Reading Rockets offers a wealth of reading strategies, lessons, and activities designed to help young children learn how to read and read better. Our reading resources assist parents, teachers, and other educators in working with struggling readers who require additional help in reading fundamentals and comprehension skills development.
Sound It Out
Along with her background as a researcher, writer, and teacher, Joanne Meier is a mom. Join Joanne every week as she shares her experiences raising her own young readers, and guides parents and teachers on the best practices in reading.
5 ways to appreciate a teacher AND build literacy skills
Teacher Appreciation week is May 4-10, and parents all over are scrambling to find something that expresses their gratitude.
Below are five quick ways to say thanks to a teacher and help build literacy skills at the same time. Each idea is intentionally fairly easy and inexpensive — just pick your favorite!
1. Donate a copy of your favorite read aloud to the class. Teachers are always looking for tried and true read alouds. If a book worked for you, it might work for the class too!
2. Offer to read aloud to the class. Email or call your teacher and ask when you can come in this week to read to the class. Bring books with you (so she doesn't have to prepare). As your teacher is walking out the door for an unprecedented break in the middle of the day, hand her a mug with a tea bag in it. What a treat!
3. Gather a few kids from the class. Have them look through old magazines and newspapers for words and pictures that remind them of their teacher. Cut and paste to make a gorgeous collage.
4. Have your child write a card. It sounds simple, right? Handmade cards with love notes from little ones are some of the most treasured items teachers receive.
5. Have your child use an online puzzle making tool (Discovery School has several good choices) and make puzzle all about her teacher. Clues could be related to a memorable field trip or class experience they've taken, teacher's favorite food or color, or other fun facts.
And one more great idea (but doesn't necessary build literacy skills) is to write your own card. It's easy to get too busy to remember to thank a teacher for all the things they do, large and small.
In our family, I wanted to thank Anna's teacher for letting the kids go out and catch snowflakes on their tongue when it started to snow in January. I wanted to be sure to let Molly's teacher know how much it meant to us when she wrote a card when Lucky (our adventurous gerbil) got away one morning. Those small acts of kindness on our teachers’ part mean SO much.
Teachers, I really appreciate you!
The Frizzle factor: Teacher requests for next year
My friends find it hard to believe, but our principal actually solicits input from parents about which classroom we'd like our children to be placed in next year. We're to avoid requesting a teacher by name but rather we should describe our child and his/her specific learning/social needs. That information is considered as they look to form next year's classes.
Thankfully there aren't any teachers at our school that I don't want to get. There are a few that I hope we get. And it mostly comes down to wanting our girls in classrooms where they can be challenged and where they continue to fall in love with learning.
It's the Frizzle Factor. I'd love for Anna and Molly to be with quirky, eccentric teachers whose passion for learning spills out of her desk, onto the floor, and runs into the hallway. Passion like that is contagious! And I want my girls to catch it. I'm just not sure where the Mrs. Frizzles are — are they out there?
And is Mrs. Frizzle good for all kids? What are you looking for in next year's teacher?
PS: The topic of student/teacher match is a big one, very broad and complex, spanning topics of teacher expectations
and student outcomes, classroom climate, culturally responsive teaching, and others. If this is a topic you'd like to read more about, dive in! There are plenty of really terrific resources to read.
In case I forgot…
…how to make Anna's favorite lunch, she left me these directions, taped to the oven door handle. I particularly like step number 7: Serve and enjoy.
As a parent, I love finding writing samples around the house. They're everywhere! We've got notes taped to the guest room door, over the hooks for their backpacks, and on one particularly industrious Saturday morning the girls labeled the playroom bins with "Polly Pockets," "train tracks," and "other small stuff."
As a teacher, I can't help but admire the wealth of information that can be gleaned from writing samples. I mean, can we take a moment to notice all the long vowel knowledge Anna's recipe reveals? She's got several long vowel patterns reflected: boil, drain, enjoy, chees (cheese), and her effort with the word "stir" (stear)— I'm not sure what happened there, except that kids, after they learn something new about words apply it to every word they spell, so I suspect Anna is in a place where she figures that lots of words have two vowels standing next to each other. Words Their Way calls this "using but confusing," which sums it up perfectly.
