God arms me with strength; he has made my way safe.

He makes me as surefooted as a deer, leading me

Safely along the mountain heights. Psalms 18: 32 & 33 

This is my fifth year at St. John's as Resource teacher.  I am still as excited  today as I was five years ago about helping  students learn to read with greater fluency, accuracy, rate, and comprehension.  I hope your children "catch" the excitement for reading!

I'm here to help those students who may need extra help in reading but do not qualify for special services from Lincoln Public Schools.  We are working hard to help each student at St. John's become a successful reader.  I want to make sure that each student feels successful as a student.  Sometimes the steps are small and take time, but there is always progress.  It's this progress that I want the student to focus on rather than the problem for which they are coming to me.  We do whatever it takes to help them succeed and gain self-confidence in their God given gifts and talents. I want each of them to feel that they are smart and valued and that their problems can be fixed with some work and determination.  We celebrate each new step of progress.  We dwell only on the positive rather than the negative.  

I try to make reading and learning reading skills as fun and rewarding for the students as I can.  We use many different methods and materials to make learning more fun.  We write words on the white board, individual black boards, and salt trays.  We construct sentences with plastic letters and magnetic words.  We play trivia, 'Go Fish' and Eggspert with vocabulary and comprehension questions.  I use software and games to help students get excited about reading.

I encourage each student to read at home as much as possible.  Many of my students are reading at home and tracking their progress on a calendar that I provide for them each month.  They are to write down how many minutes they spend reading.  I ask that the parent verify the reading by asking a few questions about the book or story.  Then initial the calendar date.  At the end of the month, return the calendar to me and I will issue a coupon for a free pizza from Pizza Hut.

Please feel free to call me at 486-1860 anytime you have a question or concern.

Mrs. Knott