More on supporting Kate as a reader

If you're a new reader of this blog, you'll want to scroll down to read my post about Kate, as well as her mom's thoughts.

I'm so thankful for Denise's candid comments. They help me remember that all of us--kids, families, teachers--bring different perspectives to any learning situation. I'll use this post to respond to what Denise found most important about our work together,

First of all you and Kate have clicked. You've taken the time to listen to her and get a sense of where she's at and what will help her. 

Denise put her finger on the most important part of the student--teacher relationship: Teachers pay close attention to the learner, what they do successfully and what can move them along. This might seem easy, and teachers do get better at it with time, but it is not a simple matter. It takes knowledge of the learner herself, knowledge of how literacy learning develops, in this case, and a deep understanding of child development. Kidwatching is a strength I've developed over years of teaching.

You've also given us books that we both enjoy and that she can read--books that are more interesting and fun than the simple leveled books ...  

Kate is also very focused on the "level" she reads, and she can tell you where every single kid in the class is reading ... "so and so is a C" or a D, or a J. Reading other books beside the little level readers has helped her see that she's a better reader ...

The next key--engaging books! This can be such a challenge for early readers. Kate benefits from some reading of the simple leveled books, but no classroom collection of these books can provide enough variety to keep kids' interest over time.  Kate had not yet read the "E" level assessment text at 96% accuracy, so most of her Independent Reading books came out of the "D" tub of books. 

The primary team of teachers did dedicate some of their book budget to sets of higher quality leveled books (longer length, better stories, and pricier) to use with small instructional groups and I pulled from those during the time I read with Kate. But it was so important to find other books that she and mom could enjoy. 

I've written previously about the importance of providing different kinds of reading experiences for young readers. Denise reads aloud to Kate regularly, which is one of the most important contributions a family can make. Then some Independent Reading with the leveled books. Kate could read some E, F, and G books despite not being able to "pass" the pesky E assessment text.

Two readers enjoying Elephant & Piggie

But what really engaged Kate, and re-engaged her interest in reading, was Shared Reading. I carefully chose the books--Elephant & Piggie, Fly Guy, and Fox--and encouraged Denise to read the book aloud to Kate first, and then for the two of them to read the book together. Elephant & Piggie books, with character speech bubbles, just cry out for two readers. The dialogue is full of the kinds of "sight words" that too many kids are practicing on lists or flashcards, and the illustrations draw kids in to look more closely. They read for meaning, rather than practice. Fly Guy is clever. Fox is a crazy dude. When kids read these books, with just a little support from us, they forget they're reading. Exactly what Kate needed. Soon Kate was reading them on her own. Elephant & Piggie (level G+), Fly Guy (levels H-I), Fox (level I-J). 

Here's another point that is key. These books might be challenging, but because they are also longer and well-written, readers will gain more information about the story as they read. That helps them problem-solve on their own with very little support from us. Stay tuned for the next post which will includes videos of kids doing just that!

Kate can also be quiet. She kind of goes with the flow, and sometimes that means she can get lost in the shuffle. Her time with you really turned that around.

Kate is quiet and it took me time to get to know her within a group of 4-5 other kids who were more energetic and demanding of my attention. She was much like Maris, whose reading I describe in the kinds of reading post. Imagine the demands on teachers with 25, 29, maybe 30 kids. Kids like Kate are often overshadowed in the everyday hustle and bustle of a classroom. 

Kate did begin to bloom in our small group, but we experienced the most success when Kate and I read together while Denise watched, then followed my lead at home. Not only could Denise give her the kind of support she needed, Kate's sense of self-efficacy--her sense that "I can do this" and "I am a reader"--grew day by day. All of us contributed to Kate's success.

You made it more fun, quite frankly, and you were so accurate when you said that readers will lose the flow of the story if you focus so much on individual words. You let me know that ... it was okay for me to read along with her in some parts. I learned to lighten up a little.

Exactly. When reading becomes a burden, or a challenge, it's time to mix it up. My first suggestion to parents or tutors is to read the full book to the child first. (I liken this to asking someone to play a piece a music without ever having heard it first. Imagine. So read the book aloud first.)  If the book is in the ballpark of the reader's skill, that one reading will launch them into reading it with little support. If it's still tough and the reader wants to read it, subtly share the reading. Try to read in phrases, rather to supply single  words you predict are too difficult. Or find a better book!

