” McGuffie says.

Landry dipped into the vast universes of Harry Potter, Shadow and Bone, and a series sparked by the “Stranger Things” television show. She also picked books that center around popular topics among local students, including hunting and soccer. She chose “Peak” by Roland Smith for past pace and high adventure, and a graphic novel starring the U.S. Constitution to complement lessons. 

Landry not only made enticing picks but also sought to showcase works from historically marginalized groups. Carlos Hernandez’s “Sal and Gabi Break the Universe” features a Latino protagonist and “How I Became a Ghost” by Tim Tingle focuses on a young Choctaw boy. 

Grant for AVID Tutorials

However, Landry has done even more than help her Humanities team install libraries in their classrooms filled with inspiring books brimming with cultural relevance. With a $300 grant from the Oregon State Credit Union, she bought additional whiteboards for the AVID elective classroom.

The large, rolling whiteboards will allow her to hold tutorials, possibly as soon as next school year, in which the students split up into small groups and "work through points of confusion that they have in their core classes," Landry explains. Students complete a tutorial request form where they explore the areas they're struggling with before presenting their questions to their peers, Landry explains. 

To allow the students to be vulnerable with each other and share these areas of confusion so that they can grow, Landry holds team building activities during Fun Fridays.

“We really work on establishing a community of trust with our students and helping them to feel comfortable,” Landry explains.

Not only are her fellow teachers thrilled with Landry’s grant-writing prowess — so is the Principal.

“I am very proud of Chelsea for many reasons,” Middle School Principal Tami Badinger says. “Her dedication to students is unwavering and her commitment to access and excellence for all students is outstanding. Having libraries in classrooms creates an environment of curiosity and engagement. Students are allowed the opportunity to discover the unknown and hone their literacy skills.”

Landry was quick to say that it is Badinger who always forwards her emails highlighting grant opportunities. 

“She’s one of the reasons we know about the grants,” Landry says. 

And Landry is one of the reasons that the Middle School won those grants, definitely, “the teacher of teachers.”

To share a story on the North Marion School District, email Jillian Daley at jillian.daley@marion.k12.or.us.