PHONICS Instruction Today

It seems like there is always some type of controversy surrounding phonics. One year we're told to teach it, then the next year we read that it should be put on the back burner. More and more, through my own personal research and through following other's studies, I am seeing that phonics must be explicitly taught!

Our students will learn phonics skills best by being taught the skills very explicitly. MODEL! MODEL! MODEL! 

They need to see what we think, how we think, and why we think it.

• Letter to Sound Linking
• Meaningful Word Parts
• Spelling Patterns
• Syllables

These are the components of phonics that we need to be sure to model and practice with the kids. There is also a very specific, systematic approach that we need to focus on. More to come on how to systematically teach phonics within your guided reading lessons.

Here are some fun ways to practice phonics with your kids:

Click to get this phonics activity.

Click to get this phonics activity.

Maximize Reading Achievement for Struggling Readers Through Rhythm and Rhyme

Wow!  Raise your hand if you think Tim Rasinski rocks! 

Were you aware that students who are not reading on grade level by the end of third grade will likely experience reading difficulties and problems in all other school subjects.....forever.....forever.....forever.....

I attended a very informative training with Tim Rasinski that definitely opened my eyes to see just how important fluency really is for our students!!!!  In this training he introduced a fluency intervention model that he refers to as the Synergistic Fluency Instruction.  

Mr. Rasinski says that it really only takes about 15-25 minutes per day.  It has many of the same components as a guided reading lesson. 

  

Synergistic Fluency Intervention

1. The teacher introduces a new short text to the class and reads it aloud two or three times, while the students follow along silently. The text can be a poem, segment from a basal passage or trade book, etc.

2. The teacher and students discuss the nature and content of the passage as well as the quality of the teacher’s reading of the passage.

3. The teacher and students read the passage chorally several times. Antiphonal reading and other variations are used to create variety and maintain engagement.

4. The teacher organizes students into pairs or trios. Each student practices the passage three times while his or her partner listens and provides support and encouragement.

5. Individuals and groups of students perform their reading for the class or other audience (such as another class, a parent visitor, the school principal, or another teacher).

6. The students and their teacher then choose four or five interesting words from the text to add to students’ word banks or to the classroom word wall.

7. Students engage in 5 to 10 minutes of word study activities (e.g., word sorts with word bank words, word walls, flash card practice, defining words, word games, etc.).

8. The students take a copy of the passage home to practice with parents and other family members.

9. The following day students read the passage from the previous day to the teacher or a fellow student for accuracy and fluency. Words from the previous day are also read, reread, grouped, and sorted by students and groups of students. The instructional routine then begins again with step 1, using a new passage.

References:

Rasinski, T.V. (2003). The fluent reader: Oral reading strategies for building word recognition, fluency, and comprehension.

FREE Story and Writing Organizer

This Story Organizer is just right for extending your students' thinking and comprehension. Students are assisted with sequencing the story they are reading into beginning, middle, and end. There is also a portion for focusing on the characters, problem, and solution. 

This organizer is also a great tool for organizing thoughts before writing. 

Younger students can draw pictures to show comprehension and older students can use words or even complete sentences.

Click to download the FREE Story Organizer.http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Story-Organizer-for-Comprehension-with-Summary-Sequence-Focus

Click to download the FREE Story Organizer.

What kind of organizers do you use to inspire your students to think?

Are your students REALLY Reading?

Are your kiddos REALLY reading?  
Don't Let them fake you out!!

Imagine this.  You are in the middle of working with a small group of students ... maybe guided reading ... you look up, to of course make sure that all your little friends are reading, writing, thinking, spelling, etc.  At first it looks like everything is going perfectly.  Ah, the easy life of a teacher.  :)  But upon closer inspection...  

Wait, what is that?  Your students are actually reading their books upside down, staring at the ceiling, whispering to their neighbors about eating chicken nuggets for dinner last night, staring at a Microsoft manual (these are first graders - I don't even understanding that stuff -  LOL), or walking around "collaborating" with their pals.  Ummmm, these kids are NOT reading!

Anchor Chart - Reading Rubric for 
Real Reading vs. Fake Reading 

It focuses on Metacognition, thinking about your thinking, and what it really looks like to be a real reader.  You can print this out as a poster, kids can put it in their Reader's / Writer's Notebook, or you can use it as a model for making an anchor chart with your students.  It works great to create the Real Reader vs. Fake Reader anchor chart together during a mini-lesson focused on what reader's should really be doing.  

These ideas and reading strategies were adapted from my favorite comprehension book, Tanny McGregor's Comprehension Connections.

Have you created a Real Readers vs. Fake Readers anchor chart with your students?  I would love to see it!!!  Please send me a picture or a link and I will post it to my blog.

See ya!
jen 
   

Make Connections. Make a Salad. .......

Crazy, but when I was in school, I was nnnnneeeeevvvvveeeeerrrrr taught how to think.  So, I'm not really sure how or when I truly learned to think about text while reading.  But then again, I also learned by sitting in perfectly straight words....never speaking aloud during lessons.....seriously, WOW!  

Picture from Angela Bunyi, Scholastic.com - Thank you!

Today I helped out a bit at our kindergarten professional development over comprehension.  My focus was metacognition.....so I chose to do the Reading Salad lesson.  I adapted this lesson from Tanny McGregor's book, Comprehension Connections.  I Totally LOVE this book!!!  If you read only one book this year, read this book!  It will change your thinking about teaching.

I started the lesson by reading a page from a book straight through, without any stopping. Then, I asked the group what they noticed about how I was reading. They shared comments like: reading very quickly, being able to read all the words, etc.  I told them I had a big secret to share with them. I was fake reading! I was able to read all the words..... a.k.a "word calling", and it looked like I was reading, but I was a actually thinking about having lunch with my friends instead! They couldn't believe it! I asked them to be honest, and raise their hands if they had ever just pretended to read. All their hands flew up in the air. They admitted to thinking about P.E. recess, lunch or even playing video games, not actually reading at all!  ....They admitted to only look like they were reading.  I couldn't believe how forthcoming they were! 

Next, I chose three special friends to come up to the front to be my assistants.  As I read aloud, one friend put in green squares of paper that represented the "text" part of the reading and another friend put in red squares of paper to whenever I stopped to think aloud about the text.  Another friend mixed the red and green together.  Voila!!!  REAL READING SALAD!

Bon Appetite!
Jen Bradshaw