If we had more writing samples, we could determine just what phonics skills Anna is ready to tackle. This one suggests she's somewhere in the "within word" stage of development. Her errors (nootles/noodles, sevin/seven, minites/minutes, chees/cheese) provide guidance about the skills she's working on. A spelling inventory captures similar information by using carefully constructed lists of words that contain specific phonics features.
If you have a minute today, take a look at some kid writing. Admire it! What types of information can you gather from it? I think I could do that all day long.
What is a high-quality preschool?
Around our town, parents of preschoolers are busy observing in classrooms and filling out lengthy application forms for next year's preschool. Most of our preschools have a $25–$40 application fee and waiting lists a mile long, so it's a process that many undertake cautiously and anxiously.
I'm often asked what to look for in a good preschool program. I'll share some resources on the topic (and encourage you to read them) BUT ALSO tell you to trust your instincts as you're visiting different preschools. I'm always struck by the powerful messages (intentional and unintentional) that schools send to parents. I've learned to really trust those impressions and use them as pieces of information during the decision-making process.
Pre-K Now offers a fact sheet about high-quality preschool. They address teacher training and certification, student-teacher ratio, and curriculum. They stress alignment between preschool curriculum and a state's K-12 standards.
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has a document Early Years Are Learning Years that is about choosing a preschool. It also addresses the preschool's relationship with the family and the importance of a qualified staff.
Although it's a bit more academic, the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) has a policy brief that outlines high-quality preschool. The recommendations from this brief focus on child, family, teacher, curriculum, and classroom dimensions.
I hope this is helpful to you!
Spring break reading
We're on spring break this week, but I thought I'd share a few of the books we'll be reading together during our road trip. I've blogged before about some of the terrific read alouds we have read, and my criteria for choosing them. The same ones apply for this list too.
Half Magic is the book I'm the most excited about. It sounds like a fun adventure with wonderful characters. I'm hoping the girls love it!
Sophie is Seven will be our first book by Dick King-Smith. And although it's not the first in the Sophie series, I thought Id capture the girls' attention with this one and see about the others later.
And 'll be bringing along two others that I know I want to share with the girls, but this might not be the right time:
Misty of Chincoteague. I think Molly will love this book but I'm not sure Anna is ready for it.
The other one is The BFG. When I taught second grade, The BFG was a class favorite EVERY year. We've got some pretty active imaginations around here, so if I think my girls can get past the idea of a giant walking around the streets at night, we'll read it.
I'll be checking in while we're away, so if you have any recommendations you'd like to share, I'm sure I can find a bookstore. Happy reading!
Should reading with parents count?
I blogged about reading logs back in August, when Molly was just getting started with a daily homework assignment to read and respond every day after school. The title of that post, Reading Logs, Reading Blahs pretty much sums up the way I feel about reading logs. Your comments on that post suggest that many of you feel the same way!
And there was this comment from Ask the Expert:
At our school, children in each grade are required to do a minimum daily independent reading time, starting in first grade. Anything a parent reads to his child doesn't count.
The author went on to say that she dislikes that policy. "I believe it is counterproductive, especially for children struggling with reading or who don't like to read."
I couldn't agree more — for a school to make a rule that books read to a child shouldn't "count" towards reading logs is just plain wrong! Am I right?! Regardless of the level of the reader, there is always benefit to a parent read aloud. I think that time should count.
What do you think? What are your recommendations for schools policies on reading as a homework?
Great expectations
Sometimes I wonder whether the expectations at schools are high enough for kids "at or above grade level." Molly's papers come home and I can see where she's scribbled out an answer rather than erase it. She'll write over one letter with another when she's writing. And I see lots of evidence of her taking the easy road when she completes her reading responses. As her parent, I know what she's capable of doing…and I'm just not seeing that talent reflected in her school work. But, does it matter?
So far, I'd have to say not really. She's at the top of her class, and her papers come home marked with glowing comments from the teachers. Sometimes I wonder how closely her work is reviewed. We've found more than one math sheet with errors not marked, and there's never a suggestion or comment on her simply worded paragraphs that don't reflect much thought or effort. Just a happy face or a check mark.
It's about expectations. She "meets or exceeds" the expectations for her grade level. Does that mean that's all there is? As parents, we hope not.
