Final Exam

Dr. Tom Gill

Submitted by Sabrina Thomas

Emergent Readers

1A. Explain why a child learning the alphabet needs to compare and contrast

a. Different Letters: Children learn the alphabet by comparing and contrasting the distinctive features of each letter. Distinctive features are features that if changed the item becomes something else. Most programs in use today have a letter of the week format. The idea was that if a child was repeatedly exposed to one particular letter over a period of days, a week for instance, then that child would form an impression in his/her mind as to what that letter looks like. Actually, we now know that is not how children learn letters. We learn best by being able to compare examples of something to non examples. Letters are learned by the child determining the distinctive features of each letter. In order to learn the distinct features of each letter, a child must be given opportunities to compare and contrast letters with each other.

b. Fonts of the Same Letter: Along with studying the distinctive features of each letter, a child must also have opportunities to develop an idea of what each letter is like. For instance, let’s focus on the letter A. A child needs to develop his/her understanding of the feel of “Aness.” Every A a child encounters may not look exactly alike. A child needs to have a general idea of what forms an A can take in order to be able to identify an A written in a new way. We can compare this concept to a cow. Cows can be different colors and different varieties. So how does a child know a brown cow is a cow if the only cows that child has ever seen are black and white jersey cows? A child has an idea of ‘cowness” that allows them to conclude that the animal they are looking at is a cow. The same type of awareness takes place with letters of the alphabet.

c. His own writing of a letter with a correct formation of that letter: The way we all learn is by comparing our own theories of how we think something is to reality. When a child is learning the letters of the alphabet, the child forms theories of what each letter looks like. The child solidifies his knowledge by testing his theories. For instance, a child writes the letter G. Then the child compares his G to the alphabet strip and sees they are not the same. This throws the child into disequilibrium. The child is now confused. The child was expecting one result, the letters would look the same, but instead got a different result, the letters do not look the same. This forces the child to reconsider what he thought was a G. Eventually the child will modify his thinking as to what a G looks like.

B. Tell how you might assess and group a classroom of beginning kindergarteners who range from no knowledge of the alphabet through beginning consonant knowledge.

First of all, I would conduct an assessment. I would use page 66 in The Howard Street Tutoring Manual. I would first see if each child can identify the lower case letters because if a child knows the lower case letters, then I can be assured that the child also knows the upper case letters. If the child misses any lower case I would then check the child’s knowledge of that particular upper case letter. For a group of twenty or so kindergarteners, you can expect the students to fall into the following categories: (see table on the next page).

Group A Group B Group C Group D

The children in this group do not know any letters, upper or lower case

The children in this group know the upper case letters and are tracking

The children in this group know all of the upper case letters and most of the lower case letters

The children in this group know all of the letters, upper and lower case

C. Describe how to teach and give the rationale for teaching students:

a. To Name the Letters in Order as They Track Them: The fastest way to teach the alphabet is with the song. You need to teach your students the song so that they can sing it with complete automaticity. Next, you move to tracking the letters while singing the song. Give each child a letter strip that is not taped down so that it can be turned over. Start the tracking process by teaching the students groups of letters. For example, practice with the students until they can accurately track ABCD with automaticity and while singing the song. Once the students are successful with these four letters then you can move to the next group, EFG. Repeat the process above until complete automaticity is achieved. The teacher should follow the groupings of the letters according to how they are grouped in the song. Special time and attention should be given to the group of letters, l m n o p. When singing the song, this group of letters sounds like one letter. You need to pay special attention to this group to make sure the students understand these are separate letters. Slow down during this part of the song and change your voice to really exaggerate each letter until the students understand that these are separate letters. The process is continued with groups of letters until the students can successfully track all twenty-six letters while singing the song.

