Our 7-part Instructional Model
Our instructional model is attentive to the whole child, responsive to each child’s unique learning style, and portable, so that children, parents, and teachers can transfer and apply what they learn here to other environments.
It features a unique combination of literacy building blocks whose multi-dimensional approach tackles the individual, social, and environmental obstacles to literacy and academic achievement.
Small groups nurture each child’s capabilities and reinforce key social skills.
1
Small Reading Groups
Our Literacy Coaches, experienced teachers and graduate students in education whom we hire and train, attend to each child’s learning style, interest, and pace of development.
Pre-kindergartners through first graders focus on storybook reading and letter and word games that cultivate a positive attitude toward literacy while enabling them to develop and strengthen important skills:
Oral language
Listening skills
Reading readiness
Background knowledge
Comprehension
Alphabet awareness
Understanding of the purposes and organization of print
Phonological and phonemic awareness
Written language development
2nd through 5th graders progress along a path of increasing complexity in reading, reading comprehension, spelling, vocabulary, writing, punctuation, and oral expression. By 4th grade students read informational texts; they engage in creative and expository writing, critical analysis, abstract thinking, research, argumentation, note taking, outlining, editing, and enjoy their growing learning independence.
At all levels, students are challenged to listen carefully, analyze ideas and issues from a variety of perspectives, and solve problems using multiple approaches.
Individual attention can make all the difference for children who need help keeping up.
2
One-on-One Instruction
One-on-one instruction with a Reading Specialist is available to children who are struggling in their small reading groups. Children can be assigned to our specialist at any point during the year to build academic strength, interpersonal skills, and self-confidence. They then return to their small reading group where they invariably perform better.
Students spend between 20 and 30 minutes of class time on computer-based lessons.
3
Computer-Based Lessons
Children in Preschool and 1st Grade use the Waterford Reading Academy program for approximately 20 percent of class time. The individualized, interactive program helps them surmount many barriers to successful literacy development. Its research-based strategies accelerate learning so that children will be school-ready by the end of preschool, reading-ready by the end of kindergarten, and competent beginning readers by the end of first grade. All levels of the program adapt to each child’s learning level and pace.
Level 1 is a year-long sequenced curriculum on the basic skills of reading readiness. Children engage in activities and play and practice opportunities as they experience oral and written language through songs and literature from around the world. Level 1 focuses on enabling children to master skills such as letter recognition, comprehension of print concepts, phonological awareness, and vocabulary expansion.
Level 2 enables children to solidify phonemic awareness, learn to blend letter sounds to make words, decode pattern words, and recognize sight words. Songs teach useful principles of grammar, spelling and pronunciation.
Level 3 continues the development of grammar and usage skills. Students focus on the content and meaning of text and learn to utilize comprehension strategies. Students learn to read with expression and fluency through frequent oral readings.
Children in 2nd though 5th Grade use LightSail, a Lexile-based adaptive e-reading program that provides access to a library of 6,000 high-quality books enhanced with curriculum-aligned questions, activities, and video clips. Children and their Literacy Coaches can track minutes of reading and Lexile (reading) level which students find motivating.
Students read original work and perform at the Reading Team’s end-of-year celebration.
4
Enrichment Activities
Multi-sensory experiences are key to the development of new skills in children. The Reading Team’s enrichment activities, including art, creative dramatics, and math (the latter thanks to regular visits from volunteer tutors from Columbia University) engage each child’s imagination and sense of fun, while reinforcing literacy lessons and helping them to develop habits that support their continued success in school and in life.
Attentiveness, impulse control, and perseverance are essential for supporting educational and life success. Mindfulness meditation exercises address these factors that too often are overlooked in the learning process.
Students pick out new books at a book distribution.
5
Book Distribution Program
Many children in the Reading Team program are growing up without books at home or easy access to their local library. Our free Book Distribution Program gives them the opportunity to select from 10 to 20 books a year, promoting independent reading and supporting literacy development. During the school year, children can also borrow any of the several thousand titles in our library of world-class children’s literature and informational texts.
Parents come together in person or via Zoom to learn how to advance their children’s literacy.
6
Parent Support Programs
Literacy Coaches and our Program Director conduct Parent Conversations to update parents on their child’s literacy progress and arm them with strategies to keep children learning at home and succeeding in school long term.
Both new and experienced Literacy Coaches participate in trainings.
7
Staff Development Programs
Each year, we provide our Literacy Coaches with a minimum of 20 hours of professional development training to ensure they are versed in the best literacy teaching methods.
All our Literacy Coaches receive training in the multisensory Orton-Gillingham-based approach to teaching reading, handwriting, spelling, and comprehension. We use the Orton-Gillingham method of reading instruction for all our pre-kindergarten through second grade children and, to a lesser degree, for our older children.
Our Literacy Coaches also take classes in related aspects of instruction, such as social-emotional learning (SEL) and trauma-informed teaching practices, so that they can better prepare students to thrive under adversity.