• What is Literacy Support Skills?

     

    Literacy Support Skills is primarily a reading tutorial for students needing a “boost” in their reading comprehension. This school year I will be assisting some students even more intensely with word knowledge, decoding words, encoding words, and reading fluency. I see myself as a reading coach who improves your child’s “toolbox” of reading strategies to enhance their reading comprehension. 

     

     

    Why is my child in Literacy Support Skills?

     

    Your child is in Literacy Support classes based on a combination of assessment results and possibly teacher recommendations. You should have received an email from Dr. Anthony DeMarco at the beginning of the 2024- 2025 school year indicating that your child is eligible for Literacy Support.  

     

    What goes on in a Literacy Support Skills Class?

     

    I see the students two or three days out of the six-day cycle. The children are pulled out of the "Excel" class, and I spend 64 minutes with them per class period.  My classes have ranged in size from two to six students. I also push into many of my students' Language Arts classes.

      

     Due to the smaller Literacy Support Skills class size, instruction can be more individualized, and the class pace is based on the students' needs. 

    I do not work on classwork for your child’s English Language Arts class.  I work on strategies and skills that meet the needs of your child where they are.  The goal is to improve your child’s reading comprehension through strategy work.

     

    Are students responsible for homework and do they get graded?

     

    Students will NOT get homework in my class, with the possible exception of asking her/him/them to practice reading a few paragraphs for oral reading fluency.  Everything the student needs for the class is already in my classroom, although the students are expected to bring their charged Chromebooks. Your child will receive a progress report from me for each trimester.  These reports are located on Genesis. I try to make the class as “stress-free” as possible.

     

    Will the student stay in Literacy Support Skills for the entire school year?

     

    If your student has made substantial academic progress and your child’s English/Language Arts teacher agrees, your student may be exited from Literacy Support.  If the student is exited from the program, he/ she/ they are put on a “watch list” and monitored for the rest of the school year to make sure the student is continuing his/her/their success.  A parent may decide independently to withdraw a child from Support Skills, but they must write to Dr. DeMarco for the child to be exited. 

     

    You should be aware that the vast majority of my students enjoy my class, even if they are not enthusiastic readers.  Due to the smaller class size and the relaxed atmosphere, students feel more at ease to participate.  The reading materials are geared at the students’ reading levels, which invites success.  I model many strategies and support the students so they believe that they can become better readers.

     

    How do I get in touch with Ms. Lurie?

     

    The fastest way you can get in touch with me is through my email address: Karen.Lurie@frsd.us.  I always try to get back in touch with parents within 24 hours. Please feel free to contact me any time you have a concern.

     

    Please note that at conference time in November, you can hold an individual conference to see me. Usually, I try very hard to attend your child’s team meeting with all of his/her/their teachers and you, because it gives me additional information on how your child is doing in his/her/their core classes.  However, it gives us more time to discuss concerns if you see me one-on-one.  I will still try to attend the team conference, as well.

     

    Are there any resources I could look at to help me understand reading strategies?

     

     I Read It, But I Don’t Get It: Comprehension Strategies for Adolescent Readers by Cris Tovani (ISBN 1 57110 089X) is a book for teachers, but I think it is full of common sense and quite accessible for any reader.  Cris Tovani is a reading specialist who, as a child, sounded fluent, but who didn’t comprehend texts into her adult years.  She admits to having “faked” reading throughout her school career.  Fortunately, I have run into a few children in Flemington who “fake” reading, but the strategies Cris Tovani suggests are those that we use in Support Skills.