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Mary/PA - Welcome to this evening's Reading Recovery Meeting here at Teachers.Net.
Mary/PA - Tonight's topic is "Books and Materials."
Doug - mary- our TL is thinking of trying cont .contact for a few by doing it intensely one month once aweek with her taking a child BTG and focusing on making shifts in istruction...it sounds interesting
Mary/PA - Yes it does
Doug - mary- i have 2 more weeks....
Mary/PA - I have about 4 more
Mary/PA - but the schedule is starting to get crazy
Doug - Nevada- we are kind of neighbors...I teach in Colton in San Bernardino County. Are you in Clark County?
nevada - I am in Reno, we have about 3 weeks left
Doug - mary- Clay has a new book coming out in June. Its going to be at heinemann.com
Mary/PA - What are your favorite books...sets of books...publishers?
Mary/PA - Doug, what's it about?
Mary/PA - Do you have the Oxford books? I don't, but plan on getting them for next year
Doug - I looooooove pioneer publishers....I also like PM readers for kids who need lots of language structure and I loooooooove Wright group for building fluency and phrasing
nevada - we use PM's alot. We also use the Oxford books because the child has to really use meaning more than in the PM's
Doug - Oxford sells Brian
Doug - s books...Cat on the Mat, etc.
Mary/PA - The Sundance books are good for non fiction
nevada - We use Oxford in levels 8-10, when higher level processing, or lack of it, becomes apparent
Mary/PA - Doug, there are others...a series with kids
Doug - pioneer uses photos and they are very cheap and you can buy single copies....heinemann has a link for making your own little books using photos ...its at heinemann.com
Mary/PA - I also like the City kids books...they are about things that are real concerns of real kids
Doug - are city kids from rigby?
Mary/PA - Yes, Doug, they are
Mary/PA - I don't know if they are still selling them
Mary/PA - Doug, I need to get a magnetic chalkboard that can be mounted on the wall. Do you know of a good source?
Doug - mary- when you select books- do you look at sets of 3 or so
Mary/PA - I spent this year running form one end of the room to the other, but don't want to do the same for next year
rm102hs - try the Steck-Vaughn catalogue, I think I've seen them in there
Mary/PA - Doug, not usually, I try to get single copies
Doug - mary yes...we just bought one...I'll ask my room partner in the morning and I will try to send it at mary@teachers.net...
pd - Hi, all! Does anyone have a book that has inspired your teaching? I know that when I read Invitations by Regie Routman in 1993, my whole teaching career changed.
Mary/PA - Good Doug...Thanks
Mary/PA - pd, I can't think of a single book that did that for me
Doug - pd- i loved Reading Without Nonsense....I hear there's a second edition now
Mary/PA - Doug, what kind of magnetic letters do you use?
rm102hs - pd--the only books I read have nothing to do with education...just junk to relax with
Doug - Ken goodman What's Whole about Whole language was influential
Mary/PA - nevada, what are some of your faviorite materials?
pd - Doug, have you made any books with photos using the heinmann site?
Doug - mary- i have 3 different kinds....I have discovered that more important than the type of magnetic letter it is better to use the chalkboard side rather than the whiteboard side
Mary/PA - Doug and nevada, have either of you heard anything about any new books that people have been finding useful?
Mary/PA - Books for the kids to read
Doug - pd- yes...but to use with my K's...in roaming next year i plan to use them with rr
pd - Mary, I have seen my students get so excited this year when I have given them a chapter book from the library, such as Fox and his Friends or Frog and Toad books.
Mary/PA - I've not used the heinmann site for making books, I've just done it myself with the software I have....Word and photoshop
Doug - I like sundance if a child needs to orient with print and they omit lines above a picture...the non fiction books like to put above and below the photos....i just don't like how the print is so close
Doug - mary- its a link at the heinemann site....
Mary/PA - pd, I'll have to try that. I have been shy about using books that are too long to read in one sitting. Clay doesn't like it and neither does my TL
Mary/PA - But I think that some of the kids would like it
pd - We don't read the entire book, just one chapter is usually 300= words.
Doug - pd- good idea
Mary/PA - 3 of the kids I have now have really short attentions. They are great for about 10 mins. and then their minds go to some place I know nothing about
pd - They are ready for summer, like me!
tlk - I'm not an rr teacher, but tutor in a program modeled after rr ... mind if I join?
