Download pdf - Meaning-Based Phonics Instruction: Using Sound Cards to

Early Story Card

© David Matteson and Associates Inc.

s- brother s, play s, sister s

ed- play ed, want ed

ing- play ing, do ing, go ing

Endings on words-

a am and are at brother can came come

dad did do get go had has have I in is it

love me mom my not play said sister the to

want was

we went

were will

Words I need to remember to spell:

blbr

chclcr

drfl

frgl

plprsh

sksl

smsnsp

stswth

tr

gr

Early Story Card

inga am and are at brother can came come



want was

we went

were will


bl

crdr

gl

shsk

snsp

thtr

gr

Emergent Story Card


ab

cd

ef

gh

i J

kl

mn

op

qr

st

uv

wx

yz

AB

CD

EF

GH

KL

MN

OP

QR

ST

UV

WX

YZ

1

Research has shown that encoding words may be moreeffective in helping young children understand therelationship between letters and sounds than decodingwords (Clay, 1991). Students who are engaged inmeaningfulwritingexperiencesthatincludeopportunitiesto connect sounds with letters (encoding) may find iteasiertomakeletter/soundconnectionsthantraditionaldecodingactivities.

Many commercial reading programs or reading basalsgenerally have a decoding focus. This letter-to-soundfocus includes activities such as identifying rows of pictures and circling the pictures that begin with aparticular letter, and/or identifying individual picturesandwritingtheletterthatgoeswiththebeginningsound.Some children experiencedifficultywith these isolatedactivities(i.e.,incorrectlyidentifyingthepicture—puppyfordog)andmaydevelopconfusionsthatinterferewiththeirlearning.Becauseof suchissues,childrenmaynotalways be able to finish these activities independently,causingteacherstospendmoretimesupportingstudentsin completing these skill-based worksheets. Ratherthan losing valuable instructional time, teachers couldbe incorporating more authentic reading and writingactivities into their literacy time with students, havingagreater impactontheirunderstandingof howwordswork.With this inmind, itmaybemoredesirable fora school or district to implement a comprehensiveemergent writing curriculum or an emergent literacyprogram that closely aligns its reading (decoding) andwriting(encoding)activities.

MEANING-BASED PHONICSINSTRUCTION

using sound cArds to developBeginning reAders And writers

By dAvid m. mAtteson

Acriticaltoolindevelopingsuchacurriculumorprogramisasoundcard.Soundcardscanbeusedinbothreadingand writing instruction and are effective in helpingstudentsunderstandtheinterrelationshipbetweenlettersandsounds.Soundcardsareavehicletohelpstudentssoundoutwordsbymatching thesounds theyhear tothepictureonthesoundcard.Atthatpoint,studentscanmakeconnectionstothecorrespondingletterandbegintomakeanattemptatreadingorwritingwords.

InBecoming Literate: The Construction of Inner Control,MarieClaystates,“…whenchildrentaketheinitiativethey can invent spellings in systematic ways usingknowledgethattheyhave,suchasalphabetnames.…It forces children to carry out a splendid soundanalysisofwordstheywanttowrite—afirsttolastsegmentingof thesoundsof newwords.”

Sound cards can support this kind of teaching andlearning.A lettersoundcardsupportsyoungchildreninisolatingsoundsforsingleletters.Asyoungreadersandwritersdeveloptheymovefromsoundingoutindividualletters to usingmore efficient chunks of information.At that point a blend sound card can be introduced.(Seepage3foradevelopmentalperspectiveonliteracydevelopment) Let’s take a look instruction thatmakesuseof soundcards.

where to stArt

When young children first enter school, whether inprekindergarten or in kindergarten, using personalizedsoundcardsisagoodwaytohelpthemtobegintoisolatebeginningconsonantsounds.Thesepersonalizedsound

