Kindergarten Super Readers Show Their Skills 

By Jim Klar, Communications Officer

Faster than a speeding snap word. More powerful than a thoughtful reread. Able to leap multi-syllable words with a single sounding out of its parts. It's a bird, it's a plane, it's the TAS Kindergarten Super Readers! 

Held in the Harmony Theater on February 24, the annual event is considered by many to be the highlight of the school year. TAS Kindergarteners displayed their Super Reading Skills on stage before an audience of parents, friends, and family.

Clad in glowing capes they made themselves, the Super Readers performed daring feats of reading power, sang songs about their love of reading, and shared the strategies they use when the reading gets tough:  

• Pointer Power - Pointing at words for maximum tracking accuracy.   
• Snap Word Power - High-frequency words memorized to help carry readers through text more easily.  
• Slider Power - Sounding out unfamiliar words by blending the letter sounds.  
• Think Power – Figuring out what word would make sense for the context.  
• Reread Power - Reading decoded sentences again smoothly to improve comprehension.  
• Word Part Power - Students learn to look for phonograms that they have learned when decoding unfamiliar words.   

Following the on-stage performance, awestruck audience members were summoned to the classrooms where the Kindergarteners put their Super Reader Powers to the ultimate test by reading aloud from challenging books at their level. Parents were given stickers and instructed in their use at home to recharge their Super Reader's powers should they ever wane.  

Based on a Teachers College Curriculum for literacy instruction, the annual TAS Kindergarten Super Readers Program was created by TAS Lower School faculty to improve reading and writing and mold youngsters into lifelong, confident readers. Each decoding and comprehension strategy is dubbed a "Superpower." Students are encouraged to use and build their powers to become "Super Readers."  

Now in its tenth year, this dazzling Kindergarten display of reading power grows more impressive each year and is highly anticipated by students and parents alike. So let's congratulate our Kindergarten Super Readers as they soar into new heights of reading adventure!