Entry #8: /fɑː.nɪks wɪð frendz/ feat. Chloe Patterson

This post will be in response to Chloe Patterson's excellent post on phonics! I will be looking at the incorporation of what she discussed in the classroom in regard to worksheets, connected texts, and supporting below grade level learners.

Bless

Cheering Chloe on for her post!

Chloe did a great job of connecting what we learned last week to her future classroom. I especially loved how she included diverse, connected texts that she would stock in her class library - I always love seeing book recommendations for students! It was clear from her post that she knew what she was talking about.

Address

One of the questions I had for Chloe - and Tompkins and the authors of the article - was about the use of worksheets. I completely agree that worksheets by themselves are an ineffective way to teach phonics; Stahl et al. (1998) said that "the amount of time students spent on worksheets did not relate to gains in reading achievement" (p. 33), and I am not disputing that in any way. 

Isn't offering as many means to understand information what it's all about?

However, if they were to be coupled with direct instruction - if students were to fill them out as a class while doing the activities mentioned - would they be a meaningful reinforcement? What I like about worksheets is the chance to see the written representation of what has been discussed; if students are simultaneously seeing a word or spelling pattern and hearing the teacher say it, wouldn't that be useful, especially at the third grade level? Plus, they would then have a physical reminder of what they learned that they could refer to. 

Press

I have two areas I want to press on to see if Chloe could expand. The first has to do with the books she selected. I was not familiar with any of the books (though upon looking them up, they look very cute). I would love to know: how did she discover these books? How did she decide they were good books to use in her classroom? How would she classify them using Bishop's models that we learned in Möller (2016)? What topics would she link with them? What phonics related instruction would she pair with each of them? 

Chloe, because I'm sure she already has thought about all this!

The next has to do with something Chloe mentioned in the last paragraph. She discussed that she would use the activities to help students with below grade level phonics skills - I would love to know how she would use the activities. Would she pull the students for one-on-one intervention? Would she embed support into whole group lessons, thereby reviewing it for other students? How would she ensure they are getting as much reading time as other students despite their difficulties with phonics? Which activities would she prioritize? Since many third graders would still be working on learning some digraphs and diphthongs (Tompkins, 2017), how would she ensure students are catching up to grade level and learning the new phonics material with their classmates?

References

Möller, K.J., (2016). Using diverse classroom literature collections using Rudine Sims Bishop’s conceptual metaphors and analytical frameworks as guides. Journal of Children’s Literature, 42(2), 64-74.

Stahl, S.A., Duffy-Hester, A.M., & Stahl, K.A.D. (1998). Everything you wanted to know about phonics (but were afraid to ask). Reading Research Quarterly, 33(3), 338-355. https://doi.org/10.1598/RRQ.33.3.5

Tompkins, G.E. (2017). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.