What's your experience? Do my expectations sound unreasonable?
Same thing next year? AKA grade retention
We're approaching the fourth grading period at our school, which leads some teachers and parents to think about whether a struggling child should be retained. It's never an easy conversation to have.
Research just doesn't support grade retention, particularly for students in the older grades. I've blogged about this before and included a few good readings for those interested in reading position statements and a meta-analysis on grade retention. The March 2008 issue of Educational Leadership also includes a short summary of the research on the topic.
There is little research on the impact of retention for younger kids, particularly for students retained after their kindergarten year. One thing is clear: if a child is retained, his instruction the second year must be different. Doing the same thing for a second year is not a solution.
In some situations, a carefully planned and executed intensive intervention delivered during the repeated year by a reading specialist or other professional may produce the types of results teachers and parents hope for. There are other options for providing additional instruction besides spending another whole year in school — summer school and extended day programs are two options.
What's your experience with grade retention? Have you seen it help or hurt?
Are word searches a waste of instructional time?
A question came to me via the Ask the Expert service that Reading Rockets provides. With the teacher's permission, I'm including it here to get your opinion.
Question:
We were recently told by an administrator that research shows that crossword puzzles and word search puzzles have no educational value. We have been forbidden to use them in our classes. As teacher of English Language Learners, we have found that both of these are valuable tools to use with our kids. Do you know of any research that would support our position?
My answer:
Your question is an interesting one! I know of no research that supports the use of word searches with students as a means to student achievement. That makes sense to me, though...few skills that translate to reading and writing are developed through their use. I guess one could build an argument that there are some near-point (i.e., copying) skills being used, but the relationship of near-point skills to reading isn't very strong.
Crossword puzzles, however, seem entirely different, especially if students are not provided with a bank of words to use with the puzzle. I think an argument could be made for vocabulary development through their use. You might want to see if your administrator could elaborate on his or her concerns about crossword puzzles.
The teacher's reply:
Here's the thing for us as ESL teachers. We use word searches as a way to reinforce vocabulary students are learning through reading. I work with first graders, so as they search the words, they learn to look for consonant clusters, vowel combinations and the like.
I also feel it does help to develop their visual acuity for recognizing English words. They love the word searches, and even those kids who struggle with language and/or reading love to do them and feel as if they've accomplished something great when they're finished. They like to compete with one another and are excited about working with words. To us, those are pluses.
We, too, think the crossword puzzles are a no-brainer. We also suspect that this was a case of prohibiting everyone from something because a few people are indiscriminately using them as busy work.
My questions to blog readers:
What do you think? Clearly this teacher thinks there are enough benefits to word searches to use them in her classroom. Her reasons are largely motivational, though. Are word searches a good use of educational time?
Kindergarten: half or full?
One of my blog posts that got people talking was the one about our decision to enroll Anna in kindergarten as a 5 year old (rather than waiting until she turned 6). Both our girls have summer birthdays; we waited to send our older daughter, but wrestled with the same decision for our younger daughter.
A related (but different) contentious topic surrounds full- vs. half-day kindergarten, a topic that's always in the news. A new study in Early Childhood Research Quarterly supports the research that says kids who go to kindergarten all day learn more about literacy and math than kids who only go for a half day. It's especially true for kids who are in smaller classes and for kids who are at risk. It's the same finding that is supported by other studies (example here).
What's not clear from the evidence is whether the benefits from the full-day programs last beyond the kindergarten year. Some follow-up studies suggest that the effects of full-day kindergarten deteriorate over time. Personally, I think that probably speaks more to the intensity of instruction in later years than it does about the lack of effect from full day kindergarten.
Our public school only offers full-day kindergarten, but many of our private schools offer both full- and half-day programs. If I had to choose, I'd go with full-day. But others disagree, citing that's just too much school to soon. What's your opinion?
Teaching vocabulary
A few weeks ago I blogged about a kindergarten lesson where the students were confused by the word pause, thinking the teacher meant applause or paws. I promised that teacher I'd send her some materials about vocabulary development with second language learners. I thought I'd share some of the resources I like.