Rationale: Students need to be able to track the letters so they can begin to match up the letter name with what the letter looks like. Students at this level do not have a concept of word. They do not yet see a connection between the spoken word and letters printed on a page. Learning this one to one correspondence is the first step in starting to form knowledge of the alphabet.

b. To recognize letters in isolation: In the beginning when students know few if any letters, you need to work with letters that have very distinctive features from each other. Later on, you can choose letters that share more features. To teach letter recognition in isolation you can play a letter recognition game. First of all, each student needs an alphabet strip that is turned face down. Teachers also need to be sure that no alphabet strips are posted around the room. Next, the teacher chooses a letter and writes it on the board. The students are then asked to guess the name of the letter without saying it out loud. Then the teacher asks the students to name the letter in unison. We know that children learn best by comparing their theories to reality so now ask the children to turn over their letter strips and track to the letter to prove if they were right. Of course, if they are incorrect, they will discover their error. The goal of this game is for the children to be able to name letters with automaticity.

Rationale: Children learn the letters of the alphabet by comparing and contrasting the distinct features of each letter. Playing the letter recognition game allows the student to test his/her theory as to what they think each letter is named. Teaching children to track (as explained in step a) allows each child to check their theory and see if they have the letter name correct.

c.To produce letters in isolation: You can teach children to write letters in isolation using a strategy very similar to the strategy used to name letters in isolation. Letter strips are again turned face down. The teacher calls out a letter and asks the students to try to write the letter on their paper. Next, the children turn over their letter strip and track to check themselves. Students compare their own writing to the writing on the strip and see that either they are right or they become aware of their errors. Time should be given to consistent letter writing, however, the teacher needs to remember the goal of this activity. It is not so the children will learn neat penmanship. It is so that the children can both name and write the letters of the alphabet with automaticity.

Rationale: Once the students can name each letter correctly, they need to learn to form each letter. Again, the child will test his/her theory by writing the letter and then using their tracking skills on the letter strip to see if they are correct. Again, a comparison of distinctive features of each letter is used to solidify a child’s knowledge of how to form each letter.

d. To Sort Letters: Start the sorting process using letters ABCD. Give each student a baggie with 6 cards of each letter for a total of 24 cards. Have the students sort the cards into groups using a chart. Do not write the letters in order on the chart (see example below).

B D A C

Spend about a week working on sorting these letters. Then the next week, move to sorting EFG. The letters ABCD become a center where the child can work on sorting for speed. The third week, move to the next group of letters, HIJK, and EFG becomes a center. You should also keep ABCD in a center.

Rationale: Sorting letters allows a child to work with more than one letter at a time. Once a child can name and form letters in isolation, the natural next step is comparing several letters at one time. This forces the child to really think about what they know about the distinct features of each letter.

e.To Sort Letters for Speed: Students can work on increasing their sort speeds in a center. You will teach students to name and track the letters of the alphabet using the song (as explained in bullet C above). As the students master naming and tracking groups of letters, those groups of letters move to a center. Once you have created a center for ABCD, two students can work together to increase speed. One child will sort the letters while the other child times him with a stopwatch. Then the students can switch roles. As more letter centers are created, the students move from one center to another. The overall goal is for a child to be able to sort 24 cards in 60 seconds. Children cannot just learn the letters of the alphabet. They must know them with automaticity.

Rationale: Once a child has a solid foundation of the name of each letter and how to form each letter, the child needs to be able to name and sort letters. In order to become a beginning and then a self reliant reader, they must know the letters with complete automaticity. Knowing the letters accurately and quickly is the very foundation upon which the skill of reading is built.

