Staff engaged in many specific actions such as:

-explicit teaching of text features and teaching and practicing reading comprehension skills (inferencing, summarizing)

-used a variety of texts (picture books, novels, news articles) with a focus on authentic voices and stories

-implemented consistent routines for engaging with texts 

-chunked text with dicussions after every new concept

-engaged students in choral reading

-cross-curricular use of reading strategies

-primary classes focused on phonics at least 3x per week

Explicit teaching and practice of decoding and reading comprehension skills helps build student understanding, experience, confidence and proficiency.

Exposure to a variety of stories featuring authentic stories from diverse authors and protagonists helps develop global knowledge, empathy, and acceptance.