Join a Mailring at the
Teacher Mailring Center
http://www.teachers.net/mailrings/
Kathleen - Hello! Are you interested in discussing phonemic awareness?
Kathleen - Yopp-Singer Test of Phonemic Segmentation http://teams.lacoe.edu/reading/assessments/yopp.html
Connie FL - Hi I am interested in new ideas for phonemic awareness
Connie FL - I am using a book by Mariyln Adams on Phonemic Awareness which is geat for K and 1
first grade AL - Hi we just started using Saxon Phonics in our classroom does anyone use this?
Dana from MS - I teach kinder. and I have not seen the Saxon phonics - what is your impression of it?
Connie FL - No we have a phonics book but I am doing more on phonemic awareness
first grade AL - I use phonemic awareness whenever I have something with a picture for the children to see and make a sound for the letter.
Kathleen - The segmentation practice is important too.
first grade AL - Phonemic awareness is using sound of lettes whenever you talk to the students? Agree?
Connie FL - I have a great tape called Sound Tracks which children listen to sounds and identify them. it is a good starting point
Kathleen - It's important that the children have practice, raise their awareness of, the individual phonemes in the entire word
Life/AL - My school now uses...Read,Sing, Spell.....I'm retired
Connie FL - You do oraL Actvites with students you don't connect the letter name
Kathleen - The apples and bananas song that substitutes long sound of vowels throughout is a good activity. I like to eat, eat, eat, apples and bananas, THEN I like to ate a (long sound of a)pples and ba na(long sound)nas. Hard to explain without the symbols to show long vowel sound!
Life/AL - We used a program called ActionReading.....lots of action, singing the sounds, etc. Very active!!
Connie FL - I do alot of reading books which play with words such as Don't Forget the Bacon
Kathleen - Have you ever used the Elkonian boxes to help graphically when segmenting sounds, such as 3 boxes to segment the c-a-t as children isolate them?
Connie FL - I have but this is done one on one
Kathleen - LOL I just did a search for Elkonian box and the only reference that came up is to our Teachers.Net transcript in the Archive. So I guess we are THE source for this info on the Internet ;-)
Connie FL - I try to do things which involve a small group or part of shared reading
Kathleen - Connie, Elkonian boxes can be used with the group when demonstating the concept of segmenting words, right?
Connie FL - Try Clay for more info on boxes, Yes you can use it that way
Kathleen - Discovery Toys has a tape with accompanying chart, I think the title is Sounds Like Fun" which is helpful in learning sound-symbol relationship
Connie FL - Thanks I look for it I teach first this year but Iam K at heart What about you?
Kathleen - Connie, do you think phonological awareness is less developled in young children now than it was in the past? I suspect so.
Kathleen - I am an early childhood person, many years experience with K :-)
Kathleen - I much prefer a first grade teacher who has taught k to a k teacher who has come from first.
Connie FL - I agree since parents are not reading nursery rhymes or Dr. Suess
Kathleen - Connie, as a k teacher at heart, do you feel uncomfortable with the direction we are being forced to take, skipping the foundation of intellectual skills for the push to teach "academics" - phonological awarenes is a part of that
Kathleen - Children don't use the rhyming jump-rope chants as they did once, nor the nursery rhymes and traditional rhyming songs and games
first grade AL - We are using a basal and a writing and spelling program this year to include phonics
first grade AL - In my morning meeting with the children I am incorporating rhymes
Connie FL - I try to spend alot of time with rhyming activities at the beginning of the year since it is part of phonemic awareness. Our district in Fl is big on testing and we have to identify our first grades as be below grade level during the first 6 weeks based on one test!!
first grade AL - do you have a reading recovery program?
Kathleen - word play is helpful, the name game, silly rhymes, anything of that sort.
