Reading
I do my best to align my reading instruction with the state of North Carolina, the county, and the school as we all transition from a variety of theories to the Science of Reading. For more information on the Science of Reading here is one article: PBS Article on the Science of Reading.
Reading Instruction will touch up on these five areas:
Phonemic Awareness: Understanding, Producing, and Manipulating Individual Phonemes. You can see a glimpse of the Heggerty Curriculum that we use for much of this instruction here: Heggerty Free Downloads
Phonics: Grasping the correspondence between letters and the sounds they spell to read and write words. Our instruction here is based on Fundations. We teach students how to read and write the six syllable types, prefixes and suffixes, and break apart and build multisyllabic words. As we get to new syllable types, I will send home information on reading and writing strategies as well as the key sounds that they teach to help students read the words. You will also see me supplement Fundations with Orton Gillingham to provide more specific instruction on syllabification, multi-sensory support, differentiated visuals, scaffolded encoding, and deeper dives into open syllables. I welcome parent involvement and exchange - if you are interested in diving into how your child is learning to read I'd love to get together with you and your child.
Fluency: Fluency is reading with speed, accuracy, and proper expression - in a way that allows for comprehension to take place. We will practice this with our passages each day in class, and we ask that you help us at home with the same passages. I also love the idea of you modeling this when you read aloud to your children. One great thing to do is grab the whole thought in your head before you express it.
Vocabulary: Once decoding is mastered, recent studies show that vocabulary is the greatest predictor of reading comprehension! We will spend time on vocabulary in all areas of the curriculum, including Fundations, Heggerty, our new Literacy Curriculum Wit and Wisdom, Science, and Social Studies. My vocabulary philosophy is three steps: #1 - Read it; #2 - Explore the morphology; #3 -Seek out context clues in the surrounding text.
Comprehension: This is the goal! This is the joy! Ultimately, this is why we read! My biggest observation upon stepping into the classroom at Masonboro has been how strong the students' comprehension is, across the board, before I teach anything! You've laid the foundation for this at home. Thank you for reading with your children! To build on this foundation, in second grade we focus on 5 reading powers as well as skill based instruction aligned wtih the NC Standards that works on finding the main idea, determining the central message, retelling stories, using text features, and more. We use Wit & Wisdom and Geodes as the basis of our curriculum here. The year divides into four main units that allow the children to explore complex texts in great depth. Moments are provided for whole group instruction, individual exploration, and team collaboration.
Math
Math is my natural strength, and I light up when the students discover patterns and new methods to solve problems faster and more efficiently. My math instruction is very simple. During my time at UNCW I learned about the CPA (Concrete-Pictoral-Abstract) method. A simple explanation of this is that we teach students to add five and four with the following progression:
Concrete: add five blocks to four blocks
Pictoral: draw a math drawing of five, then add four to the math drawing
Abstract: Solve the problem in your head, or on paper, but without any concrete or pictoral aids
At the second grade level we still see a range of what students are ready to do. Our Eureka Squared Curriculum provides the appropriate instruction and support to meet the needs of each student, and allow students to progress in the CPA philosophy at the appropriate pace.
One note, drawing the pictures as Eureka indicates is important to success with the curriculum in later grades!