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SUMMER TUNE-UP
Summer's here -- at last! We can sit back, put our feet up, and just relax for awhile, and not worry about those day to day tasks and deadlines that make up most of the year. If we have taught our children well we can rest easy that they are good readers, and cross that off as one more thing that we don't have to worry about.
Or can we?
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1--A SAGA
2--SUPER SLEUTHING
3--A SOLUTION
4--CHECKLIST FOR A GOOD PHONICS PROGRAM
5--CHUCKLE FOR THE DAY
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1--A SAGA
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More and more I'm hearing stories like this one:
Mom is a professor at one of the Cal State Universities, who taught her young son how to read with Phonics Pathways when he was in first grade. By the end of the year he was able to accurately read almost anything. She quite naturally thought "That's that!" and didn't do any more with it.
One day when young Jimmy was in third grade they were walking in the park, and he began throwing his food wrappers in the grass. Horrified, Mom asked him why he was doing that, and didn't he know better? He replied, *But Mom, the sign says it's ok -- the sign says Dumping Permitted.*
Of course the sign actually said Dumping Prohibited! How could that have happened when he read so well in first grade? Is it possible for students to lose their decoding skills?
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2--SUPER SLEUTHING
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Mom began looking into what had been happening in
school the last few years, and found that essentially
he had been retrained to read by looking at the beginning
and ending letters in a word, and make a good guess as
to the middle part. This had been an ongoing exercise
for the whole class.
They also had many timed readings, and speed was the
goal without regard to accuracy. So better yet, if they
could just glance at the shape of the word and guess
what it was that would result in even faster reading.
I have heard more first-hand stories like this since then,
and read studies that strongly suggest that for that
reason a good phonics program should be reviewed again
and again through third grade to solidify and cement the
skills learned.
It is clear that the emphasis on semantic and syntactic
clues can cause attenuation of phonics skills if they
are still somewhat fragile.
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3--A SOLUTION
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Fortunately, there is an easy way to check whether your
child is using his decoding skills properly when reading.
A very quick assessment can be found by having him
read a list of nonsense words and then a list of sight
words. If he struggles with the nonsense words, you know
it's time for review!
There is a list of 45 nonsense words on page 73 of
Phonics Pathways for those who want a quick check, but
a far more detailed assessment can be found using the
Miller Word Assessment test, which is available free on
the www.donpotter.net website. Here is the direct link:
http://donpotter.net/PDF/MWIA%20I%20&%20II%20Manual%20&%20Test.pdf
Should you feel it prudent to employ a review, and if you
already have a good phonics book, simply use it to review
with this summer keeping review short and simple. If you
are looking for a good phonics book the following checklist
is designed to help you in your search.
(Essentially this list highlights the special features in Phonics
Pathways, some of which are unique to that program and
some of which can be found in other programs as well.
All features listed are certainly not necessary in order to
teach reading, but in my experience these are the features
that result in maximum reading in the minimum time with
the least amount of effort.)
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4--CHECKLIST FOR A GOOD PHONICS PROGRAM
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1--COMPLETE: Contains all lessons, examples, spelling rules,
and practice readings.
2--USER FRIENDLY: Simple directions begin every lesson.
Letters and spelling patterns are introduced one at a time
and gradually blended into syllables, words, phrases, and
sentences. All practice readings are 100% decodable.
3--LARGE 24 POINT LETTERS: Even with proper glasses
students often struggle with smaller letters when first
learning how to read. It's much easier to learn from larger
letters, then students progress effortlessly to smaller
typeface after reading is more firmly established.
4--ILLUSTRATED LETTERS: Every letter introduced is
illustrated with multiple pictures that begin with its sound.
It can be too difficult for many students to hear these
sounds within a word, and multiple pictures more accurately
illustrate the subtle variation in each letter sound as well.
5--SIMPLE TO COMPLEX: Only one sound per letter is taught
until reading is well-established. Students will be reading
sentences such as *Gus is gulping and munching a big fat
fish lunch!* prior to learning any long-vowel sounds or
sight words, even a word like *the.*
6--BLENDING EXERCISES: Graduated and progressive blending
exercises are embedded in every lesson, beginning with
17 pages of two-letter syllables. Syllables slowly blend
into words, phrases, and sentences of gradually increasing
complexity, strengthening eye tracking and preventing or
correcting reversals.
7--WORDS BUILT ASAP: Building words as letters are being
learned provides concrete exemplars for what can other-
wise be confusing and abstract rules and gives meaning
to what is being learned. If phonograms are all learned
first it can divorce reading from meaning and result in a
*reading-wthout-understanding* syndrome which undercuts
comprehension.
8--CONTUNUOUS GRADUAL REVIEW: Every lesson has extensive
word lists, two-word phrases, and completely decodable
sentences for practice.
The two most important words in every practice sentence are
always positioned to the left of it, greatly facilitating the move
into connected reading, such as:
nibble noodle Gus nibbles noodles and his poodle
snuffles truffles.
9--SPELLING AND READING INTEGRATED: Reading and spelling
enhance one another and are best taught as an integrated
unit. Learning how to read and spell by systematic patterns
develops clear, analytical thinking -- a skill that enhances
many other disciplines such as math. Math is taught by
patterns, spelling should be as well.
10--SIMPLEST SPELLINGS FIRST: When there is more than
one way to spell a sound, the simplest spellings are taught
first. For example, here is the order of progression for the
/k/ sound:
c-k p.51 cat, keg, etc. (spelling rule)
-ck p.53 deck, etc. (spelling rule)
ic p.114 fantastic, etc. (spelling rule)
ick p. 114 picknicked, etc. (spelling rule)
k = x p. 117 tax, etc. (spelling pattern)
k = ch p. 218 school, etc. (spelling pattern)
k = qu p. 127 queen, etc. (spelling pattern)
11--SIGHT WORDS BY PATTERN: Sight words are easier to
remember when grouped logically and learned in patterns
as well: *he, she, me* are introduced with other long-e
words, *the, they* with TH digraph words, etc. Limited
reading skills should be reasonably fluent prior to
introducing any sight words.
12--DIACRITICAL MARKS: Diacritical marks are especially
useful when moving into dictionary work. Phonics Pathways
uses the dictionary's diacritical markings rather than its
own -- then there is nothing to unlearn and relearn later.
(Not everyone needs reading broken down this incremen-
tally, but Phonics Pathways is here for those who do.)
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CHUCKLE FOR THE DAY
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A child's prayer recently overheard:
*Dear God, Thank you for the baby brother. But what I
asked you for was a puppy. I never asked for anything
else before. You can look it up.*
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That's it for now! We hope you will have a wonderful summer and have a chance to sit back and smell the roses. We certainly intend to:
The Dorbooks' office will be closed during the entire month
of July! All email and other correspondence will be dealt with
upon our reopening in August.
We hope you have enjoyed this newsletter, and that you will feel free to share it with others.
And now it's time for us to sniff the roses!
Dolores
©Dolores G. Hiskes 2006
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