**All Backyard Literacy Classes are $320 per child for 8 hour long sessions. If you have a group of 4 - 10 kids set up- text Colleen at 908-278-0855 to check availability for the class you want and get the password for your group to pay and get started.
If you don't see the class you want, please reach out to us! We are very open to ideas and suggestions and will try to work to make it happen!
If you don't see the class you want, please reach out to us! We are very open to ideas and suggestions and will try to work to make it happen!
Kindergarten:
Emergent Readers in Kindergarten: ONE CLASS REMAINING
Whenever you step inside this teacher's Kindergarten classroom, you can't help but pull up a chair and watch in wonder as ALL children demonstrate exuberance at their own ability to read. Supportive pictures, controlled vocabulary, mastered sight words and lots of love are poured into the homemade books this teacher crafts so her students feel confident as emergent readers. By the end of the year, many of these Kindergarteners have moved from emergent readers to proficient and accelerated readers. Sign up for 8 one-hour sessions and see the magic unfold for yourself with a seasoned teacher with her Master's Degree. Available weekdays 3:45 - 4:45
Kindergarten and Developmentally Appropriate Practice
Nothing like having a certified Reading Specialist and an early childhood expert all rolled up into one! This experienced educator is Orton-Gillingham certified, is well versed in Reading/Writing Workshop and she is certified in Phonics First and Fundations. Her incredible thematic units incorporate hands on experiences for the littlest of learners. Stories, circle time, crafts, sensory play and movement are some of the activities that your little one will enjoy while working on reading skills. Sign up for 8 one-hour sessions with a teacher who will provide the perfect balance of developmentally appropriate reading experiences for young children. Available weekdays 3:45 - 4:45
Alphabet in Action: Kinesthetic Connections
Have a group of kids who can't stop moving and need to learn their letters and sounds? Alphabet in Action is the answer! These 8 sessions focus on socially distant, kinesthetic activities and games to get kids up and moving while they learn. Adding physical activity to learning helps kids naturally learn through the process of "doing" and leads to increased information retention. Get kids up and moving after a day of virtual learning and have them learn letters and sounds at the same time. Win-Win! Flexible Schedule
First Grade:
Foundational Phonics: CLOSED
First grade is the key year for setting a solid phonics foundation. Studies show that first graders who were taught phonics systematically were better able to decode and spell, and they showed significant improvement in their ability to comprehend text. Sign up for 8 one-hour sessions with a Wilson Certified teacher who is passionate about teaching Wilson and enhance your child's learning with multi-sensory techniques and instruction. This newly retired teacher has flexibility in her schedule and right now is only picking up one group so reach out quickly.
First grade is the key year for setting a solid phonics foundation. Studies show that first graders who were taught phonics systematically were better able to decode and spell, and they showed significant improvement in their ability to comprehend text. Sign up for 8 one-hour sessions with a Wilson Certified teacher who is passionate about teaching Wilson and enhance your child's learning with multi-sensory techniques and instruction. This newly retired teacher has flexibility in her schedule and right now is only picking up one group so reach out quickly.
Foundational Phonics:
First grade is the key year for setting a solid phonics foundation. Studies show that first graders who were taught phonics systematically were better able to decode and spell, and they showed significant improvement in their ability to comprehend text. Sign up for 8 one-hour sessions with an Orton-Gillingham Certified teacher who is passionate about teaching OG and enhance your child's learning with multi-sensory techniques and instruction. This current first grade teacher is also a certified reading specialist, also certified in Phonics First and Fundations. Meets 3:45 - 4:45 Weekdays
First grade is the key year for setting a solid phonics foundation. Studies show that first graders who were taught phonics systematically were better able to decode and spell, and they showed significant improvement in their ability to comprehend text. Sign up for 8 one-hour sessions with an Orton-Gillingham Certified teacher who is passionate about teaching OG and enhance your child's learning with multi-sensory techniques and instruction. This current first grade teacher is also a certified reading specialist, also certified in Phonics First and Fundations. Meets 3:45 - 4:45 Weekdays
Phonics and Sight Words for Emerging Readers
In this course, students will take part in fun, interactive lessons involving games, movement, and group and individual instruction. Students will exercise their phonetic muscles to both encode and decode age appropriate words. Students will also take part in individualized sight word practice to build upon their reading skills. This course is taught by an elementary teacher with masters level training and experience with Fundations and Project Read curricula. Meets Weekdays 3:45 - 4:45
Early Literacy Strategies: ONE CLASS REMAINING
This veteran Kindergarten teacher is a MASTER when it comes to teaching the youngest of students how to read. She writes her own books- and in doing so is able to provide reading opportunities that support children in developing effective strategies. Most of her class leaves Kindergarten well into first grade benchmarks, even when teaching virtually. Sign up for 8 one-hour sessions with a teacher who understands the early reading process and enable your early reader to get up to speed with reading. She has availability for 2 more groups and has a Masters Degree. Sessions run from 3:45 - 4:45.
