Module+5_Chapter+5

Everyone responds here. Be sure to put your initials next to your answer.
 * __Professor Questions: Grand Conversation__**

1. What does research say about the topic? TH: Explicit and systematic phonics is superior to non-systematic or no phonics, but there is no significant difference in effectiveness among the kinds of systematic phonics instruction. Children need regular opportunities to apply phonics skills. Children should also be taught orthographic patterns and analogy decoding as well as morpheme patterns common in multisyllabic word. Children learn better when a variety of activities that emphasize transfer are used. AW: Again, balance is the key. There is no one side you can stay with. Whole language isn't the answer, but neither is all phonics. Children need practice in phonics skill, but they also need hands-on ways to manipulate the sounds and letters. Kinesthetic approaches do better with young children, like letter tiles. You want them to transfer their learning. Synthetic phonics is not productive and does not teach other reading skills. Therefore, teachers should be encouraged to use authentic texts with real stories and plots. VI-S: Children need cognitive clarity about what they are learning, they need to become engaged, and they need instruction that is multilevel. Students need to have regular opportunities to practice their phonics skills. MC: Balance is definately important. When learning phonics students need constant opportunities to apply the skills they are learning. There has been a long standing debate as to wheter whole language or other methods are best for teaching phonics. 2. The National Reading Panel differs in the way to teach phonics from the textbook and other sources. Which way do you support and why? TH: The National Reading Panel advocates systematic and explicit phonics instruction, especially for children in kindergarten and first grades. I have seen the positive effects of such a system in my own building. It is especially helpful for my ELL kids, as the terminology remains constant over their first three years (K - 2nd). We use Saxon phonics and my kids have an easier time learning to read than similar children in other buildings that do not use Saxon. I am not saying that Saxon is "the bomb," as I saw similar progress in my former school that did not use Saxon. However, my former school did use a systematic explicit program from K-2nd also. It is a way to keep the terminology and expectations constant over the 3 years and give the students a solid base from which to work. AW: I like the textbooks ideas of teaching multisyllabic words, using the making words activity, and building word families. The book advocates multifaceted strategies at multiple levels. They also believe that it shouldn't take up more than a quarter of the instruction, which I completely agree with. It is a smaller component of what we call reading instruction. VI-S: I think I agree with textbooks and other sources being used to teach phonics. The text is decodable and many activities can be used along with the story. I agree that when a variety of activities are used students do better. MC: Since I don't teach phonics a lot its hard to say which method I would be more comfortable with. I do agree more with what the book says, but also feel like phonics is something that is taught in almost everything taking place during the instructional period of the day in the primary grades. 3. Evaluate your phonics programs at your school. What can you do to get it more in line with research? TH: As I discussed in the previous question, my school uses Saxon phonics - which is extremely systematic and explicit. It gives the kids a very solid foundation. I think that it could use a little more realistic bridge to writing. There are independent activities to complete on the reverse side of the ones completed during the lesson, but I don't know how it transitions to actual writing. I taught Kindergarten students their phonics page this last year, but have not had the experience with other grade levels. AW: We use Houghton Mifflin at our school. And, I supplement a lot to reinforce the skills being taught throughout. We do repetitive practice on short and long vowels, because my first graders always need practice with those. Currently, we incorporate our own spelling to go along with the same patterns in their anthologies. It think we are right where we should be with our program. I'm not sure there is much more we could do, or that we even have the time to incorporate more. The only difference might be that our phonics is mostly written paper/pencil and research tells us we should use letter tiles and manipulatives to teach phonics. That's why I supplement with games and manipulatives. VI-S: I am not sure what our district uses. I know that they have an adopted basal reader. The lower grades are in a separate building. I work on phonics with my students. We have a computer program at school called Earobics and Destination reading. The program assess where the individual student is and works on phonics where they are. The programs were given to us by the state department. The programs are wonderful especially for struggling students. MC: I'm not sure what our district is currently using. Being in sixth grade I don't work with phonics instruction unless there is something specific a student needs, and then I use what I can get away with being what "they" consider "age appropriate".