Our sister site, Colorin Colorado, has an article with several good recommendations for vocabulary development with second language learners. Recommendations include intentional pre-teaching of vocabulary and focusing on cognates when possible.
This article by Isabel Beck and colleagues is one of my favorites on Reading Rockets. It includes lots of good, solid examples of their methodology for vocabulary instruction.
I also like this longer, but still practical piece titled Integrated Vocabulary Instruction for diverse learners in grades K-5. Many of their recommendations build on experts in the field, including Nagy and August. It includes several good graphic organizers.
Last, the National Literacy Panel's 2006 report "Developing Literacy in Second-Language Learners"executive summary and full report
describe the balance between oral proficiency and literacy in the first language as a facilitator to literacy development in English.
Whew! I hope those are helpful resources.
Dyslexia: a primer
I love the Florida Center for Reading Research. The center is directed by Barbara Foorman and Joe Torgesen. And no one that works there must need sleep! They're always cranking out really good reports and publications. It's one of the first places I go when researching something.
One of FCRR's more recent reports is a must read: Dyslexia: A Brief for Educators, Parents, and Legislators in Florida. Although the title suggests it's for people within Florida, a much larger audience will benefit from the information.
I won't kid you, the report isn't visually appealing, and it's pretty dense, but I can promise you a lot of good information within the 18 pages.
The report covers the definition of dyslexia (in detail), the type of instruction most useful for individuals with dyslexia, and remedial instruction for older students with dyslexia.
PS: Last week I wrote that I'd share resources for introducing vocabulary. I'll do that next week for sure!
Pause for applause and paws
I was lucky enough to spend a morning last week at an elementary school in New York City. I was there watching a choreographer prepare two classes of kindergartners for a field trip. The classes were going to watch an interpretive dance, and this artist was helping the students understand how dancers use their bodies to convey meaning.
The lesson moved along just as you might envision: some giggles, lots of bumping into each other, more giggles, and a few students unwilling to 'walk with their knees.'
Then came the moment of the lesson that couldn't be scripted. The teacher asked, "What's a pause? Who can show me a pause?" Three students immediately broke out into applause. The adults in the room got it right away: The kids heard "applause," not "pause." Of course! That's a much more familiar word for them. The teacher cleared up the confusion, described a pause, and then had them "pause" their movements to reinforce the concept.
An hour later, a different kindergarten class. Again, "What's a pause? Who can show me a pause?" Immediately one little girl drew her hands up under her chin and pretended to be a cat. "Of course!" the teacher said. "Melynn is a cat — with paws! Everybody get your paws out!" The kids had great fun being cats, and then learning this new word: pause.
It was a perfect example of how carefully we need to consider what we're saying, and what the kids are hearing. Thankfully this adept teacher honored the children's thinking, and then moved right into what she was trying to convey.
I have my own clear memories of sharing an Amelia Bedelia book with my second graders, many of whom were second language learners. There's nothing quite as humbling as having 14 blank faces staring at you as you say, "See, Amelia Bedelia put steaks on the ground instead of stakes!"
I promised the choreographer I'd get back to her with some teaching resources about this topic. Do you have any you'd like to share? I'll add mine next week.
Do as I say, not as I do
I heard that expression for the first time when my mom was teaching me to drive. She has a bit of a lead foot, and had gotten a spate of speeding tickets when I was a teenager. As I stepped on the gas, she turned to me and said, "Do as I say, not as I do, especially when it comes to driving!"
I find myself using that same expression these days as I talk to parents about reading to their kids: Do as I say, not as I do. Yes, it's true...I haven't been reading to my girls.
But don't take that to mean there isnt any reading going on at our house — there's plenty of that! Our trip to the library last week ended with both girls challenging the media specialist's rule: You can check out as many as you can carry. They both walked out with an armful of books they couldn't wait to read.
The problem (?) at our house is that now that both girls are reading comfortably on their own that's all they want to do — read on their own. They're really not interested in listening to me read to them.
I've faced this problem before — really not knowing a good book to use for our family read aloud. Our last dry spell catapulted me into the library to discover read alouds that we could read as a family. We've ready many, and it's tons of fun to have a family book going. We just finished James and the Giant Peach, which they loved, (maybe not as much as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) but now we're between books. And I'm not reading to them.
