Introducing Reading Recovery

1. Introducing Reading Recovery By Joy Warke

2. What is Reading Recovery? Reading Recovery is a program aimed to help first grade students who are having a hard time learning to read. This program consists of daily 30 minute one-on-one sessions with a trained professional, working to bring the student up to speed with the other students in their class.

3. What are the benefits of Reading Recovery? • It reduces the number of first grade students who are struggling to read. • It prevents long-term reading difficulties needing long-term solutions. • The lessons are tailored to each student’s needs and build on their strengths • It is a program meant to last from twelve to twenty weeks, getting the child up to speed quickly and back in the classroom.

4. How successful has Reading Recovery been? 75 percent of first-grade students who experience a complete Reading Recovery intervention learn to read and write within the average performance range of their class. http://readingrecovery.illinoisstate.edu/about/successrate.shtml

5. What does a typical lesson look like? • Rereading of familiar books • Evaluating as reading takes place • Learning about words using magnetic letters • Writing • Introducing and reading a new book

6. Feedback from parents and studentstaken from http://www.readingrecovery.org/visitors/Success_Stories_Parents_Letters.asp and http://www.readingrecovery.org/visitors/Success_Story_Jessy.asp Riley’s Story by his mother Jessy Ohl’s story “I was a dreamer from the start. My mind was always off to some far-off land. It was difficult to focus on the task at hand…I was enrolled in Reading Recovery in the first grade. My teacher, Mrs. Baughman, was a gem and I took to her immediately. She was different from other teachers. She was a child at heart, and a kid could relate to her. She was my reading instructor who would write for me since my mind would go faster than my little hands. She was like a tool I loved to use. I knew not at the time what she was doing for me; I just pictured it as a type of playtime. But she was giving me the tools I would need for the rest of my adult life. And unbeknownst to me, my future was being structured. “ “I am a single parent and we had to move abruptly in the middle of his kindergarten school year. Upon entering first grade, he was having a very difficult time. He struggled daily in class… He is a completely different child after completing the program. He is an excellent reader now. He is confident. He has made so many friends. He is a much happier and secure person. I am thrilled at what this program has done for my son. “

7. How can I help my child be a successful reader? • Read to your child daily • Ask them questions about what you’ve read • Have your child read to you • If they struggle with a word, let them try to figure it out • Be an encourager!

8. Wrap up • Reading Recovery helps the lower 20% achieving students to get back on track with their reading and writing • The program lasts from twelve to twenty weeks, where the students get individualized tutoring in reading and writing

9. References http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/beginning_reading/reading_recovery/ http://www.fortbend.k12.tx.us/specialprograms/readingrecovery.cfm http://www.readingrecovery.org/reading_recovery/facts/index.asp http://readingrecovery.illinoisstate.edu/about/successrate.shtml http://www.readingrecovery.org/visitors/Success_Story_Jessy.asp http://www.readingrecovery.org/visitors/Success_Stories_Parents_Letters.asp