Early Literacy

Literacy Program

Literacy is the foundation for learning

The primary grades lay the foundation for all future interactions with education. By intervening with grade one and grade two students, it is intended that the Early Literacy Initiative will develop skills and enhance their abilities and successes.

The Early Literacy Intervention Project is based upon the theory that reading is an interactive process in which the student accesses knowledge from their graphonemic, semantic and syntactic pools of knowledge. Students read by attending to many different aspects of printed text including letters, words, pictures, language, messages and stories.

This is a student-centered project based upon the strategies the student brings to the reading and writing process. Through literacy intervention, students build their knowledge about the conventions of our language. This intervention project will allow students to acquire language skills and strategies more readily when ownership and responsibility is encouraged.

This project will promote literacy throughout the division. It will enhance existing programs and provide an alternative program for at-risk students.

See the file below for a detailed description of the responsibilities and expectations of the Early Literacy Team members, classroom teachers, administrators, parents, and students involved in the ELI Program.

Literacy is the foundation for all aspects of learning!

IDENTIFICATION OF STUDENTS FOR THE INITIATIVE

Students are selected for the initiative based upon teacher recommendations and/or consultation with school resource teams. The following criteria were developed by the Early Literacy Intervention team:

The student has average cognitive potential but lacks opportunity or experience.
The student does not have a confounding learning or emotional problem.
Will short term, intensive reading support be sufficient for that student?
Can the student demonstrate and apply memorization strategies in the classroom?
The student is not receiving other services.

Responsibility of Members

See Responsibilities

Parent Resources & Links

Daily Home Reading

Daily home reading is essential in helping students to gain experience in applying the strategies that they are developing within the Early Literacy Program. Parents can support their child's learning by setting aside time each day to read. Some tips to help make reading sessions successful and enjoyable at home are available here.

Tips for Reading With Your Child at Home

Consistency is Key

To reinforce the effective reading strategies that students are developing in the ELI program, consistency between home and school is very important. Parents can encourage your child to replace the "sound it out" strategy with some of the reading strategies and prompts found here.

Literacy Intervention Strategies

Book Levels

Guided reading is facilitated by having a levelled series of books which children may progress through sequestially as their reading skills develop. This ensures that children are reading at a level where they may experience success, yet which continues to challenge and develop their reading skills. There are several different book levelling systems used by educators. Below you will find a chart comparing the commonly used levelling systems.

Book Levelling Comparison Chart

It is important for children to read at a level that is appropriate for them. By reading books at an appropriate level a child has the opportunity to develop essential skills at their own pace. The following are a few websites that will help parents to level their own books at home. In most cases you just need to type in the title or author of a book and the site will tell you the corresponding level. Of course not all books may be found, but most common title are available. Books which have been purchased through Scholastic Book club can all be found on their site. Parents can also print off a list of books at various levels and take that list to the library to borrow appropriate books.

Links to book levelling sites:

Also included here is a levelled book list which includes many popular children's titles Levelled Book List.