Sandy, You raise a very common question and concern. I have been studying the elements of balanced literacy earnestly for 4 years now. I personally see them in Reading Mastery. But I understand why many teachers don't. One has to pan back and look deeper then most non Direct Instruction teachers have time or desire to do. Many teachers are not aware that there are actually 6 levels to Reading Mastery. Levels 1 and 2 are the "learning to read" stages. Without a doubt, they focus on breaking the code. But, from the very first little sentence that is read, the kids are asked to connect to the text and the picture. Every story is read for accuracy, fluency AND comprehension. What is reading if we are not thinking about what we are reading? The comprehension questions, like everything else, are scripted. They cover the full variety-from literal, to inferential to predictive and connecting to the story personally. In my experience, primary age kids love the stories. In fairness, I have had some teachers say that the stories are silly or that they themselves don't like them. But, with rare exception, all of these teachers acknowledge that the kids like the stories. That's what matters. Although there is a script, teachers still must know how to teach. If the children are having trouble answering the comprehension questions--the teacher needs to know what to do. Recently, SRA added a Read Aloud component to Reading Mastery. It is optional. One of my teachers is using it and finds that it complements what the classroom teachers do with Guided Reading very well. Kids, like adults, love what they are good at. In the hands of a skilled Direct Instruction teacher, Reading Mastery does a very good job of teaching kids to be good readers. I taught at a school that used Reading Mastery as it's core program. I have since consulted in buildings that use it as their core. I am currently working in a district that uses DI as an intervention only. If Reading Mastery is the core program, then the goal is to accomplish the early reading levels I and II by the end of first grade. That means that 2nd graders would, ideally, be starting Reading Mastery level 3. Levels 3 and 4 are the "reading to learn" levels. The job of early reading, breaking the code, foundational comprehension skills--all that has been done. Now kids are ready to spend 90 minutes on a lesson that teaches vocabulary, more advanced word attack skills, science and social studies facts and a story. Plus there is independent work and partner reading. Students also have the opportunity to complete projects that support and extend what they've been reading. There is also an optional literature anthology. If the district bought the program with all its ancillaries, the teacher has access to curriculum connections, writing options, language arts activities...really more then most teachers have time to do to be honest. But it's all there. FYI: Children read the stories out loud. The teacher asks questions throughout the story. Again, the questions match those we see in a balanced lit approach. Visualizing, exploring character traits, making inferences, summarizing, predicting...all of these are a part of nearly every story lesson. Could a teacher skilled in Guided Reading, for example, add even more? Absolutely. Would he/she have to? Not necessarily. It depends on the needs of the students in front of you. Levels 5 and 6 teach classic literature. The original version of The Wizard of Oz and The Odyssey, are two examples. It's not easy reading, in a good way. Kids need to think. Only a very small portion of this text is read aloud. Students have to respond to questions orally and in writing. The questions cover the full spectrum of what you'd see in a balanced literacy lesson. Everything from main idea, inferencing, deductions, work on analogies, similes, metaphors, paragraph writing in response to the problem in the story, analyzing characters, thinking beyond the text... the list is long and this is not complete. All of these things are in the program, taught and practiced explicitly. Having said that, students have to be applying the kind of metacognitive skills you are referring to in order to succeed. Teachers at this level need to be highly skilled reading teachers, who've had program/ level specific in-services as well as coaching. Finally, it's important to note that modeling is a huge part of the Direct Instruction philosophy. The Pearson and Gallagher's "gradual release of responsibility" that Harvey and Goudvis write about in Strategies that Work, this is really the core philosophy of all Direct Instruction. Model a lot, lead the kids as long as they need, then in DI lingo "test" to see if they have it. If they don't have it, model and lead more. It's really the core to all good teaching. Sorry this is so long! Hard to believe I've offered only a brief summary of the levels. Hope it helps to shed a bit of light. I'll say again, that our goals are the same, though the path may look different. Thanks for the question. Amy McGovernEducational Consultant> From: [email protected]> To: [email protected]> Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2009 22:18:17 -0600> Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Reading Mastery, etcetera> > Amy,> > I am concerned with it not being a balanced literacy program. Sure it> teaches many students to decode simple text and offers them success as word> callers. What does it offer in means of comprehension or development of> metacognitive thinking or fostering a love of reading? My school district> offers the use of this program to our special education department. I could> not imagine using Reading Mastery school-wide for every child.> > Sandy > > -----Original Message-----> From: [email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Amy McGovern> Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2009 8:25 PM> To: [email protected]> Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Reading Mastery, etcetera> > > Although I am probably only courting more negative comments from a some of> you,> I'll risk it to say that the stories in Reading Mastery 1 are extremely> short. In no way do they compare to the length of the average trade book.> The first story that is actually in a story book is only 21 words long (at> lesson 91 of 160). It is literally one half page of text in a book that> measures about 4X8 inches and it has only one picture. > And despite your thoughts that hiding this one picture is some sort of> punishment...the kids giggle and see this as a game. The picture gives away> the story. If you look at the picture ahead of time, then the climax of the> very short story has been ruined. Most stories in RM1 are one to two pages> of text and one picture. As I said in my original post, I was only> scratching the surface of what makes a lesson in RM1 work. > > I am on this site to learn and I greatly appreciate the wisdom and> intelligence of many of the teachers who participate on this site. > There are many ways to teach children to read. If you don't like Direct> Instruction and Reading Mastery, that's ok. But know that it works for> many, many kids. Just because you don't understand the rationale, don't> agree with it or just plain don't like it...That doesn't mean that it isn't> good or effective or enriching instruction. It would be nice to see a> greater willingness (on this recent thread) to look at Direct Instruction> with more of an open mind, to question the rationale as a way to seek> understanding, rather then negatively judge it for whatever reason. > > Respectfully,Amy McGovernEducational Consultant> Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2009> 18:40:56 -0700> From: [email protected]> To:> [email protected]> Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Reading Mastery,> etcetera> > Renee,> Hiding the pictures wasn't the only thing that made me> cringe.> Elisa> > Elisa Waingort> Grade 2 Spanish Bilingual> Dalhousie> Elementary> Calgary, Canada> > The best and most beautiful things in the> world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt within the heart. >> -Helen Keller> > Visit my blog, A Teacher's Ruminations, and post a> message.> http://waingortgrade2spanishbilingual.blogspot.com/> > The idea of> hiding the pictures makes me cringe. :(> > Renee> > > _________________________________________________________________> Windows LiveT HotmailR.more than just e-mail. > http://windowslive.com/howitworks?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_t2_hm_justgotbetter_howi> tworks_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.> > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.> _________________________________________________________________ Windows Live™: E-mail. 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