Reading & Math Interventionists

Mrs. Dolan is a lifelong learner.  She has enjoyed teaching and learning with her students at Spring Brook Elementary since 2001.  Mrs. Dolan received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education from University of North Carolina at Wilmington and her Masters of Education as a Reading Specialist from Concordia University.  She is currently the Interventionist at Spring Brook.  Mrs. Dolan's favorite part of teaching is helping her students develop and foster the love of learning and to reach their fullest potential. Mrs. Dolan loves spending time with her husband and 3 kids, reading, scrapbooking, water skiing, and playing with her dog outside. 

Mrs. Macchiarella has been teaching at Spring Brook Elementary School since 2009. Mrs. Macchiarella received her Bachelor's degree from the University of Iowa and received her Reading Specialist Master's Degree from Aurora University. Mrs. Macchiarella has an endorsement in English as a Second Language and Special Education. Originally from Aurora, Mrs. Macchiarella is a product of District 204, she attended Reba O. Steck Elementary School, Granger Middle School, and Waubonsie Valley High School. Mrs. Macchiarella's favorite part about teaching is watching her students grow as learners while having fun! In her free time, Mrs. Macchiarella enjoys spending time with her 2 children, Ava and Luca, her husband, and her dog Dexter. 

The following is an excerpt from Susan Zimmermann and Chryse Hutchins’ book 7 Keys to Comprehension: How to Help Your Kids Read It and Get It

Sounding out or decoding words is part of the reading puzzle but falls short of real reading. If children don’t understand what they read, they’re not really reading.

Good readers use the following 7 Keys to unlock meaning:

1.    Create mental images: Good readers create a wide range of visual, auditory, and other sensory images as they read.

2.    Use background knowledge:  Good readers use their relevant prior knowledge before, during, and after reading to enhance their understanding of what they’re reading.

3.    Ask questions: Good readers generate questions before, during, and after reading to clarify meaning, make predictions, and focus their attention on what’s important.

4.    Make inferences: Good readers use their prior knowledge and information from what they read to make predictions, seek answers to questions, draw conclusions, and create interpretations that deepen their understanding of the text.

5.    Determine the most important ideas or themes: Good readers identify key ideas or themes as they read, and they can distinguish between important and unimportant information.

6.    Synthesize information: Good readers track their thinking as it evolves during reading, to get the overall meaning.

7.    Use “fix-up” strategies: Good readers are aware of when they understand and when they don’t. If they have trouble understanding specific words, phrases, or longer passages, they use a wide range of problem-solving strategies including skipping ahead, rereading, asking questions, using the dictionary, and reading the passage aloud.