schwa happens

Actually, I borrowed that phrase from my colleague next door but it describes my feeble attempts to teach the spelling of schwa this past week.  The directions say that it does not need to be taught at this point unless you are working with an advanced student.  I would say I am working with an advanced student because she asked about it.  I bravely took out the teacher manual and she and I struggled with it together.  It was a learning experience for both of us.  I believe it will continue to be a stumbling block for spelling but at least we gave it a good try.  I am hoping to be more fluent with teaching schwa by the end of this coming week.  We are just about ready to go on to nonsense words but have one or perhaps two more lessons with real words to get through before we move on.  I completed the online training for sub step 3.2 and am not feeling in any great hurry to go there!  That said, I do want to get there prior to my next observation on the 8th.  SO, onward we go!  It's hard to believe, but my student and I have already completed 52 lessons.  She is beginning to wonder about next year.  So am I!

One lesson

Due to my student being out, me being out and a two hour delay we managed to have only one lesson this past week.  Still, during that lesson I was able to identify a student centered problem.  My student is uncertain when to spell the /k/ sound with c, k, or ck.  I have designed the next lesson to at least partially address this issue.  I have a few rules to give her and am hoping these will clarify this issue since there is a new rule in step 3.1 regarding ic (as in panic).  At least we got one full lesson taught on substep 3.1 and I feel like we are both getting a grasp on how to teach this substep.  Next observation in schedule for February 7th so I better get some practice time in between now and then!

stepping up to step 3

My student passed the post test for step 2 with flying colors so we started step three this past week.  We are now starting two syllable words.  The emphasis of the program is on seeing the individual sounds in the words and then blending those sounds into decodable words.  I really like how visual it is.  This past week was beleaguered by foresight testing, a two hour delay, and a soccer presentation so I was not able to get a whole lesson in.  Instead, I used the time to introduce my student to the concept of two syllable words, how to divide the syllables (three rules) and a new procedure for breaking down and spelling multi-syllabic words.  I feel like I did a good job laying the groundwork for a successful lesson.  This coming week I will be able to teach a number of complete lessons so that should get us back on track.  I feel like we are in a good place right now.  My student seems to understand the underlying concepts.  My biggest challenge will be deciding what to do about the schwa sounds.  We have the option of teaching them now or waiting.  My student already asked me about them and I deferred the question, explaining that we will learn about that later.  She is so sharp, I am certain we will be better served to teach them sooner rather than later.  In the meantime, in talking with her regular education teacher, we have decided that I can provide a spelling grade for my student.  The words she is spelling for me are carefully selected to follow the rules she has already learned where as the words in her regular class are not so she is more successful with the Wilson words.

New Year, New substep

Well, I started the new year with a new substep.  The only problem with this approach was that I wrote the lesson plan before the break and didn't think to look it over before teaching it.  There we were, Tuesday after a long week and I was grasping for what I was supposed to do.  It's a good thing my student is tolerant of these gaffs!  I pulled out the teacher manual and refreshed my memory but the lesson was less than stellar.  Prior to the afternoon portion of the lesson I pulled out the lesson plan and the teacher manual and did a quick review.  The afternoon session went much better.  We ended up flying through that substep.  There wasn't a lot of material in it and there were no new sounds being introduced.  All we did was introduce the concept of a three consonant blend and six sounds in one closed syllable.  I have already finished the online course through the first substep of step 3 so I knew that we are going to move to two syllable words next.  I knew that I needed to hammer home the concept of one vowel followed by one or more consonant is a closed syllable.  So, I spent this week making sure she was solid with that.  We will be starting this coming week on step 3.  I will be careful to review the online course and the teacher's manual and plan the first lesson VERY carefully so I don't make the same mistake again!  Onward and upward!