2

Meaning-Based Phonics Instruction

cards contain the alphabetized names and picturesof importantpeople intheschool lifeof students—classmates,teachers,principal,andotherfamiliarschool

staff,aswellassomeoftenusedvocabularysuchasboy,girl,oreventheschool’sname. Themoreconnectionsa child canmakewith new learning experiences, themorelikelyheorsheistotakeonlearning(Cambourne,2003).Usingfamiliarfacesandnamesisameaningfulteaching approach that supports young children inattending more closely to beginning sounds. As theearlyprimaryteacherworkswithstudentsduringanylanguageactivity,referencetothepersonalizedsoundcardcanbemadeoftenandeasily.For teacherswhouse this teaching tool it’s not uncommon to hearstatementslike“Juggle—jugglestarts just likeJacob’sname. /j/, juggle—/j/, Jacob.” Depending on thestudent’s stage of development, the teacher can alsopointtothenameand/ortheletterthatgoeswiththepicture and say, “Thesewordsboth startwith j.”By

attaching a letter to the beginning consonant soundof the two words—juggle and Jacob—the teacher

hastakenherstudentsfromaphonologicalawarenessactivitytoaphonicsactivity.

developing consistency

Thepersonalizedsoundcard ismeanttobeachild’sfirst meaningful experience in understanding howwords work. Because its content is specific to eachclassroom, the personalized sound card is unique toevery class. However, consistency across a schoolor district is important in building both teacher andstudentunderstandingof phonics.Withthisinmind,teachers need to consider moving into a universalsoundcardoncestudentshavelearnedaboutsoundsand letters from using the meaningful personalizedsoundcard.Boththepersonalizedsoundcardandtheuniversalsoundcardareusedinthesameway,buttheuniversalsoundcardhascommonpicturesthatcanbeidentifiedbyallstudentsacrossallclassroomsandallschools.Whereasthepersonalizedsoundcardmaynothaveapictureforeverysound,theuniversalsoundcard

does. Each picture has been carefully chosen for itsbeginningsoundanditsabilitytohelpstudentsmakeconnectionsfromthesoundsof thewordstheywanttowritetothepicturesonthesoundcard.Inorderforthe universalsoundcardtobeeffective,studentsneedto be well acquainted with the pictures. Thismeans

Emergent Story Card © David Matteson and Associates Inc.

a b c d

e f g h

i

J

k l

m n o p

q r s t

u v w x

y z

A B C D

E F G H

K L

M N O P

Q R S T

U V W X

Y Z

one classroom’s personalized sound card

A personalized sound card in use

A universal sound card

3


A look At how phonics instruction fits into A generAl picture of literAcy development.

Grade Level Primary Instructional Focus Comprehension Phonics (and Phonological

Awareness) Spelling

Birth-Three

• OralLanguage• GrossMotor

Relathionships• Formingattachments,respondingtoandineractingwithcaregivers.

Recognizingnamesorally(own,family,friends)

Experimentswithputtingsounds,wordstogetherwithpurpose,attachingmeaning

Identifiessomelettersintheirname—mayconnectfirstletterastheirname

Makesconnectionstoenvironmentalprint

Pre-kindergarten

• OralLanguage• FineMotorControl

ThePicture• Drawingandtellingstories

• Recognizingnames(own,family,friends)

• Playingwithwords(changingonset/rime)

• Identifyingsimilaritiesbetweenwords(beg.lettersand/orsounds)

Recognizingandwritingbasicsightwordsinpicturesand/ortextbelowthepicture(studentname,sibling/friendnames,mom.dad,me,I,the,my)

10-15words

Kindergarten

• Makingconnectionsbetweensoundsandletters

• Understandinghowwordswork

TheText• Reading/Writingthewordsof thestory

• Beginninghardconsonantsounds

• Endinghardconsonantsounds

• Medialhardconsonantsounds

• Spacing• Blends• Endings(s,ed,ing)

Weeklyspellinglistof sightwords(whichincludegeneralizingwordsorsimplewordfamilies

35–50words

First Grade

• NarrativeElements• ExpositoryElements

TheWriting• Elaborationof detail

Weeklyspellinglistof sightwords

Weeklyspellinglistof wordfamilies/patterns(Long/shortvowels)

75–100words

Second Grade

TheWriting• Purpose

Weeklyspellinglistof sightwords

Weeklyspellinglistof wordfamilies/patterns(Long/shortvowels)

75–100words

Third Grade and Up

• Genres TheReader/Writer• Author’sCraft

BuildingHigherLevelVocabulary—DescriptiveandContent

4


that teachers will need to “teach” their students thepicturesbeforetheybegintousethesoundcard.Let’stakealookatwhatthis“teaching”lookslike.

