Spring 1999
A Refereed Publication for Reading Recovery®
Teacher Leaders, Site Coordinators, and
Trainers in Canada and the United States.
In This Issue…
Cognitive and Emotional
Development of the Mind: . . . . 1
Language Patterns that May Help or
Hinder Learning: . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Cognitive and Emotional Development of
the Mind: Insights from Playing the Button Jar Game
CAROL A. LYONS, THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
Notes from the Editor . . . . . . . . 11
Teacher Leader Communications
Network Initiated . . . . . . . . . 12
Teacher Leader Awards . . . . . . . 13
Marie Clay to Headline the National
RR Conference . . . . . . . . . . 14
Teacher Leader Institute . . . . . . 14
Website to Add New Features
. 14
Copyright Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
A Third Chance to Learn . . . . . . 15
Director, NDEC . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
Publications and Products . . . . . 18
Membership Application . . . . . . 19
Reading Recovery Conferences 20
Network News
The Network News is produced
twice annually for Reading
Recovery educators in Canada
and the United States. Editor:
Dianne Frasier
Texas Woman’s University
Harris County Dept. of Ed.
c/o 3715 West Pine Brook Way
Houston, Texas 77059
713-694-6300 ext.312
Fax 281-461-6551
[email protected]
Editorial Review Board
Billie Askew
Texas Woman's University
Irene Fountas
Lesley College
Paula Moore
University of Maine
M. Trika Smith-Burke
New York University
Network News
Published by RRCNA
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www.readingrecovery.org
© 1998 RRCNA
All rights reserved.
T
he button is a common practical object
that most people use regularly throughout their daily lives. We generally give
little thought to these ordinary things, except
perhaps when we cannot button our pants or
blouse because one is missing. Yet, these
mundane objects were the center of my son’s
world from the time he was 5 months old
until his first birthday. And after thinking
about the many hours the two of us sat on the
floor and talked while playing “the button jar
game,” I suspect that playing with buttons
contributed greatly to his cognitive and emotional growth and
development. For me, buttons
are powerful symbols, full of
childhood and parenthood
memories and meaning.
Grandma Mueller made
most of my clothes until I
entered third grade. When I was
about four years old, I started
going with Grandma to the
Marshall Field’s Store to help
her pick out the McCall pattern,
fabric, thread, and buttons for
my outfits. I liked to find unusual buttons that
had different colors, shapes, textures and
sizes. I especially enjoyed getting “fancy buttons” which had pictures of animals, flowers,
clowns, and holiday figures. After Grandma
made my dress or overalls, it was my job to
help her sew the buttons on the outfits.
Buttons we did not use were put into a large
glass pickle jar.
I inherited Grandma’s sewing machine,
sewing box, and gallon glass button jar 27
years ago as part of her household goods. I
convinced my husband (who was not thrilled
with the idea) to rent a U-Haul trailer so that
we could transport the sewing machine and
button jar from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to
Bristol, Connecticut. Not knowing how to
operate the sewing machine, I stored it and
the large glass button jar in a spare bedroom.
When Kenny, our son, was five months
old, he started to crawl. Once on the floor, he
immediately went into the spare bedroom. He
spied the button jar and made squealing noises until I put it on the floor. Then, while making babbling sounds, Kenny would try to
touch the buttons through the glass. He
seemed to be fascinated with the many colors,
sizes, and shapes of the hundreds of buttons
that filled the jar.
After several days of looking and trying to touch the buttons through the glass, Kenny’s
gestures and loud babbling
sounds suggested that he wanted to feel those colored
objects. I unscrewed the lid,
turned the jar over, and
dumped a few of the larger
buttons on the hardwood floor.
With dancing eyes and loud
screeching noises, Kenny
watched and listened to the
clicking and tapping sounds as
the buttons scattered across the floor. He
immediately started to crawl after them and
attempt to pick them up. However, his fingers
were too little, so with my help we pushed
each button into one pile. He would listen to
the swishing sounds as we stirred the buttons
around on the floor and let them fall through
our fingers. Then, with me doing most of the
work, one-by-one we returned the buttons to
the jar. The following play routine lasted
about three weeks.
