Teaching Every Reader in a Wonderfully Diverse Classroom

Patty Kempker and her amazing learners!

I began teaching at my Lombard, IL elementary school in 2011 and became the reading specialist in 2019. Our school is small, serving around 150 students from kindergarten through second grade, but it is wonderfully diverse. This year, we have nearly 20 different native languages represented in our young student population. 

I am currently finishing my 18th year as a teacher and serve 7 small groups throughout the course of the day. Many of my students are multilingual learners. Several have reading disabilities, and a number of others are showing signs that they may, too. It is extremely important to me that I am able to help all of them in every way possible. For years, I wanted to take a structured literacy course, but the prohibitively high cost kept me from doing so.

Since my Slant System training, I am more confident than ever before in providing effective intervention and my students' growth has been evident. The structure of the lessons helps both my students and me -- I can guarantee I am providing practice in all important areas, and my students feel comfortable knowing what's coming next. I can't help but smile when I see a student "pound and sound" at my table while working through a decodable text or hearing children cheer when I announce that it's time for “Martian Words.”

I cannot thank Classmates Literacy Foundation enough for the opportunity to learn best practices for reading instruction. It has impacted me greatly as a teacher and will no doubt improve the future for countless students.