Reading Specialists
Constitution has 3 reading specialists. The reading team focuses on increasing literacy by supporting students, parents and teachers. Reading specialists utilize data to guide instruction to meet the needs of all students. They provide support by working with students in small groups, co-teaching, providing professional development for teachers, and serving as a source of information for parents.
Currently we are using SIPPS (Systematic Instruction in Phonological Awareness, Phonics, and Sight Words) for grades Kindergarten - Third. It is a research-based decoding intervention program proven to help new and struggling readers in grades (K-12) build skills and confidence for fluent and independent readers.
The SIPPS program provides a structured literacy approach to foundational skills instruction through explicit instructional routines focused on phonological awareness, spelling-sounds, and sight words.
Our older students 4th - 6th grade use the Elevate Program. The Reading Horizons Elevate ® program helps older learners fill these gaps with assessment-driven explicit phonics instruction based on the principles of reading science.
Resources
Reading Inventory
Reading Inventory (RI) is a reading test administered up to four times each year which helps determine a student's reading level using Lexiles. Results of this test can also be used in conjunction with Reading Counts! To help students find books of interest that are of the appropriate reading level.
DIBELS
Letter Naming First Sound Fluency Nonsense Word Fluency Phoneme Segmentation Oral Reading Fluency
Phonological Awareness
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What is it?
Phonological awareness is the ability to identify and manipulate words, parts of words, and individual sounds in spoken words. Phonemic awareness is one piece of phonological awareness. Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate individual sounds in spoken words. No print is involved. It is completely out loud. These are great activities to do at home or in the car because they can all be done without any materials.
Why is it important?
Phonemic awareness is sets the foundation for later phonics learning. When a child notices individual sounds in a spoken word, he or she is more prepared for sounding out and blending written words.
What can we do at home?
Word identification - Count the number of words is a spoken sentence. Say the first line of a nursery rhyme (for example, Mary had a little lamb.) Then, using your fingers, count the words together. (Phonological awareness activity)
Beginning Sounds - Play "I'm going on a camping trip..." Start the game by saying, "I'm going on a camping trip, and I'm going to bring a dog and a dandelion. What are you going to bring?" The child should think of something that also starts with the d sound. Remember, this game is all about sounds, not letters! For example, if the sound you chose is "sss", and the child says, "circus," that would be an appropriate answer. (Phonemic awareness activity)
Rhyming - Play a thumbs up-thumbs down game. Start the game by saying, "If the words rhyme, give me a thumbs up. If they do not rhyme, give me a thumbs down." Make sure that your examples are very obvious for young learners, especially when the words do not rhyme. Avoid words that start with the same letter (dog-dinosaur) or fit in the same category (dog-cat). By choosing words that are very different and unrelated (dog-refrigerator), you are helping your child learn to focus in on the rhyme. (Phonological awareness activity)
Segmenting/Blending - Choose a word with three sounds (fan). Say each sound separately. Have your child touch his head when saying the first sound (fff), touch his waist when saying the middle sound (aaa), and touch his toes when saying the last sound (nnn). When your child can do this activity easily without assistance, say one of the sounds separately and ask your child to place his hands on the head, waist, or toes to show if the sound comes at the beginning, middle, or end. (Phonemic awareness activity)
PS - Tongue twisters, nursery rhymes, Dr. Seuss books, and other rhyming books are also great ways to develop these skills!
Phonics
The Alphabetic Principle and Phonics
What is it?
The alphabetic principle is the understanding that words are made up of letters and letters represent sounds. If a child understands these letter-sound associations, he is on the way to reading and writing words. Phonics is the instructional method that focuses on these letter-sound associations.
Why is it important?
The English language is based on an alphabet, so being able to associate printed letters with sounds in order to sound out (decode) is necessary.
What can we do at home?
Building words - Using magnetic letters, make a three letter word on the refrigerator (cat). Have your child read the word and use it in a sentence. Every day, change one letter to make a new word. Start by changing only the beginning letter (cat, bat, hat, sat, mat, rat, pat). Then change only the ending letter (pat, pal, pad, pan). Finally, change only the middle letter (pan, pen, pin, pun).
Making words - For this game, you will need magnetic letters and three bags. Put half of the consonants into the first bag. Put the vowels into the middle bag, and put the remaining consonants into the last bag. Have your child pull one letter from the first bag. That will be the first letter of their word. Then have him pull from the vowel bag for the second letter of the word and from the other consonant bag for the third letter of the word. Next, the child will read the word and decide if it is a real word or a nonsense word. Take turns, replacing the vowels as needed until there are no more consonants left.
Writing words - Many children love to send and receive notes, and writing is a great way to reinforce phonics skills. Send your child notes in his backpack or place notes on the pillow. Have a relative or friend send a letter or email to your child. Whenever your child receives a note, have him write back. Don't be concerned about spelling. Instead, have your child sound out the words to the best of his ability.
Labeling words - When reading with your child, keep Post-it notes handy. Every so often, have your child choose one object in the picture and write the word on a Post-it. Put the note in the book to read each time you come to that page.