1st Grade Literacy Block
This class gives equal attention to reading and writing instruction. Rich read-alouds will focus on challenging ideas, comprehension and vocabulary. Key phonics lessons will cover the alphabetic code and the foundational phonics that first graders need to begin to blend sounds into words. Independent reading and conferencing will zoom in on exactly what your child needs. Modeled writing will demonstrate key conventions and capturing ideas on paper. Shared Writing will model how to use that phonic knowledge to write multi-syllabic words with accuracy. Independent writing will give your child the chance to try it all out with one of the most engaging, beloved educators around. Sign up for 8 one hour sessions taught by an experienced, retired educator with a plethora of first and second grade experience. Flexible hours!
Second Grade:
Dog Lovers! Build Your Comprehension Strategies : ONE CLASS REMAINING
If you love dogs, do we have a class for you! Lifelong comprehension strategy instruction is going to the dogs! Comprehension strategies for understanding plot and setting, retelling, characters, and thinking about the lessons or themes of books will be addressed with the help of our furry friends. All books will have dog characters and engage readers as they begin to applying these strategies to their own bag of books. Word Work and a study of the elements of poetry will also be included! Sign up for 8 one-hour sessions with a retired early childhood teacher (Pre-K - 3) with 30 years experience. She truly was/is one of the very best! Flexible Hours
Transitioning from Beginning Readers to Early Chapter Books
As second graders grow as readers, they need to graduate from simple leveled readers to beginning chapter books. This class will show them the ropes and how to transition to harder text. Students will learn how chapter books are structured, (Does it have episodic chapters or is it one continuous story?) begin to understand cause and effect, identify problems and retell multiple important events. They will follow the characters through the chapters and decide if the traits of the main characters and track if they change throughout the chapters. They will start to pay attention to the character's feelings and begin to articulate the lesson or theme that presents itself. These sessions would be great for kids just starting to explore books like Poppleton, Henry and Mudge, Mr. Putter and Tabby and The Katie Woo Series. These sessions would be foundational and will prepare students to take on longer chapter books such as Horrible Harry, Ricky Ricotta or Cam Jansen. Meets weekdays 3:45 - 4:45
2nd Grade Literacy Block
This class gives equal attention to reading and writing instruction. Rich read-alouds will focus on challenging ideas, comprehension and vocabulary. Key phonics lessons will cover the alphabetic code and the foundational phonics that second graders need to begin to work on multisyllabic words. Independent reading and conferencing will zoom in on exactly what your child needs. Modeled writing will demonstrate key conventions and capturing ideas on paper. Shared Writing will model how to use that phonic knowledge to write multi-syllabic words with accuracy. Independent writing will give your child the chance to try it all out with one of the most engaging, beloved educators around. Sign up for 8 one hour sessions taught by an experienced, retired educator with a plethora of first and second grade experience. Flexible hours!
Third Grade
Graphic Novel Book Study
Graphic novels are often misunderstood by adults. The notion that they are simplistic and not "real reading" is outdated. The truth is that high quality graphic novels today contain challenging reading material that demands many of the same skills needed to understand traditional novels. These books contain higher-level vocabulary, and a wide range of literary devices including point of view, metaphors, symbolism and narrative structures. Diving deep into graphic novels with an experienced educator can help students develop critical skills such as inferencing and analyzing text. Highly motivating, these books appeal to both reluctant readers and advanced readers alike due to their visual features, complex plots and interesting structures. Sign up for 8 one hour sessions with a favorite third grade teacher who is dual certified and full of energy. Sessions available from 3:45 - 4:45 Weekdays.
Dive into Goal Based Fiction Book Clubs
When done skillfully with an excellent teacher, book clubs are ripe for opportunities for students to strengthen their comprehension and increase reading engagement. Book Club instruction focuses on teaching students to process challenging and thought-provoking ideas while learning to apply higher level comprehension strategies. Working to craft written responses will help students articulate their ideas while determining importance and analyzing literary elements of text. All of this while improving their reading stamina, fluency and expression. Sign up for 8 one-hour sessions with one of the hardest working, highest-motivated educators around. Dual Certified in both regular and special education, this instructor knows all of the key techniques for differentiating instruction based on student need.
* A menu of book titles will be provided for your group to choose from. Sessions available from 3:45 - 4:45 Weekdays.