2A. Explain how you would conduct a language experience with students who were spelling in the letter like stage.

a. Short dictations about a common experience that could be turned into a group book: The idea behind a language experience is that students have some sort of experience, they then talk, write, and read about this experience. First of all, the teacher needs to let the children have some sort of experience. For example, the students will have the opportunity to touch and talk about a stuffed goose. After all of the children have had an opportunity to come up and touch and feel the goose, read to the students some sort of nonfiction book about geese. Next let the children orally tell some short sentences about the goose. Each child

should tell you one thing about the goose. Now, each child will start writing his/her sentence on their paper. It is best to use the newsprint that has a space for a picture at the top. Each student will write their sentence on their paper. While the students are writing, the teacher will start moving from child to child. Each child should tell the teacher what they wrote, and then the teacher will write it “correctly” underneath the child’s writing. When writing the sentence, the teacher needs to remember to leave exaggerated spaces between the words to help the child see each word as an independent unit. The teacher should then choral and echo read the sentence with the child until the child can read it independently. Students that finish their writing before the teacher gets to them can draw a picture of the sentence while waiting for the teacher. Also, after the teacher has worked with two of the students, they can then pair up and teach each other their sentences. Once the teacher has made it around to all of the students, it is time to create the book. The teacher takes everyones paper, makes copies and then staples them together to create a book that the children can read together and independently. The teacher and students will echo and choral the story together many times. Tracking should be modeled and encouraged even though the students cannot track accurately yet because they don’t yet have a concept of word.

b. Longer personal narratives that could be turned into a book for an individual child: When working with a child on a personal narrative, the first thing you want to do is just get the child to talk. You want the child to tell you some short story about an experience they’ve had. Be sure to get the child to tell you the entire story first. Once the child has shared the complete story, you should write the story for the child. Remember this child does not yet have a concept of word so they will tell you the story in phrases. Remind the child to slow down and tell you one word at a time even though you know they cannot do that yet. You can even point to each word as you write to model tracking. To create a book, you should rewrite the story on several pages. You want to write 3 to 6 words per page. Also, exaggerate the spaces between the words on each page to draw attention to each word individually. Now you should echo and choral read the story with the child until the child can read it independently.

2B. Explain what would differ in how you would do this with students who were starting to spell with some logical or correct beginning consonants.

When taking dictations from a child, there are some constants that never change regardless of the child’s stage of development. You always want to talk through the entire story before you do any writing. You also want to model tracking and encourage the child to tell you one word at a time. After the story is written, you are going to echo and choral read the story many times.

Things change at this point for the child that is beginning to spell with some logical or correct beginning consonants. After you have echo and choral read the story many times, you want to “quiz” the child on some of the words. Point to a particular word and ask the child to read the word. Always have the child explain how they know the word. Their explanation will probably be based on the beginning letter. Sometimes they will just tell you they remembered. During this “quizzing”, the teacher needs to be mindful of the letters you think the child knows. You do want the child to experience success. Confidence cannot be underestimated!

3A. Explain why children who are spelling with random letters

a. Point to words when shown a written version of a text or verse they have already memorized orally.

Children who are spelling with random letters will point to words when shown a written version of a text or verse they have already memorized for two reasons. For one, they do this because they are segmenting language into the most obvious unit. These children have just learned their letters. They do not yet have a concept of word so for them it makes sense to relate the words they are saying to the letters printed on the page. Also, these children have few, if any, words in their sight vocabulary. Since they are spelling with random letters they do not yet have any systematic way to store words mentally so they are not yet ready to develop a sight vocabulary. They need to become aware of beginning consonants before they can begin to develop some kind of way to store words mentally. Even though the children are pointing incorrectly, they still need to have these experiences. Over time and as they do this pointing over and over again, they will always run out of words to say before they finish pointing to all of the letters printed. This will help the children to see that they need to segment in some other fashion so that they don’t run out of memorized words before they get to the end of the print.

b. Say a stressed word or a stressed group of words each time they point to a written word in this memorized text.

The next natural step in language segmentation is the syllable. As stated before, children need to have many experiences of pointing to letters while saying words therefore always running out of words to say before they get to the end of the print. This forces the children to start to look for a new way to segment language. The children will now start to point based on syllables. The more experiences they have will lead to their voice pointing strategy becoming somewhat more accurate. These children will not track accurately because they do not yet have a concept of word, however, their tracking will improve because they are now thinking about syllables and not just letters. Even though these children do not track accurately, they still need these experiences. Over time, an awareness of beginning

consonants will start to develop. Given enough time and practice, these children will begin to match up beginning consonants when pointing, but it will take time.

