Reading Specialist | Orton-Gillingham Trained | 25+ Years Experience

Kelley L.

I am a Reading Specialist and Literacy Leader with more than 25 years of experience teaching children to read. I spent more than 20 years teaching in the San Francisco Bay Area, including many years as a first-grade classroom teacher and Reading Specialist, before returning to New Hampshire. I currently work as a Reading Specialist and Literacy Leader in an elementary school, providing targeted reading intervention to students in grades 3–5 and supporting teachers with evidence-based literacy instruction. I hold a Master of Education in Elementary Education and a Reading and Writing Specialist certification.

My approach is grounded in the Science of Reading and Structured Literacy. I completed six months of Orton-Gillingham training through the Seacoast Children's Dyslexia Center, including supervised practicum experience in lesson planning and instructional delivery. I have experience with SPIRE, Heggerty Phonemic Awareness, Wilson Fundations, and UFLI Foundations. I work with students on phonemic awareness, phonics and decoding, spelling, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and other foundational literacy skills. I have experience working with struggling readers and students with dyslexia and other learning differences.

I believe effective reading intervention should be explicit and systematic while still being engaging, encouraging, and individualized. I use assessment to identify a student's specific strengths and areas of need and then tailor instruction accordingly. My goal is not only to strengthen reading skills, but also to help students understand how language works, become more independent readers, and develop confidence in themselves as learners.