Ashlyns School, Berkhamsted
I am so passionate about Lexia, PowerUp is really user friendly, it doesn’t patronise the children at all. The students respond with great enthusiasm and are motivated to complete units and levels, as they want to achieve. I am extremely proud of my students and their successes!
Our school system was changing from middle and upper schools to now primary and secondary schools. Many Year 7’s had a low reading age, and as we had never had year 7 students before, we were not equipped to deal with this issue, hence the purchase of Lexa (Strategies).
It was soon realised that there was no one to deliver this program and if the students were to work independently, it wouldn’t be successful as there were students with a very low reading age that needed guidance and support. So, I started to support small groups of students and hold Lexia sessions for Years 7 – 10.
All of my students are now working on Lexia PowerUp with different levels of support from myself. We have half an hour of Lexia and then half an hour of shared reading with the group. Small groups are taken out of different lessons during the week with home use being encouraged, many of our parents are on board with this. We track their streaks and the students record them on the board in my room. PowerUp is great as the parents are able to track their child’s progress and be involved in their learning at home. We have found the smaller the group the better, students are proud of themselves for being able to move through the units and the levels. We think it’s great that if they are struggling with a question, they can come out of that one strand e.g., Grammar, and go into Comprehension to answer questions there until they have teacher support. We really like the video options of being able to watch the “explainer”.
PowerUp has been received very enthusiastically. Most find it more enjoyable than Strategies. They are pleased with being able to use the back button to repeat and it is a great way for them to learn from their mistakes. Now they can make use of that mistake and it can really help their learning, leaving them more motivated and confident in their reading. The change in students and their whole demeaner in school is amazing. Their behaviour is better and they are more confident in their literacy abilities. Being able to monitor their own progress and take ownership of their learning is so important and has helped build their confidence.
One student benefited massively from PowerUp during lockdown, his reading age increased by 80 months (almost 7 years’ worth of progress). He was first tested late September in year 7 and then retested start of Year 8, and was working on Lexia during the first lockdown. I’m now no longer working with this student has he no longer needs that support and can attend other lessons confidently.
Every time the students complete a unit, they got a point then the student with the most points at the end of the session gets a small treat. I also reward the student in the group whose score has improved the most. Prizes are also given out for good home use. Our students love to be congratulated and given a prize to celebrate their success. Some of them tell me that they enjoy reading and are reading more confidently and fluently now.
I use the reports every week. Our students are expected to work on Lexia for an hour at home and then during our session during the week. I check the usage report every Monday morning, the reports enable me to not just track their minutes but their progress. Our students know that I check the reports and I will reward the most successful student. I even contact parents/caregivers if students are not using the program at home, which is compulsory homework for Lexia students. The reports were a great tool during lockdown, as I was still able to monitor student usage and progress remotely, allowing me to contact parents and make them aware that their child was not working on Lexia as much as they should be but to also be able to congratulate those making progress and award them even though we were all working from home.
I am so passionate about Lexia, PowerUp is really user friendly, it doesn’t patronise the children at all. The students respond with great enthusiasm and are motivated to complete units and levels, as they want to achieve. I am extremely proud of my students and their successes!
