Group+9+Module+5

1. What does research say about the topic? PEGGY: The text states: The most effective phonics instruction must reflect what we know about teaching and learning as well as what we know about how children decode and spell words.

MANDY: The text also states: As we consider how phonics should be taught, we must not overlook that all instruction must help learners develop conitive clarity and become engaged with what they are learning.

RENEE: The text suggest that: research indicates that children need to develop phonemic awareness and sequential decoding and have //regular// opportunities to apply their phonics skills//.//

SUSANNAH: Yes, as with the Phonemic Awareness, the teaching of phonics should be explicit and systematic. Students need to be ENGAGED in their learning. This can only happen if they feel that they can be successful and understand that what they are doing is actually going to help them and make a difference - expectation of success. Students must realize that it is the STRATEGY that determines success, not their ABILITY.

2. The National Reading Panel differs in the way to teach phonics from the textbook and other sources? Which way do you support and why? PEGGY: I probably lean towards the NRP as far as systematic phonics that is more a preference for me, but really I also agree with the book that the main issue is that there is a consistency in teaching phonics. I agree there is the need to incorporate reading and writing within the teaching. Possibly a blend of the two approaches should be considered. MANDY: I think that I would support the National Reading Panel, after all they represent the entire nation.

RENEE: I think they both have pros and cons and I use what ever meets the individual needs of my students.

SUSANNAH: The book gives limited examples,and the NRP gives general categories or kinds or phonis instruction. I still think the Words Their Way is a good guide/program for teaching phonics in s sequential way. Students progress through the developmental stages of spelling and the focus is on phonics, although sight words are included as well. I like the Bear Words Their Way. I think the NRP and the book support what WTW teaches.

3. Evaluate your phonics programs at your school. What can you do to get it more in line with research? PEGGY: At this time that is not an issue. The program for the high school level is predetermined by Scholastic. MANDY: I am not sure really what phonics program we use at school. But I think that every grade has something different. I was only there a year and a halfand special education teachers are kind-of "out of the loop". RENEE: I think the most important thing is to make sure that the phonics program is not a stand alone program for reading. SUSANNAH: I agree. We have READ180 and System44 that each take up a 90 minute block of the day. To then add phonics alone leaves little time for "real" and engaging reading activities. I hope to use Words Their Way to work with my special ed kids. I am not sure how this year is going to go, exactly. Part of the day I will be doing READ180 and System 44 in a small room with small groups, and the second part I will be working with a third grade teacher in a 3rd grade room with special ed students included.

4. Your questions from the group?

MANDY: I was kind-of confused about the strategy of reading the text backwards. Is there some reason for this because I can't see myself asking my special education students to "read the text backwards"? SUSANNAH: I only use reading the text backwards as a strategy to spot spelling mistakes, but I don't think I'd use it with Special Ed Students. PEGGY: I've used read the text backwards as a proofreading strategy for both myself and students. RENEE: As a special ed teacher I have never used the strategy with my students. SUSANNAH: Proof reading makes sense, but to use it to increase comprehension does not seem to make comprehension easier - but rather a challenge for people who find comprehension easy.

MANDY: Its talks about engagement in chapter 5. How do you engage student's to read if they are on a firsts grade level, but are 15 years old? SUSANNAH: I am not sure, but I had some success with my student, who was just like that reading to kdgs. He had to practice reading with me, so he would be ready to read to the kdgs and they had no clue that that was the best he could do. Also, I checked graphic novels out of the library and he was surprised how many there were. He had difficulty reading them too, but at least had more fun and better comprehension because of the pictures. PEGGY: Funny you should ask that question Mandy, my capstone is over that very subject. From experience, because almost all of my students read far below grade level, I have researched and found companies that write books for just such students. One in particular that has books that are not baby pictures and stories is Saddleback. Noon Books also write lower reading levels. Sometimes I use short reading passages or just sentence reading when working individually, but then use graphic novels, readers theatres (Scope by Scholastic is good), or magazines of topics they like because they will look at the pictures and attempt to read on their own. Sadlier- Oxford has a lot of good non-fiction hi-lo reading materials. MANDY: I like that idea of having the older child read to the younger kids. That would be great for the older students self-estem. And the little ones enjoy it too! RENEE: Peggy thank you so much for the valuable information. My 4th and 5th grade students enjoy reading the, "Wimpy Kid" books. There are very few words on each page. Also, there are illustrations on each page. I believe the key in motivation is to give students choices in reading materials. SUSANNAH: Thank you for the information! I need resources like that. My librarian is constantly asking if we want her to order particular books - I'll see if she can order some of these.

SUSANNAH: I think a mixture is great - it is finding a balance that is tricky, so that it does not seem "piecemeal" to the students, or the principal. PEGGY: I always start with phonics and then move into a mixture of strategies. MANDY: I was taught with phonics, mayb that's why I want to do more of something else. Lol. RENEE: The program TPS suggest for students on IEP's, focuses on phonics and decoding skills. I feel it is very successful. I also know that a mixture of strategies is very important in reading success for students.
 * MANDY: Do you guys think we as teachers should teach phonics first or use a mixture of strategies to help develop emergent reading skills?