Kathleen - We do not have a reading recovery program
Connie FL - We are not giving these children a fair chance to learn to read before we label them
first grade AL - We are using a state assessment but donot get the results back until after the first of the year. I use my own assessment to find out who know what letters and sounds. Reading Recovery tests from our assessments to find their students.
Connie FL - We have a form of Reading Recovery called ALL but only a few schools use it too costly
Kathleen - Does either of you use the Yopp Singer Test of Phonemic Segmentation?
first grade AL - We are Title 2 schools in an inner city system. They have had it now for three years. It really helps the students. The bring them to the average of the average student in the class. I can say it works and I have seen it.
first grade AL - Connie, do you use a basal reader, which one?
Kathleen - So, what would you two first grade teachers recommend to others at that grade level for increasing phonemic awareness in a remedial effort?
Connie FL - I have a test it is 10 spelling words and you can tell about their knowlegde of sound -letter trealtionships from it. It is short and quick
first grade AL - I use phonemic awareness whenever I read a story, do an activity, etc. We always sound out what letter we are looking at or reading. Then we try to think of other words similar to the one we are using.
first grade AL - Connie, are your students reading when they come to you in first grade?
Kathleen - The Structure of Phonemic Awareness http://www.psy.utexas.edu/psy/klarson/recife.html
Connie FL - I do use Houghton Mifflin basal and I am trying to do some of the 4 Block ideas
Kathleen - Phonemic Awareness: An Important Early Step in Learning to Read http://www.indiana.edu/~eric_rec/ieo/digests/d119.html
first grade AL - I went to a Guided Reading program this summer and they talked about the 4block program. I want to use it but have to level my books first.
Connie FL - I like Pat Cuninghams working with words Sounds like a great workshop
Kathleen - That url below is for a collection of PA sites and info
Kathleen - http://members.aol.com/ISRP/linksPA.html
Connie FL - Marily Adams is coming for the Fl reading conference in Orlando I want to see her
Connie FL - Thanks Kathleen I will try these
clp1 - When is Marily Adams coming
Connie FL - In October I am not sure of date
Connie FL - We have state inservice day in Oct. and it is always that weekend
Kathleen - How Now Brown Cow-Intervention for the Collaborative Classroom (phoneme awareness) http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/teaching_techniques/cld_hownow.html
clp1 - What grade do you teach
Kelly - Hey Kathleen! I saw your picture in some link you put on the first grade list.....to look at the articles in the teachers.net gazette!
Connie FL - I have a book by CTP called Phonemic Awareness with great and simple activies init
Kelly - This year I'll have a 1-2 combination class.
Kelly - clp1 - what grade are you?
Connie FL - I did a K-1 last year It kept me busy
clp1 - Any ideas for a nursery rhyme unit for first grade
clp1 - I am first grade
Kathleen - Oh, Kelly, yes that's my face before about 30 pounds and 3 years! okay, I have to go do some things. This topic is so important I have trouble pulling myself away!
Connie FL - I have them on sentence strips They can put them in order then use as cut up sentences
Kelly - Hi Lucky! Connie - what will you have this year?
clp1 - We do that and we are also going to try to make a book this year
Connie FL - I use these as a reading text since children know the rhymes
Kelly - Connie - I do the same thing with all of our poetry.....we do a poem each week (at least one!). I cut them up into words eventually....and keep them in ziploc bags. They go with our puzzles! The kids love to remake them.
Connie FL - I am teaching first I moved up with my Ks
clp1 - That is a great idea to cut the sentences into words, maybe we will try that this year
Connie FL - Sounds good Kelly do you have a book of poems or what are some of your favorities?
Kelly - Oh my land - I have SO much poety! I've collected it off the mailrings (Like the first grade ring and Four Blocks!). I have them in a word document if you'd like them!
Kelly - Connie - I'm moving up (sort of ) with my first graders from last year.......10 of them will be my second graders in the 1-2 combo class.
