The purpose of the present study is to assess a reading intervention for first graders who are identified by their teachers as reading below grade level. The intervention addresses reading skills through a variety of techniques including games, play, movement exercises, music, and breaks to enhance literacy skills and reduce frustration commonly accompanying sight word recognition and phonemic decoding.

Over half of elementary school students in the United States are reading below grade level compared to their same age peers. Children with poor reading skills are more likely to experience academic and behavioral problems. When students are not reading at grade level by 4th grade, they are more likely to experience future academic failure, school dropout, juvenile delinquency, teenage pregnancy, and under- or unemployment in adulthood. Traditional methods of classroom large group instruction require children to sit quietly and concentrate on small print for extended periods of time. Many children experience frustration and agitation in response to such reading demands.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress estimates that only 35% of fourth graders in the United States are able to read at or above grade level. Children's future academic success is accurately predicted by performance in the first three years of school. A student is four times more likely to drop out of high school if he or she is not reading proficiently by the end of third grade. High school dropouts are three times more likely to be unemployed than college graduates per US Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2018, and those who are employed earn an average of 61% less over the course of their lifetimes compared to their college-educated peers per US Census Bureau in 2012. Eighty-five percent of juveniles facing trial in the court system are functionally illiterate per National Criminal Justice Reference Service in 2003, and adolescent girls with low literacy skills are five times more likely to become pregnant than teenagers who can read at or above grade level.

Despite the preponderance of data expounding a literacy crisis in the US, the status quo of reading instruction in US elementary schools has not been effective in remediating functional illiteracy. In classrooms averaging 21.6 students, teachers are unable to provide the individualized instruction that is necessary to meet the learning needs of at-risk students. Reading specialists who work with children one-on-one and in small groups employ methods similar to those of classroom teachers, requiring children to sit quietly and sustain their attention on small print. These demands are difficult for children experiencing challenges with self-regulation, and school environments requiring these behaviors for several hours each day may inculcate feelings of frustration and failure in the children who most need to develop a sense of self-efficacy as readers with full membership in the world of print. In this study, twenty-four first graders will be assigned by chance to a reading or no-reading group.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Enrolled in a NYC elementary school in 1st grade
• Between 6-7 years old
• Identified by teachers as reading below 1st grade level

Exclusion Criteria:

• Children with severe behavioral problems making cooperation with intervention procedures difficult