TEA Update

From: Dr. Shirley Dickson, TEA Reading Initiatives

The goal of phonics is not that children be able to state the "rules" governing letter-sound relationship.  Rather the purpose needs to get across the alphabetic principle, the principle that there are systematic relationships between letters and sounds.

....phonics instruction should aim to teach only the most important and regular of letter-sound relationships, because this is the sort of instruction that will most directly lay bare the alphabetic principle.

...the best way to get children to refine and extend their knowledge of letter-sound correspondences is through repeated opportunities to read.

Attached document holds a list of content to look for in a phonics-based beginning (first grade) reading program.  You will need to  use a separate checklist to evaluate the quality of the program.   ATTACHMENT

 

Things to Consider:

Grade Level Goals:

First Grade:  Make sure that students are on grade level, not catching up.  Efficient, effective instruction is vital in first grade.  Focus on struggling readers.

What does effective reading Instruction look like?

Focus on Instruction K-3rd Grades

  • Oral Language Development is highest in Kindergarten, high in First, and less in Second

  • Print Awareness

  • Reading Aloud

  • Independent wide reading

  • Phonics & Decoding Instruction

    • Alphabetic Knowledge -- K

    • Phonological Awareness - K

    • Sound to Letter Relationship - K - see & blend sounds, First - blend sounds with new letters

    • Word Recognition Strategies

    • Reading Fluency

All these skills must be integrated throughout the curriculum and connected, NOT drill & kill work sheets.

 Design of Instruction

  • Sustained silent reading cannot take away from FOCUS of Teaching Components

  • Tap into prior knowledge -- what do children already know?  You cannot teach skills in isolation.  You must interweave all the components of reading into all the areas of the curriculum and children's experiences.

  • Struggling readers need concrete modeling strategies out loud, i.e. sounding out the word "man" by sounding "m", "a",  "n"

  • Instruction needs a Scaffold:  (1) Modeling (2) Presentation of Skills (3) Rate

Example:  Rate & sequence of sound letter introduction must be carefully planned.  Know when to introduce a letter & when not to introduce a letter.  "e" should be introduced at least 6 letters before the introduction of "i".  As these sounds are confusing for struggling readers.

Research has also determined that at least 12 letters should fall between the introduction of "b" and "d", or "p" and "q".  Sequence and rate are important!

How fast does a program introduce a new letter?

  • Keep the "memory load" down for struggling readers.

  • Rate of introduction to new sight words should be kept at a minimum.  

  • Successful story reading depends previous acquisition of sounds, letters, and site words.  Site words should be mastered before they are introduced in a story for pleasure reading.  Site words should not be next to each other in stories.  

I.  Visual Cues should be used to assist struggling readers.

  • Placing a "dot" in all "d"s allows students to distinguish between a "d" and a "b".

  • Using "sign" language when introducing the alphabetic letter helps students to see the difference between

the letters "b"  & "d"

 

 "d"        vs.    "b" 

(Click Here for More On Alphabetic Signing)

II. Review every day using the sounds

    Example:  Sounding out       "m"    "a"    "t"    "s"

  • Sounding out should be an every day event, even before introduction of the letter, stories or compositions.

III.  Teach letter sound correspondence (phonetics) using decodable stories.

  • Allow students to learn a few letters ---> read stories using those letters with 100% accuracy.  Aim for ALL student success.

  • Give students EXPLICIT modeling examples.  Teacher must lead in the discovery of reading principles.  Modeling and modifying as needed.

  • Texas adoptions utilize decodable text and 100% TEKS

  • Utilize texts to create a Whole-Part-Whole well-balanced reading program = wide range of literature + phonetics skills + relevant integration (writing, projects, multimedia, oral presentations.)

First Grade Textbook Committee Check List (next 3 forms)

Form1

Form2

Form3

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