Reading Program

Reading skills are highly personalized at SSLS through the introduction of our multi-aged Learning Communities. Students in grades two through five are ability grouped based on various assessments and teacher observations. For one hour a day, students have the chance to work in a Learning Community where they will receive reading instruction based on exactly what they need to hone their reading skills. The Learning Communities are based on skills instead of grade levels; some are working on decoding in order to make the reading process more fluent and automatic, some are working on comprehension, and locating information from the text to support their comprehension, while others are working on putting all the comprehension skills together requiring students to read, think, then write about their reactions to their reading. The groups are fluid and frequently adjusted to keep learning targeted to exactly what each student needs to further their reading and writing. This unique learning environment allows students the opportunity to work and share ideas with various teachers and students throughout the year. Our Learning Communities use a variety of resources from magazines, poems, plays, famous essays, and novels. Students enjoy the challenge and freedom of being able to move to a Learning Community that benefits them. We are very proud of our personalized reading program, as well as the readers, writers, and thinkers this process is creating.