Respond to your peers' questions. Be sure to put your initial next to your answer. The third question is for the teacher to respond.
 * __My Three Questions__**

Amanda's ?s

1. What does multifaceted mean to you? TH: Multifaceted is the ability to teach something in various ways because not every child learns in the same way. My prime example is when my child was in Algebra I class. His teacher taught them 4 or 5 different ways to get the answer to the problem and let them choose the way that was easiest for them. I try to keep that in mind as I teach. Not all kids "get" it from seeing it, or hearing it, or manipulating it, etc. so I try to provide them with options. VI-S: Multifaceted is what every teacher should be. Not all children learn in the same way. A variety of instruction needs to be used. MC: I agree with Vanessa! I have to teach that way, especially in my inclusion classes because I have advanced learners and LD students in several classes together so I have to be sure I am reaching them all. Somtimes it is very challenging, but it can be very rewarding. I think multifaceted is like multi-tasking your instruction-teaching multiple ways within one or two lessons or class periods.

2. What's your best strategy for teaching phonics? TH: My school uses Saxon phonics and we are expected to adhere to the program! When I taught in my previous school, we all used the same terminology and the same picture cue cards for each sound, so it was consistent throughout K-2nd grades. I think that whatever "program" is chosen, it needs to be consistent throughout the building. VI-S: We don't have a specific phonics program that is used in our district (that I am aware of). I do know that the lower grades use an adopted textbook to incorporate many skills. I wish there was a specific program. I use Earobics and Destination reading which encorporates phonics. My students really seem to do well with these programs. MC: I don't teach phonics much. I mainly review it if I need to with my sixth graders. I have worked with my son on learning his letters and we used star fall at home. I didn't have to work with him much. When I have tutored students I have done multiple things like star fall or word sorts, etc.

3. What are the pros and cons to synthetic phonics? TH: Pros: children learn the sounds for each letter then how to blend those sounds to make words. Cons: contrived text is not realistic, authentic, or fun to read. VI-S: Synthetic phonics does not allow for authentic reading of text. It may be hard for the students to relate to. However the skills are all covered and practiced. MC: I agree that a pro is learning the sounds for each letter, but for some kids it may be really hard for them to tie everything together once they start combining sounds.

1. Did you realize that phonics has been such a controversial topic since 1934? TH: It doesn't surprise me. I think that controversy still rages. There are only four years difference in my boys and one of them was taught totally with phonics - to the point that he cannot spell correctly, but he spells phonetically. My younger child (who is now 20 yrs old) had a more balanced program. AW: I think since I have taught first grade for the past 6 years, that I did realize this. We had a synthetic phonics program and it was unsuccessful in teaching of deep concepts, but worked for overall phonics instruction. Now, we have literature that is not necessarily decodable, but it teaches other concepts that are just as valuable. Sometimes, I think it's a personal taste for what kind of phonics instruction you like. I teach special sounds and clues to know how to sound out words. We play with word families and work on chunking. However, I don't think phonics is the most important skill to learn. It's just a small tool to help you learn to read. VI-S: Yes. I can see how phonics is so controversial. I can see it among my teachers in the district. Some follow a balanced program and some completely feel they need to drill phonics.
 * Mandy's ?s**

2. What programs would be best for me to use to continue teaching phonics to my sixth graders who still read on a first or second grade level? TH: My first question would be whether or not they read on a first/second grade level BECAUSE they lack phonics, or are there other problems there. And, some kids simply are not phonetic readers. However, if I were going to begin a program with them I would make it a systematic one. However, you have to be careful to not make them feel stupid, so you would need to step up the pictures/activities/etc.that a primary program would use. AW: I am unfamiliar with what to do with sixth graders, but after taking so many classes in this Master's program, I think you would need to teach explicitly on sounds. Easily, you could work with vocabulary words focusing on prefixes and suffixes and what they do to change words. This might keep it from being so baby like and more mature for your students. VI-S: I agree that many readers by this age do not benefit from phonics. There are high interest level books that include the same word families. Also, some computer programs. But by this age many of them need strategies to comprehend different types of content areas.

3. Are my sixth graders who struggle with phonics in all areas and are still unable to read experiencing some type of cognitive confusion rather than cognitive clarity when it comes to phonics ? TH: Your guess is as good as mine on that one. However, I would strive for cognitive clarity in everything that is taught. The kids need to understand WHY you are going back to phonics instruction and how it will help them become better readers. They need to know what they are doing and why they are doing it. AW: I agree with Toni. If you understand why there is a problem, you are more likely to fix that problem. Sixth graders are old enough to take ownership over learning and problem solve to fix the problem. VI-S: Not sure. I agree that 6th graders are old enough to learn strategies/modifications to help them deal with their own difficulty. They need lots of encouragement.

