Sure. All kids need "better" reading instruction. It's just that they don't all need the same thing.
I had a third grade student who needed one on one phonics instruction, despite the phonics instruction he received in class. He needed intensity, and he needed a great deal of it. He'd been tested and did not qualify for special ed. He just needed...intensity. He did not need more time play games on the computer, which is what our computer class is. He used the computers, very closely supervised, in the Independent Learning Center, to use Brian Cleary's phonics games, though. He did not need to cut and paste - he did some of that in the ILC, if it served the learning of vowel and consonant sounds, and yes, in his classroom on projects there. BUT HE HAD TO LEARN TO READ. Otherwise, he would end up in the fourth grade, still on a late first grade level. We did not want to hold him back - but things were looking ugly. Finally he did start to make progress. His third grade teacher and I are tutoring him for free this summer, to try to hold on to the progress he's made. He's reading on the 2nd half of the 2nd grade level; he can read Nate the Great, he can read Cam Jansen. I worry about the 4th grade text books. But reading workshop will not do it for him alone. He must get those decoding skills down; he is starting to self correct for meaning - he is starting to infer meaning. He is a sharp little cookie in his own way. But reading is very, very hard for him. Pulling him out of specials was not an easy choice. But the thank you card he wrote for me warmed my heart. Amy -- Amy Lesemann, Reading Specialist and Director, Independent Learning Center St. Thomas the Apostle Elementary School _______________________________________________ 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
