Author |
Message |
Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Thursday, August 25, 2005 - 12:52 pm
Back to school time and the assessments have all been done. Dakota scored right where she should with most of her lessons, and I'm in the process of arguing with her teacher over one (I totally agree that her spelling scores weren't that good, but giving her words like, "big, I, if, is, etc." isn't doing her any favors.) Anyways, one of the areas she needs work in I'm not arguing at all. She really needs to work on becoming a better reader outloud. She has no problem reading or with reading comprehension, but outloud she stumbles, mutters, and mis-pronounces most of the words. Next week their class will team up with a 4th grade reading buddy class. Some of the kids will be working on reading comprehension, some on reading, and others like Dakota on reading outloud. We'll also be working on this at home. My question is do we start with books she has no problem reading and comprehending or books more to her reading level? Would rhyming books (like some of Dr. Suess' or The Bearenstien Bears) work better than regular story books? I'm really not sure where to start. I'm hoping to run to the bookstore before I pick them up from school so we can start today. The thought of having to do this to my poor baby is tearing me up! When I was in grade school, I went through years of speech therapy between my hearing loss and speech impediment. I can still remember what it felt like to be sitting in class, knowing I had to read outloud, and trying to make myself invisible because the thought of doing it was terrifying and agonizing. Having to practice tongue twisters and reading outloud in speech class and at home would bring me to tears from frustration. There were plenty of times I came close to hating my speech therapist and had me not really liking my parents a whole lot for forcing me to do that stuff! I don't want to put her through that, though I also know she doesn't have the same problems I did and she really does need to become a better reader outloud. I'd like this to be as painless as possible for her so I'm more inclined to start out with books she was able to read a few years ago and that would present little challenge, but I'm not sure that would be the best way to go about it.
|
Landi
Member
07-29-2002
| Thursday, August 25, 2005 - 1:17 pm
war, in this case, i'd ask her teacher this question. obviously her teacher has seen other children kota's age have difficulties reading outloud. her teacher can give you the best recommendations for books. it would be great to give her easy books, but then she's not challenged to excel at the level that she needs to be at. she's going to be with a 4th grade buddy? ummmm isn't caleb in 4th grade? maybe it would be easier if she read to him when she is at home.
|
Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Thursday, August 25, 2005 - 1:29 pm
LOL, her teacher isn't feeling the wargod love right now. I'm kinda being pushy about the spelling group thing and her teacher doesn't get it that I am for her benefit as much as Dakota's. She realllllllly doesn't want Kota to get bored, lol. I plan to ask her for suggestions, but I also want to hit the bookstore without the kidlets in tow cuz they always talk me into spending more than I plan to. They do read together at home now and he's always been good about helping her with homework, but this year is a bit different. He's got a lot more of his own work and he's seeing there is a huge difference between 3rd and 4th. Not only more work, but more involved and challenging work. I don't want to start pushing him too much right now while he's adjusting to the differences.
|
Jmm
Moderator
08-16-2002
| Thursday, August 25, 2005 - 1:48 pm
War, I would probably get a couple that are interesting to her and on her level or even just a little easy for her to start with. This will help build her confidence, if she doesn't have to work too hard over the words. Then get a couple that are a little harder, but still in her areas of interest, that she can move up to. I know Kota and she'll quickly be ready for the challenge.
|
Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Thursday, August 25, 2005 - 2:03 pm
I am with Jackie. Get her books that are a little easier (but not dumbing down!) to build her confidence.
