More reading time, new strategies strengthening SCC students’ reading skills

At teacher Jayne Martin’s prompting Friday afternoon, Kourtney King grabbed a boldly patterned pillow and settled on the floor, leaning on the pillow and a wall.
She began reading through a Judy Moody book. When she reads, she employs reading strategies she has learned in class, she said.
“If I can’t read the sentence, I go back and read it again,” King said. “If I still don’t know the word, I ask the teacher or my mom and dad.”
The strategy King described is one of many South Central Calhoun Elementary School teachers are using to give students more tools to learn and enjoy reading. The school district started a new English and Language Arts curriculum, one teachers said is already showing big results, especially as it improves not just their reading skills, but also their writing abilities.  
“All of the reading material, all of the writing, all of the spelling, all of the phonics, it all flows together,” second-grade teacher Sherry Ricke said. “I think the series is trying to get (students) away from a fear of writing.”
Read more in the Jan. 18 edition.