Kimberly You hit it on the nailhead....both the prevailing approach in California, its result, and the best way to begin undoing all the harm!
sally On 7/2/07 5:14 PM, "kimberlee hannan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Feel better. We are ALL in the same boat. > > Well, I don't know what state you are in and the standards for your level. > SO I will tell you what my experience has shown me happens here. I have > always taught 4th grade up. My knowledge of primary is through observation > and teacher's information. I have had extensive experience with > Houghten-Mifflin and limited with Open Court. > > CA is Reading First country. Reading First, as some interpret it, is > totally phonics based. Teachers here are not allowed to go outside of the > textbook and the script to teach any other materials. The phonics is the > center of the universe. The belief is that once the kids know the phonics > the comprehension comes automatically. That is so not true. Even more not > true for second language learners... especially those whose paperwork says > EO, but in reality is mom and dad lied, so their kids wouldn't get put into > ELD classes. Most of the kids you are getting are what I have heard > referred to as "False Positives." They call out the words very well, but > haven't got a clue what that word means. They do not need more phonics. > > These kids don't connect that the funny little squiggles they are looking at > are supposed to MAKE SENSE to them. They don't know that they have to write > the story intheir minds. They need you to read aloud to them, picture > books, novels, expository text. Not just once, but four or more times a day > (not a joke). They need to write what they learned. Teach them reading > strategies ala Strategies that Work, and Mosaic of Thought among other good > ones. They need hours of independent reading every week. They need chances > to read an discuss what they've read: Literature circles, Reading Journals, > Reading Buddies, Book talks. They need word study options. Nancy Akhavan's > new book: Accelerating Vocabulary is a treasure chest of wonderful ways to > connect word study to the rest of the day. > > I hope you have success with these guys. The old they get, the harder it is > to help them figure out hoe to catch themselves up. > _______________________________________________ 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.
