Licia Robertson and Dr. Jan Mitchell are the Reading Recovery teachers serving Phalen Lake Elementary.

Mission Statement: The goal of Reading Recovery is to give children a self-sustaining system of reading strategies that will allow them to become independent readers and develop a life-long joy for reading.

Reading Recovery is a research-based program developed by Marie Clay. It provides students, who are in the lowest twenty percent of their first grade class, the opportunity to have one-on-one instruction with a trained Reading Recovery teacher. Students receive a thirty minute, daily lesson which provides opportunities for the student to read familiar text, ready novel text, learn how words work and to write as they develop reading and writing strategies.

Phalen Lake Elementary has chosen to provide first grade students who are in the lowest 20% of their first grade class with the opportunity to have a daily instruction from a trained Reading Recovery teacher. Students are selected for the program by using an initial Reading Recovery test battery, the Observational Survey, and by teacher recommendation.  These students receive a 30-minute lesson each dialytic helps them learn strategies that will increase their understanding of how words and text works.  Students usually complete program within 16-20 weeks of instruction and are then able to read comfortably in the average level in their first grade classroom.

Students expected to attend school daily and do the daily homework assigned. Parents support their children by listening to their child read unfamiliar book each night and by watching their child reassemble simple sentence puzzle that is a copy of a sentence that the child ghostwritten at school that day.

Parents are welcome to visit a Reading Recovery lesson at any time. If you have questions about the program, contact Mrs. Sharon Thieman at 293-8935 ext. 1025.