home, but come         go, but do              red, but read,

bone, but gone           bone, but one       one, but won         won, but won’t.

How is a child supposed to know when to try to sound out a word?  A whole sentence often becomes nonsense if just one word doesn’t make sense, and then the child thinks reading is hard , and even worse, thinks he is dumb.

Most stories that omit non-phonetic “sight words” are neither good nor interesting.

Dr Seuss made many rhymes with words that are not spelled with similar endings, unless they are his own phonetically spelled make-believe words.

We don’t usually teach reading phonetically — we usually teach by modeling — which is the faster way for children to learn to read.  The tutor starts by modeling the word, helps child get the meaning.  Can the child differentiate easily between saw and was?  The tutor can suggest sentences like “I saw the dog, I walked the dog, I was the dog, I petted the dog”, laughing to emphasize how silly it would sound to say “I was the dog.”  The correct word makes sense in context.

Here is one example of how a particular child was introduced to phonics. He had already learned to read  Dog and dog-cat   without phonics.

At that stage, he was interested in and it was appropriate to introduce him to Bears on Wheels by Berenstain, a book about numbers. I wanted to make sure he could read both a numeral and its matching word, such as  “2″ and the word “two”, gradually working up to “four” and “five”, which both start with the same letter but end differently.  Bears on Wheels is especially good for this, since the child can count the noses of the bears on each page to make sure he is reading the word correctly.  I knew that we could build on that success to bring to his attention  the r at the end of four and the v near the end of five, telling him to look at my lips as I pronounced “four” and “five”.  After he happily won a few stickers for that much, I then introduced the variation of covering up the pictures, saying excitedly, “Now try to read it even without looking at the picture!”  I could see the light-bulbs going on as Johnny realized that sometimes sounds of letters (phonics) can be very useful, when no picture or helpful adult is available to tell you the right word.

Reminder: As usual, if Johnny succeeds in reading four or five correctly , without clues from the picture (which has been totally covered up) the tutor says, “Great!  Here’s a sticker for you!”  Or, also as usual, if Johnny does not succeed on the first try, the tutor laughs and says “Good try! Choose your sticker for trying!”  Notice the immediate choice for Johnny: which of 4 or 5 stickers does he like best? (We avoid giving Johnny time to worry about not getting the right answer!! We build confidence that it’s OK to make mistakes! See Chapter: Responsibility of the Tutor)

What do I do if I discover one of my students can recognize the word “five” or “four” on a page, but when asked “How many fingers am I holding up?” he doesn’t yet understand the correspondence between the word “four” and the number of fingers he can see? If this is the case, then we stop teaching phonics and reading and switch gears to establishing understanding of this number concept first. We don’t want to teach children to read something that they don’t yet understand.

If your child is 7 or 8 years old, just skim chapter 1 for things we assume are already very easy for Danny, and then go to Chapter 2 for how to start the Reading Game with Danny. (If Nicholas is older than 8, there will be a different starting chapter, some day, so consider phoning or writing to Piper for what to do now. “Contact Piper“)

Here you’ll find explanations, preparations, and instructions for teaching your child to read with enjoyment and understanding — with a tremendous emphasis on enjoyment — beginning with the words “Let’s start a new game!”

This section explains the preparations for rapid success using your free Dog and dog-cat book.

Included are a variety of interactive activities with the child to prepare to play The Reading Game.

When working with a 3 or 4 year old, it is normal that the entire first session will consist of only the interactive activities. If you do not begin reading the book during the first session, even for a five or six year-old, it is OK.

Progressing at each child’s pace and keeping the game lively and fun is of primary importance.

Printing the Book:

Open the attachment for the Dog and dog-cat book that you receive in your email. You will need Adobe Reader to open it. (If you don’t have Adobe Reader, go to

http://get.adobe.com/reader/

to download it free.) Print the book, making sure that it prints one page on each sheet of paper.

*For preschoolers, keep pages 4 and 6 handy and keep the rest of the book out of sight — perhaps on a high shelf.

