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Program 4:
Reading Fluency and Comprehension Skills
for Entering 4th and 5th
Graders
Comprehension - Fluency - Vocabulary
Study Skills - Love of Reading
Goals
 This program is designed to help students
read
complex materials fluently, with
strong comprehension. In this program, our average
student gains more than one
grade level in
reading comprehension, while learning to read
complex words and
sentences more fluently. Your
child will learn important study skills that help
him
or her to identify main ideas, take notes for book
reports, study for tests,
and improve concentration
and recall. Finally, because the habit of reading for
pleasure is crucial to long-term academic and personal development, this program
is designed to foster a lifelong love of reading.
Instructor
Instructors are drawn from the faculty of the Institute of Reading Development.
Curriculum design and instructor training are supervised by Paul Copperman, a
Presidential appointee to the National Council on Educational Research, and the
author of Taking Books to Heart: How to Develop a Love of Reading in Your
Child.
Format
This lively and engaging class is conducted as a workshop, a format that
facilitates full participation and allows the instructor to provide individual
attention and the appropriate level of challenge and encouragement for each
student. Class is divided into short segments, each devoted to a stimulating
activity. During class, the teacher models activities and skills to the class as
a group, and then coaches individual students as they practice and gain
confidence with their new skills as applied to great children's literature. At
home, students continue to practice these skills in workbooks and books they
select based upon personal interest.
Class meets for two hours, once a week for five weeks. Your child will
practice at home for 45-60 minutes, four times per week. Parents are invited to
attend parent meetings at the end of the first and last lessons.
Skills
Reading Fluency:
Students improve word-attack skills, develop a larger vocabulary, and learn
exercises designed to help them read complex sentences fluently and expressively.
These exercises smooth out the reading process and make the process of getting
through words less choppy, labored, and distracting. As a result, students are
able to concentrate more clearly on the meaning and content of what they
read.
Comprehension Skills:
Students learn to identify crucial story elements, such as setting, character,
problem, and plot, in order to establish a strong foundation for comprehending
the story and exploring the development of characters. Students also learn to
pick out the main events and link them together. Finally, students master
techniques that help them to visualize more clearly what is described by the
author, to identify more completely with the thoughts and feelings of characters,
and to actively anticipate what comes next in the story.
Vocabulary:
Students master the vocabulary skills necessary for reading long words. These
include learning to determine the meaning of difficult words and to pronounce
unfamiliar words correctly. By developing strong vocabulary skills, students gain
the confidence to tackle difficult school reading and to choose more advanced
literature for independent reading.
Study Skills:
Students master a step-by-step procedure that will improve their ability to
understand and retain information in textbooks and other non-fiction books.
Students learn to pick out the main ideas and to link them together. They also
learn to take effective notes and to organize their understanding of the
material. These skills are useful for book reports and school assignments.
Materials
All of the materials that we use are designed to build skills and reinforce a
love of reading. Students receive a Word-Attack workbook that uses engaging games
and puzzles to provide instruction in word-attack skills.
See sample pages from
Word-Attack Workbook
(PDF document)
Participants also receive a Course Workbook and Parent Manual, which contains
in-class exercises, homework activities for each week of the course, and, for
parents, a detailed overview of all skills and activities taught in the
program.
See sample pages from
the Course Workbook and Parent Manual
(PDF document)
You and your child will also receive the Reading Development Booklist, an
important tool for building strong reading skills and the lifelong habit of
reading for pleasure. The Reading Development Booklist summarizes hundreds of the
very best children's books. By using the recommendations, which are organized by
level of difficulty, you and your child will know what books to choose and what
sequence to read them in. Your child's instructor will evaluate your child's
stage of reading development and provide guidance on where your child should
begin in the booklist.
See sample pages from
Reading Development Booklist
(PDF document)
Tuition is $299.
Registration & Information
For
more information or to register, please call one of our Program Directors at 1-800-964-8888.
We are available to take your call from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Monday through
Thursday, and from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays.
Enroll Online
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