Our short time together last spring and this summer--maybe 4-5 hours in total--helped all of us. Kate is learning she's a skilled reader. Denise is learning to trust her instincts and is expanding her repertoire of ways to help Kate. And I'm refining my kidwatching, for no two learners are ever the same. It's why I love this work.

Readers who struggle

Most young kids come to school eager to read and write and learn. If all goes well, teachers tap into the knowledge that kids have developed during their first years of life and provide the experiences that launch these fledgling learners into the world of schooling.

But we all know kids that haven't connected easily with school, and the reasons vary. Do you recognize stories like these? This site is dedicated to transforming them!

1. Scott was a kid who struggled with the simplistic reading books used in his first grade classroom, yet loved planes and would sketch jets and browse books about them by the hour. He came to my multi-age primary classroom as a second grader, and a beginning reader who had few literacy skills. He lacked confidence as a learner in school.

2. Tyler was reading when he started kindergarten, and there was a clear mismatch between the curriculum that focused on learning letters and sounds and his literacy skills. His teacher viewed kindergarten as a place to teach beginning readers and said she wasn't able to teach him within that context. A year later, he entered a 1st-3rd grade multi-age classroom as one of the youngest students, as a very experienced reader, yet disengaged from school.

3. Anne was the mother of a quiet and deliberative six-year old daughter. Anne volunteered in the classroom twice a week, and was unsure if her daughter was on target as a first grader. What could help her know?

4. Phil was a business owner who reported that he struggled to read the materials that could help him advance his work. His perceptions of himself as a reader were shaped in his first years of school, and were further defined by being the only sibling in his family without a college degree. His view of his reading skills was a mismatch with the thoughtful adult I spoke with who reads the New Yorker for enjoyment.

5. Nick was entering the fourth grade reading like a beginning reader. Based on the school's recommendation he had attended two years of remedial tutoring and summer school. Although he was bright in many ways, his literacy skills had not developed despite the suggested help. It was getting harder and harder for his mother to get him up for school.

In some small or large way I have been helpful to each of these readers, and I share details of how with the hope that the information can be used to help others. This blog is dedicated to ending the frustration that people feel when there's a mismatch between a kid's learning and the experience of school. There's nothing I love to do more than think through the issues and problem solve together.

But first, a little more on why readers struggle.

Learners "struggle" for a reason. The reason usually becomes clear when we spend time with them and pay close attention. The problem is rarely that there is something wrong with a reader. Usually, they become confused about reading as a result of their experiences in learning to read. This confusion might happen at home, or at school, and is rarely intentional. Clearing up their confusions is the first step toward successful learning.

One final point: I haven't found it helpful to label children. Referring to learners as lazy or learning disabled or at-risk (the latter two relate to funding categories) hasn't been helpful to me in teaching children to read. What we can do instead is listen to children and learn from them. I am committed to helping you do the same, whether you are the parent, grandparent, teacher, or foster parent of a kid whose learning is not yet on track.

Do you have a story of a struggling reader? Please share it!

Writing to Support Reading

It is heartening to hear from parents who are struggling to support their kids' learning--not because your issues are easy to solve--but because this issue is so pervasive and so many parents feel alone as they face such challenges. If you're reading these posts and experiencing your own mismatch between learning and school, please share it!

Leslie has posted a second comment in response to cat6, who suggested Leslie ask "does that make sense?" both at times when Shelby's reading does make sense, and also when it doesn't. This way Leslie is not giving the subtler message that Shelby hasn't read the passage correctly. Rather, she is teaching the direct lesson that readers stop along the way to monitor their comprehension.

Leslie now has new information about Shelby as a reader:

Here is the latest. My sister-in-law is a Reading Recovery trained teacher and reading specialist (unfortunately she lives a couple hours away and we don't see her often). She did a basic reading assessment with Shelby to try to pinpoint what we need to focus on. Her decoding is very weak, which I'd already figured out on my own. My sister in law feels that we need to find someone to work with Shelby using a multi-sensory approach (she mentioned SLANT or Wilson's). She isn't a believe in focusing heavily on phonics instruction but thinks this is the root of Shelby's issue. Of course Shelby's teacher can't provide this type of support and heck if I know how. So I'm on the hunt for someone who can work with her but not having much luck. So the frustration continues!

