Guest Posted January 25, 2005 Posted January 25, 2005 Dear all, I've been searching back through old posts because I'm sure we've covered this before - but no luck so far so I'll just ask afresh & hope you don't mind... I want to buy some books (mainly for guided reading but to supplement take home books too) which are based on a phonics approach to teaching reading. I need to get hold of a scheme which has lots of simple texts & progresses fairly logically but not too quickly through the skills needed to start learning to read. Can anyone recommend a scheme to use? For example I like the Flying Boot Max books but they move on much too quickly to difficult texts. We use ORT at school but I'm getting ever more concerned with the idea of teaching whole words instead of decoding, and they're not backing up the work we do in class. Am I making any sense at all??? I think I'll post this & let you tell me - it's been a long day Dianne xxx
Guest Posted January 25, 2005 Posted January 25, 2005 We have just bough the Oxford Reading Tree book scheme for guided reading and for taking home. I thought they were great because they are progressive and contain all the high frequency words.
AnonyMouse_379 Posted January 25, 2005 Posted January 25, 2005 We use a scheme by Nelson Thorne called Soundstart, they come in 4 levels and are excellent books for Phonic decoding... the start with 1 word on a page, building to a 3 worded sentence in the first book.... For example Pen Rob Ben Pen and Ben Pen and Ben and Rob. The children enjoy them as they have excellent pictures with rogue characters up to mischeif eg a crab and rat. We encourage the children not only to read the words but also develop the story through discussion with the pictures. There are a few non fiction books, techers photocopiable resource books and we have invested in the computer software to use alongside the books. We also use Storyworld books, once the children have and are able to use the decoding strategies and make sense of what they are reading. I tend to stay clear of ORT. Hope this makes sense , if you need anymore info let me know. L
Guest Posted January 25, 2005 Posted January 25, 2005 Hi Dianne Can't recommend any scheme as I'm not too thrilled with the ones we use at school. However I'm looking more in to schemes which are based on the synthetic phonic method rather than whole word teaching. You may want to check these webites out http://www.ruthmiskinliteracy.com/ http://www.jellyandbean.co.uk/ http://www.jollylearning.co.uk/ http://www.rrf.org.uk/messageforum/viewfor...74d4986b34a34e3 best of luck
Guest Posted January 25, 2005 Posted January 25, 2005 ORT - fab for children who can read, but, in my experience, not actually much good for developing the basics. We have recently added a scheme called Rigby Rocket, published by Heinemann, to bulk out our reading books. It is especially good for taking home because each book has a note to parents printed inside the cover giving advice on how to get the most out of that particular book. The mainstay of our reading scheme is New Way (nelsonthornes). It is a scheme which seems to evoke strong emotions from a lot of teachers, who often seem to hate it; however, at the risk of appearing very untrendy, I have to say that in my experience it works well for the kids, there is quite a good range of formats available (rhyming books, books to share with an adult reader, books which concentrate on one initial sound, non-fiction). Also, it is not horrendously expensive...
AnonyMouse_2221 Posted January 25, 2005 Posted January 25, 2005 I completely agree about ORT. Great books, great pictures for story telling, but totally relie on children gaining a sight vocabulary and not decoding words/developing useful reading strategies etc. We have supplemented our scheme with many others, both for guided reading and take home books. We have just bought Lighthouse books which are great for the high frequency words.
Guest Sycamore Posted January 25, 2005 Posted January 25, 2005 I love Rigby Star and Rigby Rocket. Excellent for guided reading, come with teacher notes and ideas for parents and also CD for ICT to back up HFW. Also Lighthouse, National Geographic and Star Quest which are all from the same company. Great pictures and fiction and Non fiction. Parents and kids love them! I think they are all from same company as Ginn. Check out website.
AnonyMouse_79 Posted January 25, 2005 Posted January 25, 2005 I recommend Rigby Starr too but they arent phonic based. They have been written to incorporate keywords so probably not what you are looking for Dianne. Nelson's Soundstarts should be good, otherwise the Ruth Miskin and Jolly Phonics readers would be more in accordance with a phonic approach. What phonic programme do you use, this could make a difference to your choice? Reading University have a reading centre you can visit (I think!) to look at most published schemes, although you need to check they do have what you want to see and if you make an appointment you will get help from the staff.
Guest Posted January 25, 2005 Posted January 25, 2005 Hi Dianne I often start children off on the 'Sounds Easy' scheme from Egon books. It begins with short vowels and then goes on to purely phonic books which help with blending skills. They are really special needs books, and I quickly move on to our Nelson t.m. books - but may still use them for children who have problems with blending or use them where it seems necessary. They are a very useful supplement to a regular scheme and selection of books. You may find it works for you too. Ruthanne
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