3B. Explain why children who are spelling with beginning consonants

a. Don’t also begin to spell with ending consonants at the same time.First of all, Henderson tells us that all children go through the same stages of development.First a child learns the alphabet. Next the child spells with beginning consonants only. Third the child starts to add ending consonants. Fourth the child develops a concept of word, and finally the child develops complete phonemic awareness. Children don’t begin to spell with both beginning and ending consonants simultaneously because that isn’t the natural order of development. Also, when a child is spelling with beginning consonants only, that shows us that the child is segmenting language into syllables and representing each syllable with one consonant letter.

b. Say one syllable each time they point to a written word in the text.

Children who say one syllable each time they point to a written word in the text and are spelling words with beginning sounds only are using our print system as if it were syllabary. Syllabary means a system in which each syllable is represented by a symbol. This child does not realize that each letter represents a different sound. Over time, as the child goes through the stages outlined by Henderson, an awareness of the necessity of each letter will be recognized by the child.

c. Can be taught how to self correct if they get off track.

A child that is spelling with beginning sounds can be taught to self correct by using that knowledge of beginning sounds. For instance, let’s say a child is tracking Sam Sam the baker man. The child will track correctly the two sams, however, since baker has two syllables the child will point to ba and say baker. Then the child will point to man and start to say ker. The child will realize that m does not sound like the /k/ sound. The child will be able to use this awareness to go back to baker and say it correctly and then move to man and say it correctly.

4A. When is a child ready to begin to learn beginning consonants? Explain.

Whenever a teacher is trying to determine if it is time to start teaching beginnings sounds, there are three things the teacher should observe about the child and the child’s work. First of all,

the child needs to know most of the letters of the alphabet. It is important for the child to know 15 or so letters. Next the teacher needs to see that the child is using random letters to spell. This lets you know the child is becoming aware of using letters to make words. You also want to compare a child’s drawings to their writing. There should be a distinct difference between the drawing and the writing.

B. Why might picture sorts be a better way to learn beginning consonants that teaching the sounds of those letters in isolation? Refer to both the contrast between columns and the contrast within columns.

When teaching children beginning consonant sounds, we must remember that these children have little to no sight vocabulary. Since they do not have a sight vocabulary, using pictures is the best choice.

At first we must help the child hear the difference between the beginning sounds when sorting picture cards. The students will learn the difference by comparing one letter’s sound to another letter’s sound. We must also help our students see the contrasts within columns as they sort pictures based on the beginning sound. You cannot make the sound of a beginning consonant without some kind of vowel sound attached. Therefore we need to help our students conceptualize that all the words that start with a letter, T for instance, will have a very slight difference in how they sound. In other words, think about the shape of your mouth when saying the words tool, take, and took. All of these words start with a T, but your mouth takes on a different shape as you say each word. Students need to understand that slight difference but at the same time realize that all of these words start with T.

C. Why do you use picture sorts at this stage rather than word sorts?

There are three main reasons it is better to use picture cards instead of word cards to teach beginning consonant sounds. First of all, the child does not yet know all of the letters of the alphabet. Also, this child has virtually no sight vocabulary, and this child does not yet have a concept of word. It just doesn’t make sense when a child knows so little about how letters work to expect them to sort words. If you are using picture cards, the child will focus on the beginning sound. Then the child will sort the pictures according to which sounds go together.

