The Whole School Benefits
Because of their deep understanding of literacy theory and practice, Reading Recovery-trained teachers and teacher leaders become experts for their schools which benefits the whole classroom. Trained teachers work for part of the day in Reading Recovery and the other part day in another role, for example: half time grade one teachers, special education or resource teacher, literacy coach.
Each year, a typical Reading Recovery-trained teacher works with 8-10 Reading Recovery students and 20 – 30 other students. The video below outlines the implementation and impact Reading Recovery has had in the Peace River South School District.
Reading Recovery Lessons
Daily 30-minute Reading Recovery lessons are tailored to meet the specific needs of the student and are delivered by specially trained teachers. Drawing on careful observation and using their knowledge of a wide range of procedures, Reading Recovery teachers give each student the support they need to make fast progress in reading and writing.
Lesson Content
Every lesson has several key components, each of which is designed to offer students opportunities for problem solving and practice. Lessons include reading familiar books, taking a running record on a book introduced in the previous lesson, working with letters and/or words using magnetic letters, writing a story, assembling a cut up story and reading a new book.
During each lesson children learn to hear and record sounds and to work with spelling patterns. Comprehension, independent problem solving and reading fluency are all included in Reading Recovery instruction.
After Completing a Series of Lessons, Students Can:
- Read increasingly more difficult texts at an instructional level, expanding their power to learn from their own efforts and solve problems as they read and write.
- Compose increasingly complex messages using resources to solve new words: students monitor and edit their work, knowing when and how to get help.
- Continue to learn with supportive classroom instruction.
Each year, the impact of Reading Recovery in Canada is documented in a National Data Report.
To find out more about implementing Reading Recovery, IPLÉ or Literacy Lessons in your school district, or to arrange to observe teacher training sessions or Reading Recovery lessons, please contact the CIRR or the Reading Recovery Trainer in your region.
CIRR: cirr@rrcanada.org 416 908 7711
Atlantic Region (NB, NS, PEI, NL): Yvette Heffernan, Lisa Harvey or Gretchen Gerhardt
Central Region (Ontario and Quebec): Melissa Wilde
Western Region (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nunavut, NWT): Allyson Matczuk or Jennifer Flight
Mountain Pacific Region (BC, Alberta and Yukon): Melissa Wilde
IPLÉ – Lisa Harvey
Read more about Reading Recovery and comprehensive literacy plans on the RRCNA site:
Promising Literacy for Every Child
Principal Kevin Dunn on how Reading Recovery improved school literacy at his school.