Connie FL - WOW I didn't know there was a ring for first grade teachers I could use some support It really mades the beginning of the year easy
Kelly - Connie - it's right here on teachers.net. Go back to their homepage and scroll down the options on the left. Click on mailrings! :)
Connie FL - Will do but I spend lots of time with EC_GEN ring since I am a newbie for NB's
first grade AL - Do any of your use word walls?
Kathleen - Connie, you should check out http://teachers.net/mailrings for the dozens of grade level and topical mailrings this site runs
Kelly - Yes, I use a word wall. It's an intregal part of my teaching....
first grade AL - What words do you start with Kelly?
Connie FL - It is so great to be able to connect with other teachers this way I think the isolation is a big problem for teachers
Kathleen - Connie, that isolation is no longer necessary, thanks to the Internet. It's wonderful, isn't it?
Connie FL - I use student names as the first thing on mine
first grade AL - Do you have them writing in daily journals?
Kelly - I use the Four Blocks word walls. I think I started with I, can, you, go, we. Those are in the first story of an old series I've kept. The kids love it because they can immediately read that first story! :)
first grade AL - All my children cannot write their names but for the ones that do I plan on them starting to write stories next week. We started this last Monday.
Kelly - Connie - yes, I do the student names at first, too....but separately. The names go on a separate word wall.....
Kelly - first grade AL - yes, I have them writing in journals every day - but that's outside of the writing block.
Connie Fl - I do daily journals but this year I am doing more modelling I n the past they were not too good
first grade AL - Is your writing block just independent story time? Do you use a basal or have you leveled your books
Kelly - I have my word wall on my magnetic chalkboard. The words all have magnetic tape on the backs. My kids take words down and make sentences with them, etc. We really USE our word wall.
first grade AL - Do you have pictures with your words or can they actually read the words. My students do not come reading and most do not know all their letters
Kelly - Writing block is independent...and consists of me modeling, them writing (while I conference) and then a short sharing time. I do use our district basal - but just to use the story for a guided reading lesson with the whole class. I also have about 1,000 books in my room that the kids use during self-selected reading.
Kelly - After you cheer the words and work with them for a week they really will know a lot of them. And we review constantly. They really did learn those words last year. Most of my class had mastered at least 80% of them.
Kelly - No pictures on the word wall.
first grade AL - How did you get 1000 books? And, with the 4 block, have you leveled them? Could you send me a list of the words you use on your word wall>
Kelly - My kids who were struggling the most mastered about 50% of the words. I thought that was GREAT for them!
Kelly - I'd be happy to send you a list. Is this your email that begins ekelley?
first grade AL - Yes Kelly, thanks. Do you use your overhead much? I have just started using mine more and writing even more on this.
Kelly - I got a 1,000 books by being OLD! Some were my birth children's (they are now 26 and 21!), most I bought, some I've inherited as the library wants to throw them away, etc.......
Kelly - I love my overhead.....use it everyday.....usually several times each day!
Kelly - I do not have my books necessarily leveled - but I know their approximate levels. I also wrote a grant last year and got about 300 leveled texts - 4 copies of each......
first grade AL - I think that this is a great way to model writing and bringing the letter to the print. We use a Heath reading series and their phonic worksheets. I have them write a letter for every picture on the page.
Kelly - I've divided many into the boxes we use during self-selected reading. Some of all genres, levels, etc. in each box.
first grade AL - Would you be willing to share a copy of your grant? We just were given one on Friday and I would love to get more books for my room. I would appreciate it if you could share it with me.
Kelly - I do very few worksheets anymore. VERY rarely.
Kelly - I can send that, too! :)
first grade AL - Kelly how do they practice writing letters?
Kelly - wait a second - I'm sending you the grant, the word wall words, and something else....but what was the other thing? (I'm having another senior moment! )
first grade AL - Copies of your poems. Anything you need? I have only been teaching 7 seven years but I will share too if you need something on a topic
Kelly - oh yes - the poems! Thanks! I've written it down now! :)