trAnsitioning Between cArds

While the early primary teacher is still using thepersonalized sound card as the main source of supporting students in making connections betweenwords, the teacher also needs to be preparing thestudents for the upcoming transition to using theuniversal sound card. In prekindergarten, the focusof the universal sound card is about having funin identifying the pictures and the letters. For theprekindergarten student this may take some time.Theactualtransitionfromthepersonalizesoundcardto the universal sound cardwill not occur formanyprekindergarten students until the later part of theyear, if at all. Inkindergarten the transitionwill take

placemuchearlier,preferablyby theendof thefirstquarter.Many teachers accomplish this transition byusing the universal sound card as an activity duringcenters (i.e., matching games, card games) and/orthrough funwhole group activities such as “Bingo.”Thepictureaboveoffersanotherexampleof howonekindergarten teacher is thinking about this transitionandbeyond.Sheusestheuniversalsoundcardasawaytoorganizeherwordwall.All of these activities aremeant to help familiarize students with the picturesand the letters. Once these sound cards are beingutilizedbystudentsduringreadingandjournaltimethe

studentswillhaveaneasiertimeusingthecardtohelpthemsoundoutwords.

using A universAl sound cArd

Once a universal sound card is implemented, theteacherneedstomodelitsuse.Thefollowingexcerptisa teachingscenario fromakindergartenclassroomwhere the teacher is using a sound card.As is usualin this classroom, the teacher begins her writinginstruction with writing a story of her own. Eachdaytheteachergathersherclassattherug,drawingapicturethatcontainsthedetailsof astoryshehastotell.Whether she is puttingwriting in thepicture orastextbelowthepicture,theteacherkeepshersoundcardclosebysoshecaneasilymodelitsusetostudents.

Teacher:Iwanttowriteastoryaboutsomethingthathappened last night. Something funny happened atmyhousewithmydogSammy,andIwanttotellyouaboutit.Letmethink—whowasthere?Everyonewashome—me,David,andColin.(Theteacherdrawsherfamily.)Thisisme.Theteachersayssoftly—me(andlooksatthewordwall).Oh,that’soneof ourspellingwords,pointing to thewordme. (The teacherwritesthe word “me” over the picture of herself.) That’sDavid,myhusband—/d//d/David.(Pointingtothepictureof theducktheteachersays,)/d/,/d/,duck.Davidstartsjustlikeduck.Davidstartswithad.(TheteacherwritesthenameDavidoverhispicture.)IneedtomakesureIuseanuppercaseletterbecauseDavidisanimportantword.It’sanameandneedsanuppercaseletter. And this is Colin. I alwayswrite about Colin.You’veseenhisnamebefore.Whatisthefirstletterof hisname?

Students:(Theyyellout)“C”

Teacher:That’s right.Youremembered.Colinstartsliketheword“cake.”(Theteacherpointstothepictureof the cake on the universal sound card and thenwritesColin’snameoverthepictureshedrewof him.)Colin is a name and needs an uppercase letter, too.(Theteachercontinuestotellherstoryanddrawherpicture.)WewerealltalkingandIsaidtoColin“Comeoverhere.” (Shedrawsa speechbubble.)Come,/c/come. That starts like cake, too. (The teacherwrites“come”inthespeechbubbleandgetsreadytowrite

A word wall containing a classroom’s spelling words

5


thenextword.)Comeover,o—ver.Whatletterdoeso—verstartwith?

Students: (Theyyellout)“O”

Teacher: That’sright.It’san“o.”(Theteacherdoesn’tcheckwithher sound card, as it containsonly shortvowels. The teacher isn’t concerned as she knowsthatvowelswillbetaughtatalaterpointintime.Theteacherreturnstoherstory.Shewritesthelastword,“here,” in the speech bubble without any fanfare—she knows that not every beginning sound needs tobetalkedabout,especiallythosethatdon’thavehardconsonantsounds.Theyaren’taseasyforstudentstohear.Theteachercontinues.)Sotherewewere—Colin,David,andItalking,whenIsaidtoColin“Comeoverhere.”Remember,IsaidthisstorywasaboutSammy.Well,whenIsaid“Comeoverhere.”Sammyjumpedupandrolledover.Isn’tthatfunny?SammythoughtIwastalkingtohimandthatIsaid“rollover.”(TheteacherdrawsSammyrollingover,thendropsdownunderthepicture andwrites,) “Sammy’s funny!He does tricksevenwhenhedoesn’thaveto.”(Theteachersmilesandasks)Didyoulikemystory?Isn’tthatSammyfunny?Whatareyougoingtowriteabouttoday?Makesureyou have your sound card out when you write thismorningsoyoucanuseitwhenyouhaveaneed.

