Teachers Demonstrate Multi-Sensory Reading Intervention Methods

Teachers gave parents a look at the many methods being used to help students become better readers during a Tuesday night community forum focusing on literacy strategies.

Dr. Mark Porto, superintendent of schools, reminded parents of the importance of reading and writing, saying they both go hand in hand. He told parents that research has proven that those who read well will succeed.

Parental involvement is key in a child’s education, he said, and pointed out that parents can begin helping their children by changing the way they discuss books, requiring them to use higher level thinking. 

Linda Mansfield, who teaches grades 1 and 2 and Cheryl Reed, who teaches grades 3 to 5 at both and schools, walked parents through the methods of their Reading Intervention Program.  Also on hand were Karen Dolan who works with the students and Suzanne Kos at the .

Mansfield and Reed said the goal of the Reading Intervention Program is to give students skills they can use independently, in everything they do once they get back to the classroom and when doing their homework.

Many visual tools are used to help them sound words some as simple as their own fingers. Using one finger per letter, sounding each letter one by one until they can put together the entire word. Mansfield used a simple word such as cat to demonstrate.

In addition to visual, the teachers use audio and tactile methods in their teaching.  Seeing the letters, feeling them and sounding them helps the students connect and retain what they learn, Mansfield explained.

Reed uses something she calls the blending board to help students learn about open and closed syllables. She showed the parents a tray with three different cards each containing a letter. As she switches between cards she is able to show students the difference between short and long vowel sounds.

The teachers have also developed their COPS rule – which stands for Capitalization, Order, Punctuation and Spelling – as a way to get the students to automatically check their work.

The goal is to get students to be fluent readers and with that comes comprehension, Mansfield explained. Keeping them reading over and over again helps them build that fluency.

“If you get a child to feel good about what they are doing they will do it again,” said Mansfield.

The district is planning to host an additional community forum on literacy strategies for struggling readers on Tuesday, Dec. 13. Maria Kimmens from the Children’s Dyslexia Center will serve as the guest speaker.