READING & STRUCTURED LITERACY

Reading fluency and comprehension skills underlie all students’ learning, academic progress, and self-concept. Whether students are learning to read or reading to learn, I use evidence-based, systematic approaches to developing the many skills involved.

Learning to Read (Grades 2 and above)

• I am trained in Orton-Gillingham multi-sensory structured literacy intervention (through IMSE), and use this approach, along with strategies and materials from PAF, Really Great Reading (an Orton-aligned approach), Read Naturally, Lexia, Wilson, and others. My MS in Special Education included comprehensive reading remediation training, along with a focus on Response to Intervention (RtI) and Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM).

• I assess students’ strengths and challenges, taking any neuropsychological testing into account in the case of students with dyslexia or other phonological processing issues.

• Building students’ confidence and enjoyment of reading through structured, evidence-based methods is a central focus of my practice with younger clients.

Reading to Learn (Grades 3 and above)

• To develop reading fluency and comprehension skills, I use multi-sensory methods to build students’ knowledge of morphology, multisyllabic word attack skills, and ability to apply reading comprehension strategies.

• I assess students’ strengths and challenges with phonics concepts, reading comprehension strategies, and related skills that support academic work and independent reading, then develop a systematic plan to build these skills and behaviors.