Toni's ?s 1. What did you think about the Making Words lesson provided on pages 98-101? Have you ever used this type of lesson? AW: Yes, yes, YES!! I love them! I use them in small group settings for phonics instruction. My kids love building the words and I release a lot once they know how it works. I let them try to find the "mystery word", which is the word that has the most letters that you are usually building up to. They love manipulating the words and it helps for them to see that words are hidden inside of other words. VI-S: I have not used this type of lesson before. I think it would be fun for my students. Most of them like to manipulate words. I will have to try it. MC: I haven't used it before either, but I think I will try it! My sixth grade special ed students would probably get a kick out of it. 2. Do you agree or disagree that children need highly decodable text in order to apply their decoding skills? What is your reasoning for your answer? AW: No, I do not believe they need highly decodable texts. They can use context clues, pictures, and logical thinking to read real literature. Life is not made up of decodable texts, so students should learn this early on and practice real life speech. I find decodable texts to be more confusing, than helpful. VI-S: I also don't think that they need highly decodable text in order to use their decoding skills. It may help when they are first practicing the skill but then they should be able to apply it to other texts. I think using books they are interested in would be great. MC:I agree. I think the decodable text might be great when they are first learning to read, but once they are familiar with the process then they should move on to text that they are able to use strategies with.

*3. The textbook mentioned Four Blocks framework. Does the 30-40 minutes spent on working with words include both phonics instruction and spelling instruction? Do you know of any classrooms that can be visited to see this framework in action? <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt;">AW: I don't know. From the reading, that's what I would assume. In my classroom, I don't separate specific times. Some days we work more with words and some days more with comprehension. It depends on the story and what other activities I have planned. I don't know of any classrooms where four block instruction takes place. <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">VI-S: I'm not sure about the four blocks framework. I have not seen it practiced. I would think that both phonics and spelling are both included in that time. MC: We don't use that frame work in middle school. Typically I only have my kids for 45 minutes, so I have to incorporate alot into one lesson or do several individual mini-lessons.
 * Vanessa's ?s

1. What do you think about the approach about learning to decode?** TH: I think that a systematic phonics approach is very beneficial. Kids need to have ways to figure out words - decoding is a logical way to do that. But, I think they should also have additional tools in their tool belts to figure out if the word they said makes sense in the sentence. So, instruction should not stop with just decoding. <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">AW: It's as if Toni is in my brain. I keep saying I agree with her and that must mean we have a similar philosophy in education. Learning to decode is a small part of the reading process. It's an important part, but not the only part. It should not be the focus of any reading program. MC: I think we all seem to be on the same page! I agree with both of you! Every part of the reading process is important, and decoding is part of the "foundation" of learning to read. I do think that decoding is the best way to introduce phonics and teach them the individual letters, but once the letter combinations get harder I think they need to have more options for learning how to put the "whole puzzle" together. TH: My school uses DIBELS as the primary source for everything it can be used for. They use the results to place kids on Individual Readig Plans as well as group them for our Reading Specialists (we have 2 full time, one Reading coach, and one part-time). I, however, think that a good ole running record can tell you more then DIBELS ever thought about telling you about the child and his performance. I actually do a running record on my kids on a regular basis in my pull-out program. The school also uses the state-mandated test results to help direct instruction. I think this is beneficial only to the fourth and fifth grade teachers, who can see exactly how each child did the previous year. ** <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt;">AW: We assess reading by using a checklist of skills for smaller objectives we want to see exhibited in reading. In addition, we use the SAT and Gates MacGinitie to determine strengths and weaknesses. My students also take the STAR test. Together, with all of these assessments, we are able to assess reading pretty accurately. MC: We use SRI test to see what their lexile is (which isn't always accurate) and we also use the Gates test. We also look at their pre-test that each student takes at the beginning of the year. I also do some individualized testing if we have students that score really low on both tests or if there is a student we are concerned about. TH: Our school uses Saxon phonics. There has been a positive impact on my students. I will make one caution though: Saxon emphasizes coding the words a certain way - which is sometimes difficult for my kids. I think the consistent exposure is very beneficial over time. My kids who start with us in Kinder usually have very few problems by the end of second grade. My kids who come in second grade sometimes catch on quickly and sometimes don't. So, the consistency of language use and instruction is definitely a benefit. <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">AW: No. I think because I teach it so many different ways. I want to make sure my students see phonics from all angles and don't learn to rely on it, but use it as one tool. If phonics doesn't help me with this word, then context clues, or the picture will. MC: This question is hard for me to answer because I don't use a specific program to teach phonics in sixth grade. I have heard lots of good things about several phonics programs as well as several reading stratigies combined with phonics instruction.
 * 2. How does your school assess reading? Are the results actually used ?
 * 3. Has there been an impact of a particular phonics program with your students?**