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Specialized Reading and Writing Program

The Provincial Demonstration Schools use a wide variety of techniques in the teaching of reading. Since the inception of the schools, the staff have continued to research and develop a wide variety of techniques. Many students with learning disabilities require special reading programs. The reader who reads significantly below his or her
expected level requires an instructional approach other than the one typically found in the regular class. Multisensory approaches, combining visual, auditory, tactile, kinesthetic feedback and neuro-cognitiveare often most helpful.

Techniques used in the schools depend upon:

• Reading levels of the pupils
• Observable skills and learning patterns of the student
• Specific needs of the student
• Specific reading skill being developed
• Strategy that has the best prognosis for success

The development of effective writing process skills is a key element of the program. Initially, teaching focuses on the writing process with limited expectations from the product. Students are systematically taught a pattern for the development of ideas, from single words to sentences and to paragraphs. Throughout this process, students are taught specific procedures for the editing of their work for capitalization, punctuation and spelling. The linking of paragraphs into a coherent pattern is the final step in the process. Students are taught strategies for linking paragraphs into longer pieces of work and applications into other subject areas.

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