One simple challenge in finding time for this is keeping the children from taking all their toys or materials out and spreading them around. This leads to the daily (or hourly) clean up ritual, not only a time waster but a source of conflict. I built this storage cabinet that keeps the other items until the child puts one back. See a video of how it works. Prevention is usually a better option than solving problems. By preventing this one small time waster not only can education become more effective, but the idea of making improvements by preventing problems is illustrated.

What do you think?

If you investigate the research by Dr Ratey brain research specialist, he will give you tips on improving the students reading ability by giving them more physical activity. Cutting edge research that is exciting.

Physical education can not only help solve the childhood obesity crisis, physical activity can improve academic performance, including reading, plus another bonus, physical activity will improve student behavior.

After finishing Dr Ratey’s book, pick up Brain Rules by Dr John Medina. A must read for anyone connected to public education.

Thank you,

Sharon Kyle

How did she do it? I was privileged to be in her class, so I know first hand. She used a combination of phonics and sightreading, for one thing (a necessity for readers of English, where phonics is not always the key). She focused on rapid recognition of words and phrases so students became fluent readers. She backed this up with library books, always available on a table in her classroom. She told stories to the class, (she could have read them, but she was a great story teller and added so much drama and expression that the book would have been an impediment!) so that they would recognize the rhythms of the English language, and would look forward to the drama to be enjoyed from reading.

The class was divided into reading groups. My own group had only three children, all of whom were natural readers who had already grasped the key to reading on their own. Every day, each of six groups came and sat in small chairs at my mother’s knees to read and be helped by her. The materials were chosen by her from available resources for appropriateness to each group. She spent hours making her own materials, flash cards and phrases, for instance. In our group, we read from books borrowed from higher grades or from library books. The whole class participated together in drills where phrases were displayed and read, sometimes individually, and sometimes as a group. She demonstrated sometimes by putting a word ending such as “ill” up before the class, and then having people read what resulted when she put different letters in front, such as “P,” “B,” and “H.”

When each group was in front of the room, all the other children worked quietly at their desks, either reading silently, writing, or perhaps working with puzzles or other available materials. I know there were children who had difficulty with this, and my mother worked constantly with children who could not sit still, or had mental or emotional problems. I know that all her students spoke English, so she didn’t have that problem to deal with when I was her student. Later, she had all those problems as well. However, until the end, she continued to work with small groups, to meet individual needs, and to teach many generations of students to read and to enjoy reading. She was honored as a master teacher of reading. I know that she had many special gifts, but I think her methods could be duplicated by many others, especially with the help of classroom aids, and I think they would bring a great deal of success. My mother would have been horrified by “No Child Left Behind,” because she would have felt crippled by the lock step behavior it would have forced on her. With reading instruction, you need to use what works, and what will always work is small group instruction on the level of the individual student, with plenty of practice and with enthusiasm on the part of the instructor.

Sharon Toji