Kenny crawls into the spare bedroom
and, making loud noises, “asks me to come
into the room.” I come. He points to the glass
button jar and through gesture while babbling
directs me to put the jar on the floor. I comcontinued on next page
2
NETWORK NEWS
Spring 1999
Cognitive and Emotional Development of the Mind ———
continued from previous page
ply. Then watching my every move, he talks (babbles) to himself in an excited way as I unscrew the lid and spill between ten
and fifteen of the larger buttons on the hardwood floor. Kenny
watches closely as the buttons scatter across the floor, crawls
after each one, and tries to grasp them with outstretched fingers. He has the idea, but not the coordination, to place his fingers around the button to pick it up. After several unsuccessful
attempts, I pick the button up and show him how to hold it. As
soon as it is placed in his hand, Kenny tries to put the button in
his mouth. I prevent him from accomplishing this action, pull
his hand away from his mouth while telling him the button is
not food and if he eats it, he will get sick. After giving me that
“poor me” look, we put the button in the jar.
On one occasion, however, he did manage to put the button in his mouth. After taking it out, I told him in a very firm
way that the next time he tried to put a button in his mouth, the
button jar would be put away and the game would end. The
very next day he tested my warning and learned early on that
what I said, I meant. The button jar was put away and our routine ended for several days. Everytime he went to the spare
bedroom and pointed to the jar, I would shake my head and say,
“You can touch the buttons after you promise not to put the button in your mouth. One day when I asked Kenny if he was
going to put a button in his mouth, he shook his head indicating
no and our game resumed.
When Kenny was able to successfully push the buttons in
one pile without my help, I showed him how to sort the buttons
by size and color. I was careful to link the language I was using
to the action taking place. For example, I would say “let’s put
all the big buttons into this pile and the little buttons here,” as
we pushed them into the appropriate group. With my help and
accompanying talk about what was happening, Kenny learned
how to sort buttons by color and size. By the time he was eight
months old, Kenny had learned how to associate a word to
identify different piles of colored buttons, but he could not yet
produce the word to let you know how he classified them.
After he learned to sort buttons by color and size, I showed
him how to count the buttons in each pile. When he was 10
months old, Kenny pointed out that some of the buttons had
holes and others had no holes on top. Some buttons had two
holes, others had four holes. Ken, not me, had discovered
another classification system. The more he touched the buttons,
the more sensitive he became to how they felt. Some were
shiny and smooth, like the brass buttons on Dad’s sport coat;
others were dark and rough, like the buttons on Mom’s black
winter coat. He had not acquired a word to label the concepts,
but he noticed differences and similarities among buttons, thus
completing the task visually. It was not until he was one, however, that Ken could use a word (e.g., smooth, shiny, red) to
describe how each button looked and felt.
Ken never seemed to be bored playing the button jar game.
As he became more adept at classifying the buttons by shapes,
colors, number of holes etc., I decided to make the game more
challenging. I introduced him to “Can I trick you?” In this
game, two different categories were used to group the buttons.
Kenny had to examine each group of buttons and identify the
categories. For example, I would place all the black buttons
with four holes into one pile and animal buttons with no holes
into another pile. Kenny would look at the piles and identify
the category systems used to group the buttons. After several
weeks playing this game, he wanted to sort the buttons into different category systems and try to trick me. We continued to
play this “Can I trick you,” increasing the number of category
systems in which to group the buttons, until he was almost two
years old.
As he became more competent playing “Can I trick you?”
another dimension was added to the game. I would put a red
button into the white pile and ask him what’s wrong, pretending
that I did not understand the problem. Ken, squealing and
laughing, would take the red button out of the white pile and
tell me I was wrong and show me where the red button should
go. Then it would be his turn to try and confuse me. His plan
for tricking me,however, was always revealed in his self-talk.
For example, he would whisper that he was going to put a
white button in the red pile and then watch to see if I caught his
error. I would pretend I did not know what was wrong and he
would laugh with delight and then tell me his mistake. In his
Dendrites
Synapse
Chemical messages diffuse
across the gap (synapse)
between the axon and
dendrites of other axons.
Output axon
Neuron
Cell body
Transmits signals
from the cell body
to other cells
through synapses.
Input axon
Transmits signals to the
cell body.
Myelin
With repeated use a white fatty
insulating substance (myelin) wraps
around the axons and facilitates
speed and efficiency of transmission.
Dendrites
Receive electrical
impulses and send them
via the input axon to the
cell body.
Figure 1:The transmission of signals (information)
through one neuron.
continued on next page
Spring 1999
NETWORK NEWS
3
Cognitive and Emotional Development of the Mind ———
continued from previous page
baby book I wrote that at 12 months of age, Kenny’s and my
favorite thing to do was playing games with the buttons in
Grandma’s button jar.