* A menu of book titles will be provided for your group to choose from. Sessions available from 3:45 - 4:45 Weekdays.
Transitioning from "Learning to Read" to "Reading to Learn" with Nonfiction Text
As students move up the grade levels, the focus shifts from learning "how to read" (decoding, fluency, basic comprehension) to "reading to learn" (processing complex information for understanding). This doesn't happen automatically, but through focused lessons from a skilled educator. Your child will learn to acquire higher level comprehension skills that help students to comprehend, apply, analyze, synthesize and evaluate non-fiction text. Sign up for 8 one-hour sessions with an experienced, highly motivated, dual-certified teacher who specialized in technology, coding and STEM and who knows all the ins and outs of nonfiction text. Meets Weekdays 3:45 - 4:45.
Backyard Theater
If your child's enthusiasm for reading is waning, Reader's Theater is the answer! It requires no sets, costumes, props or memorized lines. The goal is to be able to read a script aloud effectively, bringing the text alive by using voice, facial expressions and some gestures. Exploration of this genre benefits students in multiple ways. It broadens vocabulary regarding plays, which proves beneficial come standardized testing time, as these types of questions almost always appear. It provides an opportunity for students to enhance their comprehension of text as they focus on character exploration to determine traits and motivations. This paves the way for fluency work as they reflect upon what they learned about the character to influence their expression, intonation and inflection as they read. A confidence building class that is an engaging and powerful avenue to literacy acquisition! Sign up for 8 motivating sessions with an experienced educator who capitalized on engagement and fun! Meets Weekdays 3:45 - 4:30.
It's a Mystery in the Making
Mysteries are the perfect vehicle for teaching critical thinking and deductive reasoning skills in a fun, exciting way. Students will learn the structure of this genre as they read like detectives mining for details. The group will work together to organize facts and analyze characters and events to formulate predictions and try to solve the mystery. Higher level comprehension skills such as inferencing will be in play as students reason through the evidence. Sign up for 8 sessions and this experienced fifth grade teacher will reach out to families to offer titles and the group will decide which book will be used. Meets Weekdays 3:30 - 4:30.
Little Lawyers
Do your children like to debate with you? Send them our way! In these sessions students will investigate debatable topics as they collect, generate and evaluate evidence before establishing their own position. Reading analytically, reasoning and text evidence will take center stage as students learn about the structure of a sound argument. Then comes the fun part...defending and debating their argument with their friends. Students will learn to articulate their own position on relevant topics, to communicate objectively and appreciate different points of view. Sign up for 8 sessions with an experienced fifth grade teacher and be prepared to up your game when your child starts their next debate with you! Meets Weekdays 3:30 - 4:30
Characters from the Inside Out: A Reading/Writing Combo
Talk about Character Analysis! This class hits the mark! Students will create a character for a fictional writing piece and will begin by making deliberate choices based on traits, motivations and actions. Doing this work is reciprocally beneficial to both reading AND writing. As students become more proficient at identifying and understanding these features in reading, their ability to draw them out in the characters they write about will improve. Backstories, wants, fears, goals and emotions- characters are made up of so many elements. Sign up for this 8 week course with a seasoned fifth grade teacher and help your child improve their ability to infer, interpret and analyze main characters in both reading and writing. Meets Weekdays 3:30 - 4:30.
Fourth Grade:
Dive into Goal Based Fiction Book Clubs
When done skillfully with an excellent teacher, book clubs are ripe for opportunities for students to strengthen their comprehension and increase reading engagement. Book Club instruction focuses on teaching students to process challenging and thought-provoking ideas while learning to apply higher level comprehension strategies. Working to craft written responses will help students articulate their ideas while determining importance and analyzing literary elements of text. All of this while improving their reading stamina, fluency and expression. Sign up for 8 one-hour sessions with one of the hardest working, highest-motivated educators around. Dual Certified in both regular and special education, this instructor knows all of the key techniques for differentiating instruction based on student need.
* A menu of book titles will be provided for your group to choose from. Meets Weekdays 3:45 - 4:45
* A menu of book titles will be provided for your group to choose from. Meets Weekdays 3:45 - 4:45
Transitioning from "Learning to Read" to "Reading to Learn" with Nonfiction Text
As students move up the grade levels, the focus shifts from learning "how to read" (decoding, fluency, basic comprehension) to "reading to learn" (processing complex information for understanding). This doesn't happen automatically, but through focused lessons from a skilled educator. Your child will learn to acquire higher level comprehension skills that help students to comprehend, apply, analyze, synthesize and evaluate non-fiction text. Sign up for 8 one-hour sessions with an experienced, highly motivated, dual-certified teacher who specialized in technology, coding and STEM and who knows all the ins and outs of nonfiction text.
