Student Reading Program

By Sarah Barnes

Major Course Learning Objectives

Prepare and implement activities and
experiences appropriate to the setting.
Select activities, projects and techniques that
promote the mission of the agency.
Demonstrate competence in communication in
accordance with early childhood professional
practices.
Develop and implement tools, various survey
instruments, interview processes or other
appropriate assessments.

NAEYC Standards Addressed

STANDARD 4. USING DEVELOPMENTALLY EFFECTIVE APPROACHES
Candidates prepared in early childhood degree programs understand that teaching and learning
with young children is a complex enterprise, and its details vary depending on childrens ages,
characteristics, and the settings within which teaching and learning occur. They a) understand
and use positive relationships and supportive interactions as the foundation for their work with
young children and families. Candidates b, c) know, understand, and use a wide array of
developmentally appropriate approaches, instructional strategies, and tools to connect with
children and families and d) positively influence each childs development and learning
(NAEYC, 2010).
STANDARD 5. USING CONTENT KNOWLEDGE TO BUILD MEANINGFUL CURRICULUM
Candidates prepared in early childhood degree programs a) use their knowledge of academic
disciplines to design, implement, and evaluate experiences that promote positive development
and learning for each and every young child. Candidates understand the importance of
developmental domains and academic (or content) disciplines in early childhood curriculum.
They b) know the essential concepts, inquiry tools, and structure of content areas, including
academic subjects, and can identify resources to deepen their understanding. Candidates c) use
their own knowledge and other resources to design, implement, and evaluate meaningful,
challenging curriculum that promotes comprehensive developmental and learning outcomes for
every young child (NAEYC, 2010).

What is the Student Reading Program?

This is a program that all of the kindergarten
teachers follow at Sutton Elementary. The teachers
found a site where they can print off books that are on
a basic reading level aa all the way to Z. Students are
to try and read one new book every night with their
family, or however long it takes the student to read the
book correctly and without assistance. The student
reads the books with their family, then come back to
school and read the book to the teacher. Once the book
has been read correctly, they receive a new book.

Prizes
5 - Twizzlers
10 - Pencil
15 3 M.O.P. Tickets
20 Piece of Candy
25 Lunch with the teacher
30 Bookmark
35 Reading award
40 Traveling Suitcase
45 Lunch with the
principal
50 Ice Cream Sundae

Reader Tracking Board

Reading Procedures:
Students are given the book level aa to start out; only
one student is given a level D book because she reads a
grade level above the rest of the students
The students take that book home to read with a
family member until they know the words on the page.
The next day, the students sit with the teacher and the
book from front to back.
If the student has mastered the words in the book,
they receive a new book; if they have not mastered the
book, they take it home to reread again until it is
mastered.
The goal is to get to fifty books as fast as possible.

Pros and Cons About the Program

Pros
Students who
participated on a regular
basis improved
dramatically
Students enjoyed the
books they were reading
A great way to build selfconfidence
students were able to
improve their letter and
word recognition

Cons
Some students have no
read a single book all
semester
Family members were not
getting involved in their
reading
Family members were not
following directions on the
log sheet
Time consuming if you do
not have another person in
the class to read with the
students

What I Have Learned

It is really hard to make families participate in the classroom activities.

This was the most infuriating part of my job in this program. One student told the
teacher that his mother did not care if he did the readings or not. Not only does
this hurt the student academically, but it hurts the teacher/parent relations as
well.

Even if a student does not like to read, it is your job to make them read
anyway.

I had one student who repeatedly told me she hated to read, but I told her that
reading was fun and she would have to do it for the rest of her life. It is her job to
do the work in school just like it was my job to teach it to her.

It does not matter how much you plan for something, other things of more
importance will take precedence.

There would be days that I would sit down to read and only get through four
students, and they would have to go to meeting or morning work would come up.
It is important for me to remember who had not read and move that to the next
time I worked with those students.

Organization is absolutely critical.

No matter how much I thought the book categorization through, it seemed like an
impossible task. I did not have much shelf or cabinet space for all the books we
had for reading, and finding a place for them that was accessible by anyone proved
to be a task in itself. I ended up leaving the books in the boxes and putting labeled
dividers up.

Reference
National Association for the Education of Young
Children. (2011). 2010 Standards for Initial
Early Childhood Professional Preparation.
NAEYC.