Reading Specialist

WELCOME TO THE READING SPECIALISTS PAGE!

St. Laurence Catholic School is blessed to have two Reading Specialists who serve students in grades PK – 8th Grade. The Reading Specialists support teachers and students in a variety of ways at St. Laurence such as:

• In the PK and Kindergarten classrooms, the Reading Specialist supports the classroom teacher to reach the literacy needs of ALL the students.  This is done through teacher collaboration and in-class support with children on a rotation schedule.
• In grades Kindergarten through Second Grade, the Reading Specialist collaborates with the teachers to identify students who may need specific, targeted, instruction for a short period of time.  These short intensive pull-out intervention groups are created from the results of STAR, DRA (Development Reading Assessment), and teacher observations. The objective of these short interventions is to provide intentional instruction to bolster reading skills.
• In 3rd Grade, the Reading Specialist supports literacy instruction through teacher collaboration and in-class support with ALL children on a rotation schedule. Each rotation is centered around a specific skill or reading strategy that the students need based on STAR, DRA, and teacher observations.
• Basic Language Skills(BLS), a program designed by the Neuhaus Education Center, consists of pull-out groups for students diagnosed with dyslexia in grades 2nd-5th.  Eligibility for this program is determined by the support team based on academic need and availability.   
• Literacy support is provided in 4th-8th grades as well. The Reading Specialist works with the Director of Support Services to identify students in need of support within their Reading, Literature, and English/Language Arts classrooms. The Reading Specialist provides many types of support, depending on what is needed. This can range from simply being a second teacher in the room to working with small groups during group work portions of the class or pulling a small group to work on a specific skill.  This truly looks different in every classroom and changes based on student and teacher needs.