so glad someone else has read Phinney. She really helped with my 5/6 grade struggling readers! think you'd like Dudley-Marling - a rich rich resource book. Agree with what you say! On Nov 24, 2012, at 3:57 PM, Linda Rightmire wrote:
> Great tips re books -- Phinney was important to me but I didn't know she > called herself that, pretty cool. :-) Did not know that other book; will > seek. :-) Yes I agree as to not overdoing the blending and stuff but when > I see kids that just pick any letter in the word and guess (especially at > grade two), often not even in context, I think basics of this type are > important -- I think they need to know there *is* a system and it's not a > mystery. But the experiential side of it and all those other suggestions > people gave are a huge part of the program. I think it's Pat Cunningham who > says work with *systematic* phonics and don't overdo the time allowed. > Example, 'making words' I think it's called in Phonics They Use -- the kids > love this (I have a simpler version, don't have the kids use envelopes with > pre-made letters), but really, you get the most value out of it in the > first fifteen or twenty minutes. Then move on. At two and a half hours for > Language Arts (our old-style time allotment), that gives you a lot of time > for other approaches. > > Linda > > On Sat, Nov 24, 2012 at 1:57 PM, Sally Thomas > <[email protected]>wrote: > >> My expertise is in reading/literacy and many years of teaching experience >> albeit with "at risk" students often, e.g. basic (below) English classes >> high school where up to half my students were RSP (learning disabilities) >> and had the inclusion cluster of 7 - 8 children in my 5/6 multiage >> classroom. And my last years teaching in a 2/3 class of Native American >> children behind in reading. I have only the fuzziest belief in special ed >> as a separate category of disabilities but that's another story. Lots of >> cross study in special ed with the more progressive line of thinkers there. >> >> sooo have had many children meeting literacy challenges thru the years. >> Two books that were of enormous practical help to me were Reading with the >> Troubled Reader by Margaret Phinney and Readers and Writers with a >> Difference by Curt Dudley-Marling. Both authors expertise in special >> education but both clearly believe in learning as constructivist. Margaret >> calls her self a whole language special ed teacher (that was back in the >> day! I still claim whole language -- to heck with those who disavowed it.) >> anyway, just a thought. >> >> I have read quite a bit about blending being very hard for some kids and >> not at all the approach to use always. >> Better to use onset/rhyme. Much more natural to teach by word families >> and analogy. bat cat sat/light fright etc. >> And I also believe strongly in language experience with kids writing their >> own stories with your scaffolding and reading their own writing!!! and >> lots and lots of joyful experience reading meaningful texts (at appropriate >> levels - just right) but worth reading and rereading. Songs come to mind >> too. >> >> Just some thoughts. >> Sally >> >> >> >> On Nov 24, 2012, at 12:33 PM, Linda Rightmire wrote: >> >>> In a volunteer (one-to-one) setting, I was working with three students in >>> grade two and three, individually, a half hour each. The one little boy >> was >>> in clearly a different boat than the others -- they were "behind" (a >>> little), while he was clearly *at sea*, completely worried about reading, >>> it appeared, and much guessing. Didn't like to read, etc. >>> >>> I observed both a *lack of directionality* (left to right, that is) and >> an >>> unawareness/inability with *blending* (or even the notion of that). >>> >>> These are the suggestions I wrote up to share with the others that worked >>> with this little boy (in gr. 2). >>> >>> Linda Rightmire >>> SD #73 Kamloops, BC >>> >>> >>> ================ >>> >>> Early Reading Confusions >>> >>> Marie Clay, who developed Reading Recovery (a much researched one-to-one >>> early grades reading intervention), liked to call them 'tiny tots with >>> tangled knots'. This is what I saw with Austin. >>> >>> Two major problems -- directionality and blending -- he appears to have >>> neither (this as of a few weeks back, the only time I saw him). >>> >>> DIRECTIONALITY -- children must have an absolutely grounded sense it all >>> starts on the left. Austin randomly grabs some letter in the word and >>> "guesses". >>> >>> Simple example, common for people to point to the ending of a word -- >> "you >>> need a 's' sound here" or some such. Clay teaches, *always* start with >> your >>> (adult) finger on the left of the word to re-inforce this left-to-right >>> directionality (sliding it over while you say the sounds to get to that >>> ending). (We also teach chunking -- this was referred to in the workshop >>> and would be applicable with longer words.) >>> >>> Directionality can be reinforced in this gimmick for teaching how to >>> remember b and d -- huge issue that lasts for some kids into even grade >>> three and four. I found this method to be far better than the classic >>> "bed", a visual device many teachers use -- better probably because of >> the >>> motor and kinesthetic (muscle) involvement in the practice (multi-sensory >>> in several ways -- voice, hands, head). >>> >>> • get the child (you model) to make with EACH hand the shape we sometimes >>> make to signal "A-okay" -- the thumb and forefinger touching tips to >> make a >>> circle, but you must keep the remaining fingers quite rigid and straight >> up >>> -- stress this because it (a) looks more like a b and d but also (b) >>> because of the muscular *effort*, the impact on memory is bigger. >>> >>> • then you remind the child, "all reading is left to right, right?" and >> you >>> note how their alphabet on the classroom wall starts with a on the left. >>> There is, with your hands, an *imaginary* a on the left of the left hand >>> that makes a b, and an *imaginary* c in between the hands (prior to the >> d). >>> >>> • you model and insist the child do all these actions -- head nods down >>> toward the 'a' (imaginary) while you say "A", then nods down (touching, >> or >>> not) to the 'b' and say "B", then nod to the middle and the imaginary 'c' >>> and say "C", then nod to the right hand, the 'd' (touching or not) and >> say >>> "D". Do it slow and even a little exaggerated. (Praise, etc.) >>> >>> I have insisted kids practice this, frequently would ask them to show >> me. I >>> observed even kids as late as grade three and four in their reading *and* >>> their writing, doing this with their hands down in their laps while they >>> tried to remember which was which. Yes be a tyrant about it -- but a fun >>> tyrant. :-) >>> >>> BLENDING >>> >>> I note that Austin seemed to be completely at sea about this. We teach >>> children to start at the left and to HUM the sounds together (but you may >>> need to spend time learning what "humming" is! -- many kids don't know >> the >>> word, assume nothing). Children often haven't been explicitly taught this >>> step, from the separated sounds to (slowly) HUMMING them together. >>> >>> First, though, we work on "saying it fast" and "saying it slow". This is >>> done through long nonsense words that we rhyme, first. >>> >>> "My turn: hamburger, ramburger, famburger... " etc. "Okay *you* pick a >> long >>> word, what shall we try?" (Maybe the child's name, or something else >>> familiar -- "Celista" -- whatever.) "Celista, Melista, Welista" etc. The >>> child may need a little or a lot of practices to get the hang of this. >>> (Then, "My turn: Christmas, wismas, sismas, fismas" or whatever. Etc.) >> It's >>> commonplace that the kids needing the extra help are not at all >> *flexible* >>> with their phonemic awareness (and manipulation) -- (the Anna Banna Bo >>> Banna song is a classic and perfect 'game' re this). >>> >>> Then you are going to work with "saying it slow" -- make it a game, "I'm >>> going to try to trick you" -- "ham...... bur...... ger". Of course the >>> child knows you are saying 'hamburger'. Pick a few long words to do. >>> >>> Then you will work on single short words (this is all auditory so you >> don't >>> need to restrict yourself to CVC words -- consonant-vowel-consonant). You >>> pick a word like "made" -- first completely separate the sounds >> mmmm..... >>> ay.... d.... and then demonstrate how you will BLEND (use that word) >>> them together -- but still quite slowly. (I often get kids, my hand on >>> their dominant hand, to slide left to right, across the table or even >> their >>> knee, to add to the kinesthetic factor.) After you use a few simple >> words, >>> switch it up by using the child's name, school name, child's mom's name, >>> etc. Get the child to pick some words to try to trick you by saying them >>> slow -- if he can't think of a word you can say, "pick a word from your >>> spelling" or "pick a word from the title" etc. >>> >>> >>> WORD FAMILIES >>> >>> Just to note, through all the phonics "wars" etc. -- word families are >> one >>> of the few constants that research has supported (forever). You can make >> it >>> fun by saying, "Okay we need some exercise" and then you are going to >>> *jump* to "mad.... sad.... bad.... glad.... had... " The kids will >> all >>> have worked with word families but some may have trouble bringing >> examples >>> to mind so you can say, "Okay now we're doing the -at family" -- say a >> few >>> first (four or five), then "Okay here we go!" Etc. >>> _______________________________________________ >>> 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 > _______________________________________________ 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
