Hi! My name is Julie Hrycko. I am the Title1 Reading teacher at IC School. I obtained an Elementary Education Certification (K-8) and a Reading Endorsement (K-12) from the University of Dayton. My Masters Degree in Curriculum and Supervision was obtained from Wright State University. My teaching experiences include teaching Kindergarten for 14 years, assisting in Special Education for 1 year, and currently teaching Title 1 Reading to students in Kindergarten through third grade.

    The primary goal of the Title 1 Reading program is to further develop a child's personal proficiency in reading and writing while fostering a positive attitude toward literacy development in a small group setting. Activities in the Title classroom are focused on reading fluency and phonics, vocabulary development, comprehension strategies and written expression.

    The stories that the students bring home in grades K-3 work on building the children's fluency and confidence levels. Fluency is the ability to read quickly, accurately, and expressively. Fluent readers know how to read at an appropriate pace, how to attend to punctuation, and how to group words into meaningful phrases. Fluency is a necessary skill for developing reading comprehension. Fluent readers can recognize words automatically and read with speed and precision. Because fluent readers do not need to devote attention to figuring out each word, they are free to concentrate on the meaning of the text. By reading smoothly, expressively, and accurately, they can see and hear how words and sentences relate to each other and can connect the ideas in the text to their own background knowledge.

    Research findings reveal that fluency can be improved by:

• Modeling fluent reading from children

• Engaging children in repeated, monitored oral reading activities

• Providing books for children to read at their independent reading level

• Having children read fluency word lists to reinforce and improve children's automatic recognition of high-frequency words

    Modeling demonstrates for children how fluent reading sounds. It is easily implemented by reading aloud to children and pointing out how fluent readers attend to punctuation, change the pitch and tome of their voices to show expression, and read at a smooth and even pace. Also, having children reread the text in the way that you model it will help them learn these skills.

    Children develop fluency when they have the opportunities to practice and when they receive clear guidance for improvement. One of the most effective ways of practicing is to have children orally reread the same passage or text several times. As they read, acknowledge their progress and identify ways they can improve.

    Fluency develops when children can read texts easily and successfully. Therefore, children should have many opportunities to practice fluency with books and passages at their independent reading level. An independent reading level is considered to be the level in which the reader makes not more than 1 mistake in 20 words. When reading materials are too challenging, children must focus on decoding and cannot concentrate on reading rate, expression, or meaning.

    Lists of sight words reinforce and improve children's automatic recognition of high-frequency words. The lists should be practiced until the words can be read without hesitation. Sight word lists benefit all children in increasing fluency, and comprehension in their readings.

    In summary, the goals for the Title 1 Reading program include having children read smoothly by grouping words into meaningful phrases: read with expression; use punctuation as phrasing clues; read at an even pace; demonstrate comprehension of text;  read accurately; self-correct while reading; and compose retellings of stories in paragraph form. It is truly amazing to watch the process of reading "unfold" for children at the elementary level. I feel very fortunate to be able to share with parents their child's wonder and excitement as they learn to read in the early stages.