The teacher in this kindergarten classroom waitedseveralweeksintothestrartof theschoolyeartohelpherstudentsdevelopanunderstandingof sound/letterrelationships becausemany of the students couldn’tdraw recognizable pictures when they entered herclassroom.Theteacherspentmuchof thefirstquarterworkingon two important foundational componentsto literacydevelopment.First, andmost importantly,theteachermadesurethestudentshadstoriestotellandcoulddrawbasicshapes(circles,squares,triangles,and rectangles) to draw recognizable pictures abouttheir stories. By drawing recognizable pictures theteacherknowsthatherstudentsaredevelopingthefinemotorcontrolneededtowritelettersandnumberswithease.Additionally,theteacherhadherstudentsbeginto take on sound/letter relationships orally throughusingthepersonalizedsoundcardtohelpthembeginto make connections between student names andtheir beginning sounds. This teacher undertood thatby developing these foundational pieces--finemotor

control and phonological awareness--prior to usingthe univseral sound card, students would be moresuccessful in using it and ultimately in reading andwriting.

In this particular writing demonstration the teacherused the universal sound card towritewords in thepicture that identify (label) the people in the storyas well as record what the characters said (speechbubbles). The teacher understands that writing textunderneaththepictureisanabstractconceptforverybeginningwritersand that it iseasier for students tounderstandhowletter/soundrelationshipsworkwhenit is embedded in awell-drawndetailed picture.Thewordsinthepicturebecomeapartof thepictureandthusmoreeasilyrememberedorrecalledatalaterdate.Formanyyoungchildrenlearningismadeharderwhenthis developmental aspect of phonics instruction isleft out.When the teacher notices thatmost of herstudents are experiencing success in attending tobeginning consonant sounds during the labeling of theirpictures,shewillusetheuniversalsoundcardtohelpthemwritetextbelowthepictureandcontinuetohelpstudentsmakesound/letterconnections.

GOING FURTHER WITH DECODING AND ENCODING WORDS

Afterdevelopingstudents’abilitytoisolatebeginningconsonant sounds, teachers use the universal soundcard to help students identify ending consonantsounds, followed by medial consonant sounds. Thisbroad sequence helps students write a frame of aword—the beginning, middle, and end of a word.Once studentshave aword frame,blends shouldbeintroduced. At this point students will need a newtool—ablendcard.Thisoccursatdifferenttimesfordifferentchildren.Somestudentswillbereadyfortheblend card in kindergarten,while othersmaynot bereadyuntilfirstgrade.(Studentsdonotneedtomastereveryletterontheuniversalsoundcardtomoveontotheblendcard.Itisverylikelythatmanystudentswillnothavemastered theshortvowelsoundsaswellasthe sounds for the letters “q”, “x”, and “z” as theyaren’tfrequentlyused.)

Blendcardswork similarly to theother soundcards.They help students identify common blends, which

6


supportsadeeperunderstandingof howwordswork.Wordworkatthispointisaboutstudentsknowingthatmanywordsaremadeupof letterclusters.Recognizingtheseletterclustersandknowinghowtheyworkwithinwordswillmakethesoundingoutandwritingof wordsmucheasierforstudents.Theblendcardshownhereexpandstheideaof letterclustersbyincorporatingasectiononbasicwordendings–s,–ed,and–ing.Withboth blends and endings on the card, students willcometounderstandhowletterclusterswork.Liketheothersoundcards,themoretheteachermodelsusingthe blend card and provides studentswith hands-onpracticethemorequicklylearningwilloccurforthem.

USING A BLEND CARD

Using any of the sound cards during readinginstructionwillalsohelpstudentsmovemorequickly.Inthefollowingteachingscenario,afirst-gradeteacheris introducing a new story to a small group of hisstudents. The story is entitled,My Little Brother Ben.Noticehowtheteacherusestheblendcardtosupporthis students inuncovering a challengingword in thetitle.

Teacher:Ihaveanewstoryforustoreadtoday.(Hepassesthebooksouttothegroup.)Ithinkyou’regoingtolikeit.What’shappeninginthepictureonthecover?

Jana: Twoboysareplayingwithblocks.

Teacher:Yes,itlooksliketheyarehavingfun,doesn’tit?Doyouthinktheyarefriends?

Paul:Yes.

