Ask that in any elementary staff meeting or teacher's lounge and you're just looking for a fight!
However, I see the merit in both approaches. Throughout literacy research "best" practices are sited (depending on the researchers agenda:). I propose that we move past what was "best" ten years ago, three years ago, or even one month ago. Let's move into the "next" practices. These practices aren't in a BOXED program. These practices are well planned by the teacher who is looking at the readers in his/her classroom. These practices are developed and refined year to year based upon each student's needs.
Check out our week two summer newsletter. There's a fun teamwork video and an article.
Please share your takeaways with me via text, twitter, email, or in the comments below.
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ReplyDeletePhonics is essential, especially to future spelling bee contenders. However if taught in isolation, the student will be missing vital components in their literacy development. In order to develop a well rounded literacy minded student a whole language approach must be used across all disciplines...math, science, social studies, art, everything! We must be careful not to teach in such a way that causes the student to store facts about each subject in nice neat little folders in their head. Instead they need to explore literacy in such a way that allows them to see math in the architecture of a painting, the internet's lifeline: a matrix of complex numbers and algorithms, that without numbers it would cease to exist, and that a book is their gateway to the past present and future. By wrapping every subject matter in literacy, students will be completely immersed in language creating fluency and a higher level of connections across all subject areas.
ReplyDeleteLOVE that you said wrap every subject in literacy! Thanks, Kelly!
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