Intervention Syllabus
Bryson Elementary School
2025-2026
Overview
“RTI” means Response to Intervention. We are a team of interventionists dedicated to helping each student become successful in the area of reading. Our goal is to encourage students to become confident, life-long readers for enjoyment as well as knowledge.
Students in grades 1-3 meet with their intervention teacher for 30 minutes 5 times per week. Students receive instruction in phonics, comprehension, writing, and word work in small groups. We are careful to pull students during a time when they will not be missing core instruction.
How Students are Identified
Each fall, winter, and spring, students in kindergarten through 5th grade will be screened using Amira benchmarks. The computer-based assessments are short and fun for the children. K5-1st Grade students are administered a second computer-based Amira benchmark on alphabetics and other foundational skills. We also look at a student’s data and teacher recommendations to help us determine each child’s strengths and needs. We use this information to help determine which students would benefit from additional instruction in reading.
Identified students are placed in small groups based on need. These small groups will meet with their intervention teacher to receive systematic, differentiated instruction in reading.
Tutoring
Students who are identified for intervention will also receive tutoring using the Amira computer-based program for 10 minutes a day 3 times per week. This will be in addition to the instruction that they receive from their interventionist and classroom teacher. This tutoring is tailored to each child’s needs. Students who participate in tutoring on a regular basis (up to 30 minutes a week) have been shown to make more progress in reading than students who do not participate in the tutoring program.
Some students participating in reading intervention will utilize Reading Horizons, a research-based instructional program designed to develop reading proficiency. Grouping will be determined according to individual strengths and areas for improvement, and instruction will be tailored to address these specific needs.
The scope and sequence for Reading Horizons is available at the following link:
Scope and Sequence - Reading Horizons
Some students will be provided small group instruction using our HMH reading curriculum for reteaching of skills in phonics, spelling, fluency, comprehension, and writing. This program allows interventionists to follow the scope and sequence of what is being taught in the classroom.
Scope and Sequence: First Grade
Scope and Sequence: Second Grade
Scope and Sequence: Third Grade
Progress Monitoring
The Amira tutoring program will also track student progress over time. Interventionists will use that progress monitoring data to guide instruction in the small group, intervention setting. Groups are flexible and students are occasionally moved from one group to another to most closely meet their reading needs. Through intervention, students have the chance to proudly show what they’ve learned using Reading Horizons progress monitoring quizzes, Amira progress monitoring, Easy CBM fluency passages, along with insights from their teachers. If a student is not making progress in the intervention program, an On-Track meeting can be held to assess how to best meet the student’s needs. The team of people will discuss steps for helping the student become a successful reader.
How Parents Can Help their Children at Home
Parents should read with their child each night. Decodable books/passages are great for early readers as they follow a decoding pattern that is being taught in school. Have your child read a decodable to you. Then, read a fun book together with your child each night. Ask your child about the story. What is this book about? See if they can explain what happened in their own words. Talk about the characters and the places where the books are set. Explain the meaning of tricky words as you are reading stories. Talk about what is happening and wonder together what could happen next. Connect the book to your own lives and your own stories. Podcasts are another excellent way to bring on wonderful conversations around stories and texts. There are several children’s books on sites where you get your podcasts…just enter children’s books in your search. Even watching a favorite tv show or movie and discussing it with your child is a great way to encourage conversations around stories and nonfiction topics. We always suggest parents look into the content of a podcast, book, or movie or preview the media before showing it to your child to make sure it is appropriate for your child’s age and your values. Have fun reading, listening, and viewing with your child.
Contact
If you ever have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact your child’s interventionist: Cathy Bish at cbish@greenville.k12.sc.us or Jennifer Coley at jencoley@greenville.k12.sc.us