Teacher:Let’sreadthetitletofindoutsomemore.

Students: (Lookingatthetitle,everyoneisquiet.)

Teacher:Well,Iknoweveryoneknowsthefirstword,right?

Paul:It’s“my.”

Teacher:That’sright.“My”isoneof oursightwords.Let’slookatthelastword.Ibetwecanfigurethatoneouttoo.It’slikeawordweallknow—ten.(Theteacherwritestheword“ten”onasmallwhiteboardandthen“Ben”underneath.)

Carly:Ben.It’sBen.

Teacher:Yes, theword isBen.Howdid you figurethatout?

Carly: Iputa“b”infrontof tenandgotBen.

Teacher: Oh, you took off the “t” from ten andreplaceditwitha“b”?Goodjob.Sowehavethefirstword“My”andthelast“Ben.”Whataboutthisword?(Theteacherpointstooneof thewordsinthemiddleof thetitle.)Lookathowthiswordbegins.

Students:(Movingtheirlips)/b/,/b/

Teacher:Waitaminute.Lookhere.(Theteacherwrites“br”onthewhiteboard.)Thisishowthewordbegins.(Theteacherpassesoutablendcardtoeachstudent).Findthe“br”picture.Whatwordstartswith“br?”

Jacquelyn:Brush.

Teacher:Yes.Br—ushstartswith“br”,notjusta“b”.Let’sgobackandreadthetitleoncemore.Thistimegetyourmouthreadybysaying/br/andlet’sseewhathappens.

Jana:Brother—MyLittleBrotherBen.

Teacher:Doesitlooklikeitcouldbe“brother?”

Students:(Allnodtheirheadsyes.)

Early Story Card © David Matteson and Associates Inc.

s- brother s, play s, sister sed- play ed, want eding- play ing, do ing, go ing

Endings on words-

a am and are at brother can came come



want was we went were will


bl br ch cl

cr dr fl fr

gl pl pr

sh sk sl sm

sn sp st sw

th tr

gr

Blend card

7


Teacher: Doesbrothermakesense?

Students:(Allnodtheirheadsagain.)

Teacher:Jana,yousaid,“MyLittle BrotherBen—howdidyouknowthatwordwas‘little?”

Jana:IlookedatthepictureandIsawhewaslittle.

Teacher:Oh,afteryoufiguredouttheywerebrothersyousawthatonewassmallerthantheother?Goodforyou—we always need to be thinking about both thepicturesandthewordswhenweread,don’twe?Let’sallreadthetitletoseeif itallfits.

Students:(Inunison)MyLittleBrotherBen.

Teacher:Well,wehavethetitle,what’sthestorygoingtobeabout?

Jacquelyn:It’saboutabigbrotherandalittlebrotherplayingtogether.

Teacher:Ithinkyoumayberight,butlet’sturntothetitlepageandseewhatelsewecanfindoutbeforewereadthestory.

Thisteacherunderstandsthatashisstudent’sprogressin their reading and writing levels, they will needdifferent phonic skills to be successful. He knowsthat sounding words out letter by letter is not veryeffectiveorefficientat“higher”levels.Letterclusterscanmakeupmanyof thechallengesthatstudentsface,andhavingatoolliketheblendcardcansupporttheirlearning aswell ashis teaching.He alsounderstandsthatittakesmorethanphonicstoread.Studentsneedtobelookingatpicturesforsupportaswellasmakingsuretheirwordsmakesenseandlookright.Thismorecomplete problem solving helps students know theyareontherighttrackastheyreadandwrite.

Making connections between letters and sounds orally (phonologicalawarenessactivities)

Hearing and writing the beginning sounds in words (hard consonant sounds including longvowelssounds)

Hearing and writing the ending sounds in words (hard consonant sounds including longvowelssounds)

Hearing and writing medial sounds in words (hard consonant sounds including longvowelssounds)

Incorporating spaces between words

Hearing and writing blends and word endings (s,ed,ing)

A developmentAl ApproAch to phonics instruction

8


conclusion

By the first half of first grade, students should bewriting stories that have a combination of correctlyspelledwords(knownwords)andcloseapproximationsof words.Atthispointintheirlearning,students’closeapproximationsshouldcontainthebeginning,middle,andendinglettersof thewords(awordframe)theywanttowriteintheirstories.Blendsandendingsshouldalsobevisibleintheirwork,asshouldlongvowelsounds.Studentsmaynothavethecorrectlettercombinationforthelongvowelsounds,buttheyshouldbewritingtheletterof thevowelsoundtheyhear.Theymayalsohaveavowelletterinplaceof ashortvowel,butitmaybe thewrongvowel letter.Theworknow is tohelpthese students develop their understanding of howlongandshortvowelswork.Someteachersusevowelsoundcardstohelpstudentsunderstandhowvowelsworkbutwiththenumberof vowelcombinationsforbothlongandshortvowels,itmaybeanoverwhelmingtaskforbothteachersandstudents.

