kathie

= = //Here is my attempt to add info...Kathie//

September report on progress, or lack thereof of my t2s project: Preamble-the dog ate my homework…* That said… In first grade literacy, I am working to create a talking alphabet book that can be accessed by my beginning first grade readers. I am using the Mary Azarian block-print alphabet-the same one that was distributed to every primary school room in 1976. Many of those alphabet posters are still upon classroom walls, as are many new editions. The “Farmer’s Alphabet” was written by Margaret MacArthur, Vermont’s treasured singer, songwriter and folklorist. The song accompanies the alphabet posters of Mary Azarian. I have worked with Becky Graber, Academy School’s primary music teacher to coordinate this and other songs with the reading these young children do. I added MacArthur’s words to the Azarian Books and alphabet that I possess. I am working to create a computer edition which children will be able to read with GhostReader. This song/poem is educational, and fun for the kids to learn. For years, Becky Graber and I have worked on coordinating her songs with my reading program. This year she distributed a songbook to the classrooms she teaches. I am working to make many of these songs available to my lower readers, through GhostReader. It’s always a joy to see youngsters sing along while reading the poetry of a song. Here are some sample pages of the Azarian/MacArthur work:

YIKES, I TRIED TO COPY THE PICTURES, AND I GUESS THAT I NEED TO LEARN HOW TO DO IT. ONLY SOME *** AND THE LYRICS COPIED.

** B is for barn all covered with snow C is for cow, milking now does begin, and D is for dog, sleeps when he comes in
 * A is for apple, you very well know

pictures by Mary Azarian lyrics by Margaret MacArthur



E is for eggs we find in the hay F is for farm on the hill far away G is for garden to plant and to hoe, and H is for horse that plows it just so

I have several third grade readers who are struggling with fluency. I hope to get some good ideas from fellow classmates as to how use this reading program to aid fluency and comprehension. While some of these kids read slowly, they have a sharp intellect and interests way beyond their ability to read. I hope to work on special projects with them and use t2s to help them “read” and research topics in social studies and science.

Input and suggestions from others are welcome! Kathie Lovell**


 * or, how my camera completely stopped working (as in broken) and my computer threatened to self-destruct, as in “your start-up disk is almost full, empty me, or I will make you very sorry…” and the first several weeks of my job as academic support teacher were spent doing assessments on my two first grade and one third grade literacy groups--running records, spelling inventories, sentence dictation, and phonics assessments were done on each child. Students have only been available for individual instruction for a little more than the last week, so combined with camera and computer malfunctions, my project is still in its early stages of development.

Wednesday’s reflections:
 * Again, I enjoyed the GhostReader work today, but found that I had trouble with the skim/scan assignment, only because I wanted to read more in depth. I also have a difficult time processing quick time reading. Well, I guess I can do more detailed work later.

Jane, thanks for the scoop on using text edit for note taking. I’ve rarely used my computer for note taking before, mainly because I’m not an especially fast keyboarder, and I could never figure out an easy way to take notes from articles. I had fun using my mini pad alongside the article. I copied Kate’s “while reading look for…” list into my text edit page, and proceeded to write my thoughts, reflections where appropriate, or synthesized answers from the articles, plugging the info in where needed. Other times I copied and pasted pertinent information…way cool! (shucks, don’t take much to tickle me…)

Are we doing more with the smart board tomorrow? I’m sorry now I didn’t jump up there and play around a bit. I’ll be more adventuresome Thursday. Sometimes I just run out of energy in the late afternoon. I was really in to seeing some of the things you could do with it, however.

Fluency is certainly important, but…don’t forget to also check for comprehension. For little kids, in addition to “fluency,” we assess comprehension: “retelling,” including knowledge of characters, setting, problem(s) in the story, solutions or how the problem was solved, change in character’s feelings over time, etc. Older children work more on main ideas and summarizing, rather than retelling, and do much more work on inferences and abstract thinking. (…ever have a youngster “retell” the entire plot of a movie they saw the night before? If you’re not careful to redirect that energy, you could hear the movie in real time but not so interesting through a little one’s eyes… )

I’m wanting to try the copier scanning, too. Thanks for the notes.**

Notes taken on text edit, Wednesday

Oh, hello, I can take notes here, thanks, Jane. Text edit window, on every Mac, this will word wrap at whatever width is set.

