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Primary Elementary Teachers Chatboard

Daily 5 needs new energy

by debin

Mar 30, 2009

I am doing Daily 5 with my K/1 combo class for the first time this year. I have been thrilled with the results for most of the year. The kids were actively engaged while I did reading groups and I did not have to spend hours planning new centers each week. But, lately, the kids seem to be getting restless. They are starting to fool around instead o...See More

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Chris I'm also doing Daily 5 with my K/1 class for the first time this year, with similarly good results. I only do it three days a week, so I haven't run into the trouble you've had (yet). What about giving them time to share at the end of a session, to show what they've accomplished? That might motivate them and give you a chance to encourage the kind ...See More

Mar 30, 2009

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Pintable board games?

by Meg, NJ

Mar 30, 2009

Does anyone know of any web sites where I can print out generic board games that I can use with flash cards for review/practice work? Thanks in advance for any help!

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Meg, NJ... Thanks so much! That's exactly what I was looking for!! Thanks so much!

Mar 30, 2009

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first Here's another site:

[link removed]

Mar 30, 2009

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The Giving Tree ideas

by Meg

Mar 30, 2009

Hi. I love The Giving Tree. Has anyone done any activities with this book? Would love to use it in some sort of writing and art project.

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Donna/WI If you google "the giving tree activities" a whole mess of suggestions turn up! Good luck!

On 3/30/09, Meg wrote: > Hi. > I love The Giving Tree. Has anyone done any activities > with this book? Would love to use it in some sort of > writing and art project.

Mar 30, 2009

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Country song for pep rally

by 2nd grade

Mar 31, 2009

Any good ideas for a country song for our grade level to use at a pep rally? We need to "dress country" and maybe do a little dance or something!!! Thanks!!

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NFM On 3/31/09, 2nd grade wrote: > Any good ideas for a country song for our grade level to > use at a pep rally? We need to "dress country" and maybe > do a little dance or something!!! Thanks!!

Apr 4, 2009

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Kindernut On 4/04/09, NFM wrote: > On 3/31/09, 2nd grade wrote: >> Any good ideas for a country song for our grade level to >> use at a pep rally? We need to "dress country" and maybe >> do a little dance or something!!! Thanks!!

Apr 4, 2009

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ideas for lessons to prepare for crct?

by kjc/ga/2

Mar 31, 2009

any ideas for lessons to prepare students for the crct? we have spring break next week and then have a week before crct begins. i would like some fun, but productive lessons to do with them. i teach 2nd grade

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Amber E-mail me at amber.[email removed].

On 3/31/09, kjc/ga/2 wrote: > any ideas for lessons to prepare students for the crct? we > have spring break next week and then have a week before > crct begins. i would like some fun, but productive lessons > to do with them. i teach 2nd grade

Apr 2, 2009

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demonstration lesson plan

by maria velez-mitchell

Mar 31, 2009

I just had an interview yesterday for a special education K-5 teaching position. I was very nervous and could have done better, in my opinion. I was told that I had to do a demonstration lesson plan in either literacy or math. I think I would like to do literacy. I will not know what grade or the kind of class I will be doing my demonstration with....See More

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Dyslexic first grader-- how can I help him?

by Sidney

Mar 31, 2009

I have a little boy in my class that needs help-- I just don't know what to do, exactly.

I know you're not supposed to label a six-year-old, but this kid's obviously dyslexic. He fits nearly all the criteria, including family history and severe speech issues. He gets speech therapy four times a week. I might add that his mother uses the wo...See More

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Molly This little guy reminds me of my husband, who had an IEP for LD (dyslexia) and for giftedness. He faked his way through to grade 4, when he finally got good resource help (with a teacher I worked with later!) and learned to read.

From his advice, the best thing you can do for this student is make sure he knows he's not stupid. Truthfully,...See MoreThis little guy reminds me of my husband, who had an IEP for LD (dyslexia) and for giftedness. He faked his way through to grade 4, when he finally got good resource help (with a teacher I worked with later!) and learned to read.

From his advice, the best thing you can do for this student is make sure he knows he's not stupid. Truthfully, while my husband is a slower reader than most people, his biggest problem with one of feeling the need to justify and prove his intelligence, and that stems from his early school experiences.

And no, my husband still can't decode very well. I can only imagine what his sight vocabulary must be like!

Best of luck.