Beginning Readers

1. Explain why children can learn to track accurately when they spell with beginning and ending consonants.

Once a child is aware of beginning and ending sounds, they can use that knowledge to track accurately. Initially a child uses only the beginning consonant to self correct when tracking. For instance, a child is saying the phrase, Sam, Sam, the baker man. The child points correctly to Sam, Sam and the. The child points to ba and says baker, and then tries to say ker while

pointing to man. The child can use his knowledge of beginning sounds to realize that ker does not start with m. He will self correct and say baker while pointing to baker and then say man while pointing to man. As this awareness of beginning sounds becomes more solidified, the child will start to notice the ending sounds of words. As this awareness of beginning and ending sounds starts to become more stable, the child will be even more able to self correct when tracking. As the child becomes more able to self correct using both beginning and ending consonants, the ability to segment language into words will become more stable. This child is well on his way to developing partial phonemic awareness.

2. Explain why complete phonemic awareness usually is achieved only after the child can accurately track memorized text (that is, has a concept of word ).

Once a child can accurately track we know they have a concept of word. The child is now able to reread all of his favorite memorized pattern books. As the child does more of this rereading, his knowledge of beginning and ending sounds becomes more stable allowing the child to pay a little less attention to the beginning and ending consonants. The child will now start to notice the vowels in the middle of words.

3. Give two reasons why a sight vocabulary develops only after the child can accurately track.

A child must have a concept of word before they can begin to develop a sight vocabulary. If they can track then we know they have a concept of word. Once a child can spell using beginning and ending sounds, the child can use this knowledge to frame a word. The child can now tell where each word begins and where each word ends. This enables the child to focus more attention on the letters in the middle of words. As a child is exposed to more and more words in pattern books, they will start to see the value of vowels. The child will become aware of the fact that the only way to tell the difference between pit, pat, and put is by looking at the vowel. In other words, a child must have a concept of word and be able to spell with beginning and ending consonants before they can start to attend to the letters in the middle of words. It is an awareness of these letters in the middle that leads to the development of a sight vocabulary.

4A. Why is a beginning reader sometimes called a “support reader”?

A beginning reader is sometimes called a support reader because they cannot read without support. A beginning reader needs support from the teacher as well as from the material. These children can track, but they are unable to read a PP2 leveled reader, which is a non patterned book.

4B. What support is needed to be given by the material?

The layout of the material can provide support for the beginning reader. Only 3 to 6 words will be on each page. The words will be spaced far apart. The book will also be a pattern book in

order to help the child. Finally, the pictures on each page also support the beginning reader by giving visual clues as to what the words say.

4C. What support can be given by the teacher?

There are 3 primary ways a teacher can support a beginning reader. First of all, the teacher can take the children on a picture walk through the book. This will give the child an idea of what he is going to be reading about. Next the teacher can echo read with the child. The teacher reads the page first, and then invites the child to read it. Finally, a teacher can do choral reading with the child. That is the child and teacher reading together. The most important thing for a teacher to remember when working with a beginning reader is to provide as much support as the child needs.

5. If the beginning reader gains a sight vocabulary most readily through successful reading and rereading of text, why is it helpful to pull words from those texts to create a word bank?

In order for a child to become a self reliant reader, a sight vocabulary must be developed to the point of automaticity. According to Ehri, children will learn sight words 5 to 10 times faster if taught in context, however, the teacher should use word cards to verify that the child truly knows the word. If a sight vocabulary is only measured during actual reading, the child may be focusing only on the beginning and endings of each word. The child could also be focusing on the pictures for clues as well as their memory of the story along with the context of the story to remember the words. Using word cards forces the child to look at more letters in each word. Finally, as the sight vocabulary grows, beginning sounds will be repeated therefore forcing the child to really know the words and also to start looking at the vowels in each word.

6. Explain how the building of a word bank might foster a better and deeper understanding of how letters work in words.

Once a child starts to develop a word bank, it will quickly become possible for a child to sort words into families. As soon as a child starts word sorts they will become aware of spelling patterns which will help them start to see how letters word. For instance, if a child sorts the words bet, get, set, pet, and met into the same family, they will realize they are all spelled the same and rhyme. More and more experiences like this helps a child learn new words as well as see how letters work together to form words.

