Francie, One option for you is to purchase "The Howard Street Tutoring Manual" by Darrell Morris. For about $30 or so you can have a quick assessment tool and models for teaching word sorts phonics study to your students. The word recognition and spelling assessments will help you decide what phonics strategies you need to address. If you find this too primary for your students then you might also consider "Words Their Way" by Bear, Invernizzi, and Templeton. It is an excellent source for word study ( phonics) that can be used individually, or small group. It also comes with cd of games and explanations of developmental levels to help you place your students in the correct word study. For less than $100 you can have all you need to help you with your fifth graders word study. I found both books at Barnes and Noble. But at the moment I am taking master level classes from Dr. Morris and am using his assessment and word study strategies in my work at the reading clinic this summer. You may want to check them out at your local book store before purchasing them. The WTW also lists books to use in the classroom as resources. I hope this is what you need. I feel your frustration. Let us know how things go and what you decide to do.
Deidra Chandler/NC MA Early Childhood MultiSensory Structured Language Intervention Tutor MA Reading ( graduating in Dec. 07) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Francie Kugelman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, July 02, 2007 7:26 PM Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Mosaic Digest, Vol 11, Issue 2 > So glad we are discussing ways to monitor fluency to increase reading > comprehension! > > This year in my fifth grade class, I felt frustrated because a few > students > slipped through the cracks. Their fluency with Open Court one-minute > tests > was around 80-90 words per minute, but what shocked me was their low > comprehension scores. Out of 10 questions, they regularly could only get > about 2-4 questions correct. My approach (which failed) of helping these > students was to suggest they practice fluency reading at home, out loud so > their parents could help. There were many words they didn't know, but I > don't believe the help was found at home, because their fluency and sight > word recognition never increased. > > In the classroom, I worked with small groups of students who had low > comprehension scores. We read the short stories in the test booklets. We > went over lots of short practice tests, and I taught them reading > comprehension test-taking skills, I also focused on teaching the students > how to increase comprehension using various strategies that good readers > do. > > Now, in the light of summer vacation I realize that there was never any > reading comprehension achieved by these students. They had no > comprehension > because these students were skipping (or not understanding) many, many > words. Their fluency test would show a slow speed, plus many errors. But > that is not what the entire story is: All those words they are skipping > or > not knowing what they are, are the exact reason there is no comprehension! > These words are essential to understanding both the story and the > questions > themselves. > > I know this is true, because when we would read the weekly OCR story, and > discuss the particulars, the students could follow along with the > proficient > readers. It is only when they are alone can one see how truly shut out > they > are from the reading process. Perhaps, as they get in older grades, the > consequences on their low fluency becomes glaringly strong. > > I equate this sensation of saying words but not knowing their meaning to > when I tried to read college level French. The requirement for a Masters > in > Art History was fluency in French. This meant if you could pass a written > exam in French, you accomplished the requirement. My oral fluency was > intermediate, but there were too many words on the written exam for me to > flounder over. I just could not get the meaning from the writing to pass > the test! This is what my students are experiencing with English. > > The students could be English Language Learners, but with the two I am > thinking about today, these are English speakers that are slow learners, > but > started making great advancements in math in my class. I know that if I > can > reach students in math, there must be specific ways of reaching them in > Language Arts too. (By the way, they also have atrocious spelling. I took > this to mean they read very little, so they did not often see correctly > spelled words in stories.) > > I need your help! > > First: I need a great miscue test to give that will specifically show me > the exact phonics skills these students are missing. Somewhere in their > first - third grade phonics education, they did not connect. I need your > ideas on helping these students, once I figure out what they are missing. > We > do not have DRA at our school. I will be purchasing materials with my > money, so I can't spend hundreds of dollars are testing materials. > > Second: How do I help these fifth grade students catch up? Small group > choral practice? Focusing on everything, plus specifically re-teaching > what > they are missing with phonics? > > Third: What types of books could they enjoy reading independently? Third > grade readers? For example: Black Lagoon Chapter books or Flat Stanley > books. Should I get the first grade decodables? > > I have stopped approaching this as a reading comprehension skills > overview, > and now believe they need to learn phonics and sight words. There are > some > great powerpoints people have made with Fry's Words put into phrases. I > could have the students drill with these. > > Fourth: What else can I do to get them caught up in the phonics > department? > We have not been teaching phonics in fifth. I need your help in a great > book to use to fill in the missing pieces. > > What else can I do? I really want to reach these low students before it > is > too late for them to connect. > > Thanks for your ideas. > > Francie > 5th > Los Angeles > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
