Reading Recovery is a short term intervention program for grade one students. Students who began the Reading Recovery program in grade one, but did not complete it by the end of the school year are carried over into grade two. It is a supplemental reading program in addition to the reading and writing that students receive in their classroom instruction. Reading Recovery teachers are specially trained in early literacy and provide individualized instruction to the diverse needs of students.
Students will participate in the Reading Recovery program anywhere between 12 - 20 weeks, depending on their progress. Reading Recovery lessons occur daily and last approximately 30 minutes. During the lesson, the Reading Recovery teacher provides the student with different strategies to help them to become independent readers and writers. If a student does not make appropriate progress during the program, they are recommended for further action and other services are provided as needed.
What happens during a reading recovery lesson?
Rereading Familiar Books:
Students usually read 2-3 familiar books from their book basket. This gives them an opportunity to use the strategies they've been learning. It also gives them confidence because these are books that they are successful with. We practice reading fluently and making it “sound like talking.”
Running Record:
Now it is time to reread the book that was introduced yesterday. Students read as I listen to them and assess their strategies and the cues they are using in their reading. I do not help them during this part unless they absolutely need it. After the assessment, we talk about the smart things they did, and I pick one or two things to use as teaching points.
Letter Work:
At this point in the lesson we focus on letter identification, confusions and formation. We also work with words to see how they “work.” We take words apart and put them back together using magnetic letters.
Writing a Story:
The student and I have some wonderful conversations that lead to their stories! In early lessons we “share the pen.” This means that the student will write words or parts of words they know, and I will help them with longer, more difficult words. We use Sound Boxes to help them hear and “push” the sounds in the words they are attempting to write. I keep an ongoing record of words the student writes independently, and use these to help them build and link to new words they need in their writing. As the students become more independent, I share the pen less and less. They do most, if not all, of the writing themselves.
Cut-Up Sentence
I write the story (or part of the story) on a long strip of paper, have the child read the story back to me, and then cut the story apart. The student then puts it back together. This helps the child distinguish between words that may be similar, and also makes them think about what their story was about, and how they can put it back together to make it make sense.
New Book
I introduce the new book by giving a brief overview and letting the child take the opportunity to look at the pictures. We also discuss 1 or 2 new words or terms that may be new and unfamiliar to the child. As the child is reading the new story, I support them by asking questions that help them think about what they can do when it gets a little hard for them. This is the time when I teach them strategies that will enable them to become independent readers.
At the end of the lesson, the students choose a few familiar books to take home to practice. A child who is on the way to independence needs to read often from many different books selected to be easy for him/her to ‘go at it alone’. It is also important to spend time reading to your child. Even after children learn to read by themselves, it's still important for you to read aloud together. By reading stories that are on their interest level, but beyond their reading level, you can stretch young readers' understanding and motivate them to improve their skills.