|
Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Friday, August 26, 2005 - 9:35 am
Funny story, yesterday I ran into Walmart for something and past the books and saw that Shel Silverstein (Where the Sidewalk Ends) had a new book out called Runny Babbit. I have loved his books of poems since I was a child and the Sidewalk book we have now is the one I had when I was a kid, lol! So I grabbed the book without opening it and told Darren I might have Dakota try to read it. Sometimes his poems are complete tongue twisters, lol, so I figured it might be a bit difficult. On our way out to the mall, I was thumbing through the new book and I got to laughing. Totally wrong book to try to work on her reading outloud, LOL. Everything is completely backwards! (I completely missed the Runny Babbit instead of Bunny Rabbit!) One of the poems, His Kajesty, The Ming, I could not read outloud at all! Darren was cracking up so I threw the book at him and let him try. One of the lines is "Oh, stop, you thilly sing." Could not get it right for nothing! So it's gonna be a fun book for us to read to them, but not going to attempt having her try it yet. Talked to Kota's teacher last night and she said the same thing ya'll are. Start out with something thats a little easier but not too easy. She gave me a 2nd grade reading list too. They'll be working with their reading buddies 15-20 minutes a day, every day, so she also suggested keeping our reading sessions at home relatively short too, 15-20 minutes a day, every day. They are starting for the 2nd graders what they did with the 3rd graders last year. All the kids have been or will be tested and then they'll break them into 7 groups based on their reading levels. A couple of the kids like Dakota gave them a challenge in placing them, because reading and comprehension is high, but they don't read outloud that well. There decision was to go ahead and stick them in the group they were reading at the level for and just work on the reading outloud part. Dakota scored high enough they put her in the top group, so she'll be nice and challenged with that. What I don't get is how such a good reader can be such a bad speller, lol.
|
Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Friday, August 26, 2005 - 9:56 am
Had this same problem with a little girl I used to babysit. Her mother was just as content to let her zonk out in front of the TV instead of helping her with her reading. She was also in second grade and her teacher went on and on how important it was to not only have her read to us, but to read to her as well. It was a lost cause with her mom, sad I know. But what I did was I went down and bought two boxed sets of books. One was the boxcar children series and one was the Indian in the cupboard series. And each day we would take 30 minutes and I would read her a chapter or two. They were pretty easy reads and by the middle of the second book, I had her read one whole chapter to me. We would switch back and forth and read a little more each day. She was absolutely enthralled with the series and was constantly wanting more. It got her school reading up to par and was reading books with CHAPTERS which made her absolutely ecstatic, because she was ahead of the kids in her class.
|
Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Friday, August 26, 2005 - 10:00 am
Another good book series is Sideway stories from Wayside schoo.. These are all books I can remember from second and third grade. We also had Judy Blume books read to us, they are still popular today. My Favorite was Otherwise known as sheila the great
|
Landi
Member
07-29-2002
| Friday, August 26, 2005 - 10:06 am
i loved ramona! oh i bet kota would love ramona too! she is a ramona at heart i know it!
|
Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Friday, August 26, 2005 - 10:10 am
Oh I forgot about Ramona. I looked exactly like that when I was little! So we have the Ramona Series The boxcar Children Series The Babysitter's club Series The Indian in the cupboard series Sideway Stories from Wayside school (hillarious) Judy Blume books any others?
|
Happymom
Member
01-20-2003
| Friday, August 26, 2005 - 10:22 am
War, maybe she can pick out what she wants to read out loud? Also, maybe (now or once she gets more practice reading out loud) you two can take turns reading a really interesting book to each other, the one who is not currently reading out loud can read along silently. If it's a harder book, she could start off reading a paragraph or two to every page or two that you read. LOL about the spelling, lots of kids are great readers and poor spellers!
|
Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Friday, August 26, 2005 - 10:30 am
The "hot" ones now are the Magic Treehouse and the Junie B. Jones series. Also Henry and Mudge is a good series. That is a little "simpler" than the Junie and MT.
|
Happymom
Member
01-20-2003
| Friday, August 26, 2005 - 10:30 am
My youngest is turning 9 next month and is about to start 4th grade. Oh how she hates learning her multiplication tables. School starts on Monday. She really needs to know them. She scores very high in math so conceptually she is set, but she needs to know those facts like she knows how to spell her name. (I do realize I should have started this in early summer...) We do flashcards, she does write down the times tables sometimes. She hates the twist hand held electronic game thing. She also hates the multiplication rap CD I bought for her. (I try not to use the word hate a lot, but it really applies in her case with these times tables.) Does anyone have any fun suggestions for her/us? I have searched the internet a bit. There is too much info. out there and I have no way of knowing if this stuff has been successfully used by indiv. kids as opposed to classrooms full of kids.
