Literacy
Early Reading Intervention
The Early Reading Intervention program is intended to help students in kindergarten, grades one and two who are experiencing difficulties with reading. By providing assistance in the primary years, it is hoped our students will become confident, independent readers in later years. Students that are referred to the program are provided opportunities to read a wide range of literature to develop confidence while practicing and reinforcing a variety of reading strategies. Each reading session also includes story discussion and writing responses which are important aspects in building reading comprehension.
Enhanced Reading
Reading interventions form a critical part of a comprehensive district-wide literacy plan for Christ the Redeemer Catholic Schools. Early Reading Intervention, based on Marie Clay’s reading recovery model, is a highly recognized and successful program that has been implemented in our district since 1995, for students in Kindergarten to Grade 2. By providing assistance in the primary years, students are given the opportunity to become confident, independent readers in later years.
We recognize that many students beyond the early years, continue to require reading instruction that includes both processing strategies and thoughtful literacy. As reading researcher Richard Allington states, instructional environments that create schedules that allow dramatically increased quantities of reading, and provide students with books that they are interested in and can read, will offer reluctant readers opportunities to engage in reading that interests and motivates them. Having engaging text that students can read, at their reading level, will create a reading environment where students begin to feel successful.
Students in grades 3 through 12 are given extra reading support in one on one and small group guided reading sessions. They will have access to reading materials of various text types and different genres. This includes both fiction and non-fiction materials, short novels, graphic text, magazines, and other sources of print that support the 21st Century learner. Ultimately, Enhanced Reading sessions will provide an interactive and supportive environment that encourages students to become lifelong independent readers as reading responsibility is gradually released to the student.
Readers and Writers Workshop
Readers’ and Writers’ Workshop is part of a balanced approach to teaching literacy. The goal of the Readers' and Writers' Workshop is to improve student engagement and reading comprehension through access to a variety of books, student reading choice, time devoted to independent reading, explicit instruction, and thoughtful discussions, feedback and teaching during conferences in Language Arts.
Writers' Workshop provides students with authentic writing experiences, time to write, explicit instruction, responsive feedback and frequent writing that improves writing fluency and quality of writing.
“We want students to become flexible, resilient readers who read for pleasure as well as for academic purposes. We want them to have a toolkit of strategies for dealing with difficulty, and we want them to know when and how to use those strategies.” Lucy Calkins
Teachers can answer children’s questions only if they know the writing process from both the inside and the outside. They know it from the inside because they work at their own writing; they know it from the outside because they are acquainted with research that shows what happens when people write. Don Graves