*For kindergartners, keep pages 4, 6, 8, and 10 handy and keep the rest of the book out of sight.

*For first and second graders, keep pages 4, 5, 6, 8, and 10 handy and keep the rest of the book out of sight.

We want the child to taste and enjoy success at each and every session. We also want everything s/he sees to look easy. To accomplish that, each tiny “new” step follows immediately after enjoyment and praise for the previous easy success.

Look  for:

for what to do when anything you think will be very easy turns out to be “hard” for your child.

By following these directions, as you show each new page you will be sharing the delight of reading “easy” words that your child already knows. That’s why we tell you to keep the other pages out of sight during this first session. Do not introduce anything you think might be hard.

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But what if something you think will be very easy turns out to be “hard” for your child? You simply do the right action yourself, or make the approximate “meow” or “woof-woof” sound yourself, or smile and give the right answer yourself. Then give your child a chance to try it “like me” — and praise or applaud the effort.

]]> http://readingwindow.org/2010/01/chapter-1/feed/ 0 http://readingwindow.org/2010/01/page-2-making-reading-windows/ http://readingwindow.org/2010/01/page-2-making-reading-windows/#comments Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:38:06 +0000 moss http://readingwindow.org/?p=888 MAKING READING WINDOWS

Octopus with Windows

To use the book most effectively, you’ll need a collection of reading-windows. (Instructions below) You will also need some toys of dogs, cats, and other animals to start the lesson off with fun and entertainment. Before you begin using the book and the reading-windows, you will need the toys. But prepare a few reading-windows ahead of time so that if you and your child are ready to start reading the book, you can transition without interruption.

How to Make Reading-Windows:

1) Find a cereal box or other lightweight scrap cardboard that can be cut up to create the windows.

2) On the final page of Dog and dog-cat, use the dotted lines as a guide for cutting out cardboard windows that will fit around the words in the book.

For preschoolers and kindergartners only use 4-sided beginner “windows”. (Windows can be created in various ways, see the picture below for my personal favorite way.)

Click on the image to enlarge.

You will want to make the openings in the windows several sizes that fit the individual words, and also cut out larger windows that fit the pictures of the dog, cat, pig & cow. Save the windows in an envelope or small basket. You will use them a lot.

READING-WINDOWS: Size, etc

Each 4-sided window should be cut to exactly encompass a word in the book the beginner child is starting to read.  So the sizes of the reading-windows depend on the actual sizes of the printed words in any particular book.  The free Dog and dog-cat includes a template for the correct size windows for all the words on the odd-numbered pages.  Additional windows should be cut for fully encompassing the pictures on the even-numbered pages.  That does not have to be so exact.  My favorite method is to cut a window that is purposely too small for the picture of the cat, and then keep snipping more out of the window until it is just the right size for the whole cat and nothing but the cat. (Students enjoy watching this process.)

Note that no harm ensues if the child blocks part of the cat’s tail or front leg with the picture-window frame.

It’s not important  for the 4-sided frame for the single words on the even-numbered pages to be quite exact either, since the rule:  ONE WHOLE WORD AND NO PART OF ANY OTHER WORD IN THE READING-WINDOW  is easy to fulfill when there is no other word nearby on the page.  The rationale for designing the even-numbered pages as they are is to make it as easy as possible for the beginning reader, so that s/he can move on quite quickly to actually reading words, instead of just practicing how to position the window.

After playing with and reading page 4 plus one or two other even-numbered pages for a day or two — (OK for the child to choose which even-numbered pages.   Remember to give stickers every few minutes) — the tutor should review page 4 quickly and go immediately to page 5.  Talk about real and make-believe animals & establish that the dog-cat must be make-believe.   Then the tutor should demonstrate — using the single sentence at the bottom of the page near the make-believe dog-cat — by moving the reading-window very slowly and carefully, how to read one word at a time after the 4-sided reading-window is placed exactly correctly around the word.   Note that the new tutor, as well as the child, can be expected to make mistakes with these not-yet-easy techniques.  That’s OK.  If the tutor TRIES to follow these directions consistently, this will all turn out fine.  After you make a mistake, just laugh and say to the child, “Woops. I made a mistake. Let me try to show you the right way.”  (Sometimes I give a bonus sticker to the child when I make a mistake!)
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THE 3-SIDED READING-WINDOW

The 3-sided reading-window becomes necessary after there are more than 2 lines of print immediately above one another on one page.  (Notice that this is avoided in Dog and dog-cat.)

