Anne Arundel County Literacy Council

Sarah’s Tutor Tips: Teaching Short Vowel Sounds

March 17, 2019

Tutor:

A common issue in the tutor reporting so far this month is short vowel sounds. Does anyone have ideas in teaching short vowel sounds and helping students retain that knowledge???

Sarah:

I always want to know what my student is really thinking about the problem he or she is having when trying to read. There is an AWESOME website, Reading Rockets, which has a tool called “Target the Problem.” Questions and answers are given from a student’s, teacher’s, and parent’s point of view in all the areas of reading: word decoding, fluency, reading comprehension, sound awareness, vocabulary, etc. You can use this tool to understand the reading difficulties of students of any age.

I believe in the whole brain concept of teaching the brain to associate sounds, words, and pictures together. When a student struggles to put sounds together, it takes all of the energy out of trying to read (and some students forget what they are trying to do!). I like using pictures to convey meaning, and while some students like the movement of tapping out /sounding out words… others don’t understand that concept. (If it’s a pig, show the picture of a “pig” and say PIG!)

Has your student’s hearing and vision been checked, lately? Some students with learning disabilities may need glasses or hearing aids or other directions toward understanding the printed word.

I just learned the differences in short and long vowel sounds about two years, ago. Long sounds are heard when the names of letters of the alphabet are spoken aloud. Direct the student’s focus to the short sounds of the vowels: a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y by using one syllable words, such as: at, egg, big, dog, fuss, and myth. To avoid confusion, do not mix short vowel sounding words and long vowel sounding words together in the same lesson, if possible. (Don’t teach bit with bite; con with cone; can with cane, unless you are sure your student has mastered the difference between short and long vowel sounds!)

I would practice this with two or three words that use one ‘short’ sound, like bat, fat, sat… or bed, fed, red. Let your student gain the confidence of learning and hopefully remembering a few new words to understand the pattern of the concept.

You can also use pictures to teach abstract words, like: to, of, a, the …. a piece of cake; to the school…. Dr. Seuss is great for rhyming, blending, and discussing the pictures one sees in the mind. You want to teach the student to see the picture associated with the sound in her mind. And teach Word Families… if you teach pig, also, teach: big, dig, fig, rig, twig, and wig…

Create a Word Wall to list words with short vowel sounds in columns: a – apple, at, bat, Al; e– egg, beg, Peg; i– igloo, itchy, big, Bill; o– ox, owl, Bob; u– umbrella, nut, Guss and; y– gym, myth, Yvette. Use Word Families… at, bat, cat, mat, pat, rat…. to repeat the short vowel over and over.

Think of people’s names that use short vowel sounds to help your student associate the short sound to a name that is familiar to him or her. Check for student understanding… ask them “What is meant when a word has a short vowel sound? What is meant when a word has a long vowel sound?”

“Can you hear the difference?”

Take the time to ask questions to find out what your student understands. It is important to know what he or she is thinking. We all have different learning styles in the way we process information.

For more tutors’ tools and resources please visit the Anne Arundel County Literacy Council ICANREAD.ORG website.

Sarah Gardner

Educating Mothers Increases Family Literacy

March 1, 2019

By Tom Sticht, International Consultant in Adult Education (Ret.)

“In 1890… the economist Alfred Marshall wrote, “The most valuable of all capital is that invested in human beings; and of that capital, the most precious part is the result of the care and influence of the mother” (cited in Cunha & Heckman, 2009, p. 2)…

“In particular, it is argued that money spent on the education of women who are or are about to become mothers can produce ‘double duty’ effects. Monies spent on the education of women contribute not only to the development of the women, but also to the educational participation and achievement of their children.”

Excellent article. Click here to read it in its entirety:

Educating Mothers to Increase Family Literacy

The Benefits of Ear-Reading

February 27, 2019

A dyslexia specialist discusses the assistive technologies she uses to help students with dyslexia make gains in reading. Click here to read the article: https://www.edutopia.org/article/benefits-ear-reading

By Dana Blackaby

November 16, 2018

Books Are Good For Your Brain!

