I will say that I was TOTALLY against this scripted program when first asked
to use it. I was then teaching in a private school in AL for students who
learn differently. I was trained and began the program with my primary
class of students with various learning disabilities, cognitive delays,
autism, etc. The program worked wonders! ALL of my students made at least
two years growth in one year. It was totally amazing and just the ticket
for this small class of 6. Unfortunately, I did not get to see the extended
progress in later years, as my husband was transfered and we moved.
My thoughts now? I love Debbie Miller, F and P, etc., etc. I teach guided
reading and mini lessons with a strong literature based classroom with my
4th graders. However, I do think DI has its place. I do think that we all
need to keep an open mind. Sure, it wasn't my first choice. However, I
ended up eating a little crow! It taught me never to say never. Keep an
open mind and ....Happy Reading!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Amy McGovern" <mcgovern_amy64042...@hotmail.com>
To: <mosaic@literacyworkshop.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2009 9:25 PM
Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Reading Mastery, etcetera
Although I am probably only courting more negative comments from a some of
you,
I'll risk it to say that the stories in Reading Mastery 1 are extremely
short. In no way do they compare to the length of the average trade book.
The first story that is actually in a story book is only 21 words long (at
lesson 91 of 160). It is literally one half page of text in a book that
measures about 4X8 inches and it has only one picture.
And despite your thoughts that hiding this one picture is some sort of
punishment...the kids giggle and see this as a game. The picture gives away
the story. If you look at the picture ahead of time, then the climax of the
very short story has been ruined. Most stories in RM1 are one to two pages
of text and one picture. As I said in my original post, I was only
scratching the surface of what makes a lesson in RM1 work.
I am on this site to learn and I greatly appreciate the wisdom and
intelligence of many of the teachers who participate on this site.
There are many ways to teach children to read. If you don't like Direct
Instruction and Reading Mastery, that's ok. But know that it works for
many, many kids. Just because you don't understand the rationale, don't
agree with it or just plain don't like it...That doesn't mean that it isn't
good or effective or enriching instruction. It would be nice to see a
greater willingness (on this recent thread) to look at Direct Instruction
with more of an open mind, to question the rationale as a way to seek
understanding, rather then negatively judge it for whatever reason.
Respectfully,Amy McGovernEducational Consultant> Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2009
18:40:56 -0700> From: elwaingor...@cbe.ab.ca> To:
mosaic@literacyworkshop.org> Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Reading Mastery,
etcetera> > Renee,> Hiding the pictures wasn't the only thing that made me
cringe.> Elisa> > Elisa Waingort> Grade 2 Spanish Bilingual> Dalhousie
Elementary> Calgary, Canada> > The best and most beautiful things in the
world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt within the heart.
> —Helen Keller> > Visit my blog, A Teacher's Ruminations, and post a
message.> http://waingortgrade2spanishbilingual.blogspot.com/> > The idea of
hiding the pictures makes me cringe. :(> > Renee> >
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