Reading -   Arguably, the most important thing to teach and learn in elementary school is the ‘how to’ of  reading.  It also is one of the most complex human brain activities.    Consider that reading, as a wide  spread social phenomenon, is only a couple of hundred of years old.  Prior to that, for the duration of human history, reading was an activity reserved for only the most elite members of society.   So in effect, our composite human brain has not yet become pre-wired for reading (like it is for hearing, seeing or talking), which is one of the reasons it is such a complex and complicated process to learn.   In addition to learning letters, sounds, letter combination sounds, sight words, and punctuation, reading should be fluent (sound like talking) and above all should ‘make sense’.   The human brain innately processes all the incoming information and attempts to organize it ina  way that it can ‘make sense’ of.  If the brain is presented with too much information it doesn’t undertsand it tends to shut down and disengage from further struggles.    In order to read, the brain must orchestarte  seeing the letters and words and connect them to hearing sounds and meaning, visualize the meaning, connect to prior knowledge,  and think about what the author is trying to tell us.

Our teaching staff has been working collaboratively to increase our understanding of how students learn to read and what is needed for them to be succesful readers.  The Monarch Grove School Site Council allocated funds for up to three ‘release’ days so that teachers can assess individual student progress in areas of reading and writing and plan instruction accordingly.

In grades K-1, the instructional emphasis is on decoding (sounding out) words, developing sight word vocabulary and oral fluency (making reading sound like talking).  Our staff uses the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) to assess emerging literacy skill levels.  The DRA determines oral fluency according to ‘levels.’  For instance, level 16-18 corresponds to an ‘end of first grade’ fluency level.  We also have been successfully using the Reading Recovery intervention program for over ten years to ensure that every, or nearly every, child leaves first grade a reader.

Beginning in grade 2, instruction in reading and writing grows increasingly complex and students transition from reading short stories with many picture cues to longer pieces of literature (‘chapter books’) with few or no illustrations.  Instruction increasingly emphasizes plot and character development, elements of story telling (setting, mood), literary devices (similes, metaphors, hyperboles), knowledge of genre, text structures and text features as well as increasing complex vocabulary.  Students in the lower grades often work in small and variable groups.  Students in upper grades have traditionally worked more in whole groups, but we are starting to examine ways to ‘differentiate instruction’ – that is, to craft the instruction so it more exactly suits individual student needs.

Every reader has two levels of ability: the ‘independent’ reading level (the level of text difficulty that can be read with little or no assistance) and ‘instructional’ level (the level of text that can be read and understood by a student with teacher assistance).  Therefore, assessment is an important component of our overall reading program.  It is a tool, which can objectively measure a student’s reading achievement level.  We use this data to help craft and plan effective reading instruction targeted to student needs.  Our teachers use a wide variety of assessments; for example, the CST (California Standards Test), DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment), SRI (Scholastic Reading Inventory), Houghton-Mifflin or teacher made assessments.  

It is very important for all students to read and read A LOT!! Independent reading should be with material that does not present a struggle– that students can fluently read and easily comprehend.   At school we will present students with more challenging material and instruct them on how to successfully navigate the text and make meaning of it.   It is just about equally imprtant for adults to model good reading strategies. So READ ON!!