SUSANNAH: Synthetic approaches are part of why I think my students think reading is boring. When my students emerge from a synthetic appoach (Like SRI) then they have difficulty transfering what they have learned to other situations, such as a Dr. Suess book "Hop on Pop". Does anyone else experience this? PEGGY: I don't really have to deal with transfer such as this at this time. MANDY: It's like they don't get it. Maybe they have such a hard time with transfering because of being in special education. I guess all you can do is go over it many times. RENEE: I have found that students with learning disabilities often struggle with fiction books like Dr. Suess. I think it is helpful to the students if they can relate to what they are reading to real life situations or thier background knowledge.

SUSANNAH: My special ed students have a hard time maintaining self guided reading for even as long as 20 minutes - their attention span for reading is closer to 10 minutes - infact that is about it for most activities. What are some things you all do that might help extend the self-guided reading time for the students? PEGGY: I don't. I start where they are and build more activities to build around these times. Then as the students become engaged with what we are doing discussion time help them to become interested in reading longer periods of time. My old saying is, how do you eat an elephant, one bite at a time. Sp. Ed. kids have to eat alot of elephants in their learning. MANDY: Are they allowed to pick out their own reading material? If not thats what I would do....let them pick out their own material. Or set a timer that they can see that will ring when times up. At least then if they wont read they will stare at the bell for awhile and give you some peace and quiet. lol.

RENEE: I agree Mandy, give them choice in what they read. Make sure there are few distractions in the room. I think 20 minutes is a good amount of time for them. Reading should be fun for them, not something they have to do. Or if you want them to read 30 minutes a day, break it up into two 15 minute reading periods. SUSANNAH: They do get a choice, but they often choose books that are so easy they are finished in 2 minutes, or they choose books that are too hard and so ar done looking at pictures in 2 minutes. They just do everything they can to avoid reading at all.

SUSANNAH:I really like Words Their Way for spelling instruction because it also addresses phonics instruction. I do not get a reading series with my kids because there are not enough ordered - but what reading series do you like for teaching Phonics? PEGGY: I don't really use a spelling series with this group, we mainly use vocabulary words and spell them. The READ 180 includes spelling as part of the curriculum program on the computer and it is self remediating. However, in the past using spelling with my ID and SLD students I liked Evan-Moor. MANDY: I used Reading Mastery with my students. RENEE: I also use Reading Mastery with my students on IEPS.

PEGGY'S QUESTIONS: PEGGY: Do you find that more of your students have a background of systematic phonics with hit-or-miss phonics? MANDY: With my students......I don't see anything like that. First of all they are really young, but also because their parents do not even hardly speak with them, let alone do anything else to help prepare them for school. RENEE: The students at my school also have very little parental involvement and come to school with with a hit-and -miss of phonics skills. SUSANNAH: Yes, my ELL students have difficulty, because not only do they not speak English well, they cannot even read in thier native language. SO, they are not only learning vocabulary in a second language, but they are learning vocabulary that do not have in any language. I think our pre-k and kdg and 1st grade do teach phonics systematically and explicitly,but they need more than 2 years, and if they just get to us in 3rd or 4th grade, then I still thisn that systematic teaching of phonics (or at least phonemes) is essential.

PEGGY: Why does our state only have spelling standards through the 8th grade? Isn't spelling important in high school? MANDY: I think with all the testing that is done they focus on what is most benifical for the test. I think that spelling is very important. Students do not know how to spell very well because they are always texting or talking on the computer using computer language. I know at 27 I still need help with spelling. RENEE: I agree with Mandy. the focus is more on state testing. We all know it is important. SUSANNAH: I was encouraged not to teach spelling last year to my 4th graders because there is not spelling test on the OCCT. I "snuck it in" to my curriculum, but I could not assign a block of time in my schedule.

PEGGY: What strategies, techniques, skills will help a student who can not distinguish the phonemes sounds? RENEE: I feel using visual cues and hands-on activities like sound boxes, word games that students break the word apart. SUSANNAH: It helps to have a peer work with that student because they often can explain it better to each other. System44 has video that the student watches that shows what the mouth looks like pronounceing different phonemes. Then the student can try saying them into his microphone and hear them played back. It is tough, though.

RENEE: My question is, what are some successful writing instructions you have used with your students? SUSANNAH: I choose 20 picture (easy) books about animals and I try to choose interesting animals - sharks, bears, loins, etc. I ask the students to choose one animal to write about. They must come up with three topics about the animal of their choice. When they say, "Does it HAVE to be one of these animals?" I tell them no, that they can think up one in their head. Usually they choose one from the books because it is easy to write using information from the book than their minds! I am getting them ready for the 5th grade writing test - 5 paragraphs on topic. The students are also allowed to free-write and when they are ready to "publish" I let them type up their story on the computers on Microsoft Word. Then I print it off and put it in a folder to keep it flat, and they can take it home. No suggestions to correct, because this writing often comes from their heart. If they ask me how to do something I tell them. This is the writing that shows me what writing skills they have actiually internalized. My special ed kids have a terrible time with legible handwriting, so they love how their thooghts look in various fonts and typed. I hope to use manyof the writing startegies that we have learned at NSU next year - some do not even take very long, such as Acrostic poems.