Castletown Girls' School have had Reading Recovery in operation for a number of years. We currently have two teachers trained to offer the programme. It is a research based intervention programme with the Primary goals of accelerating literacy learning and reducing reading and writing failure difficulties by targeting children who may need support in senior infants or 1st class.
The programme was developed in New Zealand by educator and psychologist Marie Clay, who used evidence from her intensive research and observations of good classroom practices to develop Reading Recovery.
Reading Recovery:
- Identifies students experiencing reading and writing difficulties after their first year of school.
- Provides an intensive, individually designed and delivered series of one to one lessons for 30 minutes each day.
- Is supplementary to the ongoing literacy activities in the classroom.
A Reading Recovery teacher has intense, specialised training to identify exactly what a child finds difficult about reading and writing.
The lessons are based on what a child needs and the teacher ensures the child is successful in their learning. Each child receives an individual 30 minute lesson daily in which they read two familiar books, reread yesterday's book and complete a running record , complete a letter sort, do word work, have an oral discussion, write a self composed message, complete a cut up sentence and read a new book.
With careful observation and expert teaching the teacher makes decisions about future lessons and the child's needs.
Reading Recovery is an early intervention programme to prevent reading and writing struggles.
