First Grade Reading Workshop Wednesday, October 29, 2014

What is Reading? Real reading involves all of the following skills: The understanding of how phonemes are connected to print The ability to decode unfamiliar words The ability to read fluently The knowledge of sufficient background information and vocabulary to support reading comprehension The ability to use comprehension skills and strategies Reading is more than speaking the words on the page. Some children pick this part up automatically, but it is so much more than that

What do we teach in first grade? Children will… Solidify their knowledge of phonemic awareness Learn to connect sounds and spellings early and quickly Develop a strategy for accessing words and text Become fluent readers Engage in real reading as quickly as possible Gain fluency in writing enabling them to use it as a tool of inquiry and communication Take responsibility for their own work, their own mental development and their own paths of inquiry as soon as possible In Kindergarten they got a good knowledge of the phonemes They learned the sounds of the alphabet and how to make those letters They learned some sight words and began putting those sounds to words. First grade we go back to review those things—leaving no cracks for anyone to fall through

What is Open Court Imagine It Reading? The Imagine It program is a comprehensive reading, writing, and learning program that: Develops confident and fluent readers through print and phonemic awareness activities and explicit, systematic phonics instruction, Engages students in constructing meaning by applying of reading strategies and meaningful discussion, Incorporates writing as a form of learning and personal communication, Creates a classroom environment in which students explore, discuss and research ideas, Gives students the tools to become independent, self-directed learners. We have used Open Court at WCS for about 30 years. Last year we started using the newest version – Imagine It

What is Explicit, Systematic Phonics? Explicit, systematic phonics is a way of teaching that introduces each sound in a very sequential way. When phonics instruction is explicit—students are told the sounds associated with the different written symbols—there is no guesswork involved. When phonics instruction is systematic students are continually building on what they learned the day before. These new sounds and spellings are then blended into real words. Blending teaches children a strategy for figuring out unfamiliar words while reading.

Students then apply their knowledge of sounds and spellings and blending through the reading of Decodable books. Decodable books include a large percentage of words whose sounds and spellings have been previously taught. In addition, these books contain previously taught high frequency words that allows for more natural written language.

Sound/Spelling Cards Purpose of the cards is to remind the students of the sounds in English and their spellings. The name of the picture on each card contains the target sound at the beginning of the name for consonants and in the middle for the short and variant vowels. Long vowels are represented by elongated pictures of the vowel. These cards and pictures may be different from how you learned to read. 26 letters in English 45 sounds Every sound has a card The cards tell how the sound is spelled

The picture also associates a sound with an action. Cards are introduced with an interactive story in which the pictured object or character “makes” the sound. Hound Dog card Harry the hound dog hurries around. Can you hear Harry’s hurrying sound? This is the sound Harry’s breathing makes when he hurries: /h/ /h/ /h/ /h/ . When Harry the Hound dog sees a hare hop by, he tears down the hill, and his four feet fly. Hurry, Harry, hurry! /h//h//h//h/… Student remember the sound in different ways, some by the picture, some by the sound, some by the name of the card

Each card has a name, a sound, and a spelling. Many sounds have multiple ways to spell that sound. Bird Card Sound is /er/ since she doesn’t caw or tweet, he makes this chirping sound Spelled er, ir, ur (also ear and wor)

The consonants are written in black and have white boxes on them. The vowels are written in red and have different colored boxes. Green boxes for short vowels Yellow boxes for long vowels Blue boxes for other vowel spellings such are r-controlled vowels, diphthongs, and variant vowels

The blanks in the spellings indicate: A letter will take the place of the blank in a word The position of the spelling in a word or syllable

Green boxes in the spellings serves the same purpose as a blank, but the letter that precedes the spelling must be a “green box” vowel (a short vowel). Batch Crutch Crunch Church See the green box before, x, dge, ng, nk, ck, tch

Each card is introduced by using a see/hear/say/write sequence: See: students see the spelling on the card Hear: students hear the sound used in words and in isolation in the story Say: students say the sound Write: students write the spellings for the sound.