On 3/31/09, Sidney wrote: > I have a little boy in my class that needs help-- I just > don't know what to do, exactly. > > I know you're not supposed to label a six-year-old, but > this kid's obviously dyslexic. He fits nearly all the > criteria, including family history and severe speech > issues. He gets speech therapy four times a week. I > might add that his mother uses the word dyslexic too, so > this is no news to his parents. > > Unfortunately, or fortunately, he's too high to qualify > for sessions with our reading teacher. He's on grade > level, maybe even slightly above, because he's memorized > words based on the first and last letters and the shape of > the word. He knows every letter, every sound, every sight > word, but he can't decode to save his little life. > > He even does OK on the DIBELS nonsense word fluency test, > because he can always get the first and last sounds, but > the middle sound is just a wild guess. I swear it's like > the middle of the word is a black hole for him or > something. He always knows his spelling words on Friday > (his parents make sure of that), but he could not have > given you more than the first and last letter on any of > them the previous Monday. Any "best guess" writing he > does is basically unreadable. > > I suspect this little guy is gifted (although he would > never qualify for our gifted program), and he uses his > giftedness to cover up his disability. He is in my top > math group and would probably be my top math student if he > didn't get his 6s and 9s mixed up all the time. > > Anyway, to get to the point, I wonder if anyone has any > ideas on how to work with this little boy. I suspect > things would be a lot easier if he could "hear" the sounds > in the middle of a word, but I don't know how to go about > teaching that. > > Thanks. > >

Mar 31, 2009

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Grace/IL This child has some strengths. You say "he's memorized words based on the first and last letters and the shape of the word. He knows every letter, every sound, every sight word, but he can't decode to save his little life."

It appears that he's not attending to the letters that represent the medial sounds in words. It sounds as though part...See MoreThis child has some strengths. You say "he's memorized words based on the first and last letters and the shape of the word. He knows every letter, every sound, every sight word, but he can't decode to save his little life."

It appears that he's not attending to the letters that represent the medial sounds in words. It sounds as though part of his problem may be working from left to right in a sequential order. Teaching him to spell will do a lot to help him in that area, especially since he knows sounds and the letters that represent them. Have him say a word slowly (stretching) such as 'am'. Then have him write the letters that represent the two sounds he hears. Give him immediate feedback as to the accuracy of what he's written. Next have him write 'an' in the same way. Then have him say 'man' very slowly and ask him how many sounds he hears. Have him write the letters that represent those sounds. Do this first with all the two and three-letter short vowel words you can think of. As he attends to the sounds as he writes them, this will help him attend to them while reading.

When he's secure with short vowel words, start working on long vowel patterns. These get a bit more complex with the varied spellings of long vowels but it works. Finally, work on diphthongs and vowel digraphs.

You can get some ideas for help on my website, particularly in the Free Resources section, where you'll find ideas for printing letters and numerals. Have him trace the 6 and 9 on texture, saying the number name while he's writing it.

You didn't say much about reversals of letters. Is this a problem also? If it is, make sure he uses multi-sensory methods to correct these.

Finally, teach him to blend beginning consonants into the first vowel, then add the endings as he works his way through words.

We should never label a child as dyslexic until we have done everything in our power to help him/her. Dyslexia simply means "trouble with words" and that difficulty can take many forms beginning with decoding, working its way through spelling and vocabulary, and finally comprehension of the whole unit.

Grace

Apr 2, 2009

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Purchase

by BACK

Mar 31, 2009

If you could purchase anything for your classroom in the price range of $100-$300, what would you choose?

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first On 3/31/09, Primary Comprehension Toolkit with Trade Books wrote: > On 3/31/09, BACK wrote: >> If you could purchase anything for your classroom in the >> price range of $100-$300, what would you choose? > Is there a toolkit you would recommend?

Apr 1, 2009

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Here is a link to the Toolkit I would purchase On 4/01/09, first wrote: > On 3/31/09, Primary Comprehension Toolkit with Trade Books > wrote: >> On 3/31/09, BACK wrote: >>> If you could purchase anything for your classroom in the >>> price range of $100-$300, what would you choose? >> Is there a toolkit you would recommend?

Apr 1, 2009

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How do I word this? Please come in....

by Natalie

Mar 31, 2009

I'm writing a last minute narrative for a student who needs special ed services. I'm trying to say that "developmentally she is at a three or four year old level." Is there a better way to say this?

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Natalie Thanks for the feedback. This was actually a comment made by her previous teacher. She is a brand new student in my class that we are very concerned about.

On 3/31/09, seh/1OK wrote: > On 3/31/09, Natalie wrote: >> I'm writing a last minute narrative for a student who >> needs special ed services. I'm trying to say >>...See More

Mar 31, 2009

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Mar 31, 2009

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Child sees kinw for knew

by any suggestions?

Mar 31, 2009

I have a grade two boy. He has made a lot of progress this year, but his instructional level is only about a "K" level right now. I was observing a lot of squinting, head shaking and bobbing so I asked his mother to have his eyes checked (again). She described to the doctor what I was seeing. The boy does have a stigmatism so the doctor prescribed ...See More

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OP Adrienne, my grade two boy is a K (F&P), not kindergarten level. That would be about DRA 20??22?? - so maybe six months max. behind, not two years. He does well except for reading/writing/spelling. When he was struggling with kinw, he was actually spelling the word out to me. Jo, the convergence insufficiency theory really sounds very interesti...See MoreAdrienne, my grade two boy is a K (F&P), not kindergarten level. That would be about DRA 20??22?? - so maybe six months max. behind, not two years. He does well except for reading/writing/spelling. When he was struggling with kinw, he was actually spelling the word out to me. Jo, the convergence insufficiency theory really sounds very interesting. I've done a search and plan to share some of the sites I found with his mother. Thanks, to both of you!