February 25, 2019

AACLC Student Progress Reports

February 24, 2019

Each month AACLC tutors submit volunteer hours and student progress reports. Here is a sampling of those reports drawn from November submissions:

• Nicole has recently passed all but the writing and math portions of the GED!

• Joy is very close to finishing the material critical to passing the NEDP entrance exam.

• In October Ken shared with his son and daughter-in-law that he is unable to read and told them about being tutored. He said they were very proud of him! Neither his family nor friends knew about his lack of literacy skills. Until his wife’s death 4 years ago he relied on her to handle all his paperwork. She went to doctor visits with him and took care of all the forms. She was also responsible for all the paperwork for his business. Basically, she was his reader and writer. We are meeting twice a week for lessons. Ken is making progress with his reading and writing each week and even went ahead in the workbook when we missed a session. He is a hard-working student and we are both proud of his progress.

• Jessica passed her GED math test this month!

• Daiquill often asks if we can have more sessions per week and is getting more and more motivated to read and learn. He now gets that reading is a key to his future. We have finished Frankenstein and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea which are 2 more than he read in the last 20 years. We have moved on to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Daiquell is quickly engrossed in the story. Despite the story being a continent away and a century in the past, he’s into it. I praise him each session for improvement in reading speed and accuracy. Last session, I reminded him that when we first met, he acknowledged that reading bored him and put him to sleep! He has made great progress in his reading comprehension and confidence.

• Only one more book to go for Ida to finish the Algebra curriculum! Things are going well.

• Wilfredo is such a pleasure to work with, even when he comes to class after what I know is a very long day of tree work. He has completed Laubach LWE 1 and is becoming much more talkative and feeling better about going into stores and speaking in English.

• Maria is working to take the citizenship test in 2019.

• Gary completed Sounder – the first book he’s ever read! We have also gone through medical information pertaining to medications, appointments, and a discharge summary. Gary also met a goal to sing a solo with his church choir. Now, if he forgets the lyrics, he can read the lyrics rather than having to memorize the entire song.

• Michele is completing a review for the Math GED Practice Test.

• Nelsy is working through comprehension and vocabulary activities. She is doing well and making progress.

Student Success: Charles Rowell

February 22, 2019

Tutor Cathy Phillips and Charles Rowell

_______________________

Charles Rowell has lived in Glen Burnie for over 60 years. He remembers this area when it was still a small town – he could go hunting in his neighborhood and the only vehicle his family owned was a bicycle. He stopped attending school very early in life, but it didn’t stop him from succeeding. He was a machinist at an air-conditioning shop and later a custodian at Baltimore-Washington Medical Center – always doing well at work.

When he retired and had more time, he decided that he wanted to learn to read. Charles and I have been meeting twice a week for about a year and a half and his improvement is amazing. We have worked through all the long and short vowel sounds. He has learned to write all the numbers, so now he can write checks without using a cheat sheet.

We have done a lot of practice on the 300 most commonly used words and he knows most of them by sight now. We often practice by reading things he receives in the mail like medical forms, housing letters, insurance statements, and tax forms. We had fun one time when I brought 3 different carryout menus to practice reading. His work ethic is second to none.

When I asked him why he wanted to learn to read, he said, “so he could read the paper and see what was going on in the world”. He enjoys reading books and puts in a great deal of time in reading. He is currently reading The Black Stallion and it has brought up a great conversation about a pony he once had.

His recommendation to anyone who wants to learn to read: “It’s never too late!”

Student Spotlight: Meet Cameisha

February 20, 2019

Tutor Sharon Jolie and Cameisha

_______________________

“I met Cameisha in the Spring of 2018 when the Literacy Council started tutoring at the Chrysalis House for women. Cameisha wanted to work on improving her math skills overall, but early on I found her to be ready and willing to work on any problems I presented to her. She always did “homework” during the week and was ready to have it checked the next week.

When my fall semester of classes began at AACC I had to relinquish my students at Chrysalis House to other tutors and found out later that Cameisha had been accepted into a college nursing program! Cameisha reached out to me and asked if I would be willing to continue tutoring her in math. I agreed and we have been working together almost every Tuesday all semester.