7. Explain a three-day cycle for using pattern books with beginning readers.

The number one goal of a beginning reader is to develop a sight vocabulary. In order to accomplish this goal, the teacher needs to provide opportunities for the child to read as many books as the teacher can possibly fit in. Using a three-day rotation with beginning readers is an efficient way for the beginning reader to read many books

Day One:

Start with an introduction of the book. A good introduction is a picture walk. While looking at the pictures, ask the child questions about the pictures in order to get the child to make predictions. Next do a combination of echo and choral reading with the book. You want to read the book many times. The teacher needs to provide as much support as needed in order for the child to be able to read the book. Your goal is for the child to be able to read the book independently so that is why you provide as much support as needed in the beginning. The child should need less and less support the more you read the book. Once you feel that the child can read the book independently, go through the same process with a second book. You have now exposed the child to two books.

Day Two:

On day two, start out by letting the child read yesterday’s books independently. While the child is reading, you want to listen closely enough to determine that the child is reading the book with 95% accuracy. This will confirm that the child is at the right level. If the child is making too many errors, you need to drop down a level. After the child has finished reading independently, you should give the child word cards with words from the story. The cards are sorted according to which ones he can read, and which ones he still does not know. Known words go into the child’s word bank. Unknown words go into a magic box. As the child learns more words, you can revisit the magic box to see if he has learned any of those words. Any words he does know move from the magic box to the word bank. The teacher does not need to worry about teaching the words in the magic box to the child. Those same words will come up again in other stories. Also, Ehri states children learn sight words 5 to 10 times faster in context. Finally the teacher introduces two new stories using the same process used on day one. By the end of day two, this beginning reader will have learned to read four books.

Day Three:

Day three starts out with a review of the word bank to verify that the words are truly known. Next, reread the books from day two again checking to be sure that the accuracy rate is 95%. This is also another check that the level is correct. After rereading day two books you work on the word cards sorting the cards into the work bank pile and the magic box pile. Finally, you end this day by introducing two new books.

You can see that this process has a child reading new material and rereading yesterday’s material every day. After you have finished guided reading with a story, then move that book to the child’s basket for independent reading. You should spend about a week doing guided reading with a book before you move it to the independent reading basket. It is obvious that this three day process will expose a beginning reader to a tremendous amount of books therefore allowing that child’s sight vocabulary to explode which is the overall goal.

8. Explain why one of the following word family sorts is more challenging than the other.

a. cat sit pan b. cat lip mad

hat hit can hat tip sad

fat lit man fat hip had

bat fit fan bat rip bad

Word sort A is harder than word sort B. If you notice, in word sort B each column ends with a different consonant, either t, p or d. In word sort A two columns end with the same consonant, t. This poses a major problem for the beginning reader. When completing word sort B, the child will sort the words according to the ending consonant. When that same child attempts to sort the words in sort A, he will not be able to do it. The beginning reader cannot distinguish between pit, pat, and put because he does not understand vowels. This lack of vowel understanding makes it difficult, if not impossible, for a beginning reader to successfully complete sort A.

Self-Reliant Readers (aka Independent) Readers

1. Compare the Directed Reading Activity as evidenced in the teacher’s manual of a basal reading series with the Directed Reading/Thinking Activity across the instructional issues of vocabulary, background knowledge, purpose setting, questioning, and comprehension strategies. Be certain to include the rationale on both sides for each instructional issues.

The DRTA Process

When completing a DRTA with students, the first consideration that must be made is to make sure that the reading selection is on the appropriate reading level. The students must read the selection for themselves. If the teacher reads the selection to the students, it is not a DRTA. It is a DLTA, Directed Listening/Thinking Activity. The benefit the students get from listening to the teacher read the selection aloud would be exposure to rich book language.