|
Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Friday, August 26, 2005 - 10:44 am
Have you seen the math scrabble game, Smath? It's not "just" multiplication -- but you create math problems/solutions w/ numbered tiles instead of words w/letters. Multiplication is a part of it, so it might work. Here's a link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004NKL3/103-9124721-1359836
|
Herckleperckle
Member
11-20-2003
| Friday, August 26, 2005 - 11:15 am
I loved Indian in the Cupboard, Escapee! Just a marvelous book. My dd loved the entire Ramona series, too! War, Good reading teachers typically do not settle on one approach to building reading skills. These should include: 1. Flash cards (to help your dd learn and review words that she may have stumbled over in her oral reading or even brand new vocab words; IMO, these should not be used to introduce new vocab before reading a story, though. She should encounter new words first in context (they will be more meaningful to her that way, so she will remember them better in the long run) 2. Word Banks (As your dd learns a new word, let her write each on a separate slip of paper and place in a "word bank." This word bank can consist of a ziploc bag or the like--of her collection of these words. She should review the words in her word bank on her own--and treat it like a game--seeing how many she can 'get.' As she builds on her word bank, she wil take pleasure and pride in building a monstrous vocab) 3. Phonics Lessons: Make flash cards and use them. You or the teacher should start at the very beginning, teaching short vowel sounds (should build her confidence--she should know these). Ex: hat, cat, sat. Go on to long vowel sounds; dipthongs (oi, au, ou, etc), then consonant blends (th, sp, tr, etc.) Your dd should treat these as a game, trying to 'get' more each time you or a classmate (or your dd by herself) reviews them. 4. Read to your dd. And have a time set for your dd read silently and orally at home. (Saturday at 2-3, everyone in the family pulls out a book and reads, for ex) Practice makes perfect! If the books are chosen properly, she will deveop a lifelong love of reading. 5. Test comprehension (By answering a few questions after the story. If doing this at home, you should know the story so you can just 'talk' about it casually, without giving the impression you are checking her comprehension.) 6. When reading on her own, she should employ the SQ3R method: Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review. Here's an explanation SURVEY: ALWAYS (always, always, always!) have her look over the pages she is about to read BEFORE she reads. She should just LOOK (not read)---at pictures and headings/subheads. QUESTION: As your daughter surveys (see above step), she should form questions in her mind about what this chapter, story, paragraph MIGHT be about. Or guess at the problem/issue. For ex: (Why is the rabbit wet? Why did the boy run out the door?) When she has a reason for reading, she will think as she reads--which will help her remember details. (Terrific habit to develop.) She won't just turn into an automaton, blankly pronouncing the words, but not really 'reading' the words. Your dd must have a reason for reading--esp in school dealing with subjects that may not particularly interest her) READ: Now, she's ready to read the story (or chapter, etc). She'll have a goal--to learn answers to those questions she has posed for herself as well as to enjoy the story itself. RECITE: Well, this really means she needs to answer some questions--whether posed by the book or by the instructor. Or she should summarize briefly what she just read. REVIEW: In school, she may need to go back and find answers to questions she couldn't answer the first time through--looking for cues like subheads or pics to guide her. She should be familiar with flipping back through the story to find things. She should understand she may need to re-read a section to find an answer. I am a huge believer in making a game out of flash cards or word banks. I taught both kids to be readers before first grade doing this. They loved it. (And I always quit when they became tired.) Though my son had/has a learning disability, he was off the charts on achievement tests for reading and writing--all the way thru school. I attribute his success in that area--at least partly--to his early experiences. Wish I had done the same with math!!
