Just a quick response....I am the curriculum specialist in a mid-sized urban school district. We have completely revamped our literacy instruction over the past three years. We use a guided reading instruction and have various support models built into our program for struggling readers. I could go into much more detail about the program and what has worked and what hasn't, but what I really wanted to share was that we have implemented the CAFE approach in grade 5 this year and it seems to be working well. It made a lot of sense for us to begin with our older students....and so far, so good. This does NOT mean that it won't be successful for your younger students, in fact I believe that it will be!. I just thought it might be nice for us to share our challenges and successes as we go through the transition process at different grade levels this year. Good Luck! :)
--- On Fri, 2/4/11, Andrea Jenkins <[email protected]> wrote: From: Andrea Jenkins <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Phonics program To: "Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group" <[email protected]> Date: Friday, February 4, 2011, 4:23 PM First, I want to think everyone who responded to my post about phonics programs. It was extremely helpful and has given me, as the Language Arts academic team leader, some direction in helping to lead my team. But I want to address why I asked the question in the forum in the first place. I believe COMPLETELY in teaching reading strategies. I have read Mosaic numerous times and it was transformative for me in both my philosophy and instruction. Teaching the explicit use of reading strategies is a huge part of our academic team's reform of our language arts program. So, why would I ask a question here about phonics? Well, because I feel that if I share the same philosophy as all of you about reading comprehension, then chances are, we would have similar philosophies about what works with phonics instruction. Phonics and Word Study are by no means the bulk of our curriculum, but it IS a piece. And it's a piece that we need to get right. I originally learned about Daily 5/CAFE from this listserv, so I figured many of you who were teaching reading strategies, and using the D5 structures, would also have sound advice about what phonics programs blend well with this type of instruction. Thank you for allowing me to pick your brains! I work at a small private school. We have the beauty of selecting any curriculum we want, but it also means we start from scratch on selecting programs. It's so wonderful having a community of experienced, knowledgeable educators to turn to for sage advice. Andrea ----- Original Message ----- From: "MaryJo Costello" <[email protected]> To: "Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group" <[email protected]> Cc: [email protected] Sent: Friday, February 4, 2011 7:14:59 AM Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Phonics program "Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group" <[email protected]> writes: >Does anyone have any thoughts about reading and teaching kids the >comprehension strategies, or are we all so >pressured by RTI, phonics instruction, and standardized testing of discrete >skills that we've forgotten about real reading? In our district we are all about comprehension...thankfully. Every new teacher or new to our district participates in staff development. When asked the question, "What is reading?" our kids respond ,"Understanding" We certainly have a phonics/word study component of our balanced reading framework, but comprehension is still in the forefront. As teaching resources we use, Strategies That Work, Comprehension Connections and Reading With Meaning. For me personally I have also read and use The Book Whiperer, To Understand and Comprehension form the Ground Up. _______________________________________________ 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. _______________________________________________ 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.
