Dexter Parents Learn About Literacy at Cornerstone Elementary

Parents of teacher Kimberly Gillow’s first grade class and Kathy Shannon’s kindergarten class at were treated to a crash course on literacy and how reading is taught at the school on Monday night.

“First grade is an important one (grade) for reading” Gillow, a reading intervention specialist, said.

Students’ reading ability is evaluated at the beginning of the school year and each is assigned a reading level based on the Fountas and Pinnell book leveling system. Fountas and Pinnell evaluate and assign books to certain levels based on several factors including: genre, text structure, content, sentence complexity, illustrations, vocabulary and print features. The books are then labeled and color coded in order for students to most easily find a book at his or her reading level.

According to Gillow’s research, students in the early stages of reading should have 90 minutes of "just right" reading — reading that is neither too difficult nor too easy — every day.  Every Cornerstone classroom has a block of time each day dedicated to literacy.

Gillow stressed the importance of parents reading at home with their children for at least 20 minutes per day.

“Reading practice at home should be easy for the students,” Gillow said.

Parent Tracie Sikora of Dexter said she was grateful for the opportunity to learn about the reading program at Cornerstone.

"It gives us a clearer understanding of how much work we need to contribute at home to help our child reach her reading goals," she said.

For more information on the book-leveling system, visit www.fountasandpinnellleveledbooks.com.