Doug - greedycat- you didn't have to do that
greedycat - I have also found it helpful to check out books from our school library that are on the RR booklist. Students feel like readers then.
Mary/PA - greedy, we've been talking about books
Mary/PA - What are your favorites?
pd - tlk, where are you working? What's the name of your program?
Mary/PA - Oh, has anyone seen the new booklist?
pd - I have the new book list.
tlk - Kansas - it's called R.A.P. and stands for Reading Acceleration Program
Doug - mary- I have the new one
Mary/PA - Are there a lot of changes?
greedycat - Snapshots is a very good professional read. It is FULL of mini-lessons to help teach strategies and is a nice link with RR
Mary/PA - I need to get it. Did you two have to buy it with your own money?
pd - Snapshots is a good one, greedycat.
greedycat - Teacher leader provided a copy of the new booklist to every RR teacher this fall
pd - No, the district bought it and got the rights to publish copies for RR teachers.
Mary/PA - This fall? I thought it just came out a couple of months ago
tlk - Not really. The basic lesson format is very similar. We do take some second graders & I believe rr is pretty much 1st grade, right?
Mary/PA - Boy am I behind
Doug - speaking of materials...next year i am thinking about putting some books on tape and letting the kids take home a few books, a tape and a player...I have tried it with Kindergarten and with my population it was a success
greedycat - As far as materials I really like the letter books published by Rigby. They have felt cutouts of lowercase letter on the front that are good for tactile the photographs to illustrate the letter sound are clear.
pd - Doug, so the parents can hear a lesson?
Doug - pd- i hear there is a link from Portland Unified school district that uses the Fountas method and rr method to level thousand s of books ...you can find the link at readingrecovery.org
Mary/PA - Thanks greedy, I'll look for them
greedycat - sounds like a good idea, Doug. We have recorded students reading on tape to help them think about fluency.
Doug - pd- so the child can hear a model....also i can't find it in the guidebook what it says about homework
pd - So you have read the book on the tape as a model?
Mary/PA - Doug, does the recorder come back in a timely manner?
Mary/PA - I have trouble getting the kids to bring back books
Doug - pd- yes...not the mary carbo method where the wpm's are matched to the reader but with good phrasing and fluency and a bell to signal the turning of the page
greedycat - I am also partial to the Pioneer Valley books. They are similar in style to Rigby pm's but all with photographs.
Doug - greedycat- i was just talking about them...aren't they cool and you can buy single copies (unlike wrightgroup and rigby) LOL
pd - Does pioneer have a website? I saw some of their books at the RR conference and was very impressed.
greedycat - One of my RR students just introduced me to a Wright Group book, Level 15, that I did not know. It's called Mrs. Muddle Mud-Puddle...cute storyline
Doug - pd- don't know...
greedycat - Wright Group has sold me single copies to replace lost titles when I told them I was in RR
tlk - In addition to Rigby, Wright Group, Dominie, etc, we use quite a few trade books - a lot published by Scholastic. The kids love to read a book that can also be found in the library.
Doug - greedycat- maybe its me...
pd - I also saw at the RR conf. new books by Seedling using nursery rhymes. Did anyone see them?
greedycat - Just tell them who you are, Doug!!
greedycat - Do you all use the KEEP books published at Ohio State?
Mary/PA - http://www.pvep.com/index.php3?session=92b894df03ca47e91a2f08f26d50ce15 - Pioneer Valley
Doug - greedycat- yes and they are great...they do have a good site
pd - Thanks, Mary
Mary/PA - Greedy I did one year, but not after that
Doug - thanks mary
greedycat - I got a flyer from Pioneer Valley and I think they are releasing some chapter books this summer
pd - Mary, why did you stop using the KEEP books?
Mary/PA - I wasn't impressed with them
greedycat - Could we talk a bit about benchmark books at different levels?
tlk - We have some of the KEEP books - just haven't got " into " using them. Didn't look like anything the kids would feel was worth keeping actually.
Doug - anyone like the McCracken books....they are published I believe by peguis from Canada
pd - Good idea, greedy
Mary/PA - I do like the Short Books...they are just black line type, (you can't copy them...but that's how they look) They are good for getting the high utillity words going
Doug - greedycat- i just love Old man Moss and why is Dave's Trick's so hard
pd - Mary, give me a sample text from Short books.
tlk - We have The Farmer & the Skunk from the McCrackens - they present a great workshop, well worth attending!
greedycat - I have the Short books and do find them helpful for extending a meager knowledge/monitoring known words early in child's program.
