Morpheme: The smallest meaning bearing part of a word. There are two types: bound (when it only has meaning when attached to another morpheme, such as the letter "s" added to make a word plural and the letters "ed" to create the past tense) and unbound (which has meaning by itself, such as the words "dog" and "care").
Rime: The part of a syllable which consists of its vowel and any consonant sounds that come after it. It often includes an onset--that is, the sound that precedes the vowel. For the word "rake" the onset would be "r" and the rime would be "ake." Another example would be for the word "night" where the onset would be "n" and the rime would be "ight."
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Response to Moats' Article
I hope I am doing this correctly--I am posting a response to the article I read on "When Older Students Can't Read" by Louisa Moats.
As a high school teacher I have been frustrated at times by the low reading levels of my students. Like Barbara said, we need to stop worrying about how the child got to this point--and instead DO SOMETHING NOW! Moats' article addressed this same concept. Some facts that struck me were the number (60-70%) who are below grade level--with half failing to complete high school. This is one reason why we cannot meet AYP--enough students don't stay in high school to start their senior year to meet the 80% graduation rate. So what do we do?
We begin classes IMMEDIATELY in basic reading skills at the high school level. We include all students who scored below grade level on the 8th grade CRCT. We have these classes grouped by ability level. Students stay in the classes until they reach a predetermined reading level--perhaps 8th grade (although it would be nice to offer the elective for students who wish to go beyond this goal.) As Moats' states, we can do plenty--but we need the necessary components: well-prepared teachers who are supported, and students who are given the time, proper instruction, and incentives to overcome these challenges. Even with the budget crisis, the reading crisis is more of a threat to the future earning capacity and future happiness of these students. In time, with teachers learning more of how to address the issues of "non-readers" as well as "poor readers," there will be less of a need at the high school level. We will close the gap.
As educators, we are asked to address the needs of each child. Is there a cheap, easy way to address the reading deficient? I don't think so--so my question is when and how will we begin to help students become more successful students and members of our community?
As a high school teacher I have been frustrated at times by the low reading levels of my students. Like Barbara said, we need to stop worrying about how the child got to this point--and instead DO SOMETHING NOW! Moats' article addressed this same concept. Some facts that struck me were the number (60-70%) who are below grade level--with half failing to complete high school. This is one reason why we cannot meet AYP--enough students don't stay in high school to start their senior year to meet the 80% graduation rate. So what do we do?
We begin classes IMMEDIATELY in basic reading skills at the high school level. We include all students who scored below grade level on the 8th grade CRCT. We have these classes grouped by ability level. Students stay in the classes until they reach a predetermined reading level--perhaps 8th grade (although it would be nice to offer the elective for students who wish to go beyond this goal.) As Moats' states, we can do plenty--but we need the necessary components: well-prepared teachers who are supported, and students who are given the time, proper instruction, and incentives to overcome these challenges. Even with the budget crisis, the reading crisis is more of a threat to the future earning capacity and future happiness of these students. In time, with teachers learning more of how to address the issues of "non-readers" as well as "poor readers," there will be less of a need at the high school level. We will close the gap.
As educators, we are asked to address the needs of each child. Is there a cheap, easy way to address the reading deficient? I don't think so--so my question is when and how will we begin to help students become more successful students and members of our community?
Monday, June 6, 2011
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