Here is my take on this question. There is no one program that will meet the needs for all of your students. Currently, one third of my 6th grade resource reading skills are struggling to decode very simple words yet their comprehension is great. Another third are great at decoding but struggle with fluency and comprehension and the remaining third have some basic skills in al areas but lack motivation to make great strives in reading even though all of them have the potential. I have tried lots of programs. Some of them include, Edmark, SRA, Direct Instruction, Barnell Loft, Houghton Mifflin, Susan Barton, Reading Counts, Wilson, and many, many more. Most of tem help a certain group of students but none of them help them all. We have to meet the needs of the individual students wherever and whatever they may be. I don't believe there is a canned program around that can do that. What works best for me after almost 34 years of teaching is using authentic texts that grade students interest and then help plug in the gaps for individual students. For example, in January, we will begin a biography unit starting with Lance Armstrong because I know that all my students have schema for bike riding. WE will start out using the short text from ZB's Read for Real as a whole class read aloud and then we will have word study, partner read, and writing to compliment this study based on the needs of the students. WE will break into small groups and have students do further research and our culminating activity will be a revised version of the old game show To Tell The Truth where each group of students selects one team member to be Lance Armstrong and one student to be on a panel of judges. Each team submits a battery of questions and the team that produces the most authentic Lance Armstrong will win some sort of predetermined prizes. But throughout the journey - each child has been working on his or her particular needs using whatever modality is most usable for him or her. Canned programs are easier for the teacher but not the best avenues for unique individuals. Sorry this is so long but I had to say my peace. June SPED Resource / 6 KY
**************************************See AOL's top rated recipes (http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004) _______________________________________________ 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.