skimming and scanning are reading/research skills that need to be taught. CBM/ORF assessment that includes both accuracy and rate allows teachers to get a quick but valid snapshot of their students’ reading performance. // I // f teachers provide the kind of instruction in fluency that works, then fluency, comprehension, and rate will improve. If teachers choose instead to focus primarily on developing students’ reading rate at the expense of reading with expression, meaning, and comprehension, students may read fast but with insufficient comprehension. Their goal may be to get from one point in the text to another as fast as possible, without understanding the nuances of meaning in the text. This would be a grave misinterpretation of the research related to reading fluency development and a disservice to the students.
 * While reading look for:**

CMB- Curriculum-based measurement, based on reading fluency, also called: ORF- oral reading fluency:take 60 seconds > word-by-word reading may be present. Word > groupings may seem awkward and unrelated to > the larger context of the sentence or passage. A small portion of the text is read with expressive interpretation. Reads significant sections of the > text excessively slowly or fast. > 
 * IRI's
 * fluency-**accuracy in decoding,appropriate phrasing and expression.fluent readers use cognitive resources to construct meaning thru expressive interpretation of text. the goal is to achieve optimal comprehension /automaticity**
 * WCPM**-Procedure for calculating words correct per minute**
 * One-minute reading: **Total words read-errors = words correct per minute**
 * Select two or three brief passages from a grade- level basal text or other grade-level material (regardless of students' instructional levels).
 * Have individual students read each passage aloud for exactly one minute.
 * Count the total number of words the student read for each passage. Compute the average number of words read per minute.
 * Count the number of errors the student made on each passage. Compute the average number of errors per minute.
 * Subtract the average number of errors read per minute from the average total number of words read per minute. The result is the average number of words correct per minute (WCPM).
 * Repeat the procedure several times during the year. Graphing students' WCPM throughout the year easily captures their reading growth.
 * Compare the results with published norms or standards to determine whether students are making suitable progress in their fluency. For example, according to one published norm, students should be reading approximately 60 words per minute correctly by the end of first grade, 90-100 words per minute correctly by the end of second grade, and approxi- mately 114 words per minute correctly by the end of third grade.
 * fluency rubric
 * //Oral Reading Fluency Scale//
 * 4 Reads primarily in larger, meaningful phrase groups. Although some regressions, repetitions, and deviations from the text may be present, these do not appear to detract from the overall structure of the story. Preservation of the author’s syntax is consistent. Some or most of the story is read with expressive interpretation. Reads at an appropriate rate.
 * 3 Reads primarily
 * in three- and four word phrase groups. Some smaller groupings may be present. However, the majority of phrasing seems appropriate and preserves the syntax of the author. Little or no expressive interpretation is present. Reader attempts to read expressively and some of the story is read with expression. Generally reads at an appropriate rate.
 * 2 Reads primarily in two-word phrase groups with some three- and four-word groupings. Some
 * in three- and four word phrase groups. Some smaller groupings may be present. However, the majority of phrasing seems appropriate and preserves the syntax of the author. Little or no expressive interpretation is present. Reader attempts to read expressively and some of the story is read with expression. Generally reads at an appropriate rate.
 * 2 Reads primarily in two-word phrase groups with some three- and four-word groupings. Some
 * 2 Reads primarily in two-word phrase groups with some three- and four-word groupings. Some
 * 1
 * Reads primarily word-by-word. Occasional two- or three-word phrases may occur – but these are infrequent and/or they do not preserve meaningful syntax. Lacks expressive interpretation. Reads text excessively slowly.
 * A score of 1 should also be given to a student who reads with excessive speed, ignoring punctuation and other phrase boundaries, and reads with little or no expression.
 * Bridge between word decoding (accuracy and automaticity) and comprehension through prosody (expressive interpretation)
 * ** prosody **-appropriate use of phrasing and expression in reading-making sense of the text . Fluency is often described by the extent to which appropriate expression and phrasing can be heard in a person’s voice when reading aloud. Fluent readers embed prosodic or melodic features of spoken language – stress, pitch variations, intonation, rate, phrasing, and pausing – in their voices
 * Multidimensional Fluency Scale
 * //NAEP//-also, fig 3 rubric on fluent reading National Assessment of Educational Progress (nearly half of 4th graders don't achieve minimal level of fluency, also have significant comprehension difficulties per Pinnell...)
 * repeated reading
 * monitored oral reading
 * modeling fluent reading
 * +**independent level 97-100%**
 * +instructional 90-96%
 * +frustration <90%
 * +**independent level 97-100%**
 * +instructional 90-96%
 * +frustration <90%

