Re: Reading instruction

[Juanita Doyon <Jedoyon@AOL.COM>]

In a message dated 1/28/02 5:58:20 PM Pacific Standard Time,
Teachernut@AOL.COM writes:


>
> I don't know why you are seeing what you are seeing in those students.  It
> is hard to say without a history of the child and their education thus far.
>
>
>

I think a lot of kids who "slip through" are not getting whole language but
hole language. Too many times, at least in our district, the more progressive
teachers were the ones who wanted to "try it all" and all at once, but there
are never quite enough resources to do it right.  My twins were in
team-taught, double-size classes for 1st and 2nd grade.  The teachers were
all very good and great people, but no teacher is equipped to handle 58 kids
in a full-inclusion 1st grade or 1st and 2nd grade classroom.  I didn't
volunteer a lot in the classroom when they were in 1st grade, but I did in
2nd, when they were in a 1st/2nd split.  I couldn't take it!  There were way
too many kids in the middle of the room lost, while the teachers worked with
small groups.  My twins were identified for lap/chapter help at the end of
1st grade, because they failed the "opposites test" in reading.  I didn't ask
for them to be tested further, because I knew that they would be getting
extra help in the classroom, and that was fine.  They got up to speed quick
enough, but I always wondered what they missed in 1st grade, when they were
doing just great coming out of kindergarten.  They are not even similar in
their learning styles, so it was odd that they both missed something.  There
were a lot of kids coming out of that class not reading as they could or
should be, and the thing they were missing was the phonics piece of the whole
language they were offered.  They made lots of nifty little books and had
Teddy Bears' picnics and great projects, but they lost their ability to sound
out words between kindergarten and second grade.  It doesn't take much for a
second grader to become disenchanted and start trying to hide a lack of
reading ability.  If parents aren't in tune, teachers may or may not catch
it.  Kids aren't stupid!  They pick up every cue-- whether in reading or
not-- that they are slower or in the low reading group, etc....  and they do
their best to overcome it one way or another.  It's not hard to fool the
guesser with primary reading books-- particularly if you're an upper level
thinker, quick to memorize, and/or a bit on the lazy side when it comes to
sounding out.  And it becomes a habit, mighty quick, if nobody picks up on
it.  Kids aren't stupid, but adults are often
distracted ;-)

Disclaimer: just-a-parent view, not at all scientific,
Juanita