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Literacy Center |
Literacy Center
(Grades K-5)
The Literacy Center program offers supplementary instruction in reading. It is a classroom support program, which means that instruction is coordinated with the ongoing classroom instruction and objectives. Students receive reinforcement in decoding, comprehension strategies, sight vocabulary, and fluency. Students in the primary grades also receive support with writing.
Small group instruction meets 3 or 4 times a week. Most students in the primary grades receive 2 ½ hours of service weekly, and most students in the intermediate grades receive 2 hours of service weekly.
Early Intervention component
(Grade 1)
Early Intervention is an accelerated support program that involves intensive one-to-one instruction in beginning reading and writing for first grade students. It is based on Marie Clay’s Reading Recovery model. The goal of the Early Intervention Program is to have the child develop and apply reading and writing strategies on an independent level in a self-extending system. The child must learn to use cues and strategies to solve reading problems.
Each child in the Early Intervention program meets daily for thirty minutes with a specially trained Early Intervention teacher. The intensive lessons, which take place in a separate room to minimize distractions, are provided in addition to the child’s classroom reading instruction. Based upon keen and sensitive observations of the child, the teacher designs a carefully sequenced program that builds upon the child’s strengths as the focus of instruction. Although the framework is constant, each lesson is tailored to meet the individual student’s changing needs. Throughout each lesson, the child is actively engaged in reading and writing authentic text. Reading and writing are interwoven, guiding the child to use what he knows in reading to help him with writing, and visa versa.
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The Early Intervention Program is an accelerated short-term program that usually lasts about sixteen to twenty weeks. It is designed to give the reader a boost in order to catch up to the average readers in his class. By knowing exactly what the child knows and is in the process of learning, the Early Intervention teacher adjusts the amount of teacher support, or scaffolding, so that the child is always working at the cutting edge of his ability. This enables the child to achieve maximum progress in an accelerated manner. By the end of the Early Intervention Program, the child develops an internal system of self-improvement by independently orchestrating learned strategies. This internal system enables the child to independently continue to extend his reading and writing abilities.
Karen Kulak, Early Intervention Teacher
Audrey Braunstein, Early Intervention Tutor p.t. staff
Lynette Roy, Reading Specialist