A BREAKTHROUGH

In January, Dawson took the IRI (Idaho Reading Indicator) to see how he is doing compared to other readers in his grade. In the fall, he read 5 words in 1 minute, which landed him right in the middle with a 2. (3 is at grade level, 2 is near grade level, and 1 is below grade level.)

We have been working on it, even though it can be frustrating. We read to him, he reads to us, we do flashcards (ahhh, the dreaded flash cards), and also the lessons in this book, "Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons."


I just have to put in a quick plug. This book has made a world of difference. It has funny lettering called "orthography." Orthography is a fancy word that refers to the letters that make up words, or how wards are spelled. This book has an altered orthography.

For example, he is spelled with a line over the e so that the child knows it is a long e.
She is spelled with sh connected to look like a letter, because it makes one sound.
Finally, lake is spelled with a line over the a, and the e is very small because the child does not make a sound for e.

Clear as mud? Right!

Anyhow, Dawson's test in January went incredible. He was able to read 27 words in 1 minute. He scored a 3!!! Wa-hoo! Go Dawson!

We look forward to all of the Magic Treehouse and Junie B. Jones that we will get to read in the future!

Faith and Dawson reading together

Emergent Reader Poem
HELP!!!
I'm trying hard to learn to read
But what's a kid to do
When there's a NO and a GO
and a SO and a HO,
And then there's a word like TO?
Reading BONE and CONE and
LONE and TONE
Can almost be kind of fun,
But I get upset when I have to believe
That D-O-N-E spells DONE!
It's plain to see a kid like me
Sure needs a helping hand.
No matter how much I really try
I just don't understand.
I'm trying hard to learn to read.
Somehow that's what I'll do,
But for now if you'll just read to me
Someday I'll read to you!