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Ask the Superintendent -
December 5, 2007
At the Board of Education meeting on December
3rd, the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and
Instruction, Jane Unhjem, shared a detailed outline
on the way in which we approach ELA (English
Language Arts) in the District. The board suggested
she share this information with the community. I am
offering space in my column this week so she may do
so.
Over the years, the teaching of reading and writing
in schools has changed dramatically from the way it
was done when Roy and I were youngsters. In the old
days, all students had the same basal reader and
workbook, were expected to memorize spelling words,
and did very little writing except for providing
short answers to questions at the end of a chapter.
It’s almost as if students learned to read and write
by osmosis and, if they didn’t, they were considered
“slow” and received none of the support services
that are available today to those who struggle with
reading and writing.
Nowadays, ALL students are expected to develop into
competent readers and writers so they can become
productive citizens in a democratic society. As
such, the methods and materials that are used in the
elementary and middle grades have changed along with
those expectations. Gone are the rote memorization
drills and fill-in-the-blank workbooks that many of
us remember, replaced by customized
(“differentiated”) instruction and a wide variety of
colorful books, classroom libraries, and software
programs. Particularly with the teaching of reading,
many things have changed in our classrooms to
reflect up-to-date, research-based practices using
attractive and engaging materials.
I thought you would find it interesting to learn
about a few of the recent changes and enhancements
to the elementary reading program in the Goshen
School District so you could compare the reading
instruction of today with YOUR school experience
years ago.
Phonemic awareness, phonics and spelling: The
research on reading tells us that youngsters who
understand the connection between letters and sounds
will become fluent readers and good spellers. Last
year, teachers from Scotchtown Avenue School, Goshen
Intermediate School and C. J. Hooker Middle School
participated in study groups and curriculum
committees to examine methods and materials that
would effectively help our young students develop
phonemic awareness (hearing and manipulating
individual sounds), phonics skills (using the sounds
and patterns of letters to decode words), and
spelling (using the sounds and patterns of letters
to write words accurately). Instead of a lockstep,
page-by-page march through a phonics or spelling
workbook – as many of us once did – our young
students are now learning about phonics/spelling
patterns and principles that can be applied to many
words, which promotes their independence in reading
and writing. Spelling instruction now places less
emphasis on “write-the-words-five-times-each” and
more importance on correct spelling in students’
everyday writing. Lessons and homework are
differentiated to accommodate very advanced
spellers, as well as students who are spelling at
lower levels. And now, because of the consistency of
our phonics/spelling program from grade to grade,
teachers are reporting that their students are
becoming better at decoding new words while reading,
and better at spelling new words during their
everyday writing.
Differentiated instruction in reading: In the old
days, every youngster in an elementary classroom
worked from the same reader and workbook, with
invented stories that used sight words and
repetition in hopes that youngsters would somehow
catch on. (Many of us remember stories about Dick
and Jane and their dog with sentences like, “See
Spot. See Spot run. Go, Spot, go.”) Not any more!
These days, teachers are differentiating instruction
so that students get the appropriate level of
challenge whether they are reading at the expected
level, below level, or beyond grade level
expectations. As such, it has become common practice
for teachers to individually assess each student’s
reading level and then match students with reading
materials that are at their “instructional level.”
In Goshen, all of our elementary students
participate in daily instruction with other
classmates who are reading at a similar level.
During these brief, small-group sessions, the
teacher guides and coaches students through reading
materials that are at the appropriate level, with
the goal of gradually moving the students to the
next level. The books are not about Dick, Jane, and
Spot anymore! Our youngsters benefit from the wealth
of new materials that are available for this
small-group, guided reading instruction. Many of
these brief, “leveled texts” are about interesting
non-fiction topics (hurricanes, animals, foreign
countries, biographies, and so on) with fantastic
photographs, illustrations, and graphics. Again,
because of improved consistency from grade to grade
in individual assessment and targeted small-group
instruction with engaging materials, teachers are
reporting that more and more students are reading
fluently at expected levels and beyond.
All of these improvements and enhancements are
providing a much more individualized learning
experience for our youngsters than any of us can
recall from our elementary school days, with the
goal of developing ALL of them into confident,
fluent readers.
Jane Unhjem
Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum
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