Tuesday’s reflections on Reading Fluency by Mather and Goldstein


 * Fluency refers to both rate of reading and reading with expression. The decoding of words is nearly automatic. Ability to read high frequency, or sight words is generally correlated with fluency and comprehension. Slower readers spend much of their time and energy identifying the words they read, and comprehension and fluency suffer.

Fluency can be improved by reading and rereading stories or passages. What a wonderful use of this text to speech program (akin to the Read Naturally program). I’ve enjoyed using it to do this homework reading, and listening to my thoughts as I’ve formulated my responses. I know that children will enjoy reading/listening to stories with this program. It will also be valuable during writing instruction, giving voice to a child’s work, helping them edit as needed. I envision using the scanning features of the copier to augment materials available on line for kid practice.

I disagree with the use of speed drills, and rapid word recognition charts. I believe that “automatic sight recognition of words” can be achieved in better more realistic ways. The reading promoted is not applicable to authentic reading of stories and texts. I find that students mistakenly feel that extremely rapid reading of words is what a fluent reader should do. They speed through stories at break neck speed, totally losing comprehension and fluent, expressive reading. There are many other authentic ways to practice high frequency words and to build fluency. Fry has lists of phrases that can be used to practice sight words. The words are in three word phrases, helping children go beyond reading word by word in a choppy fashion.

We all know that our reading rate changes according to the purpose for reading and the type of material being read. These are prime subjects for mini lessons, modeling strategies for how to read different types of text.

The word rate in T2S can be gradually increased as students become more proficient. I would suggest eventually moving from word by word to highlighting the entire sentence to help the struggling reader move their eyes more smoothly, taking in longer sections of the sentence being read.

Children enjoy choral poetry reading, and reader’s theater…both promote phrasing and practice in reading expressively.

I’m looking forward to reading other’s responses, to hear their ideas and reflections.**

Monday's thoughts: **

What an overwhelming morass of information. Perhaps it’s the hour or the end of the afternoon sugar low, but I found that after the first several minutes of reading/listening to this selection, it was difficult to differentiate among the multitudinous bits of information offered. (In retrospect, I found that by going home and taking the time to re-read and process the information in a more comfortable setting, allowed me to take advantage of what information was offered in the selection).

It was good to learn that different students can use the same computers, and have their needs met by individualized, specific profiles which are linked to their login ID’s. This is differentiated learning at its best. The concept of universal design (UD), enabling students’ access to content learning by using their strongest learning mode, was also interesting. These “imbedded adaptations” (assuming that the assessment of a child’s learning strengths and weaknesses are accurately delineated…) will further advance individualized learning.

Obviously, the accommodations for visually and hearing impaired individuals will aid learning, as will the graphic and skills organizers for those learners deficit in those areas. Programs can even help students modify behaviors providing feedback for improved learning behaviors.

The text to speech programs sound comparable to what we are using. In experimenting with voices, reading speed, background and highlighted text, I found that I preferred a slightly slower than average word speed (for more technical reading), with sentences, rather than individual words being highlighted to give my brain and eyes time to flow with the thoughts being read, in a smooth, sentence by sentence time frame, not jangled, word by word hops.

The Johnston multi-leveled phonics program sounds like it should be looked into to see what it offers for beginning readers as well as children who are challenged in reading. The tools for teachers listed at the end will be helpful, I’m sure.

John Williams is quoted as saying “for students with disabilities, technology is the great equalizer.” I know that good teachers recognize that this technology is a means to learning, not an end in itself. A teacher’s thoughtful observation and evaluation are needed to determine what might best advance a student’s education. I especially appreciate this week of interaction with educators from around the area. I truly value their willingness to share their experiences and insights, lessons and learning with others.