How are the Lessons Organized? Preparing to Read – Phonemic Awareness activities, phonics instruction, blending, dictation and reading decodable books Reading and Responding – reading the big books, comprehension strategies and skills Language Arts – Writing, grammar, usage and mechanic, speaking and listening skills Each reading lesson is divided into 3 sections The first 2 parts are done with all three teachers, the Language Arts is done without Kerrie in the room.

What is a “typical” lesson? Daily Warm-Ups Phonemic Awareness Activities * Purpose-to provide structured practice to help children hear and understand the sounds from which words are make. Before children can be expected to understand the sound/symbol correspondence that forms the base of written English, they need to have a strong working knowledge of the sound relationships that make up the spoken language.

Phonemic Awareness Activities Oral blending – the word is separated and they put it together. This is reading. Segmentation – the word is together and they separate it. This is spelling. Word play – Quick change game, rhyming, Word relay… Oral blending – use the puppet a lot. I say s t u m p I say team, Leon says /s/ they put the word together Segmentation – I say team, Leon says tea. They tell me what he left off I say a word, they say the beginning sound, end sound Word play – quick change game, word relay, pack my bag, silly sentences…

Phonics Instruction Introduce the new sound/spelling Blending – this is the strategy taught for figuring out unfamiliar words. Guided practice with the skills practice worksheet Dictation – teach the children how to write words based on the sounds and spellings they have already learned Word building – spelling with alphabet cards Blending is the heart and soul of phonics instruction Blending is taught sound by sound, whole word, whole word by sight (mental blending), syllable by syllable Dictation – sounds in sequence, whole word, then sentence (Proofreading is very important) Decoding (part to whole) in blending Encoding (whole to part) in spelling

Reading the Decodable Books Purpose is to make written thoughts intelligible to students. Browse, read, retell, answer questions for comprehension, partner read Stress pointing to the text as they read Multiple readings promotes fluency Work on reading with expression Insist on correcting their own mistakes Whisper phones

Reading Workshop Small groups with me Partner reading Challenge work Fun papers/silent reading Differentiated Instruction

Reading the Big Books Reading aloud to students Introduce vocabulary Comprehension strategies/skills modeled and taught. Gives us a chance to read text in front of a large group and model what good readers do

Good readers continually monitor their speed and ability to understand throughout reading. The goal is to turn responsibility for using strategies over to students as soon as possible. All selections are read twice. The first time focusing on comprehension strategies, the second on comprehension skills. Show the Big Books

First Read of the Selection Comprehension strategies modeled and taught: Summarizing Clarifying Asking Questions Predicting Making Connections Visualizing Adjusting Reading Speed Often 2-3 are modeled and taught in each selection

Second Read of Selection Comprehension skills modeled and taught: Author’s point of view Sequence Fact and opinion Main idea and details Compare and contrast Cause and effect Classify and categorize Author’s purpose Drawing Conclusions Reality and Fantasy Making Inferences By keeping the organization of a piece in mind and considering the author’s purpose for writing, the reader can go beyond the actual words on the page and make inferences or draw conclusions based on what was read. “Between the lines” skills Also includes reading with a writer’s eye

Benchmark Writing Mini Lesson Writing process cycle Journal Writing Personal Narratives Informational Reports Book Reviews Independent Writing Time Sharing Time

GUM (Grammar, Usage, Mechanics) Grammar involves the parts of speech and sentence structure Usage is our word choices Mechanics is the punctuation and capitalization Taught is logical sequence and practiced in reading and writing, not just taught in isolation.

How Can You Help? Read to them Listen to them read Decodable Books Practice word lists Review high/frequency and outlaw words Keep it fun!

Other resources iphone app. Search for “McGraw Hill’s” eflashcards. Sight word flash cards and Big Book story vocabulary words. www.starfall.com