Book Buddies

“The Lonely, Good Company of Books” by Richard Rodriguez, is an expressive narration about the importance of learning through reading. The essay is a narration of his life from his early school years to high school and how he struggled with the general belief that reading books are the main source of education. “Open the doors of your mind with books” (172) he quotes from a poster over his teacher’s desk. He learned early on that books were the key to academic success. Even though his bilingual parents never read for pleasure, they instilled in him the value of books. This idea was repeated by his teachers that reading was the main activity of learning.

c. Isolate and pronounce initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in spoken single‐syllable words.(1.RF.2.c)

He sneaks away from his parents plantation armed with a toy wooden sword ready to

Wart go get it and he easily pulls the sword out of the stone. When he brings it back to

This article is an interview with Kitty Felde, the host of “Book Club for Kids” a podcast for kids which began last July. The article details Felde’s podcast in which she discusses books with middle school kids. She offers practical advice and insight into the process of letting the kids, or their “handlers” –their parents or librarians- pick the books for discussion. The reader is left with a sense of optimism that there are kids out there who are passionate about books and willing to share their thoughts with other passionate readers, which is a good thing for the world.

During our last call, we discussed the transcription of words that the child might pronounce incorrectly and how that might affect the analysis if we transcribe based on phonology. If the word is marked as an error and the correct pronunciation of the word is written within the square brackets and a single colon such as the example below, the MOR program for CLAN will use the real word within the bracket for its analysis.

The first article, Blending Wheels: Tools for Decoding Practice, focuses on a tool, the blending wheel, which will help struggling readers of all ages practice blending sounds. A blending wheel consists of three concentric circles with a brass fastener. Each circle has letters on it that when spun, are combined to form words. The

Match phonemes to phonograms. Student will learn these word families at – ad- ap – ag- am – an

Over the next two days, Andrew and Mason found three more of the reels. One was hidden underneath the cushion of one of the chairs in the spare room that Mason found when the cushion fell off as he carried it down the hall and into the living room; Andrew was the one who tripped over the cushion and nearly cracked his head against the doorframe.

2. Write the phonetic symbol for the last sound in each of the following words. Example: boy [ɔɪ] (Diphthongs should be treated as one sound.)

Using organization strategy, I always require my students to use their notebook to organize what they have learned from a lesson. They could write or draw what they have learned. I model what they are to write or draw, and then later allow them to represent what they have

Divraj started the year practicing sand paper letters. He loved the third period of lesson where we play the “Knock Knock Game”. He practiced learning sounds of the letters regularly using various activities. One of his favorite materials is to match objects with the same initial sound. It was impressive to see that he was able to isolate beginning, middle, and ending sound in a word. Usually to find out the beginning sound is easy for children at this age, however to find out the beginning and middle sound is bit challenging. Once Divraj learned all the sounds of the alphabet, he was introduced to the concept of blending sounds to say a word. He grasped this concept quickly and is able to read 3 letter phonetic words fluently these days.

When Billy approached the door it slammed open and hit him in the head. The blow

excitement to the routine of his life. Once he reaches the bazaar, he finds it dark and

I remember the day quite well. I had just started 3rd grade at the time. It was about 7:15 in the morning. My mom woke me up so I could get ready for school. I got out of bed and went downstairs. My mom had set my clothes out for me earlier. I got changed and went into the kitchen. I ate breakfast and got my backpack ready. It was about 8:00 when I walked out the door. My dog, Buddy, was lying by the door. I went up to him and said goodbye. After that, my mom took me to school.