Green Meadow Reading Teacher Samantha Stuarts working with a small reading group.

Visit our Facebook page to see inside the classroom of Green Meadow Reading Teacher Samantha Stuarts. On Wednesday morning, Ms. Stuarts worked with a group of four 3rd grade students on decoding multisyllabic words. They broke down words such as “recognize” and “explode” by writing each syllable on small white boards called syllaboards. They also reviewed the different types of syllables – open, closed and vce – and the characteristics each of them have.

The lesson is from the district’s reading program Really Great Reading-HD Word. This phonics-based program helps teach the foundational skills that lead to strong decoding, and fluent, accurate reading.

While the focus of HD Word is phonics and phonemic awareness, this rate of transfer is high with students’s skills in other areas of reading, such as fluency and comprehension. The lessons are designed to help transform a student’s ability to accurately read complex words. The net effect is faster, more accurate, and more confident readers.