We have had major upgrading in our computer lab this year.  CCC Successmaker has been implemented in both reading and math for many students.  Children are stretched to think and solve problems, and skills that have been taught in the classroom are reinforced.  We have been collecting data to follow student growth throughout the year, and will be tabulating this information to see if it is having a positive impact on student success.

The Program: Research shows that a level of "fluency" must be reached so that students can remember information over time. To achieve fluency, students practice a set of skills until they are able to "read" at a certain rate, for example 80 sounds in a minute. It is a phonics based program. First, students learn the sounds of letters and practice these to fluency.  Then these sounds are combined and students learn to blend the sounds together to form words which are also practiced to fluency. Finally children start to read stories which are practiced for fluency as well. The program progresses systematically through skills, progressively increasing the level of difficulty.

The Program Today: As with everything, we continue to learn more and more about how children learn. We are constantly learning about what is effective to help children read and what is not. Fluency practicing is not as large a part of this program today as it was in the past. Children still practice sounds to fluency, but seldom do children read lists of words to fluency.  While children practice to improve the rate of story reading, there is a greater emphasis on reading with expression, stopping for punctuation and reading with a pleasant voice. We have learned that while it is exciting to move quickly up through the levels there is great value in broadening out the skills and reading a wider variety of material at the same level.