Hi Michelle: I'm a principal in an affluent district just over the state line from you. I struggle with same kinds of issues you're identifying, and I've come to the conclusion that the best intervention for struggling readers in the intermediate grades is more about affecting their learning in the regular classroom setting as opposed to pulling them out to interventions. The gentlemen who co-authored Reading Don't Fix No Chevys (Smith and Wilhelm) have just come out with a new book entitled Going with the Flow: How to Engage Boys (and Girls) in Their Literacy Learning. Their message at the outset of the book is that growing readers starts with engaging them, and there are at least four principles incorporated into the reading instruction block in classrooms where all students are successfully engaged in the learning process. Those principles are:
1. Readers have a sense of Control and Competence (they can see that they are successful, and they have a measure of control over their challenge) 2. Readers are appropriately challenged (instruction in the classroom is differentiated) 3. Readers set clear goals with their teacher and they get immediate feedback on their progress 4. The experience in the classroom is so engaging to the reader that s/he is completely caught up in it Now, this book is written for secondary teachers, but smart teachers and building support people can adjust the ideas to fit any level. Other resources I would point you to, if you haven't seen them or heard of them, are the two books by Franki Sibberson and Karen Szymusiak. The first book is entitled Beyond Leveled Books, and the second is Still Learning to Read. These books help us define in our own minds what a "transitional reader" looks like. What you described in your e-mail is, indeed, a transitional reader--they have the fluency, so their reading sounds great, but they aren't really "interacting" with the text they read. They can answer some fairly simple comprehension questions, but the higher level questions shut them down. I think when we pull kids out of the workshop, though, we take away the social influences of other better readers, and reading is as much a social process as it is a cognitive process. Is there any way you can push into the classes and work with the classroom teacher in the workshop? You might even do some demonstration lessons for them. Cris Tovani has also written some great books to get educators thinking about how to grow readers. Rex Jones -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [ <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2007 2:24 PM To: mosaic@literacyworkshop.org Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Mosaic Digest, Vol 5, Issue 15 I've been reading and learning from this site for about a year now and have loved all the information and comments I've gleaned. I'm a reading specialist in a well to do district, working with 4th & 5th grade readers who, for the most part, have fluency down but have enormous trouble understanding what they've read. We use Fountas and Pinnel as our "bible" and the interventionists are expected to use guided reading to help the students get up to speed. I feel that the kids get the guided reading in the classroom and that hasn't worked, so I need to use something else. I was a reading recovery teacher as well as middle school intervention which was skills based. What do you other interventionists use for upper primary kids? Also- our teachers (and I) feel that if there's one thing the kids have trouble with, it's inferring. Anyone else agree? By the way- I've been using the Strategies that Work but seem to have trouble getting the kids to the point of independently using them-any others have ideas? thanks- Michelle 4/5 NY _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to <http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org> http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at <http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive> http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org 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.
