Considering the combo of the past two lectures, the first being about gaps in students reading abilities created by the three-cueing system and the second being about the repeatedly reduced funding for schools in BC, it is a little deflating when thinking about entering into an education system dealing with both of these problems. The correcting of both problems individually requires changes within the system that can’t be made overnight. Both problems also require leaders that recognize the issues. When looking at the two problems together, it easily becomes a mountain that is too hard to climb.

Fortunately, during observations I saw some great examples of how to meet the needs of different groups of students without requiring additional support in the classroom. A primary teacher assigned a worksheet that students could work on individually while she worked with smaller literacy groups. The way she had the classroom setup, she could see all the students at their desks working on their own while she was sitting at the reading table. They worked on the assigned worksheet until they were called to the reading table. Each group had a different reading level that was reflected by the book they read. The students at the table took turns reading out loud which provided an opportunity for the teacher to evaluate their reading. The group of stronger readers were also assigned an additional worksheet to complete that corresponded to the reading. This system allowed for differentiated instruction without the need of an educational assistant or other support in the classroom. As stated in Differentiated Instruction: Why, How, and Examples, one element of differentiated instruction is the delivery of “varied content to students depending on their learning styles, interest, and content readiness” (Teachings in Education, 2017, 2:06). In this way, the teacher successfully demonstrated differentiated instruction to meet diverse student needs. As we begin looking at lesson plans, I hope to keep this system of differentiated learning in mind.

Meeting students where they are at in their learning is important because foundational skills, such as reading, need to be mastered prior to deeper learning. Although some aspects of the literacy lecture were discouraging, overall, it has made me want to focus on being a primary teacher. If I have a primary class, I can teach the students phonics-based reading rather than the three-cueing system and hopefully reduce the reading gaps that appear around grade 4. Watching part one (berrinchuda, 2020a) and two (berrinchuda, 2020b) of Is My Kid Learning How to Read?, it is clear that kids can use the pictures to help understand the words in a book, but when the pictures are gone, they are not able to read those words. Although it was upsetting to realize that the child has not been properly taught how to sound out words, it was encouraging to hear her get excited in part 2 when she recognized the “ur” sound she had just learned (berrinchuda, 2020b, 7:30 and 7:54). When she saw the two letters together, she immediately knew the sound and she was able to decode the words.

An interesting realization I’ve made with learning more about phonics is that many of the schools we have observed at, although they have implemented the UFLI phonics program, they still teach the CafĂ© system of reading strategies. One of the strategies in the CafĂ© program is using the words to help with reading accuracy, as seen in the CafĂ© Menu of a video made by The Balanced Literacy Diet (2011). However, on the Daily CafĂ© website, the interactive CafĂ© menu does not list using words as a strategy (Interactive Cafe Menu, n.d.). I know that the teacher who teaches the CafĂ© program where I work still teaches using words as pictures as it would still be in the published resource, but with the removal of that strategy from their website, I wonder if it was recently removed to align more fully with teaching phonics.

References

berrinchuda. (2020a, September 29). Is My Kid Learning How to Read? Part 1: Purple Challenge. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lxx7hs0qdKQ

berrinchuda. (2020b, October 11). Is My Kid Learning How to Read? Part 2: Our Friend “Ur.” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWgUvza6XyM   

Interactive Cafe Menu. (n.d.). TheDailyCAFE.com. https://www.thedailycafe.com/cafe/interactive-cafe-menu

Teachings in Education. (2017, July 30). Differentiated instruction: Why, How, and Examples. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BVvImZcnkw

The Balanced Literacy Diet. (2011, November 27). How to Use Café: Involving Students in Building Essential Reading Skills. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfJEp-thTeM