Voyager Reading Program

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Reading First Chatboard

Voyager Reading Program

by Maria

Jul 16, 2009

I was wondering if anyone does the Voyager Reading Program at their school. I have worked with it twice but have only done the second semester of it. This new school year, I will start with the program from scratch from day one. Does anyone have tips about how to get kids to rotate and stay on task?

I am nervous about the whole "traing the kids to adapt" thing since everytime I worked with the program they have been trained already. Any hints or tips...

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Mira Solomon I used the kindergarten Voyager program for five years. I found a few things established in the beginning of the year made all the difference. My kids loved the idea of team leaders (using team leaders prevented many of the usual interruptions and since everyone wants to be a team leader it was an incentive to be responsible during stations since I...See MoreI used the kindergarten Voyager program for five years. I found a few things established in the beginning of the year made all the difference. My kids loved the idea of team leaders (using team leaders prevented many of the usual interruptions and since everyone wants to be a team leader it was an incentive to be responsible during stations since I told my class I would only choose students who knew what to do during stations to be team leader next). I found that the amount of stations was based on a class much smaller than mine. I added several more stations (they only include 2 independent stations) so that each group was smaller and more manageable. At these additional stations students would engage in activities related to the book/theme that week and the phonemic awareness/phonics skills addressed. We would also do some additional independent writing at these stations. I also found some activities I really liked in the Reading Station Activities book to copy and use. I had my students rotate between stations in a clockwise manner. I used a three tone chime/xylophone as my signal to rotate stations. Whenever I played a tune students would freeze. I would then ring it once for clean up your station and put your head down, on the second ring students would point to the station they would go to next (very important to not lose anyone in the beginning of K), on the third ring they would push in their chair and switch to the next station. When they got to their new station I would have students put their heads down quietly until I called the group I would be working with at the teaching station. It may sound complicated all written out but it worked well and when introduced early on, the kids internalizd the routine. Another piece of advice we were given. Focus more on the teaching station than the independent stations. The indep. stations are intended to keep students engaged in indep practice so you can focus on the teaching station (the core of your program). If you need to adapt/ simplify an independent station activity so that things run smoothly in the classroom, go for it. Just make sure the students are getting something from the activity. In the beginning of kindergarten I would put out very simple activities (draw/color a picture, stencils, look at a book, etc) so we could focus more on appropriate behavior for stations and how to rotate. It really pays off later on! Good luck!

On 7/16/09, Maria wrote: > I was wondering if anyone does the Voyager Reading Program > at their school. I have worked with it twice but have only > done the second semester of it. This new school year, I > will start with the program from scratch from day one. > Does anyone have tips about how to get kids to rotate and > stay on task? > > I am nervous about the whole "traing the kids to adapt" > thing since everytime I worked with the program they have > been trained already. Any hints or tips...

Jul 21, 2009

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Maria Wow! thanks a million Mira! The way you describes it sounds so easy. I know it won't be easy, but it really helped me put a picture in my head as to what I need to do. One question: You say that you added two extra stations, how many kids are there per station? In total you have five stations plus "teaching station" right?

Thanks, Maria

Jul 22, 2009

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Mira Maria: We always have had about 30 kids in our class (sometimes even a bit more). Voyager has 2 independent stations plus the teaching station (which is intended for about 6 kids , maybe 8 tops). That would have still left me with 12 kids per station which I think is way too many (especially in kindergarten). I aimed to have about 6 kids at each st...See More

Jul 26, 2009

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Adrienne Lauder On 7/26/09, Mira wrote: > Maria: We always have had about 30 kids in our class (sometimes even > a bit more). Voyager has 2 independent stations plus the teaching > station (which is intended for about 6 kids , maybe 8 tops). That > would have still left me with 12 kids per station which I think is > way too many (especially in kinde...See More

Feb 14, 2010

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Adrienne Lauder Has anyone seen success using voyager with students reading below grade level?

On 7/26/09, Mira wrote:

> Maria: We always have had about 30 kids in our class (sometimes even > a bit more). Voyager has 2 independent stations plus the teaching > station (which is intended for about 6 kids , maybe 8 tops). That > would h...See More

Feb 14, 2010

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