The Magic of Reading at Horizons

Horizons has a fantastic reading program to help students become better readers and enjoy reading.  Alice Thomas, an Ardmore Avenue teacher and Jen Lutz, an Episcopal Academy teacher, are the reading specialists here at Horizons.

Ms. Thomas works specifically with 4th-5th grade, while Ms. Lutz works with K-3.

The reading specialists work closely with students in small groups and individually, helping them sharpen their letter and word recognition skills and to tackle complex books with solid comprehension and fluency.

Laila is a 1st grader and this is her second summer with Horizons. During her reading time. Laila read a book called “The Ugly Duckling”.

As she read the book, she told us how sad she felt for the ugly duckling since his siblings made fun of him for being large and grey. When she had difficulty with a word like ‘quack’ or ‘weather’, Laila successfully used the tapping out sounds method that she had learned in Ms. Lutz’s class to figure out these words. For example, in the word ‘quack’, there are 3 sounds – ‘qu’ ‘a’ and ‘ck’. When she was done, Laila talked about the important parts of the story to make sure she understood the text.

When we asked Laila what her favorite part of the day at Horizons was, we expected to hear her say swimming, lunch or recess. Instead, she said “reading with Ms. Lutz!” When asked why she likes reading the best, she said, “I like learning new words and getting ahead for the next school year. I know I can improve and become a super reader.”

Laila’s favorite series is the Junie B. Jones books that she reads at home with her mom before bed.  When asked what her favorite thing about Horizons is, Leila responded, “Teachers like Ms. Lutz are my favorite part of the summer here. They all believe in me and cheer me on which gets me excited and makes me want to do really well.” Ms. Thomas and Ms. Lutz work incredibly hard to prepare our Horizons students for reading success as they head back to school this fall.

 

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