Short-Term Summer Reading

Reading Recovery is a highly effective short-term intervention of one-to one tutoring for low-achieving first graders. The intervention is most effective when it is available to all students who need it and used as a supplement to good classroom teaching” (Cox, 254).

Summer reading programs can help students struggling with literacy tremendously. When students read over the summer they keep their reading skills sharp instead of having to relearn them as soon as school starts again in the fall, which can be a big hindrance on their studies. The summer is also prime time for parents to hire tutors when their services are needed. Some teenagers will even tutor for free in the interest of obtaining service hours for scholarships. Parents should also make time over the summer to help their children themselves if they are having problems with reading. Having the support of parents can make all the difference in a child’s motivation to learn.

The evaluation of the Leveled Literacy Intervention is being requested by our district superintendent, Dr. Craig Witherspoon, to determine the success of the implementation and the efficacy of the program. During this last year, our district piloted the Leveled Literacy Intervention program throughout the district with our Tier 3 students in the elementary schools. The Leveled Literacy Intervention program provides students with reading assistant system, and the training of classroom teachers and reading specialists. Higgins, Fitzgerald, and Howard (2015) found that providing “early interventions for struggling readers is critical for their future academic success” (p. 260). These authors continued by explaining that “these interventions should contain structured activities where students are supported through scaffolding, modeling and guiding until they gain competence and

Learning to read is a complex process that involves phonics, decoding, morphology, fluency, and comprehension (U.S. Department of Education, 2013). Children, who are exposed to language in the form of oral language, phonological awareness, and print knowledge within their home environment prior to entering kindergarten, are significantly less likely to struggle to read than peers, who lacked such language exposure (Farver, Xu, Lonigan, & Eppe, 2013). Therefore, children experientially acquire a basic literacy foundation at home prior to entering school. Even without such literacy experiences at home, one of the most important predictors of long-term school success is early literacy instruction in prekindergarten and kindergarten (Justice, Kaderavek, Fan, Sofka, & Hunt, 2009; Lonigan, Farver, Phillips, & Clancy-Menchetti, 2011; Vellutino, Scanlon, Zhang, & Schatschneider, 2008). Early reading instruction that includes print knowledge, phonological awareness, and phonics has been shown to be necessary for establishing foundational skills in subsequent reading acquisition (Bingham, & Patton-Terry, 2013). Since a solid foundation in reading leads to future reading success, identifying and addressing reading difficulties during the primary grades (i.e. kindergarten, first, and second grades) is a high priority for school personnel

“Many children fail to reach proficient levels in reading only because they do not receive the amount and type of instruction they need” (Foorman, Francis, Fletcher, Schatschneider, & Mehta, 1998; Morrison, Bachman, & Connor, 2005 2005; Vellutino, Scanlon, Sipay, Small,

It was ascertained that adolescent readers benefit most when they shift from spending less time reading words in isolation and more time comprehending what was read. Mooney and his fellow researchers noted too that success in increasing reading fluency will “require a fundamental shift from a reactive and compliance-driven system to a proactive and results-driven system” (Mooney et al., 2008) for students with EBD.

In summary of chapter 5 Promoting Quality Education written by Joseph Murphy, I have discerned that Mr. Murphy has reviewed extensively the research conducted during the last 20 years on reading. In this chapter he discusses ways to improve reading skill and literacy based on this review of research. During his analysis he has supplied valuable information on how to evaluate literacy, how to teach literacy and the importance of having strong literacy teachers in the primary grades. (Murphy, 2004)

Students can struggle to read for many reasons. “They can lack the talent, the cognitive wiring that is necessary to easily unlock the printed code of English” (Shaywitz, 2003). These students have been categorized by many names such as learning disabled, dyslexic, and ADD (attention deficit disorder). There is only a minimal amount of students who actually suffer from a neurological or cognitive issue which causes them to be behind in learning. Student’s which are considered “at risk” because of their poor achievements on assessments actually have average intelligences they just lack a strong literacy environment at home. A child’s learning foundation begins at home so students who tend to struggle with reading are not being read to. These

Reading Recovery is a short-term intervention designed for children who are struggling in reading and writing. This program can help children who are unable to read the simplest of books. The intervention involves intensive one-to-one lessons for 30 minutes a day with a trained literacy teacher, for between 12 and 20 weeks.

I volunteered for the Monterey County Reads program where I was trained to support kids that tested under the average reading level. I was placed at Fremont Elementary School in Salinas, CA where I read with five fourth grade students. Each week we would pick a book from the library and one-on-one they would read with me. I assisted them with corrections, support, and encouragement. At the end of the week I provided the teacher with an update on each student’s progress. While volunteering at this school, I realized that the quality of the

Over the years, literacy programs have evolved from the standard basal reader and traditional instruction of reading a story and simply answering multiple choice questions and/or matching vocabulary words with definitions. Additionally, throughout the years not only has student population and diversity changed, but so has the method of instruction and learning. It is through the combination of both these changes that often dictate today’s classroom literacy program implementation and execution. In an effort to address the multitude of student and teacher needs specific ideas and action plans have become the norm. Now are the days of differentiated small group instruction, guided reading groups, and roles of literacy leaders, reading coaches

Camilli, Vargas, & Yurecko (2003) found that students in grades K-2 show greater early reading success with the inclusion of rigorous, structured phonics lessons. Reading proficiency in the early elementary grades continues to be critically important as it is linked to achievement well into high school. Cunningham and Stanovich’s landmark study (1997), concluded that early literacy success is a future predictor of academic achievement, which still holds true today. Sparks, Patton, & Murdoch (2013) echoed those findings as they detailed a productive correlation between strong early literacy skills and academic growth through the tenth

Through my close to four-hundred hours of internships in the public school setting and substitute teaching experience, I have worked with a range of children in the elementary setting. The children that I have worked with and continue to work with vary greatly in their ability to read. Some of the students I work with read at

The intent of this review was to replicate and extend the review of literature regarding the effects of reading instruction on the reading skills of students with or at risk of behavioral disorders conducted by Benner, Nelson, Ralston, and Mooney (2010). In particular, the intent was to examine the following questions:

Several studies indicated that first-grade students who do not have the required level of reading development at this stage will remain below their classmate reading