Mary/PA - Each of the short books has a word or two on the cover, that's all. Inside the books the sentences use the word/s in a way that gets the kids to look at the words. There isn't much meaning or a strong story line, but it's good to get the kids to start looking at the print
greedycat - Dave's Tricks has no pattern and substitutions can have MSV 1st letter but still be errors like hit a ball for hold a bat....
Mary/PA - The illustrations look like htey were drawn by kids
Doug - At the Zoo....I can see a bear. I see a lion. I can see a bear and a lion
pd - They would be nice to use with Kinders
Doug - greedycat- I was complaining about Dave's Trick's because i can get a K to read a 6 just not that benchmark book
greedycat - I discontinued a student today...I know that's not the topic but it's always a cause for celebration with RR teachers, right?
pd - Hooray
Doug - greedycat- congrats
tlk - Congratulations, greedycat!
greedycat - thanks
tlk - RR does have comprehension questions to use with the benchmark books, right?
Doug - shortbooks are excellent for K's we order them as sets of 20 every year
pd - I went to a meeting today about becoming National Board Certified. Did anyone do that?
Mary/PA - The tricky part of Dave's Tricks is the one where he holds the bat in one hand and hits a ball. Not many of the kids know about doing something like that now days. Ever since they started using the T-ball thingy, kids don't have to know how to pitch to themselves, so the background knowledge just isn't there
Mary/PA - pd, not me, I would have liked to do it earlier in my career
greedycat - Some of the RR teachers in my district have gone for board certification this year.
Mary/PA - But it wasn't around
Doug - tlk- fluency and phrasing implies comprehension in rr. Sometimes we ask kids to retell using open and closed formats
tlk - Nice to know kids across the country make some of the same miscues on Dave's Tricks ( bat/ball sentence).
Mary/PA - PA doesn't pay anything for it
pd - Mary, it's never too late.
Doug - yea mary another fan of Dave's Tricks
tlk - Doug - can you explain open/closed format? Thanks.
Mary/PA - pd, it wouldn't be of any benefit to me, jsut a lot of work and money out of my own pocket and I'm too far along to put myself through that!
Doug - tlk- open retellings are when you ask tell me about the story closed are when you prompt for setting, problem solution etc. Its just an added thing and not part of the assessment
greedycat - signing off here...good luck to all as we near the end of the school year. Good luck with end-of-year testing!
Doug - bye greedycat...
Mary/PA - You too, Greedycat
tlk - thanks, Doug.
Doug - I need to go as well...good luck with end of the year teachi.bye everyone....thanks again mary
pd - Another good teacher resource book is Guided Reading by Fountas/Pinnell. Lots of really good info.
Mary/PA - We are to start our end of the year testing next week. But I won't get it all done. The first grade has a field trip Tue. and I have a dentist appointment Wed.
cathie/nc - I just finished doing a DRA on each of my students. Does anyone do the Literacy Summative profile?
tlk - Conversations by Regie Routman is another good book.
Deidre - I'm in training..
Deidre - almost done!
Mary/PA - Not like that cathie, I do my own for my K kids and RR OS for my RR kids
Mary/PA - Deidre, I bet you can't wait!
Deidre - It's been good but I'll be glad when it's over! One more class.
pd - Cathie, this is the first year I have used DRA. What is the literary summative profile?
cathie/nc - we had to do a dolch word test, a primary spelling inventory, DRA, a writing test with a state prompt, a phonemic awareness test, we had to do these at the beginning of the year and at the end
cathie/nc - I teach second grade, the K and first grades had to do more tests, like letter recognition,etc.
Mary/PA - cathie, what grade levels?
Deidre - Do you have a classroom and do RR?
cathie/nc - these are done for K thru 2 in our county
Mary/PA - Oh
pd - Cathie, we do similar district-wide assessments during the schoolyear.
cathie/nc - we had to fill out this tedious form with all of our data and that goes in their cume
cathie/nc - my biggest difficulty was doing a DRA on my independent readers who can read so fast and make no mistakes when I did the running record.
Mary/PA - Well it's time for me to go. I'm not sure about what will happen for our next meeting as it will be Memorial Day, but if we have a meeting, I hope to see you all there. Thanks for coming this evening.