Sinceitwillbedevelopingstudents’understandingof vowelsthatcompletethe“wordframes”studentshavebeenworkingwithuntilnow,itmaybemoreappropriatetoconsideradevelopmentalspellingprogram.Withsomany different long- and short-vowel combinations,giving students more support with smaller chunksof vowelworkover time (primarily first and secondgrades) will help them get pictures of words withspecificvowelcombinationstuckedintheirheads.Thisvisualprocessof learningwhatwordslooklikewillhavemorebenefitsovertimeandlonger-lastingeffects.Inthenextarticle,“SpellingDevelopment,” teacherswillread about ameaning-based “spellingprogram” thatcontinues to develop students who understand howwordswork.This spelling article focuses on shiftingstudents’wordworkfromaphonics-basedapproachinprekindergartenandkindergartentoavisualapproachinfirstandsecondgradethattakesintoconsiderationthewords(especiallyvowelpatterns)thatphonicscan’tsupport.

references

Cambourne,Brian. 2003.Connecting Brian Cambourne’s Conditions of Learning to Brain/Mind Principals: Implications for Early Childhood Educators. EarlyChildhoodEducationJournal,Vol.31,No.1,Fall2003

Clay,Marie.1991.Becoming Literate: The Construction of Inner Control. Portsmouth,NH: HeinemannEducation

Cogan,Karen.1999.My Little Brother Ben. Katonah,NY:RichardC.OwenPublishersInc.

Duncan,Marilyn.2005.The Kindergarten Book: A Guide to Literacy Instruction. Katonah,NY:RichardC.OwenPublishers,Inc.

Gentry, J. Richard. 1987. Spel…is a Four-letter Word.Portsmouth,NH: HeinemannEducation

Matteson,DavidM.2006.My Pictures and Stories: Teachers Guide. Katonah,NY:RichardC.OwenPublishers,Inc.

Matteson,DavidM.andDeborahK.Freeman.2005.Assessing and Teaching Beginning Writers: Every Picture Tells a Story. Katonah,NY: RichardC.OwenPublishers,Inc.

1639 indian knoll rdnaperville, illinois 60565

www.dmatteson.com

© 2011 David Matteson and Associates, Inc.

Along with the teaching of reading skills, having an instructional focus on comprehension is crucial in the development of a reader. The more deeply readers are able to comprehend, the more success they will experience throughout their education. Understanding the different levels of comprehension, especially higher levels of comprehension such as analytical thinking is important to reading instruction. Analyzing is the ability to break the whole into its parts and understand how the parts work together to produce the whole. Comprehension in reading is much the same. It’s the ability of the reader to see what the author did (the parts) to convey his/her message (the whole). In other words, a reader who understands “author’s craft” will be better able to understand what the author is trying to say. Developing students’ understanding of genres will give them insight into author’s craft and how authors create pieces to articulate their message.

THE ROLE OF GENRES

Genres also play a key role in today’s world of high-stakes testing. Whether answering multiple-choice questions about a reading selection, constructing a written response to a science or social studies open-ended question, or composing a piece to a writing prompt, students need to be knowledgeable about genres and how they work in order to perform well on standardized tests. The following list is a partial example of one state’s overall focus on genres, text features, and text structures that span the grades from kindergarten to middle school.

Comprehension instruCtion

USiNG TExT FEaTURE CaRdS TO ENHaNCE UNdERSTaNdiNG

By david M. MaTTESON

• Literature Goal—Describe how literary elements (e.g., theme, character, setting, plot, tone, conflict) are used in literature to create meaning.

• Reading Goal/Strategies—Identify structure (e.g., description, compare/ contrast, cause and effect, sequence) of nonfiction texts to improve comprehension.

• Reading Goal/Comprehension—Interpret and analyze entire narrative text using story elements, point of view and theme.

