I agree with Laura.
Anyone remember Distar? Is Reading Mastery just Distar, revisited?
The idea of hiding the pictures makes me cringe. :(
Renee
On Jan 28, 2009, at 11:55 AM, Laura Klug wrote:
To my way of thinking , this approach makes no sense at all,
especially for struggling readers. Why make those who are having
trouble breaking the code learn another code ? Of course they are
confused. They are cfonfused about what real reading is. To be sure ,
struggling readers need a systematic way to understand the way words
work, but that is one small part of what makes one a reader. Real text
makes a reader because there is a reciprocal process that is always
there between the reader and the text.
I would not recommend such an approach to anyone wanting to help
improve the quality of instuction for students.
________________________________
From: [email protected] on behalf of Amy McGovern
Sent: Wed 1/28/2009 1:26 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Reading Mastery, etcetera
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>
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