ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, January 20, 1997 TAG: 9701200005
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
AND IT REALLY DOES HELP some children learn how to read.
Pointing a finger at words can help children learn to read, Elaine Landry says.
Landry teaches first-graders how to use their fingers to look at words - to see the beginning and the end.
She also gets them to focus on the middle letters, which she said are the hardest part of words as children are learning to read.
The first-graders become more aware of the spaces between words, another key to learning to read correctly, when they point to letters and move their finger beneath them, Landry said.
Using the index finger is part of her method for teaching 6-year-old boys and girls to develop a threefold cue system for reading: Do the words make sense? Do they sound right? Look right?
Learning to read is more than just memorizing words, sounding them out and stringing them together, she said.
"I try to teach them a system for dealing with new words that they haven't seen," Landry said. "You have to show them how to do it."
Good readers teach themselves how to look at words and make sense of them, but some children need help in acquiring the skills, she said.
She said a regular teacher with 18 to 20 children in a classroom usually doesn't have the time to give individual attention. And the teacher probably won't catch all of the children's bad habits as they begin to learn to read.
But Landry, a reading specialist at Round Hill Elementary in Roanoke, is trained to detect and correct young children's reading problems.
She can work with the pupils intensively because she has only four in a class at a time.
The children in Round Hill's program receive 35 minutes of intensive reading instruction every day. Landry teaches them cues through reading in context, sentence writing, focusing on the sound and meaning of words, and other skills.
"At this stage, we try to prevent them from establishing bad [reading] habits," she said, adding that that's why it's important to test them and detect potential problems.
The first-graders also take a book home each night and read to their parents. They must return the book the next day with a form signed by the parent.
Round Hill's reading classes are a model for Gov. George Allen's proposal to identify and help first-graders who don't read well.
Allen has recommended that the General Assembly approve $450,000 for diagnostic reading tests for all of Virginia's first-graders. He also has proposed $6.2 million more for special reading instruction for youngsters who don't pass the screening.
"This early remediation program will provide students with an additional, on average, about 21/2 hours of instructional time per week" in small groups, Allen said.
"We don't want folks waiting until they get to high school to get up to sixth-grade reading level."
Sixth grade is when the state's Literacy Passport Test of basic skills is first given. Students must pass the test to graduate from high school.
All first-graders at Round Hill are tested during the first week of school to determine their reading strengths and weaknesses. The diagnostic tests cover letter identification, word recognition, writing vocabulary, ability to hear sounds in words, and other skills.
Children are placed in "literacy support" groups based on the test scores, classroom teachers' recommendations and parents' consent.
School officials do not call it a "remedial" program because of the negative connotations of the term, Landry said.
"Sure, [Allen's proposal] would help if we could add another reading specialist and instructional aide [at Round Hill]," she said.
"I think it's a good proposal because we could use more help. We feel we're doing what he's recommending."
Landry concentrates on working with first-graders, but she spends part of her day helping all regular classroom teachers at the school improve their skills in reading instruction.
Round Hill has a half-time reading resource teacher for second-graders and a half-time classroom assistant for kindergartners.
If the school had another reading specialist and assistant, Landry said, she could devote all of her time to first-graders and first-grade teachers.
Allen's proposal would enable other schools in Roanoke and other localities to expand their reading instruction. And it would help school divisions without such programs for first-graders to begin them.
Roanoke has a reading program for children in the early grades at all elementary schools, but it varies at different schools.
The city uses a combination of about two dozen federally funded teachers for disadvantaged children and 15 locally funded reading resource teachers. Some work mainly with first-graders; others help children in other grades.
Salem and Roanoke County use local funds to pay for special instruction for first-graders who have been diagnosed with potential reading problems.
"We would be glad to get state funds to help pay for it because it's expensive," said Lorraine Lange, language arts supervisor for Roanoke County schools.
The county provides one-on-one instruction for 30 minutes a day for first-graders who have been identified as needing help with reading, she said. The county has trained some regular teachers and assistant principals to work with children at schools where reading specialists are unavailable.
Landry said intensive instruction and frequent reading are needed for first-graders with reading deficiencies.
"Practice reading at this stage is just like practicing to learn to play the piano," she said. "Unless the children practice the skills they've learned, they lose them."
Parents can play a key role by listening to their children read, Landry said. This is why she requires each child to take home a book nightly and read it to a parent. The children have cloth bags that were made by Landry's mother for carrying their reading books.
"It's critical to have parents involved and be supportive of the child's reading," she said.
Landry keeps in close contact with parents by phone or by visits to homes without phones to make sure they stay involved. Most parents do stick with the program because they want the best for their children, she said.
School officials explain to parents that their children should not be considered a reading failure at this age, she said. The first-graders are just beginning to learn to read and the goal is to prevent them from falling behind their classmates.
Many students who are selected for the literacy groups have difficulty making sound-to-letter connections, Landry said. "The intent is to clear up this difficulty before reading problems occur."
Other youngsters have developed confusion between language and print or rely too heavily on one component in reading, she said.
Landry works with seven literacy groups a day - 28 children, or approximately 25 percent of the first-graders at Round Hill.
"We focus initially on the bottom [one-fourth of students], but we move children out of the literacy groups when they are ready and this opens up more spots," she said.
"The intention is to accelerate them as quickly as possible so that they are reading at the classroom mean and can function independently without the support group," she said.
As children are moved out of the program, others are selected to fill the slots.
Allen's reading proposal is unlikely to become a partisan issue in the state legislature, said Del. Clifton "Chip" Woodrum, D-Roanoke. The Democrats don't have an alternate proposal on reading.
Lt. Gov. Don Beyer, the likely Democratic candidate for governor, supports Allen's proposal, according to a spokesman.
"If we can diagnose potential reading problems in the first grade and prevent them, I think that's good," Woodrum said. "I want to hear more about the problem, but I don't think it will become controversial."
Allen, who proposed reductions in education money two years ago and opposed acceptance of Goals 2000 federal funds, has reversed his position and now favors more spending on education and has agreed to take the federal money.
"When a man is coming our way, I see no reason to impede him," Woodrum said.
Allen's reading proposal seems to be a good idea, said state Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke.
"Reading is fundamental and a cornerstone of education," Edwards said. "I can support anything that helps children learn to read."
LENGTH: Long : 155 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: JANEL RHODA/Staff. 1. First-grader Daytona Brown soundsby CNBout the word ``have'' with the help of reading specialist Elaine
Landry at Round Hill Elementary School in Roanoke. Classmates Collin
Grubbs (left), Justin Matthews (right) and Britney Booth (behind)
listen. 2. Second-grader Justin Kesler listens to Landry explain
some work. color.