I know the value of reading aloud to them. I long to be the one to introduce them to some of the classic books they're not able to read on their own yet. I want to share new authors and genres, longer books with interesting vocabulary...but we're in a dry spell.
What have you read aloud? What chapter books have left your kids begging for the next chapter? Any recommendations would be MOST appreciated!
Spelling made fun
Within Molly's first-grade class, there is a huge range of spelling and reading skills. Her teacher groups for reading and spelling; usually the kids who read together have the same word study words, but not always. There are four word study groups within the classroom.
Having four spelling groups is great in terms of differentiation, but tough to manage! I came across this fun site for spelling that just might be one answer for Molly's teacher.
Spelling City can be used by teachers, parents, and students to provide practice with spelling words. Teachers can upload spelling lists for their students to access, or parents/students can type in a list. There are also a bunch of lists already on the site (example: 1st grade 's' words).
Once a list of spelling words is entered, students can choose from one of three games to play. Molly really liked the Hang Mouse game. Students can also use the Teach Me feature, which reads the word, then reads each letter, and uses the word in the sentence. Finally, there's a Test Me feature which reads the words. Students type the letters and can have their word checked.
Spelling City seems relatively new, with promises of more features to come. I hope they add some spelling lists by spelling feature, rather than just initial letter. I was trained at UVA, so it's very hard for me to move away from the word study approach. I'd also like to see more games, and an expanded Teach Me feature. I'm not sure what they've got right now really "teaches" anyone how to spell. That said, Spelling City is a fun and easy way to provide individualized practice with spelling words.
No sub for a teacher
Molly's teacher leaves this Friday for maternity leave. The long-term sub has been hired, the kids have been prepped, and they're throwing her a baby shower before she goes. Sounds good, right?
I sat down to our local paper last week to the headline: Increased use of substitute teachers has negative effect. USA Today carried the story with an even stronger headline: Teacher absences hurting learning. Ouch! Not what this mother wants to read as her daughter embarks upon 8-10 weeks with a substitute teacher.
According to the story, the problem with subs isn't just with teachers home for a day or two — it's the use of subs to fill full-time vacancies. Nationwide, according to Education Department data, the number of schools reporting that they used substitutes to fill regular teaching vacancies doubled between 1994 and 2004.
Other data, from a study out of the University of Washington, suggests that 10 teacher absences within a year cause a significant loss in math achievement (fourth-grade math test scores being the measure used). YIKES!
There are so many issues: good teachers hard to find, good subs harder to find, varying state standards for subs, lack of meaningful lesson plans left for subs, bonding between students and the sub, and differing expectations just to name a few.
For our own personal situation, the silver lining to this cloud might be our county guidelines: "To be approved to fill a long-term substitute position, candidates or applicants must hold or be eligible for a Virginia teaching license to teach the subject/grade of the long-term assignment." It's not a panacea, for sure, but a step in the right direction.
What's your experience with subs? What are your district's requirements for substitute teachers?
TeacherTube
Continuing this month's Reading Rockets theme of reading and writing in the digital world, I thought I'd highlight TeacherTube. If you haven't seen it yet, it's YouTube for teachers. There are thousands of videos there, created by and for teachers. It also includes student projects and videos teachers could use for teaching. Viewers can see what's being viewed right now, comment on videos and vote for ones you think should be featured.
For me, the site buffers pretty slowly, but you might have more luck. I also wish the organization of the site were more intuitive, but if you use the Search feature, you can find some good things. I searched for "fluency," "reading comprehension," "phonics," and "strategies." Two of my finds...
Have you ever seen kids "playing" the Crazy Professor reading game? I saw it for the first time a few months ago at PowerTeachers. On TeacherTube, a first grade teacher posted a short video of her class "playing" it.
Free-Reading, the site I blogged about two weeks ago has a bunch of videos on TeacherTube. I watched a letter writing lesson.
Browing around TeacherTube reinforces what we know: Some teachers are using technology with their students and to share with other teachers. That's cool!
If you're looking for other video of teachers, check out our very own Watch & Learn section. You can watch through Google, it looks great, and is targeted just for teachers of young kids.
NOTE: TeacherTube is not a site intended for students to navigate on their own. There may be PSAs or videos on there with content not suitable for young children.
