• Overview
• Goals
  Absorption & Identification

  Age Appropriate Skills

  Parent Education & Support
• Curriculum & Instruction
  Curriculum Design

  Class

  Home Practice
• Program Level Details & Student Testimonials
  Level R

  Level 1

  Level 2

  Level 3

  Level 4

  Level 5

  Level 6

  Level 7

  Class Sizes and Lengths

Level 3: Developing Independent Reading Skills

Our Level 3 program is designed for entering third graders. At this age, children are making the transition between fluency in Easy Readers to fluency in chapter books. In order to cross this bridge, students need extensive practice to build the fluency, comprehension, and stamina that constitute independence. Class meets once per week for five weeks, and each class is 2 hours long.

Program Goals

1. Help students solidify long-word decoding skills.
2. Develop fluency, comprehension, and stamina needed for independent reading.
3. Give students positive experiences with books.
4. Provide parents with the guidance they need to choose books for their child's independent reading practice at the right level of challenge.

Activities

Students are taught the long word-decoding skills they need to develop independence in books that contain more challenging words. Students learn to recognize smaller parts of words such as prefixes, suffixes, and common syllable types, and then to use these parts to decode the full word. Students get started on the long word-decoding lesson in class and then finish practicing the lesson for homework. Being able to decode long, unfamiliar words increases reading fluency. Teachers also provide students with direct instruction in what fluent reading sounds like, and students practice reading fluently every week in class and as a part of home practice. Oral fluency translates eventually into silent reading fluency and bolsters comprehension.

Teachers conduct in-class independent reading sessions, providing students with the support they need to have a successful experience with books of increasing length and difficulty. Teachers provide extensive comprehension support for these students to enable them to grapple with the more complex story lines they now encounter in their reading. Teachers lead lively discussions centered on essential story elements such as the beginning-middle-end structure of stories, characters, and meaning. These discussions encourage students to identify with the characters, enjoy the stories, and challenge them to think about their reading in new, personally meaningful ways. Taken together, the skills students practice in the class books build students' independent reading stamina.

Students are asked to do their best, but teachers also make sure that students have fun while working hard to improve their skills. The books used in class are filled with humor, surprise, and fascinating characters. Teachers model a genuine excitement for the stories and an interest in students' reactions to them that motivates children to read on their own.

Teachers also work individually with every student in class to provide a Book Level Recommendation that will help parents choose books at the right level of difficulty for independent practice. The recommendation corresponds with the Reading Development Booklist, provided as part of the course materials, which lists the best books for third graders to read both during and after the program. After the program ends, parents have the opportunity to sign up for a book club that provides their child with books at the right level of difficulty as well as other materials. Teachers describe the book club and distribute flyers to parents in a five-minute meeting during the fourth lesson.

Apply Now Who We Are Looking For

I love teaching Level 3. They're still little kids, and they say and do innocent little kid stuff. They also have some schema for how classrooms work and how to do school. They work hard and are completely earnest in their efforts.

— Kristen, Institute instructor in Chicago & PhD Candidate in English Literature