I look forward to my time with Cameisha on Tuesdays. If we don’t meet, I miss talking with her. She is such a positive person. Her little one often sits with us and I see how motivated Cameisha is to be successful in her college pursuits but also in her role as mother. It’s a juggling act and she’s succeeding!”

Sharon Jolie

Sarah’s Tutor Tips: Make It Fun!

February 19, 2019

Tutor:

Elsa wants to write grammatically correct sentences. She can write the first sentence correctly, then she runs all her words together. Part of the problem is that she does not have a clear understanding of the major components of a sentence – subject-verb-object. We are starting at square one and I think she is getting frustrated with the grammar. Any ideas on how to approach this from another angle?

Sarah:

The articles on the website www.newsinlevels.com are written in three levels, and the sentences show good examples of subject-verb agreement. One can read the more complex statements of level 3, and simplify them by reading level 1 to show students the difference. (And the video/audio is read in matching levels).

I also REALLY like the free educational website: http://interactivesites.weebly.com/ There is a dropdown menu for Language Arts that include games for ABCs, GRAMMAR, and SENTENCES, and more.

This site should help students build proper sentences. The graphics are amazing and make learning interesting. I’ve tried several games: “Does it make sense?”, “Kung-Fu Sentences”, (ESL Do You Want to Be a Millionaire?), “What is in here” puzzle pieces, “Who, How, Type, What, Where” building silly sentences… etc. These games are fun!!!!

Tutors should take time playing with the games to find the ones that they think their student will enjoy. I like clicking on the WRONG answers to get an explanation of the RIGHT answers on the interactive weebly site.

Also, when writing a composition it’s okay to put all your thoughts down (even in run-on jumbles). BUT you do have to go back, cut and paste, drag and drop…, to create and make proper sense out of those thoughts to make them understandable to your readers. When practicing for writing essays, one should take 2 to 3 minutes to brainstorm ideas to create an order for writing your final passage.

News-in-Levels is a good example of simple sentences and thoughts (level 1) to adding lots of adjectives/adverbs/ details in (level 3).

GRAMMAR:

The way we speak and write can be very different. All of us have to learn to speak and write correct grammar. There are games for that, too, on the Interactive Weebly site. This site is free and wonderful!

Sarah Gardner

Students Seek Reading and/or Math Tutoring

February 18, 2019

Here is a sample of our motivated new students who would like to receive free tutoring in reading and/or math:

T. is a young woman who was referred to us by her parole officer. She dropped out of school in 11^th grade and would like to get her GED.

L. is a client at Chrysalis House who needs math help to complete her GED.

H. is a mother of six who dropped out of school in 7^thgrade and would like literacy and math instruction to get her GED.

M. was just one class short of graduating from high school in 1994 and would now like to get her GED.

D. was referred to us from People Encouraging People. He dropped out of school in 9^th grade and wants to sharpen his reading and writing skills to improve his job opportunities.

D. spent his earlier years as a seaman and would now like to get his GED.

D. is a young mother who wants to enroll in Anne Arundel Community College (AACC), but first needs to improve her reading skills.

A. was referred to us by another student. He would like to improve his English skills in order to advance at work.

D. is a young man referred to us by TIME Org. who is eager to get his GED but first needs help with his reading and comprehension skills.

K. graduated from high school but would like help with her reading/writing skills to improve her chances of getting a job.

G. was referred to us by Sarah’s House. He dropped out of school in 10^th grade and would like help to pass his driver license test.

B. is in her early 40s and needs help with her math skills to complete her GED.

Student Success: Sonia Kaur

February 15, 2019

Tutor Suzy Ochs and Sonia Kaur

_____________________

Congratulations to Sonia Kaur for successfully earning her high school diploma in January! Tutors Phil Tawes and Suzy Ochs have worked with Sonia since 2014 to help her achieve her GED and gain her CNA and LPN certifications. During this time, Sonia worked 2 to 3 jobs while also raising her three young children. She has passed the Nursing Assistant and the Medicine Aid class at Anne Arundel Community College, and now works as a patient technician at Crofton Rehabilitation and privately as a caregiver.

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →