From the Desk of Claudia Johnson
Reading Department Chair

Dear Parents and Guardians,

It is my pleasure to welcome you and your students too another great year of “Reading.” At Deer Park Middle Magnet School, we pride ourselves on our tradition of academic excellence and high standards. Our goal is to focus on the reading needs of all our students. It is our expectation that every student will become proficient or advance readers. My staff and I are prepared to partner with you and your student to ensure their success this year.

Outlined below is a brief synopsis of the two accelerated reading programs offered at Deer Park Middle Magnet School, the Language! Program and the Fast Track Program.

Reading Program Synopsis

Language!
The Language! Program is an accelerated, interactive reading program that teaches literacy explicit, sequentially, and cumulatively. The program is based on the following:
• Teacher input, testing and review
• Designed for differentiated instruction based on student need
• Strategic in its use of assessment and technology
• Phonemic Awareness and Phonics, Word Recognition Spelling, Vocabulary and Morphology, Grammar and Usage, Listening and Reading Comprehension, Speaking and Writing

Each unit of Language! Features engaging reading selections at three levels of reading difficulty that steadily increases in readability level throughout the curriculum. Students are exposed to various literary genres-including nonfiction, fiction, plays, and poetry-and develop higher-level thinking skills through teacher-led textual analysis.

Fast Track Reading Program (Grades 7th and 8th)

The 7th and 8th Grade Program is designed to accelerate readers to grade level proficiency and standards as quickly as possible by helping the teacher accurately assess students, needs and then deliver intensive, targeted instruction. The program also addresses the core linguistic deficits underlying reading failure. The instruction is comprehensive, continuous, and inclusive of all the major components of reading;
• Phonemic awareness
• Phonemic decoding skills
• Fluency – word and passage
• Vocabulary
• Comprehension
(Moats and Lyon 1996)

• Phonemic awareness
• Phonemic decoding skills
• Fluency – word and passage
• Vocabulary
• Comprehension
(Moats and Lyon 1996)

Strive for 25 is a school wide initiative to help students read at least 25 books per school year, to promote reading readiness. Please click on the icon to the left to go directly to the Strive for 25 website.

If you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Let’s have a great year celebrating reading.