Any first or second grade teachers out there?
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I had Sydney's teachers conference this afternoon and she is still behind in reading. She is reading at a DRA level 10. She was tested for a 12, but only scored a 55%. She needs to be reading at a level 16 to pass to second grade and they would like her to be at a 18. She is already in a special reading program at school. But, I have to tell you, I think she is doing so well. I thought this conference would be all good. The director of reading sat in and she really got me worked up! She said Sydney should not be sounding words out at this point in time. I have never heard of such a thing! Now, our schools are known for being tough, but I never thought it would keep her back!
I would love some advice or input. Tomorrow I am going to research a tutor. I'm not happy!
On a happy note: She said she loves Sydney and that she's working really hard. She said it was never like this in years past, but the cirriculum is not allowing the kids to be kids.
They are not supposed to be sounding words out? Does she mean they shouldn't come to a word and sound it out literally out loud? Does she mean Syd should be able to see the word and silently sound it out in her head and be able to speak it fluently the first time? I'm very confused by her statement...of COURSE first graders are still sounding words out!! *I* still sound words out if they're long and I've never come across them before! What is DRA? What types of books can she read? I have a first grader, but I'm not sure what DRA is...
I think it might a developmental reading assessment.
DRA Info
I don't have any advice, though.
Well, our district has a very advanced curriculum too. And, I think it is ridiculous that they say Sydney should not be sounding out words in the 1st grade! My ds was behind in reading in K and 1st grade. However, his teachers said he was improving, and attempting to sound out words he didn't know, which is a good thing. He is in 2nd this year, and is now above average. He has just taken off this year.
There is no way that a 1st grader is going to know every word in a book. So, if they can't sound out the word, what are they suppose to do?
I think a tutor is a good idea. But, I still don't get the not sounding out words.
I'm wondering if the teacher meant that Syd shouldn't still have to sound out the words that she is during her reading. My dd is also a 1st grader and is required to be at a level 18 in order to move on to 2nd grade. When she is reading a level 18 book, she doesn't have to sound out any of the words, either doing a quick mental sound-out or recognizing a word at first glance.
Did the reading specialist give you any tips that you can work on at home or was she able to pinpoint any specific skill that's holding her back in her reading progress? My dd loves to do sight word flashcards. We call them her "eezy-sneezy" cards and they started out as all words that she was comfortable with so she had a lot of positive feedback. Once a week or so, I'd add five to eight new words until we'd gone through the top 100 sight words. We also "popcorn read" where I read a word, then she reads a word for several pages out of a book, then I read a sentence and then she reads one for a few more pages. By the end of the book, I'm reading a page and then she's reading one.
Those strategies will only help with word familiarity, not comprehension. Is she doing alright in that area?
Good luck and I hope some of that will help. {{{Eve and Syd}}}
Thank you, Everyone. I think I need to start doing more games and *gasp* flash cards. I've tried to stay away from flash cards, but I guess I was wrong. With the 2 books she brings home each night, her library books, plus us reading her a story, any homework and then reading my DS a book, it's a LOT!
She has been doing so well. I mean, I am amazed at how much she has progressed from last year! Something has switched off for her though. I think she is discouraged and not enjoying reading anymore. So, my mission is to make it fun. Any ideas would be welcome!
As for the sounding out words, I have no clue! I am going to set up another meeting. The reading woman was a little intense. Thankfully, her teacher loves Syd and is very positive and did keep telling me that Syd works hard and tries her best. I just really had no idea that I would have to teach her so much as well. I really thought school and what we were doing at home would be enough. Now that I talk to more parents, I am *amazed* at how many are doing flash cards and having classroom type time at home. I just had no idea!
I love the popcorn read idea--I'll give that a try.
Oh, and I think Syd's biggest issue is her fluency. Her comprehension is good, according to her teacher. We usually ask questions after we read a book and she always answers correctly.
BLAH!
On another ticked off note about school! Her music teacher gave her a low mark on singing in tune! For the love of God people! LOL
I'm heading out of town and have no time to write. Try this" www.elementory.com and go to the Morphophonic Faces cards. These are all the Dolch sight words in a pictured format and they make much more sense to kids who are struggling with reading. I did my dissertation on the Phonic Faces cards and was able to teach 20-24 month olds how to name and produce the letter sound for letters. They work!! These were developed by my professor at LSU for her grandson who was struggling with reading. More later...
Eve, I hate to tell you this, but if Sydney cannot sing in tune, then the reading issue is a moot point. Her success in life is obviously doomed and there is simply no hope for her. Personally I'd give up on her and concentrate on Mason...perhaps there's still hope for him...
