Please do consider using No More Letter of the Week. As a former literacy coach for a struggling district, I was able to document the implementation of this approach and see absolutely stunning results. Letters are introduced through direct instruction BUT it is done quickly--1 or 2 letters daily--with each letter connected through rhyme to sound. It involves a large, interactive board that is co-constructed with children. The letters, rather than being connected as R for rabbit, are connected to pictures that trigger the memory of playful rhyme and take children to sound. R is a growling dog, 'rrrr'. There are body kinesthetics involved as well as the visual and auditory clues--it is playful, quick and just one part of your literate day. Children become letter experts and bring in concrete objects from home which become part of the display, so that beyond the sound association there is also a letter association. This program was fully implemented in one classroom and then spread like wildfire (fueled by our coaches as we encouraged and facilitated observations, purchased the book). This summer, prior to my leaving the district, we trained all of our kinder staff. In terms of data collection, my job as district coach, I can tell you this--there was a direct correlation between the numbers of children performing at proficient and advanced levels and the time at which this approach was initiated in the classroom. When combined quickly with interactive and guided writing, children seem to catch the associations and apply their understandings from the get go. The classroom that got this all going wowed their teacher at the end of the year with writing samples that, with one exception, scored 3 and 4 on the district rubric. She was convinced she was applying bias, so astounding were these results, that she had me and another teacher blind score the pieces. We all danced on the tabletops together. What else was happening in this room and others? Lots of playful interaction with predictable books, guided reading introduced as children were reading, lots of writing and plenty of playful discovery.
Lori Jackson M.Ed.Reading Specialist Broken Bow, NE EMAILING FOR THE GREATER GOOD Join me > Date: Thu, 27 Aug 2009 07:29:03 -0400 > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Mosaic Digest, Vol 36, Issue 26 > > This is a question for Kindergarten teachers: If you have moved away > from teaching a "letter of the week" and introduce the letters more > quickly or naturally please let me know how long you have been teaching > this way and how it is going in your classroom. What percent of your > students are reading at a level C by end of K? > > > From: > mosaic-bounces+rollanda.grubbs=larue.kyschools...@literacyworkshop.org > [mailto:mosaic-bounces+rollanda.grubbs=larue.kyschools...@literacyworksh > op.org] On Behalf Of [email protected] > Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2009 12:00 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Mosaic Digest, Vol 36, Issue 26 > > Send Mosaic mailing list submissions to > [email protected] > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org > > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > [email protected] > > You can reach the person managing the list at > [email protected] > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Mosaic digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: Sisters' Simply Beautiful ([email protected]) > 2. Re: Sisters' Simply Beautiful ([email protected]) > 3. FIrst Grade Curriculum ([email protected]) > 4. text structure (Brenda White-Keller) > 5. Re: FIrst Grade Curriculum (Beverlee Paul) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:27:54 EDT > From: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Sisters' Simply Beautiful > To: [email protected] > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" > > > I guess it is different for different people because the teacher who > borrowed my 'Daily Five Alive' and 'CAFE' DVDs brought them back today > and said > she wants to watch them again once she gets started teaching. > Kinderjane/SC:-) > > In a message dated 8/25/2009 12:03:27 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, > [email protected] writes: > > I've ordered some DVDs from them and have been less than enthralled. I > was > eager to share the CAFE DVD w/my team mates and they were just plain > disappointed. In fact, the comment was they were glad I had spent the > money on > it and they had not. Thanks, guys. ;-) > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:46:49 +0000 > From: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Sisters' Simply Beautiful > To: "Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group" > <[email protected]> > Message-ID: > > <1631875764-1251233158-cardhu_decombobulator_blackberry.rim.net-10895782 > [email protected]> > > Content-Type: text/plain > > Very true ... But I do believe Simply Beautiful is one of their best > efforts. > Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Alltel > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > > Date: Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:27:54 > To: <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Sisters' Simply Beautiful > > > > I guess it is different for different people because the teacher who > borrowed my 'Daily Five Alive' and 'CAFE' DVDs brought them back today > and said > she wants to watch them again once she gets started teaching. > Kinderjane/SC:-) > > In a message dated 8/25/2009 12:03:27 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, > [email protected] writes: > > I've ordered some DVDs from them and have been less than enthralled. I > was > eager to share the CAFE DVD w/my team mates and they were just plain > disappointed. In fact, the comment was they were glad I had spent the > money on > it and they had not. Thanks, guys. ;-) > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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. > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Tue, 25 Aug 2009 21:17:04 -0400 > From: [email protected] > Subject: [MOSAIC] FIrst Grade Curriculum > To: <[email protected]> > Message-ID: <1622156.107611251249424444.javamail.serv...@perfora> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > > Hello, > I am in my third year of teaching first grade. My first two years we've > used Open Court, but after an IMSE training, my principal told me that I > can use that, but would have to set up a Guided Reading program around > it. > If anyone has any suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated. As > far as the reading part of the curriculum goes, I am planning to > incorporate the Open Court materials. > Thank you in advance! > Sharon Diamondstein / NJ / First grade > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 4 > Date: Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:23:05 -0700 (PDT) > From: Brenda White-Keller <[email protected]> > Subject: [MOSAIC] text structure > To: [email protected] > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 > > Thanks for the advice.? I will check out the website. > Brenda > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 5 > Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2009 06:56:04 -0600 > From: Beverlee Paul <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] FIrst Grade Curriculum > To: "Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group" > <[email protected]> > Message-ID: > <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > What is IMSE? > > On Tue, Aug 25, 2009 at 7:17 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Hello, >> I am in my third year of teaching first grade. My first two years > we've >> used Open Court, but after an IMSE training, my principal told me that > I can >> use that, but would have to set up a Guided Reading program around it. >> If anyone has any suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated. As > far >> as the reading part of the curriculum goes, I am planning to > incorporate the >> Open Court materials. >> Thank you in advance! >> Sharon Diamondstein / NJ / First grade >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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. > > End of Mosaic Digest, Vol 36, Issue 26 > ************************************** > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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.