• Writing Goal/Communicating Ideas—Write for a variety of purposes and for specified audiences in a variety of forms including narrative (e.g., fiction, autobiography), expository (e.g., reports, essays) and persua sive writings (e.g., editorials, advertisements).

• Research Goal—Write letters, reports and stories based on acquired information.

With this focus on genre in mind, there are certain questions that teachers need to be asking themselves about their students as well as their teaching. These questions might sound like: How adept are students in their knowledge of genres? Are students able to identify the features and structures of a genre while reading a passage so that they can more readily answer questions about the text? Can students “build” a well-constructed composition that reflects a certain genre because they know it will best support the message they have to convey? How can I help my students understand how genres work? What does teaching look like that supports this kind of thinking or learning?

1

What’s the story you’regoing to tell today?

Early Story Card


What happened?

Where did it happen?

Who was there?

How will you begin your story?

How will you end it?

How did you feel?

When did it happen?

Did you say anything?

tion What’s the story you’regoing to tell today?

Early Story Card

What happened?

Where did it happen?

How will you begin your story?

How will you end it?

How did you feel?

mom dad love I me my

the is it in a at

to went was we go

What’s the story you’re

going to tell today?

Emergent Story Card

© David Matteson and Associates Inc. mom dad love I me my

the is it in a at

to went was we go

What happe

ned?

Where did

it happen?

Did you sa

y

anything?

Who was th

ere?

How did y

ou feel?

What part

are you

going to wr

ite about?

You can us

e these wo

rds in your

pictures a

nd in your

writing.

1

Spelling inStruction

Moving StudentS froM Sound Spelling to CorreCt Spelling and Beyond

By david M. MatteSon With aMy doran, holly flora, and KriStin turner

A comprehensive literacy program which views reading and writing as reciprocal processes includes as much time for writing as it does for reading. The more opportunities students have to apply (in writing) what has been taught (through reading), the more teachers can assess the learning that has taken place for their students (Mooney and Young, 2006). With that in mind, it is important for students to write often and in every subject. Not only does writing support what is being learned currently in any subject, but it also gives valuable insight into the next learning step for students. Writing is an important tool for teachers, not only in assessing student learning but as a way to develop students’ ability to communicate their learning. One obvious communication area for student learning is the ability to spell. The more effective the speller, the more effectively they can convey their learning.

Spelling is a tool for writing. Although the writer doesn’t need to know how to spell well in order to write or even read what they have written, conventional or correct spelling shows respect for the reader. In order for a reader to make meaning from what is written, a writer needs to make sure the writing is as readable as possible. Helping students think about their spelling while they write should be an integral part of instruction. In considering this, a good question for teachers to be asking is, “What does instruction look like that supports students in developing a spelling conscience?” (J. Richard Gentry, 1987)

An important component in helping students who are developing a spelling conscience is to understand that spelling is a developmental process. Spelling unfolds for

students in stages. J. Richard Gentry describes spelling development in terms of five stages—precommunicative, semi-phonetic, phonetic, transitional, and correct. His stages of spelling development help explain spelling as a developmental process that moves students from constructing words orally and aurally as they write (sound spelling) to a visual approach where the writer is writing more fluently and checking visually to make sure the word or aspects of the word look right.

Because spelling is a tool for writing and the fact that reading and writing are reciprocal processes, spelling instruction should not just be confined to a spelling program. A teacher needs to consider spelling across all content areas. In order to develop students who truly understand the importance of spelling, it is important for teachers to make explicit spelling connections across content reading and writing instruction. This connection is apparent when looking at the descriptors associated with the stages of reading and writing as they contain many spelling skills. (M. Mooney, 2003) For example, one of the descriptors at the emergent stage of reading state that students should have a bank of approximately 20 known words. In writing, the descriptors state that emergent writers should be making letter sound connections using beginning and/or ending sounds. At the early stage of reading, descriptors say that students need to recognize groups of letters in words as well as recognize and use basic contractions in writing. At the fluent stage descriptors indicate that students should be using syllabification as their main decoding skill, and in writing, students should be playing with words such as puns, alliteration, and onomatopoeia. Skills such as these


the is it in a at

to went was we go


the is it in a at

to went was we go

You can use these words in your pictures and in your writing.

comprehensioninstruction

spellinginstruction

other resource mAteriAls from dAvid mAtteson And AssociAtes, inc.

Revised 9/2011