Hi Debbie, We have found Lexia, both the Primary Reading (ages 5-8) and SOS (Strategies for Older Students) to be successful with our 3rd and 4th graders. It is a computer program that branches, depending on the rate and accuracy of each student's responses. The program tracks rate and accuracy and the teacher can look at a student's performance and know exactly what skills to target. We combine this with instruction based on the Wilson Reading Program. Lexia also has an Early Reading program which our K-2 school uses. If you are not familiar with Lexia, check it out at Lexialearning.com. Our students really like it and can see the difference it makes in their text reading. I have also heard that the newer version of Earobics is good for phonemic awareness and decoding, but I haven't used it. Hope this helps, Linda On Jun 21, 2008, at 8:22 AM, KENNETH SMITH wrote:
> > > Hi, all, > > I am looking for some suggestions on teaching phonemic awareness and > segmentation to older students (3rd and 4th grade). I have several > students who just don't get it, and they can read lots of words, but > they are limited to the words they know and don't know how to apply > decoding strategies to the ones they don't, and they can't spell > worth beans! If I give them just a single word, they are usually > okay, but in text they are lost. They also can't handle words with > more than one syllable. They tend to jumble up the sounds in the > middle. I have used the boxes to write each sound that we hear when > we say a word, and I've given them words to attempt to do the same, > but they just don't get it. And sometimes they are way off - they > will insert completely random sounds (/r/ seems to be a favorite). > They do this more often when orally trying to break down the sounds, > but also when writing. They have such poor comprehension that they > aren't able to use the context to help with decoding. Sometimes it > seems as though the only way they can use context is if I read it to > them. They may read a sentence and substitute a random word (usually > begins with the same letter, but that's all), and not even realize > that it doesn't make sense. When I try to focus their attention on > the word, they just can't figure out anything that would make sense > that begins like that word, and we spend so much time on this level > of reading that it's hard to get to the deeper meaning and enjoyment > of reading. > > I have one more really difficult student and I would love to hear > suggestions on this. The little guy will be entering first grade > next year and did "double duty" in our half-day kindergarten this > year (attending both sessions). He is unable to remember what any > letters are. He still doesn't recognize his own name, he can't get > all the way through the alphabet orally, he only gets to about "g", > but he can't match letters to the alphabet song as he sings, he > can't distinguish between letters and numbers. We have tried every > style of learning we can think of with him. After tracing his own > name for the entire school year he still can't write it himself. > (And that's just his first name, with only 4 letters.) He was tested > for SPED and didn't qualify, supposedly because his IQ was too high > (70's). What's a reading teacher to do?????? He's a sweet boy and I > am very concerned for him. His older brother is one of the kiddos > described in the above paragraph, and I believe he is on the autism > spectrum(our autism specialist and I have done many observations). > Family support is minimal. > > > > Any suggestions would be appreciated! > > Thanks, > > Debbie Smith > _______________________________________________ > 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.