WRITING TO SUPPORT READERS
I have wanted to post on writing so will use this opportunity to make three suggestions for Leslie and Shelby, focused on writing instead of reading. Writing gives us one window into how learners are making sense of the grapho-phoneme system (what most people call phonics), as writers put down on paper what they know. Reading Recovery lessons include sentence writing instruction, and in this post I'll suggest 1) an adaptation of a sentence writing activity, 2) creating a personal spelling sheet, 3) and last, my favorite Donald Graves strategy for writers who lack confidence. These may or may not be appropriate for Shelby at this time, but I'm predicting that they're worth a try.

Sentence Writing
Use a bound journal or composition book for this engagement, dedicating one page to each writing session. Here is one possible sequence:

1) The adult partner writes a sentence about something worth sharing, i.e. "I had a challenging day at work because two projects were due at the same time." Something simple and real. Say the thought out loud, and then "think aloud" to Shelby as you write, telling her the decisions you're making as a writer.

So something like, "I ... had ... a ... challenging, that starts with /ch/, then /al/ and I know there's another /l/, /enj/, interesting, it sounds like a /j/ but it's a /g/, and /ing/ is easy, i-n-g ... day, interesting how /ay/ makes the long a sound ... at ... work. I know it's /or/ in work because I've seen it so many times, but all the vowels can say /er/ when they're next to an /r/ ..." Etc.

That might be too much talking for that one part of the sentence, but you get the picture. You're talking aloud about your writing. Yes, you won't know as much about phonics as some of us reading wonks, but you should do okay with it.

2) Then ask your child to share an idea from her day/write a sentence. Unlike RR (where the teacher talks the spelling of words through with the writer before s/he writes , I would encourage her to do her best as she writes. After she finishes her idea/sentence, ask her how she made her decisions, both for words that are spelled conventionally and those that are not. If she made a reasonable decision on a misspelled word, like using /ow/ where she should have used /ou/, which both make the same sound, tell her her decision was a good one, even if it is not how that word is spelled in print.

If she's unsure about spelling, say if a consonant should be doubled, tell her, sharing the related spelling rule. Few phonics/spelling rules are helpful to kids, since there are so many exceptions to the rules, but Sandra Wilde offers a short list of rules worth learning (Routman, 2000).

Spelling rules worth learning
• Put i before e (as well as the ei pattern)
• Drop e before adding a suffix
• Change y to i before adding a suffix
• Double final consonants before adding a suffix

So, one sentence a day for each of you. Talk about what and how you write it, 10-20 minutes max. My RR colleagues say that the sentence writing experience really shows up in kids' confidence as writers in as little as 6 weeks. Then again, RR is done with younger kids.

You could do this on the computer, but you'll need to turn off the automatic spelling correction feature. You also lose the original spellings, which are interesting to track, but most kids will write with more enthusiasm on the computer.

Personal Spelling Sheet
Type up a one page (front and back) sheet with 3 or 4 columns, black lines for entering words, and capital letters in the margins. Etc. Obviously include more lines for frequently occurring beginning letters, like T & W. After you work out the spelling of a word from her written idea, ask her if she wants to add it to the spelling sheet. This could take other forms (a small booklet), but the idea is to keep it simple, for her to make the decisions, and for her to use it. Too many words become cumbersome, especially when they look alike, i.e. were, when, where, which. And better for her to enter words she uses, rather than to use a prepared sheet with many words. Tuck it into the notebook.

A
_______________
_______________
_______________

B
_______________
_______________
_______________

My favorite Donald Graves strategy
This strategy is a good one for kids who are reluctant or inexperienced older writers. If the writer is "stuck," ask her what she wants to say about the topic. As she talks, write down her ideas in phrases (rather than entire sentences). Spend some time talking about the focus of the writing, and then offer your notes: "If you want to use some of your great ideas, here they are." Keep the focus on the ideas, rather than spelling.

Leslie and I will see each other soon, so I can demonstrate these suggestions face to face. We'll find out, over time, if writing with Shelby will give her insights into Shelby's knowledge of letters and sounds. And in the meantime, I would negotiate that Shelby talk with you or the teacher about the books she reads, rather than take the AR tests. Just a thought!