Transcript PowerPoint Presentation - Balanced Reading at NES

Balanced Reading
at NES
January 2002
Mary Sue Mulligan
Rosemary Slocum
Reading Specialists
Narragansett Elementary School
Narragansett Elementary School
strives to have a balanced reading
program. Balanced reading instruction
emphasizes both meaning and the code.
Because of the whole language
movement, many teachers had not
learned to teach phonemic awareness
and phonics (the code) in a systematic
and explicit way. Reading tests indicated
that children who were having difficulty
reading were unable to decode.
Learning the code requires learning to separate the speech
sounds within words, and learning how those sounds are
represented by letters. Here kindergarten students segment
words using Elkonin boxes.
In Systems for Change in
Literacy Education, authors Carol
Lyons and Gay Su Pinnell state that
“To be effective, staff development
must become a way of life in our
schools.” The book describes staff
development as a “spiral of learning.”
The Early Reading Success Initiative
has brought this kind of professional
development to NES.
Lyons and Pinnell believe that
the school principal plays a major
role in achieving a school culture of
collaboration that supports teacher
learning. At NES, Dr. DeFrances
secured the Early Reading Success
Initiative for kindergarten and first
grade teachers to help build that
culture.
The Early Reading Success (ERS)
Initiative brought classroom teachers
and reading teachers together at the
kindergarten and first grade levels last
year (second grade is included this
year) to examine NES’s reading
program. Now, reading teachers are
modeling phonics and comprehension
lessons at all grade levels. The steps in
the “spiral of learning” process here at
NES are:
1. Gather student achievement data: These
students are being assessed on spelling.
2. Provide the basics: (materials and mentoring
support) These children are using magnetic
letters and whiteboards to make words and to
take them apart.
3. Demonstrate the process: As part of the ERS grant,
Mrs. Mulligan, a reading fellow, has modeled lessons in
kindergarten and first grades. Here she teaches a
blending lesson to kindergarten students while the
teacher observes.
4. Engage the learners:
Teachers need to understand why learning new skills is
important. Dr. Susan Brady discusses reading research at
a second grade teachers’ workshop.
5. Try it out:
Teachers need the opportunity to try out new procedures.
Mrs. Choiniere teaches kindergarten students to count sounds
in words - a phonemic awareness skill.
6. Coach for shifts in behavior:
Observe the process and give feedback to teachers.
Mrs. Gardner, a reading teacher, teaches first grade students
a phonics lesson about blends while the classroom teacher
observes.
After Mrs. Gardner demonstrates, the children
practice making words with blends.
Mrs. Goudailler, a reading teacher, reviews syllable
types in a first grade classroom. Phonics instruction
teaches children how speech sounds are represented
by letters and letter patterns.
Mrs. Webb helps children reclassify words on
their word wall by the six syllable types.
Mrs. DeLuca implements what she’s learned about
syllable types with an ESL student.
Mrs. Cook teaches syllabication via the “spot and
dot” method. The children check that they have
labeled the syllables correctly.
In addition to phonemic awareness
and phonics instruction, a balanced
reading program must include
instruction in:
•understanding how print works
•vocabulary development
•comprehension
Mrs. Crowther, a reading teacher, teaches a
“concepts about print” lesson to a kindergarten
class.
Mrs. Carvalho reviews high-frequency words with a
small group of kindergarten children.
Mrs. Kenny, a first grade teacher, is guiding children
to read for a purpose as they continue to move
towards independence.
7. Extend learning:
Teachers need to reflect on the effectiveness of new
practices in their classrooms. Mr. Sylvia and Mrs. Zilly discuss
their students’ spelling at a second grade workshop.