Chapter six was packed full of ideas. It seems that each and every page had concepts and activities that I wanted to test and try out immediately. I also wish that I had a chapter like this under my belt before I began teaching first grade. One of the parts that really stood out for me was about using invented spelling. Previously when I would teach my class to sound out words and write a short sentence about the picture they had drawn it was difficult. A student would ask how to spell a word and I would help them figure out all of the correct letters. Of course, there are many letters that are silent and letters that don't sound the way they should. By me showing the "correct" way to write the words I think it made them more cautious of using invented spelling. After reading the section on "Assessing phonemic awareness by means of invented spelling" I see that invented spelling is a wonderful way to assess what phonemes they are hearing.
The section on early intervention programs and reading recovery programs was very insightful. The link between both of them is that even with great instruction, and even one on one instruction the progress made is not always an indicator of future success. Future success depends on what is done in the classroom and afterwards in the home. As with many things, teachers can gather the bricks and set the foundation but it is what happens after the walls go up that spells success for the student.
I thought there were lots of ideas in Chapter 6 as well. I was also really happy to read all the information in Clay. It helped ease some of my stress in wondering how to give some of the assessments. Although I have to say the SAND book was actually quite tough for me to give. Your reading a book, referring to questions to ask the student, turing the pages, writing down there responses. There was so much to do and I did not feel prepared for it as I was administering it, even though I thought I would be fine after reading Clays info. I felt all the other tests I administered went really well and were quite easy. Its just that SAND book was not fun for me. :( Overall the reading was helpful in guidance and it was not so bland which made it MUCH easier to read and understand. :)
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