Connie Henderson Classroom Applications for Teaching Reading RE 5531 Summer 2009

Connie Henderson Classroom Applications forTeaching Reading RE 5531 Summer 2009

I am a Retired Teacher. I will address Classroom Applications for teaching Reading from my past experience and especially from what I have learned in this class. Because I work in CatawbaCounty as an outside Mentor for ILTs, this will be especially helpful as I try to help beginning teachers organize and deliver effective reading instruction to all students. The class discussions and reading we have done will also help me as I tutor small groups and individuals in the future.

Before effective instruction can begin students must be assessed to find their instructional level. Kindergarten teachers could start with the ERSI to see how much letter and letter sound knowledge students have. The ERSI also checks a child’s concept of word knowledge to determine if the child can match spoken and written words. What the child knows guides the teacher in how much of the test to administer. Above Kindergarten it’s not always possible for a classroom teacher to administer a full IRI to all students. If a teacher is very concerned about a student she can do further testing to get a more full picture of a child’s reading skills. However teachers can administer the Word Recognition tests from the IRI and, at the very least, Dr. Bob Schlagel’s spelling tests to determine where to begin instruction. I have learned how a student tries to spell words is a window into what they know about letter knowledge, the sounds letters make including blends and digraphs and vowel patterns. It tells a trained teacher what a child knows about how words work and how much a child knows about these patterns. As a teacher I knew Spelling was important. I knew the whole class method did not work for the whole class even when we had a very good book. Now I know when students are placed at their instructional level for Spelling they will learn and move up to other levels in Spelling. And I now understand what Dr. Mock was trying to teach me about the importance of spelling last semester. I can use what I learned in class to suggest leveled Spelling instruction that is manageable for the teacher. It’s very exciting when things begin to make sense and I understand how to use what I’m learning! For me this has been important information to gain as I mentor and tutor. These tests don’t take a great deal of time to give, but they provide a wealth of valuable information about where students need to be instructed so they can truly learn and continue to learn. Once a teacher knows the skill levels of her students she can group for Spelling and Reading instruction.

In class we had some very informative discussions about application of reading instruction in the early grades. We were also given copies of teacher’s instructional plans for how to group and instruct the class as well as how to address the needs of a group of low readers. The plans we discussed involved having about three groups in a classroom. The model was for Guided reading with the teacher usually at a table. The other two groups were either (1). at their seats doing seatwork or (2.) in centers with some kind of skill-based activities. These groups would rotate to the teacher’s table. Depending on the block of time a teacher has for reading and her students that year, the teacher may not see the highest readers every day. For seatwork and centers to be effective, the work must be well planned and carefully chosen to meet the instructional needs of each group. Also, a teacher must carefully train students how to work independently. Otherwise this model won’t work. The Third Grade discussion group I was in agreed that the low readers need Guided Reading instruction every day. Ideally these low readers should receive thirty minutes of instruction daily with the teacher at their level.The model for their lesson should include Guided Reading, Word Work, and Fluency. Teacher strategies for Guided Reading with low readers could include: new story picture walks and pre-teaching vocabulary, echo reading, DRTA, partner reading, oral reading in the group, and silent reading if appropriate.The next part of the lesson would be Word Study. Based on the skill level of the group word sorts would be done using a header at the top. Typically, three columns would be sorted. Students would read down the column as they sort. This could bea whole group activity and students could have their own cards so they could do this individually and take them home for practice. The group could also play Bingo, Concentration, and Pitty Pat. A Spell Check could be used to check their transfer. A good way to check mastery is to quickly flash about thirty words from the sorts and see if a student can read them quickly. The third part of the lesson is Fluency. To help students improve fluencythe teacher can use Timed Repeated Reading. A passage is selected from something the student has already read. The teacher counts the words and writes the numbers lightly on the pages. The student reads for two minutes. Words are counted and graphed. This is done again immediately. The next day the same passage is read two more times, timed, words counted and results graphed. Research has shown this helps improve fluency and rate.Partner reading, Performance reading like Reader’s Theater and Radio Reading and having students listen to books on tape are strategies to help improve fluency.

Our class discussion next turned to applications for Special teachers and for teachers of older students. The focus was how to instruct students who are 1 ½ to 2 years behind in reading. Upper grade teachers must still find students’ instructional levels. They could use the End-of –Grade Reading test scores looking for students scoring around the 45th Percentile as their possible low readers.Word Recognition Test scores and results of Dr. Bob Schlagel’s Spelling Tests could help find groups for Reading. For students that the teacher is very concerned about she may want to do the oral reading part of the IRI or the abbreviated IRIs. Whether the class is self-contained or the grade level is ability grouped, the teacher still needs to group for instruction based on her testing information. This would mean at least two reading groups. To help those low readers they must be instructed where they are. Olderstudents would benefit from leveled Spelling instruction. Information from our articles and class discussions would give the teacher a manageable way to to do this in her class. To instruct the low readers in the upper grades their lesson would need to include Guided Reading with the teacher and Word Study. In Guided Reading the teacher must find bookson their instructional level that are interesting to the students. The teacher could pre-teach vocabulary, let them look at any pictures, and have them begin to predict story events. She could read the first few pages to get them into the story. If appropriate for the group, she could have them do some silent reading and use the DRTA strategy for questioning. DRTA could also be used as she reads with the group out loud. If possible their books could be on CD so they could take them home for more practice and to improve fluency. They could be taught how to use a stopwatch so they could help each other with Timed Repeated Reading. They could be included in Performance reading through Readers Theater and sharing poetry. In Word Studythis group needs to be instructed where they are with sorts and games like Bingo and Concentration. One Sixth Grade teacher in the class was kind enough to share examples of questions that on or above grade level students could use on their own to guide their reading and help them comprehend the story. One set of questions was a series of questions similar to DRTA questions and the other was a set of R.A.F.T questions for a poem. They could do this while she worked with the low readers.

To be able to have an effective Reading program for all students, especially low readers,having appropriate leveled reading materials is absolutely essential! I learned during my tutoring how important it is to have books at a student’s level that are interesting to him. Teachers need to build a library with multiple copies of books several levels below their grade level, books on their grade level, and books above their grade level. These could then be used in small group Guided Reading lessons or for tutoring individual students. A good source for book titles leveled by grade is Dr. Darrell Morris’ book Diagnosis and Correction of Reading Problems on page 127 where the Early Steps books are listed. These books cover Preprimer 1 through Late First Grade (1-2). On page 167 is a list of books for Second Grade through Fourth-fifth grade level reading books. During our course with Dr. Morris, he pointed some of the best books he has collected in the Clinic that are used for tutoring Remedial Readers. Several teachers worked together after his seminar. They typed the titles and emailed the combined list to everyone in the class. I willadd that as a separate attachment to this report. This will be another valuable resource I will have to create my own library or help teachers create a classroom library. The other materials upper grade teachers will need are a set of word sort cards like those I obtained from ASU, Schlagel’s Spelling Test lists, and the IRI tests we used. Upper grade teachers have a challenge that spans more levels than early grade teachers. However, as much as possible we must instruct all students where they are if we expect them to learn and continue to learn while they are in school.