|
Herckleperckle
Member
11-20-2003
| Friday, August 26, 2005 - 11:26 am
Happymom, I have tutored children in both math and English in my spare time while working full time. I am old fashioned in my approach, but it works. Kids do best when they see a result of their efforts. I made a simple line chart on poster board that could be placed on a bulletin board, or set up on a table. Each week, after going thru the flash cards for practice (and the kids had to practice with them on their own for at least 10-15 minutes each day), we would 'test.' So the ones they got right went into a pile, and we would count them up afterwards--and show the score on the chart. (You could even let your dd place the dot on the chart and show her how to place the date at bottom, draw the line from one dot to the next. So she would get that extra math knowledge, too!) Then each week, she'd have a self-imposed desire to beat her previous score. For really hard-core cases, I had tiny, inexpensive toys lined up on a bookshelf. The child had to earn 'points' to win the prize. Let's say, had to get at least 10 out of 20. The following week, I'd raise it to 12 out of 20, etc. As time goes by, you make the toys harder to earn, of course. And at some point, you should be able to phase them out completely--by allowing the redemption every 2nd meeting, then every 3rd. (I say 'should,' but not in every case.) Rewards don't have to be toys; could be going out to the park; going fishing; etc.
|
Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Friday, August 26, 2005 - 11:30 am
That sounds like a great game Teach! We've done the addition and subtraction flash cards that worked wonders with both of mine. In fact, Caleb started multiplication last year (and sounds a lot like your daughter too Happymom, he knows them, he can do them, but he needs to know them quickly, off the top of his head the way he knows his own name.) He just asked me yesterday if I'd make him up flash cards for his times 6-9's. I'm gonna check out the game, Caleb will love it since he'll be whooping my butt in no time, lol! How about using coins or candy pieces (like skittles?) 8 x 9 is ? and if she gets it right she gets to keep the pennies or something. LOL, might encourage the kids to want to keep practicing if they walk away with some cash! I'm not really big on rewarding them with food treats, but once in a while it does help. Dakota loves Junie B. Jones, she went through most of that series last year. Magic Treehouse is another favorite here and has the added bonus of the kids asking questions and searching out books that go into more detail of the history in those books. Last night Dakota's teacher handed out a nine month calendar. Each month has special activities the kids can do at home, most are quick 10-15 minute activities, and the activities are geared towards the month, so leaf collecting in October, for example. It starts for September 1 and the activity for that day is Pick a Word. Ask the child for a word they want to learn about, look it up in the dictionary, discuss the meaning, write it down and then write it in a sentence. Next day is counting by 2's to 50 and 10's to 100. I haven't done more than scan the first couple pages, but I'll read it later and see if there's anything for math that can be tailored to 4th graders and multiplycation, Happymom.
|
Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Friday, August 26, 2005 - 11:49 am
I like the word bank idea! One of the huge huge things they're working on in second grade is building their vocabulary. Starting next week, both spelling and language arts homework will include definitions, using the dictionary, etc. Her teacher was telling us that this year they start state testing and in the written parts, when children are asked to write sentences and paragraphs using the different parts of speech their vocabulary becomes very neccessary, (lol, how much sense did that make!?) Her example was that if the kids are asked to describe a dog, a sentence like "the brown dog is pretty." doesn't cut it in second grade. They consider that first grade vocabulary and are looking for children to use bigger and more descriptive terms: chocolate or mocha instead of brown, beautiful or handsome instead of pretty. Seems silly to me, and she was cracking me up because she said at this age she's happy to see capitilization and punctuation in the right places and considers it a bonus if they throw in a descriptive word like brown, lol. We'll be working a lot with new, bigger, and more descriptive words this year. Oh, one of the things I'm finding disturbing and I'm not sure if I just never noticed it when I was a kid or it's something new? Science and Social Studies seem to be taking a back seat to everything else. Dakota's class has 2 and 1/2 hours of language arts (they cram spelling in there,) one hour of math, one hour and ten minutes for recess/lunch, a half hour for calendar time, and then the remainder which is about 50 minutes for science/social studies/in class free time. So they do half an hour of science two days a week and half an hour of social studies 2 times a week. Caleb's class doesn't focus as much on language arts, but they also only get science twice a week and social studies twice a week (45 minutes for each.) Personally I think it really sucks! At their ages they love science, especially when it's hands on stuff and it seems like they just don't get the chance to devote much time to it.
