My home base at Hope School is the Reading Lab, currently located in room 11a. If you visit there, you’ll see me present students with a variety of structured intervention lessons to help them increase their reading abilities.  You’ll see students reading from the very minute they enter, and you’ll see students engaged in the process of increasing sight words, sounding out words, and “making meaning” as they interact with the printed word.

The first grade program has a heavy emphasis on sight word development and phonics. We use predictable and familiar stories and many reading games to keep the students actively involved and progressing. The second grade program incorporates comprehension strategies and accountability through story-mapping activities while extending the phonics lessons to more complex vowel combinations and letter patterns.  The third grade decoding program focuses on multi-syllable words, while fluency and comprehension are addressed through the very popular Reads Naturally Program.

As you can see, we have a multitude of activities and an eclectic approach.  This makes sense, because students learn in many different ways and bring a unique variety of strengths and weaknesses to the task of learning to read.

About Mrs. Stevens:  I hold a multiple subject credential as well as a secondary credential in English and History.  I have earned both a Masters in Education and a California Reading Specialist Credential.  I began teaching in 1979 as a Junior High School history teacher. I have two children, love dogs, am an avid gardener, and love to hike, ski, and practice Tai Chi.  Most of all, I love reading, and I love children.  My job at Hope School is a perfect fit for me.