Masterful Writing from a Masterful Teacher:
The ability to express oneself through writing is a crucial yet oft- underdeveloped skill for students in the middle and high school years. Responding to literature in an articulate and meaningful way is the crux of language arts literacy curricula. As such, writing instruction for grade five students will be part of a balanced literacy approach: literature, word study, and written expression. The written expression component will focus on the mechanics and content of writing, including but not limited to: sentence structure, punctuation, verb tense, topic sentences and supporting sentences, paragraph development, word choice, and literary devices. Students will receive age-appropriate yet challenging instruction with regard to text-based open-ended questions and multi-paragraph compositions. Text-based open-ended questions are a staple of middle school language arts curricula, as well as the ability to craft narrative and expository compositions in response to the literature. Sign up for 8 powerful sessions with an educator who truly has a way with words. 3:30 - 4:30 Weekdays.
The ability to express oneself through writing is a crucial yet oft- underdeveloped skill for students in the middle and high school years. Responding to literature in an articulate and meaningful way is the crux of language arts literacy curricula. As such, writing instruction for grade five students will be part of a balanced literacy approach: literature, word study, and written expression. The written expression component will focus on the mechanics and content of writing, including but not limited to: sentence structure, punctuation, verb tense, topic sentences and supporting sentences, paragraph development, word choice, and literary devices. Students will receive age-appropriate yet challenging instruction with regard to text-based open-ended questions and multi-paragraph compositions. Text-based open-ended questions are a staple of middle school language arts curricula, as well as the ability to craft narrative and expository compositions in response to the literature. Sign up for 8 powerful sessions with an educator who truly has a way with words. 3:30 - 4:30 Weekdays.
Backyard Theater
If your child's enthusiasm for reading is waning, Reader's Theater is the answer! It requires no sets, costumes, props or memorized lines. The goal is to be able to read a script aloud effectively, bringing the text alive by using voice, facial expressions and some gestures. Exploration of this genre benefits students in multiple ways. It broadens vocabulary regarding plays, which proves beneficial come standardized testing time, as these types of questions almost always appear. It provides an opportunity for students to enhance their comprehension of text as they focus on character exploration to determine traits and motivations. This paves the way for fluency work as they reflect upon what they learned about the character to influence their expression, intonation and inflection as they read. A confidence building class that is an engaging and powerful avenue to literacy acquisition! Sign up for 8 motivating sessions with an experienced educator who capitalized on engagement and fun! Weekdays 3:30 - 4:30.
It's A Mystery in the Making
Mysteries are the perfect vehicle for teaching critical thinking and deductive reasoning skills in a fun, exciting way. Students will learn the structure of this genre as they read like detectives mining for details. The group will work together to organize facts and analyze characters and events to formulate predictions and try to solve the mystery. Higher level comprehension skills such as inferencing will be in play as students reason through the evidence. Sign up for 8 sessions and this experienced and super-fun fifth grade teacher will reach out to families to offer titles and the group will decide which book will be used. Meets Weekdays 3:30 - 4:30.
Little Lawyers
Do your children like to debate with you? Send them our way! In these sessions students will investigate debatable topics as they collect, generate and evaluate evidence before establishing their own position. Reading analytically, reasoning and text evidence will take center stage as students learn about the structure of a sound argument. Then comes the fun part...defending and debating their argument with their friends. Students will learn to articulate their own position on relevant topics, to communicate objectively and appreciate different points of view. Sign up for 8 sessions with an experienced fifth grade teacher and be prepared to up your game when your child starts their next debate with you! Meets Weekdays 3:30 - 4:30
Characters from the Inside Out: A Reading/Writing Combo
Talk about Character Analysis! This class hits the mark! Students will create a character for a fictional writing piece and will begin by making deliberate choices based on traits, motivations and actions. Doing this work is reciprocally beneficial to both reading AND writing. As students become more proficient at identifying and understanding these features in reading, their ability to draw them out in the characters they write about will improve. Backstories, wants, fears, goals and emotions- characters are made up of so many elements. Sign up for this 8 week course with a seasoned fifth grade teacher and help your child improve their ability to infer, interpret and analyze main characters in both reading and writing. Meets Weekdays 3:30 - 4:30.