|
Sewmommy
Member
07-06-2004
| Friday, August 26, 2005 - 12:36 pm
These are some wonderful ideas. I am taking notes. I worked with the girls over the summer so their brains wouldn't ooze out their ears, but there is still some frustration starting for Maddy(4th grade). While she is really smart and understands the multiplication, division etc, she is still very much struggling with basic addition tables. We have tried written, verbal, computer games(with some success) and flashcards. It can be very discouraging. Happymom- the computer game that we are currently trying is called Quarter Mile Math http://www.thequartermile.com/ so far so good. We do know that some of it comes from adhd inatentive type. This really showed itself last year when 20 minutes of homework would take 2 hours of screaming and tears(on her part). She is on meds now, so I am trying to keep a positive outlook on the school year. HP I am definately going to try some of those ideas with both girls. Fortunately they both know that even if they say that they don't have any homework, there is always Mommy School.
|
Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Friday, August 26, 2005 - 1:14 pm
War, I think part of the reason social studies/science is not as prominent is because reading and writing are #1 -- tested more and #2 -- absolutely essential to being ABLE to study the other two. So often in the HS we see students struggling in all areas because their reading skills are poor. Reading and comphrehension are the building blocks of everything!
|
Herckleperckle
Member
11-20-2003
| Friday, August 26, 2005 - 1:16 pm
Sewmommy, 'Mommy school' is great fun and, if done correctly, is a wonderful confidence-builder. (If you wind up fighting with them, then bow out. Hire a college kid instead.) Kids love 1:1 attention--and praise! In looking for illusions to post on 'that other area of the board,' I found this cool link for some great extracurricular science and reading material HERE. Check it out. (Btw, my son had a subscription to National Geographic Junior--which emphasizes science) and loved it because it was so colorful and fun. Now they can see it online! War, you make me laugh about your worry about science and social studies. I heard that complaint at PTA meetings over 25 years ago. The key to all learning is reading. What makes a good student is not a recitation of facts, but the skills to find the facts they need. And that means reading and thinking skills. When you read, you also learn about all kinds of topics (including those covering science and social studies). Don't be overly concerned at this age about those subjects. And you can always supplement their science or social studies learning by doing things at home--like the experiments in National Geographic Junior, for example. (Or from library books)
|
Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Friday, August 26, 2005 - 1:23 pm
In third grade when we were learning our multiplication tables, we started of course with our ones. My teacher made up sheets of problems that started with 1x1, 1x2, etc. Then had us race to see who could finish first with the most "correct" problems. We did ones one week, two's the next, all the way to ten. It was great. We learned through competition.
|
Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Friday, August 26, 2005 - 1:26 pm
BTW: girls lose interest in math and science by the time they are in the sixth grade. I think it's because of lack of teaching. My suggestion, talk to the administration, although it may get you nowhere. Science helps math, math helps science. My suggestion is get her in an afterschool program that focuses on plant science, animal science, biology or something. They have very age appropriate activites for kids. Science camp maybe?
|
Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Friday, August 26, 2005 - 1:30 pm
Well, my daughter has only just started 6th grade, but so far she is going strong in math. They teach it so much better/more tangible now and in conjunction with a strong science program (it's usually LA/Social Studies and Math/Science blocks). My ds is in advance math in high school and his classes are equally mixed too.
|
Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Friday, August 26, 2005 - 1:34 pm
Wargod, you could try the "I'll read to you, you read to me" book. It will be fun for you to do it together. Then, start working up to other books.
|
|