Two articles
-“Tile Test: A hands-on approach for assessing
phonics in the early grades” By Kimberly A. Norman and Robert C. Calfee
-“Closing the Gap Early: Implementing a Literacy
Intervention for At-Risk Kindergartners in Urban Schools” Colleen MacDonald
& Lauren Figueredo
Themes
Theme 1: High-quality
instruction is critical in the earlier years.
- KELT program is unique in that the K tutors were
provided with a specific curriculum based on the Ontario Ministry of Education kindergarten
program and oral-language developmental continuum (Brailsford & Stead,
2006).
· - Teachers need to identify the level of
understanding students have about letters, sounds, words, and sentences, as
well as the strategies they employ and their awareness of strategy use.
Students’ responses provide valuable qualitative information that immediately
informs instruction.
· - Providing consistency across the classroom by respecting
the important connection to the kindergarten program and the philosophy of
learning through themes. the K tutors received a month-by-month plan indicating
the themes and the specific skills and concepts to be taught through these
themes .
Theme 2: Building
blocks of phonological awareness
-All children should possess independent reading skills like
the young reader who imagines fish being pulled by an invisible thread while
reading Swimmy (Lionni, 1973).
-Students’reflective talk supports conceptual understanding
of English orthography because the talk mirrors their understanding— students
become aware of what they know. This, in turn, facilitates the application of
their knowledge and strategies to reading and writing across the curriculum
(Vygotsky, 1978).
-Pre-telling is a prerequisite to retelling (Benson &
Cummins, 2000). To retell a story successfully, students must be able to think
sequentially by thinking backward to recall events and then thinking forward to
put events in sequential order. Not only is retelling an important
comprehension strategy but also it enhances language development and
communication skills (Benson & Cummins, 2000).
