A northern Alberta elementary school is making strides in literacy.

At the Oct. 19 Northland School Division meeting, St. Theresa Principal Shelley Stevenson and Assistant Principal Dawn Powers reported on the school’s literacy and numeracy program.

Being a teacher is difficult, Powers said. For example, in 5th grade, a teacher may have students reading at a kindergarten level, some reading at a 5th grade level, and everywhere in between.

In the 2023-24 school year, Powers said, one of the 2nd grade teachers began using the University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI) phonemic awareness course. She used this from October to June daily with the students. Powers taught 1st grade throughout the year and taught the class to students when she did.

“It covers everything everyone needs to read,” Powers said.

At first, each lesson lasted about an hour, she said. However, as the students got used to it, they were done in 20 minutes.

“It’s very exciting,” she said.

The course has 128 lessons and uses various activities to help students recognize words.

“It fits the Alberta curriculum,” Stevenson added.

All students who took the course improved, Powers said, including proficient readers and those who were well below grade level at the beginning of the year. In some cases the improvement was small, but it was always there.

The 2nd grade teacher was very excited this fall when all the kids coming in from 1st grade were able to read, she added, which was a big improvement over the previous year.

This year, the school paid for the course for all teachers, who have the option to use it. Teachers in grades 4-6 can use it for intervention when children are reading below grade level.

For most students, phonemic awareness is the gap, Stevenson said.

Jesse Lamouche, administrator for the East Prairie Métis Settlement and Grouard, asked how often the student’s reading was assessed.

“We’re constantly evaluating these things,” Powers said.

Also, teachers submit formal evaluations three times a year to the school administration.

The other 2nd grade teacher uses a different but similar course.

“Great progress again…” Powers said. “Even kids who are good readers enjoy it.”

Teachers also meet regularly to discuss their strategies for helping students learn to read.

“It gives kids confidence,” Stevenson said.

cone Robin Guild made the connection between reading confidence and attendance. He assumed that lack of confidence would have a negative effect on attendance.

In response, school administrators noted that both of St. Teresa’s 2nd grade classes have good attendance, which seems to support the Guild’s theory.

St. Teresa’s School is a public school in Wabasca, Alta. It is run by Northland. Students from Sandy Lake, 23 miles southeast of Wabasca, are bused to this school. As of October 2024, this school had 239 students from Kindergarten to 6th grade.

The other elementary school in the community is run by the Bigstone Education Authority.

Wabasca is 325 kilometers north of Edmonton. MD of Opportunity estimates the population of Wabasca to be 3,300, including people from the hamlet and several reserves of the Cree Bigstone Nation.