Reading Rockets Blast Off at Southdown School
Kids enjoy helping other kids. That’s one of the principles behind the Southdown School Reading Rockets program that utilizes select third graders to help first graders read independently.
Southdown reading teacher Heather Horton lines up the third graders and trains them to help first graders who have completed the intensive Reading Recovery program, which provides assistance for those who need a little extra support while learning to read.
The older kids love working with their younger counterparts. “The third graders meet with them daily to help them with fluency, phonemic awareness, comprehension and sight word vocabulary,” Southdown Principal Michelle Marino said.
The third graders are trained to help the young readers by providing them with prompts and strategies. Some of the prompts include statements or questions such as “Does that sound right?,” “Let’s look at the picture, maybe that will help you figure out the word” and “Do you see any smaller words inside the hard word that can help you?” The “big kids” are also trained to help the younger readers look at the first sound, chunk the word into smaller sections and blend the sounds together.
“It's a wonderful learning relationship that's a win-win,” Mrs. Marino said. “Our young readers have the opportunity to read daily with individual support while benefiting from the experience and knowledge of an older reader and the ‘Rockets’ are learning about responsibility, cooperation and patience.”
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