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2/1/2010
‘Sky’s the limit’ as Deming students are ‘Seeing Stars’
Public Schools’ Chronicle, February 2010 Issue
Laramie County School District 1 |
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Teachers are always looking for better
instructional methods. So when Deming Elementary first-grade teachers
Terri Flock and Jean Profaizer attended a Lindamood-Bell “Seeing Stars”
workshop last year, they became enthused thinking about the doors it
might open for their students.
“Seeing Stars” is a scientifically based
reading research model used to teach sight words, spelling and
contextual fluency. It starts with having students visualize the
identity, number and sequence of letters for the sounds within words. It
then extends into multisyllable and contextual reading and spelling.
“We got really excited because we saw it as a program we could use with every child in our building,” Flock said.
Once Flock and Profaizer returned to Deming
after their workshop, their enthusiasm was contagious as every teacher
agreed to attend training last summer. They are receiving additional
help from district reading support facilitator Pam Watkins, who visits
Deming to model teach and meet with teachers to review and practice
techniques.
Deming-Miller Principal Tony Crecelius said:
“I can see the excitement in the teachers’ eyes about implementing this
program building wide and the positive effects they’re already seeing.”
Flock said teachers plan to delve into the other piece of the program, Visualizing and Verbalizing, this spring.
“The program has been a great help in my
day-to-day reading with students,” Profaizer said. “It gives students
the ability to use their visualization skills and gain confidence.”
Second-grade teacher Michelle Frank explained
she has been impressed with the gains she’s seen in her students since
she began using “Seeing Stars.”
“It’s beneficial and not just for low
readers,” Frank said. “All of my students are becoming better spellers
and are able to read higher-level books because they’re seeing
familiar chunks, patterns and rules on how to form words.”
As they viewed letters on the SMART Board as
well as the flash-card flip chart provided through the program, Flock
asked her kids to say how they would pronounce “ea.” After a second’s
pause, the kids said in unison, “eeeee.”
“And who gets to be the boss?” Flock asked.
“That’s right; ‘a’ is the boss. We call this two vowels walking. Good
job; let’s go to ‘ue,’ ” she continued.
Next, the class talked about letter sounds
using a railroad analogy with “c” and “g” train. They were then asked
to “picture” letter groups they would put together to form certain high
frequency words. Finally, the entire class worked on “air writing” using
their index fingers to “write” their letters.
“We are changing our ways to ask kids what
they see with words as opposed to what they hear,” Profaizer said.
“Their ability to ‘air write’ a word also adds the element of tactile as
they write the word while watching their finger move.”
In Frank’s classroom, a small, animated group
of students gathered around a table utilizing these same concepts as
Frank held the flash-card flip chart. “The kids love it,” she said. “I
can’t even get the cards flipped fast enough because they’re really
getting into the program. They’re seeing words that they didn’t know
were there before.”
Kindergarten teacher Jennifer Burdett said
“Seeing Stars” is helping her students learn their letters and sounds
quickly. “I use it with spelling and ask them what letters they see to
write the word,” she said.
“We’re using it with our balanced literacy
framework,” Burdett said, “so it’s not just the ‘Seeing Stars’ that’s
benefiting; it’s all of the components.”
Flock agreed, adding, “This nestles really
well within our framework and into our guided reading.” She referred to
it as another tool, praising the fact that it can be used across the
curriculum. Frank explained she uses it to help students comprehend
vocabulary in science, social studies and math.
According to Flock, the improvement she’s
seen with her students has been “amazing,” as kids are becoming
successful at spelling “tricky” words.
“I see an excitement in these guys with
words,” Flock said. “The sky is the limit. And they could probably spell
that for you and do it backwards and forwards!”
—Photo & text by Mary Quast
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