Fifth Grade:
Masterful Writing from a Masterful Teacher:
The ability to express oneself through writing is a crucial yet oft- underdeveloped skill for students in the middle and high school years. Responding to literature in an articulate and meaningful way is the crux of language arts literacy curricula. As such, writing instruction for grade five students will be part of a balanced literacy approach: literature, word study, and written expression. The written expression component will focus on the mechanics and content of writing, including but not limited to: sentence structure, punctuation, verb tense, topic sentences and supporting sentences, paragraph development, word choice, and literary devices. Students will receive age-appropriate yet challenging instruction with regard to text-based open-ended questions and multi-paragraph compositions. Text-based open-ended questions are a staple of middle school language arts curricula, as well as the ability to craft narrative and expository compositions in response to the literature. Sign up for 8 powerful sessions with an educator who truly has a way with words. 3:30 - 4:30 Weekdays.
Backyard Theater
If your child's enthusiasm for reading is waning, Reader's Theater is the answer! It requires no sets, costumes, props or memorized lines. The goal is to be able to read a script aloud effectively, bringing the text alive by using voice, facial expressions and some gestures. Exploration of this genre benefits students in multiple ways. It broadens vocabulary regarding plays, which proves beneficial come standardized testing time, as these types of questions almost always appear. It provides an opportunity for students to enhance their comprehension of text as they focus on character exploration to determine traits and motivations. This paves the way for fluency work as they reflect upon what they learned about the character to influence their expression, intonation and inflection as they read. A confidence building class that is an engaging and powerful avenue to literacy acquisition! Sign up for 8 motivating sessions with an experienced educator who capitalized on engagement and fun! Weekdays 3:30 - 4:30.
It's a Mystery in the Making
Mysteries are the perfect vehicle for teaching critical thinking and deductive reasoning skills in a fun, exciting way. Students will learn the structure of this genre as they read like detectives mining for details. The group will work together to organize facts and analyze characters and events to formulate predictions and try to solve the mystery. Higher level comprehension skills such as inferencing will be in play as students reason through the evidence. Sign up for 8 sessions and this experienced and super-fun fifth grade teacher will reach out to families to offer titles and the group will decide which book will be used. Meets Weekdays 3:30 - 4:30.
Little Lawyers
Do your children like to debate with you? Send them our way! In these sessions students will investigate debatable topics as they collect, generate and evaluate evidence before establishing their own position. Reading analytically, reasoning and text evidence will take center stage as students learn about the structure of a sound argument. Then comes the fun part...defending and debating their argument with their friends. Students will learn to articulate their own position on relevant topics, to communicate objectively and appreciate different points of view. Sign up for 8 sessions with an experienced fifth grade teacher and be prepared to up your game when your child starts their next debate with you! Meets Weekdays 3:30 - 4:30
Characters from the Inside Out: A Reading/Writing Combo
Talk about Character Analysis! This class hits the mark! Students will create a character for a fictional writing piece and will begin by making deliberate choices based on traits, motivations and actions. Doing this work is reciprocally beneficial to both reading AND writing. As students become more proficient at identifying and understanding these features in reading, their ability to draw them out in the characters they write about will improve. Backstories, wants, fears, goals and emotions- characters are made up of so many elements. Sign up for this 8 week course with a seasoned fifth grade teacher and help your child improve their ability to infer, interpret and analyze main characters in both reading and writing. Meets Weekdays 3:30 - 4:30.
For the Love of Reading.
Does your child give you a hard time independently reading? Let an experienced fifth grade Reading teacher instill a love of reading that will last a lifetime and motivate students to read in their spare time. An experienced Literacy teacher will promote and discuss the importance of choosing books that fit and books that students can be excited about. They will choose from a few engaging titles and learn to appreciate literature and do "what good readers do". Teacher will read aloud and model and teach the best practices of reading. Students will recognize the importance of story structure, character struggles, theme and point of view. Students will write about reading and be motivated to use Amazon as a tool to continue to choose books that fit them. Sign up for this 8 week course with a seasoned fifth grade teacher and help your child improve their reading stamina and foster a deep understanding and appreciation for good stories. Meets Weekdays 3:30 - 4:30.
Does your child give you a hard time independently reading? Let an experienced fifth grade Reading teacher instill a love of reading that will last a lifetime and motivate students to read in their spare time. An experienced Literacy teacher will promote and discuss the importance of choosing books that fit and books that students can be excited about. They will choose from a few engaging titles and learn to appreciate literature and do "what good readers do". Teacher will read aloud and model and teach the best practices of reading. Students will recognize the importance of story structure, character struggles, theme and point of view. Students will write about reading and be motivated to use Amazon as a tool to continue to choose books that fit them. Sign up for this 8 week course with a seasoned fifth grade teacher and help your child improve their reading stamina and foster a deep understanding and appreciation for good stories. Meets Weekdays 3:30 - 4:30.