Kids Work Through Big Words

Today during Reading Workshop, as a group of olders was discussing The Missing Mummy, an A to Z Mystery, someone asked, "what is this word?" She was pointing at "sarcophagus" and a couple of the other kids immediately attempted a pronunciation. I was proud to hear sar-cof-u-gus come out of the mouth of one of them and others agreed with her.

I had figured this unknown word out last night as I read the book myself, and this was exactly how I would say the word. The text explained that this is the coffin in which the mummy rests.

A little while later when I was talking with the youngers who are reading Henry and Mudge books, Henry's picnic lunch was discussed. Lydia announced that Henry ate jelly sandwiches, a pear and some gingersnaps. At first she tried the cookie word by beginning with a hard g sound. I reminded her that sometimes g says j especially if it is followed by an e or an i. She quickly got gin and then ger and snap was easy for her.

The point of all this is that when kids cannot acquire a word from what they know by chunking or beginning the word, they do try to at least say the word. I breathe a sigh of relief when their attempts stay close to the sounds represented by all those letters. And when they figure out the meaning from the context, I might even gloat at all these kids know about reading!!!

All that hard work we do is paying off!!

Mary Ann

UNKNOWN WORDS IN TEXT

Jim Trelease, respected Read Aloud expert, claims that "rare" words are only heard by children in books. This is how they learn new vocabulary. Rare words, yes, but..."parka?"

The other day I was reading Ralph S. Mouse by Beverly Cleary to the class. In the story, the kids were putting away their parkas in their cubbies. I asked, "what is a parka?" Somebody guessed glue, and other guesses were other supplies. No one knew what a parka was. I cleared that up and went on with the story. The kids probably would have figured it out for themselves eventually because Ralph was going to hide in the pocket of some kid's parka, but ...

I guess this is why research says that although reading aloud to children is important to their achievement, talking with them during the read aloud is just as important!

By the way, there are probably not many kids in the room who could not figure out how to say "parka" but it would not help them get the picture of Ralph in that parka. They would have been picturing a mouse in a bottle of glue!!!

Mary Ann

You are right, Ethan, it is sad that people would poison animals. The good thing is that maybe the author will not let that happen again in this book. But I am worried that because the Bent Lady missed one piece of bad meat when she went searching for it, that one of the little critters will find it.

Miranda thinks there will be a happy ending to this book and that all the cats will find a home. Me, too! But especially Ratchet!!

Here's hopin'!

Ms. R.

Learning from Fiction: The Cats of Roxville Station

My new interest, cats, has led us to a new book by Newbery Award-winning author, Jean Craighead George. This author is a naturalist who is famous for her books, My Side of The Mountain and Julie of the Wolves. Her great gift is that she can weave into an exciting story with appealing characters so much information about nature.

This story is about a community of feral (stray) cats and a lonely adolescent boy who is an orphaned foster child.

Not only are we learning about feral cats, how they survive, how they communicate and how much like domestic cats they really are, we are learning about butterflies, raccoons, foxes, hawks, snakes and a wide range of human beings!

As we go along, we stop and discuss the facts the author incorporates into the story. In fact, we are sharing this information in the hall. The kids are taking turns writing a statement of nature facts as they come up and then we publish them for others to read as they pass in the hall.

I want my students to know that fiction is entertaining, but it also a whole lot more and those who read, read, read, get smarter and smarter!!!

This is the best reason of all for parents to read to their kids forever!

Mary Ann