How We Teach Reading at CSD

There are 44 speech sounds in English and 150 ways to read and spell them. This means that students must be able to "crack the code" to the alphabet and speech sounds. Decoding and sounding out words is necessary to understanding the meaning of text and it is something we emphasize in grades K-2.

K-3 students will progress from simple to complex phonics skills on a daily basis through a program called Fundations, with the goal of mastering critical skills. In the intermediate grades (3-5), word study will continue with more grammar and morphology (learning about word parts such as Greek and Latin roots).

If we see any signs that your child may be struggling with the foundational skills of reading, we will not take a "wait and see" approach; we will immediately implement interventions and monitor their progress. The best solution to reading challenges is early identification and intervention.

This is the ability to get to the individual sounds in words by listening, identifying, and manipulating those sounds orally. While this skill will be emphasized in grades K-2, we will make sure all students have this necessary foundation. Students in the intermediate grades may need to practice these skills until they are secure in their abilities. If students have needs in any particular domain of literacy, they'll work on materials that address those needs. 

Our early readers will be working with decodable readers, which are books or passages that only include words that the students can "decode"' (sound-out) according to the skills they have been taught thus far. These books and passages provide opportunities for practice. Sometimes students may bring home a sheet of paper with a passage for practice rather than a book (reading books out loud at home is always recommended, though). 

Students will be grouped based on needs in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, writing projects, target standards, comprehension, or knowledge building/interest. They will not be grouped based on a reading level. Activities in small group instruction are customized to the needs of each student. All of CSD’s resources are research-validated for use in improving literacy outcomes.

Research indicates that reading comprehension is closely connected to the background knowledge we have on a topic we’re reading about, and by understanding vocabulary. At the K-3 level, Benchmark Workshop is the core resource your child will access to build knowledge and vocabulary; for grades 4-5, the core resource is Wonders. Our students will have the opportunity to build a broad knowledge base of history/social studies, science, and the arts by accessing complex texts, often read aloud by their teacher. In the process, they will acquire a more complex vocabulary. The research tells us that building both knowledge and vocabulary contributes significantly to reading comprehension, and should be taught beginning in the earliest grades.

Your child will take a variety of assessments to chart their growth in and mastery of key literacy skills. Instruction will be tailored to your child's needs based on assessment outcomes. If your child shows a weakness in any area, teachers will monitor their progress and provide interventions to support their growth.

The ultimate goal is for students to understand what they read. The model of The Simple View of Reading demonstrates that reading comprehension occurs when students have both Decoding/Word Recognition Skills and Language Comprehension skills. Children need the essential skills to get the “words off the page,” as well as knowledge, vocabulary, and a good understanding of how our language works to comprehend what they read.