Hi! I teach first grade and our results in September were exactly yours. Consider this... in kindergarten they begin to explode the alphabetic code....combined with some appropriate reading behaviors.... many have little experience manipulating vowels.... so I think asking for a retell with a connection strategy is very ambitious for first graders.... that's why the DRA 2 works.... it guides the teacher and student to an appropriate level for reading not just decoding. That much said our team decided the following: 1. We added a unit of comprehension....a literal understanding or retelling unit before we give the DRA 2... we developed it ourselves using the "Power of Retelling" as our guide. ...so now instead of September we give the DRA in October. I spoke with J. Beaver and she confirmed our thinking on this...that they need some experience to at least know what that part of the assessment is asking for. 2. We examined our guided books and found that at the early levels... our books just don't cut it.... now many published emergent leveled books don't because how much strategy work can you do with a level b or c.... but some companies do such a better job than others.... this is a big problem since it means dollars......but we are addressing that problem with PTO grants and administrative support.... mind you our guided books that we already have were just purchased about 8 years ago.... so.... it is tough asking to rethink this part but it is important in my opinion because from the get go emergent readers would lament ..."but i WANT A REAL BOOK". Just some thoughts...
**************Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on AOL Living. (http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-campos-duffy/ 2050827?NCID=aolcmp00300000002598) _______________________________________________ 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.
