Thank you so much!! When would nearly every child in a school be through RM2? And am I correct in assuming that would be the time there would be increased attention to trade books?
On Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 12:26 PM, Amy McGovern < [email protected]> wrote: > > As someone who taught Reading Mastery and now trains and consults on these > programs I can share that in all my schools, we have never boxed up trade > books or classroom libraries. Children need the experience of reading > trade books. Indeed, I think we all agree that students should read and be > read to from a variety of books. The goals of teachers who thoughtfully use > Direct Instruction programs are the same as the goals of teachers who use > Guided Reading or any other methodology or pedagogy. We all want to teach > children to read well and to love reading. To do this effectively, students > should have access to a rich variety of books. Here are some insights on > what Beverlee is referring to below. Again, please know that I do not > personally or professionally advocate the boxing up of any trade books. If > administrators are concerned about confusing the students because trade > books are in the room where Reading Mastery is being taught, the answer is > to provide more top quality staff development and classroom coaching- not to > remove the books. There are differences to how early reading is taught in > DI vs. a Guided Reading approach (for example). Is there potential for > confusion if primary students are getting lessons in both? Yes. Can that > be overcome? Yes. But it takes training and a willingness to make some > changes in how the GR lesson is taught to the fragile learner or very young > learner. The teacher's guide for Reading Mastery (RMI classic) does not > advocate mixing RM with other forms of instruction. Having said that, > Trade books and DI can and should happily co-exist. There are two big > differences that come to mind when thinking about Trade books and the > storybooks used in Reading Mastery levels 1 and 2. To begin with, K, 1st > and 2nd grade students who are in Reading Mastery levels 1 and 2 are reading > material that is written with a modified orthography. That means that the > print looks different. The students are taught to sound out words as their > first way of approaching an unfamiliar word. To make this easier for the > students, the 40 sound symbols in the English Language are written in such a > way that they look visually different. Each sound/symbol is explicitly > taught and practiced. Spelling always remains correct. Letters that are > not pronounced when a word is sounded out are written smaller. Beginning in > RM2, the print begins to transition back to "normal". By the end of RM2, > students are reading stories written with regular print. Another > significant difference between trade book and the storybooks in RM1: the > pictures in the storybook are intentionally put on the 2nd page. They are > hidden from view while the children are reading the story for the first few > times. The purpose of this is to help the students focus on the text. The > story is read 2 to 3 times before the picture is given attention. The goal > is to get the students to be accurate, appropriately fluent, then ask > comprehension questions-- and finally to enjoy the picture. It may also be > relevant to point out that the text of these stories is intentionally > controlled so that students experience high levels of success continuously. > I am only scratching the surface of the details and procedures in RM. My > hope is that you can see, with the vast knowledge base on this site, a few > of the difference between a balanced lit approach to early reading and what > happens in an early RM lesson. The fact that there are differences between > the two approaches is ok because some kids need the design of RM to become > successful readers. With all this in mind, I have found that children in > Reading Mastery 1 and 2 benefit from taking what they are learning to do > very well-- and practicing/applying these skills while reading thoughtfully > chosen trade books or leveled readers. When done well, this type of > practice only reinforces the transfer of skills from Reading Mastery to all > types of reading material. This is the goal. My own experience is that > primary kids in RM confidently pull high interest books off the shelves and > give them a try. Reading Mastery has empowered them. They see themselves > as readers because they are. I hope this information helps. Amy > McGovernEducational ConsultantDirect Instruction Trainer and Coach since > 2001.> Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2009 06:46:55 -0700> From: [email protected]> > To: [email protected]> Subject: [MOSAIC] Reading Mastery, > etcetera> > Hi all - I'd like to ask a question that affects everyone > interested in> teaching comprehension, especially in a release to > independence format. Do> any of you know of any instances where schools have > adopted Reading Mastery> or another Direct Instruction program and have been > forced to eliminate the> use of trade books in classrooms (or, alternately, > very limited> participation in a library program) in order to use > comprehension strategies> (or other strategies, actually) in the classroom? > I think I remember> someone on this list serve saying that the principal and > curriculum director> came by and loaded up all the trade books so they > didn't "confuse" the K,> 1, and maybe 2 grade students. Help, please. Bev> > _______________________________________________> 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.> > _________________________________________________________________ > Windows Live™ Hotmail(R)…more than just e-mail. > > http://windowslive.com/howitworks?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_t2_hm_justgotbetter_howitworks_012009 > _______________________________________________ > 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. 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