First of all, do some kind of brief introduction to the selection and then allow the students to make predictions about what the selection is going to be about. Sometimes you can do this just by having the students read the title. Other times, the title doesn’t really offer any clues as to what the story is going to be about. Sometimes you may need to read the first paragraph or two of the selection and then let the students make predictions.

Throughout the entire DRTA the teacher much be very careful to make sure that you don’t pass judgment on any prediction. You do not want the students o get any kind of nonverbal clues as to how you feel about the predictions.

Once the beginning predictions have been made, the students should read the assigned part of the selection. Before the students start reading, explain that if they encounter an unknown word they may raise their hand and you will tell them how to pronounce the word. Do not give the student the meaning of the word, just the pronunciation. The teacher may want to keep notes on students that ask for words, and what words they needed help with. Early finishers can have a scratch piece of paper handy that they can use to write down their predictions. It isn’t necessary to have all the students write their predictions. Early finishers can do this to give the slower readers time to finish. Also be sure to stress to students that they close their books when they finish and to not look ahead. Once all of the students have finished, the class should discuss the section they read and make predictions about what is going to happen next. The teacher needs to give careful consideration as to the kinds of questions asked. You do not want to give anything away. You also don’t want to respond more favorably to one student versus another. Whenever appropriate, have the students refer back to the reading selection to either prove some statement they’ve made or use the text to justify any predictions they’ve made.

After an appropriate amount of discussion and predictions, direct the students to read the next part of the selection. Continue to follow the procedure outlined above as the students read each part of the selection until the entire selection has been read and discussed. Do not stop too many times. This interrupts the natural flow of the story. Usually about 4 times is adequate. Also, give thought about where you stop each part. Stopping at the end of a page makes sense. It is also a good idea to stop at points of anticipation where a “what might happen next discussion” would be very lively and genuine.

If it is necessary to finish the selection the next day, give careful consideration as to where you stop reading. You want to stop at questions and predictions. You always want to leave them guessing.

Comparison of Instructional Issues

Vocabulary: The DRA instructs the teacher to preteach vocabulary. The rationale is that you preteach the vocabulary so that the students will know the words when they encounter them in the reading selection. Thorndike said that vocabulary and inferencing make up comprehension so that is why it is necessary to preteach the vocabulary. This is necessary because, on average, 50% of the students cannot read the stories in the basal reader.

When doing a DRTA, preteaching of vocabulary is not part of the process. Students should only be reading stories on their instructional level. If students are reading at their instructional level, they should encounter 5 or fewer words they don’t know. Since they will know 95% of the words, they can use context to figure out the few unknown words in the

story. Research has shown that students will learn words 5 to 10 times faster if they learn them in context.

Background Knowledge: Next, the DRA instructs the teacher to build background knowledge. The rationale is that students cannot understand something if they cannot connect it to prior knowledge. Usually the strategy to activate background knowledge is a short summary of what the story is about. This also goes back to the fact that the story will be above the reading level of about half of the students in the class making it necessary for the children to know ahead of time what they will be reading about.

When using the DRTA, teachers are not directed to activate background knowledge. Background knowledge comes from two sources, personal experiences and stories. A teacher cannot teach background knowledge. Each student will connect the story to his/her own background knowledge. Students are using their own experiences to make and justify predictions.

Purpose Setting: When using a basal to do a DRA, the third step will be to set a purpose for reading. Again, the text will set a purpose by giving some kind of short summary of the story and then asking a question. The purpose of reading the story will be to find the answer to the question. The rationale for this is because research has shown that students need a purpose for reading in order to comprehend the story. Asking some kind of arbitrary question will give students a purpose for reading, but not a genuine purpose.

When using a DRTA, there is no need to ask some kind of question. When doing a DRTA, the students are driving the questions being asked and making predictions based on their own experiences. When reading, we keep reading in order to test our predictions and theories about what is going to happen next. This is the natural purpose for reading. Using the DRTA creates a genuine purpose for reading.

