Here are a couple of thoughts. She may be reading an F independently...but is she sight word reading? Watch what she does when she makes an error...or when she comes to a word she doesn't know. What strategies is she using? Does she tap out unknown words successfully or is she using something else.? I think her process for decoding is more important here than the level. Good readers are using meaning, syntax and visual cues. Fundations works mainly on one aspect of this...visual cues (phonics). Look at the errors. What kinds of errors is she making? Do her errors make sense, but don't look right? Do her errors fit syntactically with the sentence...they sound right... but don't look right or make sense?
What are you seeing in her inventive spelling? What is she using/misusing? Not when she is having fundations words dictated to her... but what is she doing on her own? Does she put a letter for every sound yet? Is she using short vowels correctly yet or only long vowels? She needs a phonemic awareness assessment. Can she segment and blend auditorially? If not, she won't do it when you add letters to the mix. If she DOES have good phonemic awareness, then some kids can look at a letter and remember the sound, but have a harder time when you give a sound, remembering what the letter looks like to write it. Maybe that's the issue. If you make the /f/ sound, and the child says thats an "f" but then asks "how do you make an f?", then they are having trouble remembering the letter when attempting to spell. As for the "rules", they are not very helpful except as a mneumonic once a child already understands how words are working. I wouldnt spend more time drilling rules... that usually isn't helpful and not at the root of the problem. Jennifer L. Palmer Instructional Facilitator National Board Certified Teacher Magnolia Elementary (home school) 901 Trimble Road Joppa, MD 21085 410-612-1553 Fax 410-612-1576 "In every child a touch of greatness!!' Proud of our Title One School Norrisville Elementary 5302 Norrisville Road White Hall, MD 21161 410-692-7810 Fax 410-692-7812 Where Bright Futures Begin!! ________________________________________ From: [email protected] [[email protected]] on behalf of Beth OConnor [[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2012 8:53 AM To: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group Subject: [MOSAIC] conflicting assessments Hello! I am seeking some guidance regarding a student's reading performance vs. her performance on Fundations dictations. She is a first grader reading beautifully at an F independently, but she is TANKING on her Fundations assessments. The teacher is very concerned because after weeks of instruction, this child is obviously missing SOMETHING in the encoding department, but the reading specialist working with her is not concerned at all because her reading is progressing so well. Can someone tell me what it means that she can't apply the Fundations rules to her encoding? Is she not hearing the sounds? Is she not remembering the rules? Is this a case of one phonics program not being right for all? What instructional steps would you take from here? Thank you! Beth _______________________________________________ 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