On 4/02/09, Jo wrote: > A developmental optometrist or behavioral optometrist would > be able to see if there is a convergence or binocular > problem. While some think this type of eye care is not > valid, others do not. > > To take the "double vision" out of the equation, I suggest > you have the child cover one eye and have him look at the > word. Do not present the word until the eye is covered. See > what he says. You can also lay out the letters of the > alphabet and have him make his word match the one he sees. > Then have him compare 1 for 1. It may not be what he sees > but his oral translation of what he sees is the problem. > > On 3/31/09, any suggestions? wrote: >> I have a grade two boy. He has made a lot of progress this >> year, but his instructional level is only about a "K" level >> right now. I was observing a lot of squinting, head shaking >> and bobbing so I asked his mother to have his eyes checked >> (again). She described to the doctor what I was seeing. The >> boy does have a stigmatism so the doctor prescribed tinted >> (pink) glasses to see if that would help. He's had the >> glasses for about a week and today I was working with him >> after school. I wanted to really observe him without any >> distractions. As he was reading aloud and we were working >> on decoding strategies, he came across the word KNEW. I >> know he knows all about kn, if fact he came up with the >> words knight and night when we were talking earlier about >> "ight". >> >> He read "kinow" at first for KNEW. He made several attempts >> and then when I asked him to name the letters, he said >> three times "kinw". Doesn't this sound like a double vision >> issue? What sort of test (and by whom) should I request? >> Would increasing the font size of what he's reading help? >> Suggestions?

Apr 2, 2009

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Jo OP, I do realize that he was spelling 'kinw' orally. I had more to my original post, but I removed part of it. I guess I should not have done so.

You said, 'He read "kinow" at first for KNEW'. This got me thinking that he is interpreting the 'k' to be two sounds instead of one ('k' 'i'). Which leads to the oral spelling using two letters ...See MoreOP, I do realize that he was spelling 'kinw' orally. I had more to my original post, but I removed part of it. I guess I should not have done so.

You said, 'He read "kinow" at first for KNEW'. This got me thinking that he is interpreting the 'k' to be two sounds instead of one ('k' 'i'). Which leads to the oral spelling using two letters to represent 'k'. If you use the theory that he incorrectly sees print (and probably differently each time), he has solidified in his mind that the 'k' sound is two letters. So, orally he will tell you those two letters. He then drops out other letters.

Let me caution you, that even if this student has an undiagnosed vision problem, that doesn't mean there aren't other underlying issues causing the difficulty in reading/writing/spelling. This may be one small piece to the puzzle. There may be underlying working memory,sequencing, phonemic awareness, auditory memory problems etc. Bright kids can usually go undetected for a long time because of strong oral language skills and predicatable reading books.

If vision is a problem and there are no underlying issues, the reading will have to be re-taught when the vision is corrected. Corrected vision does not result in corrected reading because much of the teaching that is done with uncorrected vision makes little sense to the student.

Good luck.

On 4/02/09, OP wrote: > Adrienne, my grade two boy is a K (F&P), not kindergarten level. > That would be about DRA 20??22?? - so maybe six months max. > behind, not two years. He does well except for > reading/writing/spelling. When he was struggling with kinw, he > was actually spelling the word out to me. Jo, the convergence > insufficiency theory really sounds very interesting. I've done > a search and plan to share some of the sites I found with his > mother. Thanks, to both of you! > > On 4/02/09, Jo wrote: >> A developmental optometrist or behavioral optometrist would >> be able to see if there is a convergence or binocular >> problem. While some think this type of eye care is not >> valid, others do not. >> >> To take the "double vision" out of the equation, I suggest >> you have the child cover one eye and have him look at the >> word. Do not present the word until the eye is covered. See >> what he says. You can also lay out the letters of the >> alphabet and have him make his word match the one he sees. >> Then have him compare 1 for 1. It may not be what he sees >> but his oral translation of what he sees is the problem. >> >> On 3/31/09, any suggestions? wrote: >>> I have a grade two boy. He has made a lot of progress this >>> year, but his instructional level is only about a "K" level >>> right now. I was observing a lot of squinting, head shaking >>> and bobbing so I asked his mother to have his eyes checked >>> (again). She described to the doctor what I was seeing. The >>> boy does have a stigmatism so the doctor prescribed tinted >>> (pink) glasses to see if that would help. He's had the >>> glasses for about a week and today I was working with him >>> after school. I wanted to really observe him without any >>> distractions. As he was reading aloud and we were working >>> on decoding strategies, he came across the word KNEW. I >>> know he knows all about kn, if fact he came up with the >>> words knight and night when we were talking earlier about >>> "ight". >>> >>> He read "kinow" at first for KNEW. He made several attempts >>> and then when I asked him to name the letters, he said >>> three times "kinw". Doesn't this sound like a double vision >>> issue? What sort of test (and by whom) should I request? >>> Would increasing the font size of what he's reading help? >>> Suggestions? >

Apr 3, 2009

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