Practicing words with pictures - Choose pictures from a magazine or catalog. Say the name of the picture, have your child say the sound that the picture begins with and the name of that letter.
Hunting for words - Choose a letter and have your child hunt for five items beginning with that letter sound. As each object is found, help your child write the word on a list. For example, if the target sound is "m", the child might find and write mop, mat, Mom, money, and microwave.
Hints for helping your child sound out words
1. High Frequency Words - If the word is a high frequency word (such as, is, of, or could), say the word and explain that it doesn't follow the rules. It just needs to be memorized.
2. First Sound - Have your child say the first sound in the word and make a guess based on the picture or surrounding words. Double-check the printed word to see if it matches the child's guess.
3. Sound and Blend - Have your child say each sound separately (sss aaa t). This is called "sounding it out", and then say the sounds together (sat). This is "blending".
4. Familiar Parts - When your child starts reading longer words, have him notice the parts of the word that he already knows. For example, in a word such as presenting, your child may already know the prefix pre, the word sent, and the word ending ing.
Vocabulary
What is it?
With a solid vocabulary, a child understands and uses spoken and written words to communicate effectively.
Why is it important?
A broad vocabulary helps a child in all subject areas. The more words a child has been exposed to, the easier it is for him to figure them out when he sees them for the first time in print, and the easier it is for him to understand new concepts in class.
What can we do at home?
Read aloud - Continue to read aloud to your child even after he is able to read independently. Choose books above your child's level because they are likely to contain broader vocabulary. This way, you are actually teaching him new words and how they are used in context.
Preview words - Before reading to or with your child, scan through the book, choose two words that you think might be interesting or unfamiliar to your child. Tell your child what the words are and what they mean. As you read the book, have your child listen for those words.
Hot potato (version 1) - Play hot potato with synonyms. Choose a word, and then your child has to think of another word that means the same thing. Take turns until someone is stumped. For example, you may say, "Cold," and your child might say, "Freezing." Then you could say, "Chilly," and so on. Try the game again with antonyms.
Hot potato (version 2) - Play hot potato with prefixes or suffixes. The prefixes dis-, ex-, mis-, non-, pre-, re-, and un- are common ones. Common suffixes include -able/-ible, -ed, -er, -est, -ful, -ish, -less, -ly, -ment, and -ness.
Hot potato (version 3) - Play hot potato with categories. For younger children, the categories can be simple: pets, clothes, family members. For older children, the categories can be quite complex: The Revolutionary War, astronomy, math terms.
Word Collecting - Have each family member be on the look out for interesting words that they heard that day. At dinner or bedtime, have everyone share the word they collected and tell what they think it means. If the child shares an incorrect meaning, guide him to the correct meaning. Try to use some of the words in conversation.
Comprehension
Comprehension is the main goal of reading. The written word is an author's way of communicating with a reader. A reader needs to be able to understand what the author is saying and think about how the author's words affect him. Good comprehension leads to reading enjoyment. Reading enjoyment leads to more time spent reading. More time spent reading leads to better comprehension, and so on...
What can we do at home?
Sequencing errands - Talk about errands that you will run today. Use sequencing words (sequence, first, next, last, finally, beginning, middle, end) when describing your trip. For example, you might say, "We are going to make three stops. First, we will go to the gas station. Next, we will go to the bank. Finally, we will go to the grocery store."
Sequencing comics - Choose a comic strip from the Sunday paper. Cut out each square and mix the squares up. Have your child put them in order and describe what is happening. Encourage your child to use words like first, second, next, finally, etc.
Every day comprehension - Ask your child the five Ws and an H questions (who, what, when, where, why, how) about an event in his day. For example, if your child attended a party, you could ask, "Who was there? What did you do? When did you have cake? Where did you go? Why did the invitation have dogs on it? How did the birthday child like the presents?" Once your child is comfortable answering these questions about his experiences, try asking these questions about a book you've read together.
Think aloud - When you read aloud to your child, talk about what you are thinking. It is your opportunity to show your child that reading is a lot more than just figuring out the words. Describe how you feel about what's going on in the book, what you think will happen next, or what you thought about a character's choice.
Reading fiction
1. Before reading - Point out the title and author. Look at the picture on the cover and ask, "What do you think is going to happen in this story? Why?" This will help your child set purpose for reading.
2. During reading - Stop every now and then to ask your child to tell you what has happened so far or what he predicts will happen. You might also ask for your child's opinion. "Do you think the character did the right thing? How do you feel about his choice?" Explain any unfamiliar words.
3. After reading - Ask your child to retell the story from the beginning, and ask for opinions, too. "What was your favorite part? Would you recommend this to a friend?"
Reading Nonfiction
1. Before reading - Point out the title and author. Look at the picture on the cover and ask, "What do you think you'll learn about in this book? Why?" This helps your child consider what he already knows about the topic. Look at the table of contents. You and your child may choose to read the book cover to cover or go directly to a certain chapter.
2. During reading - Don't forget the captions, headings, sidebars, or any other information on the page. Young readers tend to overlook these, so it's a good idea to show that the author includes lots of information in these "extras".
3. After reading - Ask your child, "What was it mostly about? What do you still want to know? Where could you find out?"