Lauren Paz

2/15/11
ELD 307
McKool
Reading Log #4
R & C Chapter 2
Bear et al Chapter 1 and 2
Observations
• R & C: The Essentials of Teaching Children to Read
Chapter 2
• Phonics is an important part of learning to read. Without phonics children would have a much more
diffcult time learning how to pronounce words.
• Word identification is importan as well, it is the connection between a printed words pronunciation and
its meaning.
• Testing students is importan to do because it allows the teacher to determine what each student needs
to be taught.
• According to R & C there are many different steps in learning phonics, there is so much to teach from
learning about silent e at the end of words to how the a can be manipulated into sounding different when
put next to the letter r.
• Teaching phonics is a complicated task but is very useful.
• It is important for the teacher to follow the students phonics and word attack skills development
throughtout the year. This allows the teacher to alter her teachings for this student.
• Letter sound cards are an effective tool for students that allow them to recognize individual and
combination letter sounds.
• Phonics fish helps students use their phonic sounds to contruct word families.
Wonderings
• It seems difficult to teach phonics because there is so much to conver, how would I go about starting a
lesson on phonics?
• Are assessments the best way to be sure if a student is undserstanding phonics and making a
connection between the sounds that make up the word and the meaning itself?
Connections
• I’ve noticed in the classroom that the students stretch out a word to hear the different sounds within it
and then try to put it all together. This is exactly how the book described it, it was interesting to see that
and make the connection.
• Some students clapped out the words rather than just using their voices to stretch it out, I haven’t been
able to tell which one works best but it may depend on the student and how they learn.