Wauw...
This is going to be a quick collection of a bunch of interesting things that happened yesterday.
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Remember that new reading instruction/intervention I started with Salamander last weekend? Well, last nite, after I got him started on his daily 5 - 10 minutes, he ended up reading INDEPENDENTLY, TOTALLY FOCUSED for 30 minutes. And all the while Potatey was bouncing through the house and running in circles around Salamander, but he never ONCE took his eyes of his book or stopped the tape. He was in his Zone!!!!
[and this is exactly what I was hoping for; I want him to get to a place where reading is a fun thing to do, not another chore]
We'll see if it happens again today.
READING STREAK CONTINUED: HE ACTUALLY READ FOR ABOUT 35 - 40 MINUTES (ABOUT THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE.. RIGHT UP HIS ALLEY.. LOL). NEVER ONCE LIFTED HIS EYES OFF THE BOOK, DESPITE TOTAL MAYHEM SURROUNDING HIM. WHEN HE'S ON, HE IS ON. I THINK IF THE HOUSE HAD FALLEN DOWN AROUND HIM, HE WOULDN'T HAVE NOTICED. IT WAS SO INCREDIBLY COOL TO WATCH HIM BE SO ABSORBED IN A BOOK.....
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A spelling test came home in Salamander's school folder, and the score is NOT too good. I'll share the misspelled words with you [proper spelling in brackets] - does anybody still doubt that this child has phonemic awareness/processing issues??
whoes [whose]
anwers [answers]
thier [their]
mucic [music]
buitiful [beautiful]
freinds [friends]
explan [explain]
And trust me, he and I have practiced all these words thousands and thousands of times. They just don't stick [he is not 'seeing' the letters/words in his mind; he is a picture thinker]
I won't get into the note that came home with this spelling test and what Salamander has been instructed to do to 'learn the misspelled words'. It's along the same ole 'write it down again and again and again' line, which DOES NOT HELP Salamander AT ALL. Yeah, he'll remember the spelling of these words for about an hour after we complete the 'write it down' exercise, but then they'll be 'gone' from his memory again and he'll make similar (or completely different) mistakes.
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I started reading the teacher's manual for Lindamood-Bell's Seeing Stars program. There is a conversation between an instructor and a student relayed in the 3rd chapter of the teacher's manual. And OMG, the conversation going back and forth between instructor and student is almost verbatim a conversation Salamander and I had sometime yesterday. I'll relay the conversation when I have a bit more time. But if I ever needed additional confirmation (my mommy gut has been telling me from the moment that I started reading about the Seeing Stars program) that Salamander could benefit tremendously from this program, I got it yesterday.
posted by Petra @ 11:45 AM
4 Comments
4 Comments:
Wow Petra,At least he can sound out and get most of the letters. Celebrate with your boy that most of the letters in the words are there! Keep trying new methods and you will find one that works for him. Just keep building skill until he gets to a point where he can use spellcheck! There are millions of people who read fluently but can't spell.
D@mn.. you are right!! Thanks for smacking me over the head with a 'glass is half full' reminder. I guess the perception imposed on us by the outside world ('what? he's in 5th grade and he still can't spell these words?') gets to me every so often.
We'll focus on the reading fluency first, and then we'll see where we go next.
Congrats on the great reading jag! I hope it continues for S.
I know nothing of Lindamood-Bell. I'll have to learn vicariously.
Thanks for your kind comments today. I really appreciate it.
Michelle - you are very, very welcome. In fact, the comment I made.. about the mistake I tend to make over and over with Salamander? I made it today...
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