The correct size of the 3-sided window depends on the size of the print in the book the child wants to read.  For the free Dog and dog-cat, the size will be accurate if you simply cut off the whole right-hand side of the reading-window cardboard frame.  What’s left will be a 4-sided window transformed to exactly the right-sized 3-sided reading-window for the size print in Dog and dog-cat, thus making an easy transition, first in Dog and dog-cat,  then to a book where the 3-sided window is useful because printed lines are closer together.

Save the cut off piece from the 4-sided window frame for a while, to use as a “slider” for the transition stage (usually just a few days) of “3-sided plus slider”.
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2-SIDED AND ONE-SIDED WINDOWS

On the other hand, 2-sided windows are so adaptable that you never need to measure them at all.    And a one-sided window is simply the straight edge of any piece of cardboard, or perhaps an old VOID credit card, or just the longer straight edge of a two-sided window.

Set the toys center-front on a table, easy for your child to reach. Set your new reading-windows on the table farther back, just beyond reach of your child. Now one more last-minute thing and you’re ready to call your child to begin a new adventure.

The last item is a very small bowl or cup holding 4 or 5 raisins or peanuts or Cheerios or m&m’s. Consider your choice carefully for this – a very pleasant surprise for your child, but not a major reward. You’ll be using these tiny rewards, in addition to generous, on-going praise, daily for a while — switching later from something to pop into a happy mouth, to stickers or pennies or stars. [A future chapter is planned: The Power of Prizes for Rapid Progress]

Here is an example of how to set up for your session (click on this image if you want to see an enlarged version)

Place the small bowl or cup way back out of reach on the table.

NOW it’s time to invite your child to “START A NEW GAME!”

Remember to keep these sessions as happy and exciting as you possibly can. Testing shows that children learn faster and remember better when they are happy. Attempt to begin each day’s session when your child and you are both in a good, positive frame of mind.

As you walk toward the table (prepared as already described), talk to your child about his/her own cat or dog or a dog s/he might know, and whether any of the animal toys on the table look like the already-known cat or dog.. Give your child time to handle and play with the cat(s) and dog(s) on the table. Before you begin to read the Dog and dog-cat book, it is important to give the child context for the learning s/he is about to do.. Your child will be learning that certain symbols (a b c etc.) are used to represent real objects and real animals, and also (after a few days) totally make-believe animals.

* To avoid problems later, be careful in this next activity that you always say “cat” — not “kitty” or “kitty-cat” or any other cute word you child might say. Also you always say “dog” — not “doggie” or “woof-woof” etc.

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After 3 or 4 minutes of free play with the toys on the table, pick up a toy cat and say “Is this a real cat?” If your child says “No” or if s/he just laughs, then you laugh, and say something like, “Of course not. This is just a toy cat — a make-believe cat.” You can go on to emphasize that a real cat is bigger and has real claws (or is not that color, or has real fur, or wants food, and/or any other thing that is different.) Stop while still easy and interesting for your child — and then try the same thing with a toy dog. Depending on the fun level, keep playing with and talking about just the cats and dogs on the table, or switch to holding up a toy elephant or toy cow (or whatever other well-known animal is on the table) and say “Is this a cat?” Have a big laugh about that silly idea!

You will finish the first session with the treats in the little bowl

– or… –

*The preview of HOW TO TUTOR SUCCESSFULLY ends here.*

If you receive your free copy of Dog and dog-cat before full instructions are printed here, click on “Contact Piper” in the [Contact Us] sidebar. It’s on the right side of the page.

Leave me a message and I promise you an opportunity to make recommendations to be incorporated in the complete book.