Obviously I am TOTALLY KIDDING!!!! Sydney is obviously intelligent and these teachers are obviously ridiculous!! My gosh! Is this grad school she's in or first grade?? Low marks for SINGING??? Those teachers are going to so turn her off from school and totally discourage her!! I'd be seriously concerned about their expectations which will only get worse as she gets older. Reading is important, yes, but don't you have about three months of school left?? There's no need to write her off right now!! If her teacher says she is working hard and trying, yet the reading lady is still speaking of her this way, the poor child is going to lose all confidence. Things just CLICK sometimes and maybe it hasn't clicked yet for Syd. Any idea how the other kids are doing in her class? Are they truly so far ahead of her or are they ALL in such 'dire straits'? I wouldn't be surprised if the reading lady was concerned for all of them if they aren't fluently reading War and Peace by now! Fluency can be a speech issue as well as a confidence issue, IMO. I don't read aloud very well myself! It's not something I enjoy doing and it tires my voice and I'd make a terrible story lady! Her 'fluency' could be something other than what they think it is. My DD, 12, has been an excellent reader since first grade but has never read aloud well. Why is that so important, anyway?? My DD used to read until she ran out of breath, not pausing to take in more air at each comma or period. She simply didn't know how to BREATHE well while reading! It had nothing to do with her reading ability! I'd look into exactly what they mean by 'fluency'.
Good luck....try not to let them give her (and you) a complex...)
I did use the dreaded flash cards with Josh. Last year in 1st grade, they gave us a list of sight words that he should know by the end of the year. I did make flash cards, and we played games with them. I do think learning the sight words helped greatly with his reading.
Urg...and I hate to hear that Syd is frustrated. I will say that Josh's teachers did a great job of working with him, so he didn't get frustrated. We just read as much as possible, but I didn't push.
Just a suggestion...could Sydney read some some stories to Mason at night? At night, when you are making dinner, just ask her to read a simple book or two to him. I did that with my son - I had him read to the dog so the dog wouldn't bother me. He was my helper and I made it his job. Lame excuse but it worked. He read for 1/2 hour as I made dinner. I also used flash cards everynight and they had pictures and faces on them like what Pam T described.
In my school district, a parent has to sign off on a permission slip before a child can be held back. I would check into it. Another thing that helped DS was I had a reading tutor for him in the summer 3 days a week. It kept him from sliding backwords during those weeks.
As for the music, wow. If I even hum, the dogs howl. I would never make it with that teacher.
Ideas for making reading fun:
www.starfall.com
Oink game- slips of paper with her sight words on them (or flashcards) and slips with the word oink on them. Put in brown bag, shake, take turns drawing out a slip of paper and reading it and keep it. Try to get as many as you can before drawing an "oink", when you draw oink you have to put all your words back in the bag and start over. This game is very portable and could be played anywhere.
You Read to Me and I'll Read to You - there are two of these books with these very words in the title. They are super fun and my girls LOVE the fairy tale one!
sight word bingo- It is a real game you can buy, but I am thinking she is past this, not sure.
Good luck! I am like you and would be more concerned that she will not love to read if she is feeling too much performance pressure than I would be about her reading level.
Not much time, but in addition to the ideas above:
The www.starfall.com that Luv2fly mentioned - great site
You can make sight word bingo on a grid at home -super easy, cover with contact paper or laminate at the store
Letter magnet word work each night on a pizza pan or cookie sheet; you could build a word for her to read, she could work on building a word based on it's sounds, you could build a sentence for her to read, she could build one, etc.
Fluency problems just come from not being comfortable with all the 'sounding out' - having to think so much about what the sounds are making together and then not being able to read fluently as a result. Is she in Reading Recovery? I know that sounding out is discouraged with RR.
Make a word wall on your fridge of sight words for this year and review them each day. The dreaded flash cards are not a first choice, but honestly some kids just do better with flash cards. We had a 30 word word wall list when I taught Kdg. that had to be passed by the end of the year, as well as a reading level determined.
Children don't have inner voice until about 3rd grade (if I remember correctly!), so sounding out 'in her head' and reading to herself isn't developmentally appropriate at this time. We also used DRA to level kids. Ditto Tink on what she might have meant by 'not sounding out' at this point.
I'm sure she will be just fine in the end and it sounds like she's a hard worker! Try not to let her feel the pressure that you might be feeling, and just keep reading with lots of rewards and games throughout to keep everything positive. Good luck!
BTDT this is what helped us....
Here is a list of Dolch words.
http://www.theschoolbell.com/Links/Dolch/Dolch.html
We used to practice 2-3 words per day.
Hooked on Phonics was very helpful. You can find it at Sam's club.
Most schools do AR testing. You can practice at home with this great web site.
http://www.bookadventure.org/
Starfall
Dolch Words
Book Adventure
Thanks Dawn!!
I only read the first paragraph from Kate, but all I can say is ditto. At least you have another child to concentrate on. Why do you think we had three??
ROFL.
As you well know, our daughters are kind of close in age. Okay, 3 weeks apart to be exact. ;)
Peyton's teacher talked about her lack of fluency while reading as being a bit of a concern at our recent conference. She says she *knows* all the words, but when put together in a story format, she reads them very choppy. Now, this teacher has taught all our kids, knows our family very well, and isn't overly concerned, per se, but did bring it up as a thing to work on.
