PHONICS TALK NEWSLETTER - Volume 2 - October 2001 - by Dolores G. Hiskes, DORBOOKS, Inc.

READING COMPREHENSION The feature article in this issue concerns reading comprehension. Other topics are international news from Bruneii and Taiwan, and teaching tips from around the globe. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ INTERNATIONAL NEWS FROM BRUNEII FEATURE ARTICLE: READING COMPREHENSION TEACHING TIPS FROM TAIWAN DEWEY'S WEB PICK ANNOUNCEMENT FUTURE NEWSLETTER TOPICS SOME THOUGHTS ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ * INTERNATIONAL NEWS Recently a representative from a Bruneii educational tutoring chain flew to Livermore for a private workshop in using Phonics Pathways and other Dorbooks products, and spent an extra day visiting the always-inspiring YES Reading Program at the underachieving Belle Haven School in East Palo Alto. Was it worth a twenty-four hour flight just to hear a two-hour workshop and visit a tutoring site? Norheffeny writes: "On behalf of Hj Asri,i would like to inform you since we are using your method we found it can help our students in a very short time. We are really satisfied with your method. At first it was difficult for them to change from the implicit phonics method that we had been using, but now they feel very comfortable with your method and it is bearing fruit. I send my thanks to you for your good work!" * FEATURE ARTICLE: READING COMPREHENSION Many schools seem to do an excellent job of teaching phonics, as reflected in rising test scores for beginning readers. However, in 3rd or 4th grade all too frequently reading comprehension drops dramatically, resulting in lower test scores. Why? To better understand this problem and have a clearer vision of the solution let us look at another skill: learning how to play the piano. When we watch a concert pianist, she seems to sight-read whole blocks of notes or even a whole page at a time. She is able to play with great joy and meaning. But she did not learn that way in the beginning. Piano notes were learned one at a time, and practiced until they were automatic in recall. Her skills were gradually developed by playing scales and progressively complex chords, until she finally was able to focus on meaning because the keyboard knowledge was completely automatic. The same principle applies to learning how to read, or any skill. Students automatically are able to focus on meaning after the letter/sounds are learned one at a time, and after this knowledge is reinforced and developed by controlled, decodable, and progressive reading practice. Just because a child knows the phonetic code does not mean he is ready to read complex and subtle literature, any more than a beginning piano student is ready to play a lovely sonata just because she knows the notes on the piano! A closer look at many schools reveals that even the very best beginning readers are only 50% decodable. At first the stories are simple with many picture clues which helps students guess at the undecodable words. But guessing soon becomes a habit. By 3rd and 4th grade the stories are more complex, with no more pictures. And the more complex the story, the more frequent and wild the guessing! Even misreading only one or two words per page can change the entire meaning of the story. And if students are trained to guess and substitute words they are putting meaning INTO a story rather than extracting meaning FROM the story. Decodable reading practice is the key to accurate reading with excellent comprehension. It is the missing link in most reading programs today! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ * TEACHING TIPS FROM TAIWAN Rudi Kerkhofs teaches kindergarten and first grade in Taiwan. He purchased Phonics Pathways several years ago, and this is what he has to say: "I started it in K3, the last year of kindergarten in Taiwan. Students are six and seven years old. Well, after only four months we started our first story book and never looked back since. K3 has surpassed my wildest dreams as they read far better then any class at school. They put students who've been studying for up to six years to shame. "I always tell them that being able to read makes you really smart. They enjoy hearing that and several of my students with older brothers and sisters twice their age told me with pride in their voices that they can read but their older siblings cannot. "One mother of a 6 year old told me that her daughter reads her e-mail and although it has a lot of technical terms, her daughter reads them better than she does. And this mother has a college degree!. A lot of parents are quite amazed that their little kindergarteners can read at such an early age, even before they are quite at ease with Chinese characters. "A funny story: I was teaching an older class. They had been learning English for at least six years. In fact, I was only substituting that day. Anyway, I was telling them that K3 could read much better and more fluent as well. They laughed and told me that they didn't believe me. Just then, Sunny, a K3 student passed and I called her in. We then held a reading contest and little Sunny beat the whole class! She really made my day. "I would really like to thank you for your superior boo which has really given me and my students much joy, and is my constant companion." Great results from an amazing teacher! Here are two of his special teaching tips: "I divide the class into two teams. Two students stand with their back to the whiteboard while I write a word. When I say "go" they turn around and the first one to read the word gets to throw the die. The winner throws the die and the number is written on their side of the whiteboard. All scores are added, and the highest score wins. I know, it doesn't seem that fair as sometimes the team with the least read words can still be the winner due to higher points. But the students love it as they don't see it from that point of view. "Another game I play (with older students) is the writing game. Again, there are two teams. I say a word and two members of the opposite teams have to write it on the whiteboard. The fastest writer gets to throw the die. Of course, the word has to be correct. However, there is a catch. If I say "week 2" then the students will have to write "week" and "weak". In other words, the sounds of the words are the same so I want them to write both words. Another word such as "by 3" means they'll have to write "by," "bye," and "buy". I get very good results as the students really enjoy it and I get to see where they might need help!" Congratulations and kudos to you Rudi, for doing such an amazing job teaching! Students in your class are most fortunate indeed. * DEWEY'S WEB PICK The National Right To Read website has an incredible array of the latest information on current legislation, issues, programs, and events that affect literacy. Grab a cup of coffee, sit back in your chair, and be prepared to be well-informed! http://www.nrrf.org *ANNOUNCEMENT The Dorbooks office will be closed from October 16th until November 23rd. Any correspondence received during that time will be addressed immediately upon our reopening the office. We truly apologize for this inconvenience! * FUTURE NEWSLETTER TOPICS Future Phonics Talk issues will address phonemic awareness,invented spelling, and other issues of topical interest. * SOME THOUGHTS Our hearts and minds ache for the victims and survivors of 9-11, and indeed for our whole country. Unfortunately being challenged by tragedy is always inevitable...but being defeated is always optional! So we must look to this day! Yesterday is only a dream, but today, well lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Life itself can't give you joy unless you really will it--life just brings you time and space. It's up to you to fill it! --Thoughtfully, Dolores © 2002-2003 Dolores G. Hiskes May only be reprinted with permission from the author **************************************************************** We do hope you have enjoyed the information presented here in Phonics Talk! Please feel free to forward this message to a friend or colleague.