Part 10

I bravely began part 10 on Friday.  One thing is abundantly clear, I need drawing lessons!  Either that, or I need to be reading passages that require less difficult things to draw.  I thought overall it went well.  I read an entire paragraph, illustrated and re-read the paragraph and then had my student retell.  One paragraph was too big a chunk for her for an accurate retelling so I will try to cut that back to a couple of sentences until we both get the hang of this.  Her teacher is going to give me a book to read to her.  That will almost certainly be easier.  I used one of the archived articles from the Wilson website.  It was about life in Antarctica and was very dry and dull.  I guess the old adage - no pain, no gain - applies here.  It was a great opportunity to learn what not to do and I feel I have some good ideas for how to make that part of the lesson go more smoothly next time.

Friday's lesson was my first after the Wednesday observation and I felt that the guidance I got from my instructor was invaluable.  Parts 2 and 7 went much more smoothly now that I understand how to help my student decode multisyllabic words.  I also noticed that she had a much easier time reading the words in part 4 after she had pre-scooped them.  So, onward we go.  This is such a great way to learn how to use a new curriculum!

observation #3

Three down, two to go!  I don't know why I get so worked up just before an observation.  In spite of having to demonstrate proficiency on syllable division, I didn't do too badly.  I learned how to teach syllable division in part 2 with syllable cards instead of the tiles.  That makes sense.  I also learned how to scoop and read the words to help my student see the syllable division.  I really like how this program helps students see how sounds are put together to make individual words and then how words are put together to "draw" a picture.  We now have to demonstrate proficiency in all 10 parts of a lesson.  So, I have to work on part 10 which is a heavy duty comprehension piece.  I will be reading a passage to my student and helping her draw pictures in her mind (I have to literally draw pictures on paper for her - yikes!).  It will be a great piece of the whole program.  I like that I can use Wilson passages or passages from books that my student may be hearing in school.  So, I can use the list of recommended read alouds.  Hmm!  I'll have to collaborate with her teacher to find out what would be most helpful.  This training is a LOT of work but I can see how beneficial the program is for my student.  I'll keep chugging away at this.