Skip to content We’ve seen what happens to children raised in the digital age, 140-character tweets, and social media linguistics. For future generations, learning comprehensive and lasting literacy skills will be critical to their overall development. Learning to read is a vitally important skill and inspiring a passion for reading in students is always a noble goal of teachers and educators. To help achieve that goal while helping struggling students, teachers may need to implement an early reading intervention program.
When Should Reading Intervention Start?
While education didn’t stop during the pandemic, it did impact students at all levels. Many statistics show that there is a large number of students reading below grade level as a result of interrupted schooling. Catching the problem early is what research-based reading intervention programs are all about. It’s important for both teachers and students that children in K-12 are reading at grade-level expectations. That may require the incorporation of reading intervention software into the classroom.
Reading intervention involves focused instruction on reading. It’s that simple. In order to identify those students who are struggling, intervention should start at the beginning of the school year and be an ongoing effort. Generally, there are three stages of an early reading intervention program:
- Universal, or whole-class instruction using proven teaching methodology e.g., phonics.
- Small group instruction for students identified as requiring additional support, or possibly at risk of falling behind.
- Smaller groups or one-on-one instruction for students in need of intensive intervention.
There are many different reading intervention strategies that can be applied in conjunction with the use of reading intervention software:
- Phonemic Awareness: gives students the opportunity to work with phonemes presented orally prior to focusing on print work.
- Decoding: this instruction encourages students to improve letter-sound correspondences and word patterns.
- High-frequency words: reinforcing high-frequency word use from regular phonics lessons so students learn about words they should memorize to develop fluency.
- Comprehension: it is important for students to not only read but understand what they are reading. The ability to identify the main idea in a story and draw conclusions based on what has been read are critical skills to develop.
Essential Skills and the Benefits of Reading Intervention Software
Developing an early reading intervention program for primary grade readers can be aided by incorporating effective software programs like the ones offered by Essential Skills. For example, such software can help in assisted learning lessons that are either teacher-led or facilitated through a computer station or electronic device such as a tablet. Students can echo the text that is provided in the software program, helping them develop expressive reading habits.
Essential Skills research-based reading intervention programs are developed by teachers and reading specialist and use proven strategies to engage young learners. They include hundreds of auditory, visual, and tactile typing activities to ensure every student achieves success. Essential Skills programs are the perfect compliment to regular classroom instruction and can be used at each stage of your early reading intervention program.