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My son’s 1 st grade teacher just told my husband in passing that she thinks my son should be in reading recovery. I am confused about this as I don’t really see him having the problems at home reading that he does at school. In fact, we just went through his sight reading/spelling word list from the beginning of the year and he successfully read 85% of the words. What am I missing here and how can I help him at home? I am a certified teacher but one in secondary education so this problem he is having is out of my knowledge area. If anyone could give me some guidance as to how I can help him here at home I would appreciate it!
thank you
Re: Confused over 6 year old's reading ability
I would want to know specifics from the teacher.
Those 15% that he missed — what kind of mistakes did he make?
I look for better than 85% — if you only got 85% of the words you read, you would have a problem. If you know what silent e is, then you can read pale, mete, vise, rode, mode, and schmite — and you ought to get them *all.*
Reading Recovery gets its bad rep here primarily because it’s *not* really designed for kids with dyslexia or LD issues; teachers who use it often really like it (probably because it is more intensive & the groups are smaller) and see good results. (The fact that the results for LD kiddos are short term — well, they don’t see that so it doesn’t matter, and they go off to another IRA cheering section, funded by the folks who sell the materials who then accuse the people wanting intensive phonics-based stuff of being profit-motivated and being funded by *those* text & materials producers… and the students get to high school & can’t read…)
Re: Confused over 6 year old's reading ability
As a certified, secondary teacher, I suspect that you have had a student or a parent question a report card grade. It is likely that you justified the grade by opening a test file.
“If something exists, it exists in some amount. If it exists in some amount, then it is capable of being measured.” Rene Descartes, Principles of Philosophy, 1644
“Reading ability” exists. It can be measured.
It seems reasonable to ask your son’s teacher for some objective data to support her conclusions.
Re: Confused over 6 year old's reading ability
I would suggest getting a copy of Reading Reflex by McGuiness (check your library, or purchase in bookstores for under $20). Read the first three chapters and then give your child the assessments in the book. That will give you a good idea of where he is in reading.
The ability to read sight words does not provide an indication of decoding skills development or phonemic awareness development. Reading Reflex provides a good philosophical basis for understanding what you need to be looking at.
Nancy
Re: Confused over 6 year old's reading ability
Oh, and here is a website that talks about Reading Recovery:
http://www.educationnews.org/ReadingRecoveryisnotsuccessful.htm
There are independent studies that show Reading Recover is not only an expensive program (for schools) but largely ineffective for students. If you Google for these other studies, you should be able to find them.
Nancy
Re: Confused over 6 year old's reading ability
MOLLYP’s son’s teacher suggests that he is not making appropriate progress and has proposed significant intervention. She suspects he might be making reasonable progress based on direct observations of her son’s reading. MOLLYP concedes that as a secondary teacher she does not have the education and the experience to measure Grade 1 reading ability. Who is correct?
MOLLYP does not have to spend money or a great deal of time to get answers to her questions. She could request the school to administer a WRAT (Wide Range Achievement Test) or a SORT (Slosson Oral Reading Test) for a quick reading grade score. The school might choose to administer a more comprehensive test like the Woodcock Reading Test.
If MOLLYP chooses to test her son at home on the computer, I will be happy to let her borrow a K-3 reading test on a CD.
MELANSON EARLY READING COMPREHENSION TEST™
J. Arthur Melanson
12 Laurel Road
Hooksett, NH 03106-2160
(603) 232-4877 [email protected]
How is his decoding?
When he tries to read connected text, does he make sense of it or does he get all muddled?
Personally I don’t believe in “sight words” at all and I find memorizing a list by sight without decoding is counterproductive and leads to all kinds of difficulties in actually reading a book.
When he has workbooks or tests, does he know what to do, how to read directions, etc.? Test-wiseness is an important skill.
How is his handwriting? 90% of the students I’ve had over the pasdt five years have had randome directions in their handwriting, connected to reading backwards and upside down. (The increase over a short time tells me this is an effect of poor programs, not the kids) If he can’t write effectively, he will do badly in testing and homework situations.
Reading Recovery has a bad rep around here; if he does need help, please look into something actually shown to be effective, something with decoding and tracking and multisensory components.