Walk to Read at Peace Dale
Posted on 08/16/2023
Walk to ReadPeace Dale Elementary School has implemented a Walk to Read program to help students improve their reading skills. The program allows students to walk to different classrooms based on their reading level to focus on the skills they need to improve.

In the Walk to Read program, a reader is in a group based on their needs, and teachers rotate their roles. For example, Mrs. Iverson may teach phonics and then switch to fluency. Mr. Farrelly has his students focused on non-fiction comprehension. During a group discussion, a student discussed Johnny Appleseed “he planted 100 apple trees across Ohio”, and another provided insight on JFK. Students then broke into groups to read and discuss other important figures who have contributed to society. 

According to Mr. Farrelly, Walk to Read is “really geared towards what that child needs to make that time optimal. I have the students doing comprehension strategies. We looked at things like text-to-self, text-to-world, text-to-text, and synthesizing the information to retell stories.”  It is very effective in helping students improve their reading skills. Teachers have been able to take those small groups and hone in on weaknesses to improve them. Students who participate in the program have shown improvement in their reading fluency, comprehension, phonics, and vocabulary.

In addition to helping students improve their reading skills, the Walk to Read program also helps students build relationships with other students and teachers in second grade. The program allows students to interact with others at the same reading level as them, even if they are in another classroom. They also get to know other second-grade teachers better. Mr. Farrelly loves to work with the students in other classes, “We get to know all the kids at the grade level at a higher level, and it allows them to take a break from their usual reading. They look forward to it.”

The Walk to Read program is an excellent example of how schools can use innovative programs to help students succeed. The program is very effective in helping students improve their reading skills, and it also helps students build social-emotional skills by working with different students and teachers. The second-grade teachers at Peace Dale deserve credit for trying something different and impacting student learning.