I agree with you, Amy. If a child can't read by 3rd grade, they need intensive, focused instruction for a year NOT for the rest of the school years. Sometimes they can get completely caught up in that year. Sure, they will miss out of some stuff, but it is a trade off with all the benefits of being able to read and being able to succeed in school. Donna
On Wed, Jul 20, 2011 at 10:49 PM, Amy Lesemann <[email protected]>wrote: > 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 > > _______________________________________________ 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