Darn hard work
Working with struggling readers is darn hard work. Progress is slow, and it takes an enormous amount of effort. Really concerted, dedicated, sustained effort. The students I work with usually make me want to bang my head against a wall out of frustration and leap across the room for joy, and that's within a 45 minute tutoring session!
The Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR) recently summarized K-3 intervention research. FCRR staff established criteria for selecting studies to include in their review; 12 studies ended up making the review and contributing to Extensive Reading Interventions in Grades K-3. The report provides some guidance for people who work with struggling readers. I think it provides some insight into just what it takes to make a difference (and it's a lot).
Among the findings:
(1) Low cost implementers (aka teacher aides) can be effective interventionists; all the programs they studied that relied on teacher aides used a well structured, written-for-them lesson plan. And included lots of training.
(2) Gains from interventions appear to be maintained over time (hooray!)
(3) All the interventions included attention to the big five areas of reading.
There are other findings too, but these are the most critical. There's no one answer: no single intervention came out on top every time. There was no magic number of sessions (each study included at least 100 sessions. 4-5 times a week), total hours of intervention (range across these 12 studies was 25 to 173), or group size. Just a lot of darn hard work, and dedicated professionals.
NOTE: It's a new year, and I feel like a curmudgeon writing this post. But I mean it in the spirit of: DON'T GIVE UP! WE CAN DO THIS! IT'S TOTALLY WORTH IT!
Reading wiki: free-reading.net
A "wiki" is a website or other online resource which allows users to add and edit content collectively. By now, most of us are familiar with Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia. But there are other wikis too.
There's a wiki devoted specifically to early literacy. Have you seen it? It's free-reading.net. According to the site, free-reading.net is an open resource center and community for early literacy teachers. Because it's a wiki, the content is continually being revised and changed. There is an advisory board for the site that "refines the ongoing research and development agenda of Free-Reading." The advisory board includes well-known researchers Catherine Snow, Michael Kamil, and Barbara Taylor.
I feel like such a fuddy-duddy when I say it, but I'm a bit suspicious of wikis! I mean, how can I trust a site whose content can be changed by virtually anyone?? But, I have to say, there are some terrific resources that you should see:
64 activities to teach phonological awareness. Several of the ones I looked at included video too.
Vocabulary lessons using popular children's books. The sequence they recommend for teaching the words is a good one.
A Chipmunk Rap. Yes, that's right. And as the mom of two young girls, this one was a BIG HIT.
In addition to activities, guides, videos and rap, free-reading.net offers a full 40-week intervention program for K/1 students. I haven't reviewed it yet, and don't see any links to research done with it, but it might be worth looking over! Now, if I can just do something about the references to "tricks" on the site.....
Can Santa read this?
We're still reading and writing around our house, with Anna adding to her list each day. Because of this, I'll be busy right up until the last minute trying to figure out what a few of these things might be!
Happy holidays to you — thanks for reading Sound It Out this year, and I look forward to next year! We'll have lots to talk about, including infusing technology into literacy instruction, analyzing student spelling, using text sets to motivate reluctant readers, summer reading, and writing instruction for all students. See you then!
"Reading Rockets is great for those who are in the pre-school and primary levels of education in whatever roles they play in the institution."
~ Jesilyn T.
Kids Who Struggle |
Teaching Reading |
Books & Authors |
Articles from A-Z
Our Shows on PBS |
Podcasts & Video |
Webcasts |
Blogs about Reading |
Reading Research
Reading Store |
Free Reading Guides |
Reading Resources |
Today's Reading News
For Teachers |
For Other Professionals |
For Families
En español |
Newsletters |
Calendar
Home Page |
About Reading Rockets |
Contact Us |
Link to Reading Rockets
Privacy Policy |
Terms & Conditions |
Site Map
Reading Rockets is a national multimedia project that offers research-based and best-practice information on teaching kids to read and helping those who struggle. It is an educational service of public television station WETA in Washington, D.C.
Visit WETA's educational web sites:
© Copyright 2008. All rights reserved. Reading Rockets is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. Reading Rockets® is a registered trademark of WETA.
Stay informed! Subscribe to our e-mail newsletters.