Letting go of "Letter of the Week"

This week, the article Letting Go of “Letter of the Week” stood out to me because it made me think about reading outside the classroom differently. In class last week, we discussed whether reading includes symbols, or only letters and words. The “telephone pictionary” game illustrated the use of both words and pictures in literacy, and I think this correlates with the example Donna Bells uses in her kindergarten class. When she asked who could read, there was no reply. However, when she asked the students what a McDonald’s bag was, they all knew the answer – even if they did not speak English.

            When I think about how this applies to my future classroom, I think of how I can apply this idea to students have how given up on reading. Once they realize how much they can already read, they will be motivated to learn more. As Bell says, “having established they could read, we were off and running on our way to unlocking great secrets and joys as readers.”

 

 As an educator, how do you feel about using commercialized materials in the classroom?

 

Cunningham, Patricia M. and Richard L. Allington. Classrooms That Work: They Can All Read and Write. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. 2011. 28-47. Print

Bell and Jarvis.  (2002).  Letting Go of “Letter of the Week.”  Primary Voices K-6.