Questioning: When using a basal, the questions come at the end of the selection. The questions are usually fact recalling from the story. The questions are low level questions like what is someone’s name. What is the main idea? What happened when ….. The questions usually don’t require a lot of thinking. They do require the students to look back in the story to do fact checking.

When completing a DRTA, the questions come during the story. The purpose of the questions is move the story along. Don’t ask questions that you know the answer to. You want your questions to be thought provoking. You also want the questions you ask to facilitate the discussion. This should be a real conversation among the students. You do want to use references to the story. After a student offers a prediction, have that student refer to the story to justify why that is a reasonable prediction. You can also ask questions referring specifically to a child’s prediction so that they can confirm their prediction was correct. When you refer back to a prediction a student has made, this also lets them know you are really listening and that you do care about what they are saying. Once again I refer

to genuine. Questions during a DRTA are genuine, thought provoking questions and not just memory recalling questions.

Comprehension: The final component of a DRA using a basal is some sort of comprehension strategy. The teacher will find in the manual some specific strategy to teach in order to teach comprehension. A very common strategy these days is a connections strategy. This strategy calls for the student to connect the text to self, the text to another text, or text to character. There is just no need to teach these kinds of connections. Readers naturally do this. When a student is making predictions, those predictions are based on their own connections, (also referred to as background knowledge). I have even had students say this reminds me of another book I’ve read or a movie I’ve seen. Students cannot make reasonable predictions and connections if they are not comprehending the story. When a teacher has to contrive these kinds of connections, that is confirmation that the child is not comprehending the story, usually because the material is not on the child’s instructional level. This is an excellent argument for using a DRTA. The comprehension naturally occurs during the discussion/prediction phases of the lesson. There is no need to ask “memory test” types of questions to measure comprehension at the end of the story. A teacher will be able to assess comprehension by the amount of participation each student gives during the DRTA, and whether or not the predictions and connections the child is making to the text makes sense.

3A. Write out three word sorts (4 words, 2 pictures in each column; a ? column [can have fewer words and no pictures]; put a [P] beside each word that would be a picture) to teach r – controlled vowels, short vowels, and long vowels in the order in which they would be introduce

B. Tell (1) why and (2) how words were selected for the ? column

Short Vowel Word Sortpig tan let ?

Pig (p) tan let ?

Fig ran get them

Dig ban set and

Rig can (p) wet(p) they

Wig (p) man (p) net (p) saw

Big pan bet

How were the? words selected?

Them, they, and saw were selected because they look right, but have the wrong sound.

And and else were selected because they make the correct sound, but don’t fit the spelling pattern.

Why were the ? words selected?

I selected these words because they are sight words and the children will need to know all of them.

Long Vowel Word Sortwoke loaf hot ?

Woke loaf hot ?

Coke goat (p) mop (p) ago

Smoke (p) moat sop don’t

Rope road (p) pot (p) brown

Note soak hop cow

Nose (p) toad top

How were the ? words selected?

Ago and don’t have the correct sound, but do not follow the spelling pattern.

Brown and cow do not have the correct sound or the spelling pattern.

Why were these words selected?

These words are also sight words the children will need to know.

I also included a short o column just to make sure the students are really hearing the different sounds. They should know the short vowel sounds because they learn short vowels before they learn long vowels. This column will be a review as well as a real check that they are hearing the difference.

R Controlled Vowels Word Sortgirl part ?

Girl part ?

Bird (p) mark are

Dirt start hurt

Stir card world

Shirt (p) yard (p) turn

First barn (p)

How were the ? words selected?

Hurt, world, and turn are r – controlled vowels, but they have a different spelling pattern

Are has the right sound, but is a different spelling pattern

Why were these words selected?

Are is a sight word the students need to know. Hurt, world, and turn model a different r controlled spelling patterns and I wanted the students to see those different patterns even though they are not sorting out those spelling patterns.