Reading

Our reading instruction is provided by certified teachers using specialized programs, such as Wilson Reading System® or Orton Gillingham, designed to support reading success for students with language based learning disabilities. This approach includes direct, explicit, sequential, and  multi-sensory instruction for teaching literacy skills. 

Reading Classes

Reading Class is provided in homogeneous groups of no more than five students for one hour daily. Students are instructed in building decoding, reading fluency, vocabulary, reading comprehension, spelling, and proofreading skills. Instruction is data-driven and assessment is frequent to ensure that students can achieve progress as quickly as they are able. Progress monitoring is embedded in our curriculum. Class groupings are fluid throughout the school year based on student mastery.

Reading instruction at our school focuses on decoding and comprehension. To improve the student’s ability to process words, teachers emphasize phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, decoding, encoding, morphology and other word attack skills. Standardized and curriculum-based assessments are used to measure student’s baseline skills and monitor growth. Instruction is provided by master teachers with in-depth Orton-Gillingham/Wilson Reading^© training. The lessons in our program are diagnostic, prescriptive, and designed to meet individual learning needs. Students build accuracy, automaticity, and fluency as they progress from rudimentary to complex language patterns.

Teachers increase student achievement in reading comprehension through direct instruction using evidence-based multisensory programs and methodology, including:

Reading instruction complies with Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading – as developed by experts at the International Dyslexia Association (2010). These standards ensure that our teachers understand:

• Foundational concepts about oral and written language learning
• Knowledge of the structure of language
• Knowledge about dyslexia and other learning disorders
• Interpretation and administration of assessments for planning instruction
• Structured language teaching: Phonology, Phonic and Word Study, Vocabulary, Text Comprehension. Handwriting, Spelling and Written Expression