Inverness Primary has developed a comprehensive school-wide problem-solving approach to strengthen instruction of general education students and early identification of general education students experiencing reading difficulties.

The programs described below have gone through the review process at FCRR and  were found to contain sufficiently explicit and systematic instruction in critical reading skills to be helpful to struggling readers at the elementary level.

What is Read Naturally?

Read Naturally is a fluency program designed to develop in readers the skills necessary for fluent and effortless reading: speed, accuracy and proper expression. Motivated by research indicating that comprehension and fluency are highly correlated, the developer of this program aimed to give students a tool to accomplish the task of becoming fluent readers. Three strategies that figure prominently in the Read Naturally program are reading along with a fluent model, individual repeated readings of the same passage at the student’s reading level, and progress monitoring. Read Naturally may be used flexibly as a supplement to provide extra practice for young readers, for students learning the English language, and as an intervention for struggling readers.

The main steps of the Read Naturally program incorporate the best practices of teacher modeling, repeated reading, and progress monitoring to maximize reading proficiency. The step-by-step approach, of Read Naturally is described as below.
(1) Selecting a Story:
Students will choose a story from any of the stories within their level.
(2) Learning the Key Words:
Next, students will listen and read along as the key words and definitions are read aloud.
(3) Writing a Prediction:
Now the students will use the title of the story, the key words, and the picture to write a simple prediction. 
(4) Students Will Do a Cold Timing and Graph the "Cold" Score:
This step allows for the student to have a baseline for measuring growth. Students will read the story aloud for the first time while timing themselves for one minute. During this step students will graph the number of words they read correctly in one minute - typically marked in blue
(5) Reading Along with the Story:
Students will whisper read along as they listen to a recording of the story, repeating the step three times. This will allow students to learn new words, proper pronunciation, expression, and phrasing.
(6) Practice Reading the Story:
Students will time themselves as they practice reading the story five times without the recording.
(7)Answering the Questions to Check Comprehension:
Students will answer five questions about the story to check for comprehension.
(8)Hot Read and Graphing the "Hot" Score:
During the step the teacher times the student as he/she reads the story aloud for one minute. The students will then graph their hot read score (wcpm) in red above the blue bar representing their cold timing score. The graphing of the scores boosts self-esteen and generates motivation.
(9)Retelling the Story:The students retell the information from the story in written form.  This allows students to think about the story instead of just reading for speed.

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Phono-Graphix

What is Phono-Graphix?
Phono-Graphix is a structured, systematic, multi-sensory reading and spelling program that is based on phonemic awareness and alphabetic code knowledge. Fluent and accurate reading and spelling are the goals of this program, with an emphasis on strategy instruction rather than rule memorization. The authors of Phono-Graphix encourage an early start in reading by directing initial instruction at four and five year old children who are learning to read. It is also intended for students in grades one through five who are struggling readers, and for students who have been diagnosed with a reading disability.

Great Leaps

What is Great Leaps Reading?
Great Leaps Reading is designed as a supplementary reading program to be used in conjunction with the curriculum currently being implemented. Its primary emphasis is on fluency, with the assumption that comprehension will improve if the child becomes a more fluent readers.Teachers administer the lessons in a one-to-one fashion in 5-7 minute daily practice sessions. During those 5-7 minutes, the student reads three timed readings, one under each of the following three headings: phonics, sight phrases, and stories. Each reading is timed for one-minute and the goal is for the student to read each page with no more than 2 errors. Error correction is immediate and followed by modeling of the correct response. When mastery is attained on a page, the student progresses, or “leaps”, to the next page of slightly more difficult material. The curriculum extends from grades K-12.

Road To The Code

What is Road to the Code?

Road to the Code is a phonological awareness program.  Road to the Code is effective for students struggling with beginning reading and spelling skills. Road to the Code is meant to augment instruction in critical early reading skills in classrooms that are already rich in oral and written language activities and where reading to children is a common occurrence. The research literature is replete with studies underscoring the importance of phoneme awareness and understanding the alphabetic code for beginning readers. Research has also verified that early intervention can indeed facilitate the acquisition of early reading and spelling skills. The overriding goal of Road to the Code is to develop in students an awareness that spoken words can be segmented into phonemes and that these segmented units can be represented by the letters of the alphabet. Road to the Code consists of 44 lessons that are taught in groups of 4-5 students 4 times a week over an 11-week period. Each of the 15-20 minute lessons are divided into 3 parts and follow the same daily format: Say-it and Move-it, a phoneme segmentation activity; letter name and sound instruction; and to conclude, an activity to reinforce phonological awareness.