I told her that Peyton, that very morning, said she wanted to be an author when she grew up. She told me about the Reading Rainbow young author's competition that was going on (LOL, that I knew about back when Alec was that little, but completely forgot about these days!). Peyton couldn't wait to write a book for it and has been reading daily on her own ever since (despite our stress of moving!!)
Anyway, I guess what I am saying is DON'T STRESS. Find ways that are FUN to work on it, without Syd realizing you are working on it. Remember, there is a wide range of normal for this skill and she is progressing in her own good time. You are aware of the slight issue and are working towards it not being an issue. She WILL get there--having two older kids and watching their friends deal with dyslexia and other learning disabilities that you aren't having to deal with, I am comfortable promising this.
Eve, you are doing everything you can with Syd. She is doing just fine. Get a tutor if you wish, or continue working with her on your own. Either way, she WILL get there. It's good that you are gathering information so you have all the facts. But understand that your daughter will do just fine in the long run. I know you well enough to know that your daughter is getting everything she needs and when she is ready, she will show all the skills the *test* wants her to have. Follow your gut. You know how she is doing.
BTW-- I have my new phone number for you. I cannot wait 'til this move is over. LOL.
DITTO Melanie. B had similar issues with reading in Gr. 1, but with a little extra coaxing at home, was on target by the end of the year. Retention was never mentioned, but keep in mind your district is known for really focusing on academics. YOU know Syd best. Follow your mommy instincts. Don't worry, she'll be fine. {{{HUGS}}}
Good luck Eve. With my own children, and with the children I used to tutor at school (k-2), I used starfall, popcorn reading, finding books that were about something they liked, pick out one sight word and have Syd try and find it on every page you read to her, my dd used to call it "finding the the's". See if they can offer some kind of incentive to her, like letting her read a story to the principal at school, that's always huge to kids. I also bought a lot of books on tape that they could follow along with. It will work out, don't worry!
Thank you, again! Yes, I have had a change of thinking on this one. I've decided she won't stay back. I think she is doing well, but there has been a shift in her reading; she's feeling doscouraged, I think. Last night, I brought out the flash cards and we made a game of it. (I only have the sight words and need to get the Dolch words) She loved it! (I was shocked and feeling silly for worrying so much about them.)She was reading off these words like they were nothing and reading them faster and faster! So, I think we need to make it fun again for her.
So, that's my mission. I'm going to email her teacher and cc a few people and tell that we have a new mission in our house, and it will be fun and Sydney will succeed, and will not stay back.
She comes home and wants us to write down math problems for her and wrote her own packing list of what we need for Easter. She makes menus for dinner...if I follow my instincts I think she will be fine.
Thank you for all the great links. One thing that came to mind with her fluency was, she was just in speech therapy last year! Her teacher this year didn't even know that she had an issue with stuttering. So, that might be part of it....
Who knew this would be so crazy and didn't tell me? Oh yeah, you did! LOL
I'm loving all the fun ideas! Thank you.
My sister suggested the flashcards in a bag as well, but to add a couple of cards like "Hug from Dad" and "Kiss from Baby Brother" since she LOVES attention. I love the ideas! 
Wow, that really stinks!! I would be afraid she would get so discouraged that she would not enjoy reading, and it's my hope that both of my children love to read as much as I do. I hate the way the schools are doing things now, teaching to the test, making requirements that hurt the children instead of helping them.
You mention speech therapy and stuttering, is it possible she CAN read these tests, just not out loud? Like maybe she's struggling to read aloud, but in her head she can read and comprehend? I guess that would depend on how they are testing her. What are they measuring?
No real advice here, Eve, just a hug for you and Syd. She sounds like she is a smart young lady, and I'm sure she'll get caught up to where she needs to be.
If she had speech therapy last year you really should let the teacher know because as Crystal said it could all be in reading out loud. If this is the case they can test her differntly and may find that she is at the level she needs to be. I had problems like that when I was a kid and once they tested me correctly I passed with flying colors.
Good luck I know how hard it can be for a parent to think their kid might fail. I am having issues like that right now too.. But mine is older and only has to do with her not doing her work.. another story for another time.
What I know about the DRA is a level 10 is first grade, zero month, a level 12 is 1st grade 2nd month. The numbers skip a little too. Here they are pushed to be at a 12 by the end of kinder (but district only mandates a 3), in first grade they want them no less than a 18. With my son he was at a 12. He struggled, but it finally clicked in third grade, as a fourth grader he is reading on grade level. He still has out loud issues.
My personal opinion, follow your gut. How is she doing in everything else? Reading is developmental, it will click, some kids just bloom later.
I do highly suggest you stick with it during the summer, get a "summer bridge" book for reading and make sure she stays on target for the summer. Most kids fall 2-3 dra levels between 1st and 2nd grade.
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