|
A Teacher's Perspective
Summer Training Builds Teacher Confidence, Student Skills
By Russell Henry
Slingerland training gave this first grade teacher flexible, dependable strategies for teaching his young students to read and write.
When asked why I, a first-grade classroom teacher, took a month-long course from 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. five days a week for three summers in a row, my response is simple. I did it because this training showed me how to effectively teach my students.
Training in multisensory structured language instruction (MSLI) has given me the confidence and security that students in my first grade class will learn to read and write. This frees me to concentrate on other important early childhood goals throughout my day. I don't have to be in a panic that my first graders won't succeed at first grade tasks. The only serious drawbacks I run into are poor attendance or a student entering the class late in the school year.
The Slingerland Model of Multisensory Structured Language Instruction
It all started years ago, when I feared I would be transferred from teaching kindergarten to first grade due to low seniority. I wanted to learn what would really work with my students, and chose a Slingerland multisensory structured language (MSL) training course. Although this MSL approach was originally created for at-risk students, it is a highly effective way to teach all children.
Slingerland courses involve the following:
- daily observation of a classroom demonstration lesson taught by a master teacher trained as a trainer of teachers
- a daily one-hour practicum teaching an assigned student, or a small group, from the demonstration class using newly-learned MSL strategies
- daily lectures that provide background information on English language structure; the history, philosophy, rationale and background of MSL approaches; and the characteristics of novice and struggling readers
- writing daily lesson plans with explicit direction and feedback from a master teacher. These plans can be used for later reference.
After completion of the Slingerland MSL Introductory course, I continued taking the advanced level classes: the Second Year Continuum and the Third Year Internship. I even returned for a fourth summer to participate in a class for middle school and high school students because I wanted to learn more about morphology. Why? Because I enjoy observing excellent teachers in a classroom setting. During each of my Slingerland MSL courses, I had the opportunity to observe one classroom teacher instruct 15 to 20 students. These teachers were able to skillfully individualize the lessons with the complete involvement and attention of the students.
Decoding Demystified
I had never been a teacher who cared for scripted lessons. However, I came to realize as I used the Slingerland daily teaching format, that the scripted strategies served as a powerful scaffold for my students' learning. At first exposure, the scaffolding may appear to be too complicated for young children or struggling learners. For example, one beginning decoding strategy for two-syllable words begins with these steps:
I see two vowel patterns (underlining).
That means I have two syllables.
I look for two consonants between the vowel patterns.
I find two consonants, I divide between them.
But guess what? It works. When my first graders tie all their previous learning together, I often see them enthusiastically decoding multisyllable words by November 1st. In step-by-step detail, I teach them to know the difference between consonants and vowels, to identify vowel spellings, and to divide words into syllables. Surprisingly, they learn to perform these tasks efficiently and with confidence. I'm the first to admit that decoding is only the tiger's tail in terms of the ultimate goals of comprehension and fluency. Nevertheless, efficient decoding is a necessary step on the way to that goal.
To reinforce what I teach in the classroom, I require my first graders to read silently for 30 minutes a day during school and an additional 30 minutes at home. I start the year using decodable text, primarily because books students read independently should always be text they can read with at least 95% accuracy and 90% comprehension. In class, I move into literature at their instructional reading level (90% accuracy and 80% comprehension). I ask "who, what, when, where and why" questions to structure their thinking as they read. I also send home with each child a literature book bag that contains a collection of books to be read TO them by their parents; these books are exchanged weekly.
I needed all three levels of Slingerland MSL training taken over three successive summers to make use of these MSL instructional strategies (decoding) automatic for me. Now that it is second nature, I am free to focus on the individual learning profiles and background knowledge of my students. I have learned to choose words for decoding and when pre-teaching vocabulary for a reading selection that are related to each student's interests and passions. When I call on individual students during a classroom group lesson, I target a question of personal interest to each of them. In this way, I can differentiate within a large group and teach to each individual student. Within the structure of the Slingerland MSL daily teaching format, I am also able to tailor lessons for students who may have learning disabilities. From an outsider's perspective, the scaffolding may sound dry and abstract, yet within a dynamic, excited classroom of first graders, the atmosphere is just the opposite. My children often write in their daily journals about how much they like to read.
The Write Stuff
Teaching manuscript letter formation (printing) using the Slingerland MSL approach is equally effective. For example, the letters a, c, d, g, o, q, and s are taught as "two o'clock letters" beginning at the two o'clock position on a clock just below the midline on lined paper. I hold my students to high standards and require that their letters be formed legibly. As a result, all the teachers in the grades above will be able to read their handwriting.
As soon as several consonants and a vowel have been taught, I teach my students the encoding pattern. They learn to segment syllables into individual sounds, to associate the sounds with the letter or letters that spell them, and to write the words on paper. They learn the concept of suffixes and write words with suffixes added. Then they write short phrases and sentences from dictation. They use their decoding strategies to proofread their spelling. Their confidence in themselves as writers grows as their competence in spelling and automaticity and fluency in letter formation increases with daily practice and reinforcement.
Fitting MSL into the School Day
I spend one-and-a-half hours of every school day on MSL instruction. That leaves plenty of time to spend on traditional early childhood learning activities. In my classroom, we have large wooden blocks, Legos, plus 20 other varieties of manipulatives stored in dish pans. There are dolls, a children's playhouse, art easels, and four computers. We have fish, guinea pigs, butterflies, snails, and worms. In the spring, if all goes well, we hatch ducklings, and we plant in garden boxes mounted outside the classroom. Within this context, I strive to meet four Early Childhood goals:
- Intellectual curiosity. (Reading and writing is a major tool for this area.)
- Self-esteem. (Know you are cherished by your teacher for real concrete achievements.)
- Group identification. (Know you are part of a class that values you.)
- Physical confidence. (Be comfortable with all the challenges six- and seven year-olds must meet with their bodies, including beginning cooperative games.)
A Buffer Against Burnout
I have taught for over 25 years, and I look forward to the rest of my teaching career with undiminished enthusiasm. I feel this way partly because of the success I experience every day using the Slingerland MSL approach. I am free from the perennial occupational hazard of burnout. I may get toasted around the edges, but I will continue to thrive because I know my students will learn.
MSL instruction also helps me earn the confidence of my students' parents. During November conferences, students demonstrate their word knowledge in front of their parents. When parents are comfortable with the understanding that their children are reading and writing, I am not challenged by them about the importance of play as an Early Childhood activity within my curriculum.
My teaching program does not fit under the rubric referred to as "balanced"; greater emphasis is placed on phonics because efficient, accurate word identification is a skill my students need at this point in their development as readers and writers. This does not mean that I don't value literature and comprehension; it means I cannot go lightly over certain aspects of decoding if I expect my students to become independent readers. My long-term goals are independent reading and writing, yet I see the problems of reading and writing as far more complex than routinely addressed in the first grade curriculum.
So, go ahead. Spend a month of your summer vacation taking a multisensory structured language (MSL) teacher training course. You and your students will receive a huge payback on your investment of time and energy.
Russ Henry has worked for over 30 years in both public and private schools. He is currently employed at Bayshore School in Daly City and teaches a first grade classroom that includes special education students. Russ serves on the Board of Advisors of NCBIDA.
|