What did Kenny learn while playing the button jar game
during his first year of life? Recent neurological research
(Damasio, 1994; LeDoux,1996) suggests that these experiences
may have provided the foundation for cognitive and emotional
development that impacted his learning potential and future for
a lifetime. In the following section, I will discuss how and why
this may have occurred.
How the Brain Grows
The billions of tiny active units making up the nervous
system are nerve cells, neurons, and glial cells. The neuron
cells are designed to communicate electrochemically with one
another. The noncommunicating glial cells support, nourish,
and insulate the neuron cell.
Each neuron has a cell body that contains many short,
hairlike tubular receptors called dendrites that receive information from other neurons and a taillike axon extension that sends
the neuron’s message to other neurons. The neuron receives
electrical signals with its dendrites from the axons of neighboring neurons and sends the signal down its own axon to others
via chemical junctions called synapses. Synaptic connections,
where learning begins, are strengthened by repeated use (Healy,
1994).
As electrical messages are processed over and over again,
the neuron matures and the axons, over which messages travel
to other cells, become coated with myelin, an insulating fatty
substance that helps the efficiency and speed of transmission.
Before myelination, messages travel haphazardly and inefficiently. There is little myelin present at birth, and it takes twenty to thirty years to finish the process. Myelin formation
enables more efficient brain use.
Babies are born with over 100 billion neurons that become
organized into systems for perceiving, hearing, talking, touching, thinking, and remembering. At birth these basic neural networks are already operating. Individual neurons are responding
to stimuli seen, felt, heard, touched, and tasted, and then transmit these signals to other neurons. We do not teach a child to
recognize familiar faces or voices; we provide opportunities for
adaptations to the neural system that is already operating.
Learning becomes a powerful dialogue between genetics
and environment. Stimulating experiences create complex reciprocal connections among neural networks (Sylwester, 1995).
Recent research (Greenspan, 1997) has demonstrated that the
growth of these neural networks—and the quality of individual’s thought—is directly related to the child’s environmental
experiences.
As soon as Kenny started to crawl, he would head for the
spare bedroom. I believe his motivation was Grandma’s colorful button jar. He was especially excited when the sun was
shining and the colors reflected off the walls. Research (Healy,
1994) shows that initially most input for the infant is through
visual and motor systems each of which have complex neural
structures.
At first, Kenny needed my help to push the buttons into a
pile. We pushed the buttons in a slow deliberate way and I
organized the experience. After several weeks of routine and
daily practice, he did not need my help. Kenny was able to
crawl to a specific button, reach for it, touch it, and move it to
a designated place on the floor. I watched and talked about
what he was doing as he pushed the buttons into piles.
According to Healy (1994), moving objects slowly builds
visual connections and knowledge about space. Research suggests that engaging in activities that involve a variety of patterns, textures, and colors may help integrate sensory experience. Describing and talking about the action as it occurs links
auditory and visual input. Learning to focus on one or more
sensory modalities (motor, visual, and auditory) requires maturation and practice.
As Kenny became more skillful and confident completing
one kind of activity, task difficulty increased. For example, he
learned how to
• organize and coordinate his hand and fingers and thumb in
order to pick up a button, and sort buttons by size and
color and push them into separate groups;
• produce a word (e.g., red) to identify a specific group of
buttons;
• count the number of buttons in each pile;
• recognize similarities and differences among buttons;
Figure 2:The functional organization of the brain,
A. Luria.
continued on next page
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NETWORK NEWS
Spring 1999
Cognitive and Emotional Development of the Mind ———
continued from previous page
• group buttons using two or more classification systems
(color and texture);
• recognize another person’s classification system;
• plan and create a problem to have another solve;
• regulate his actions through self-talk.
Research (Greenspan, 1997) reveals that the types of stimulation infants receive in the environment have dramatic effects
on the neural growth and cognitive and emotional development. As raw material for thinking and learning, nature equips
the infant’s brain with an excess of neurons. Healy (1994)
writes:
At birth, much cortical tissue is uncommitted, “plastic” in
its ability to develop. Even while the brain grows rapidly
during the first two years of life, extra neurons are dying off
as cells compete to make connections. When an activity is
carried out, the brain stimulates itself to repeat the neural
relays involved. (p. 37)
Each child must build individual neural networks for
thinking: this development comes from within, using outside
stimuli as material for growth (Healy, 1994). I believe that
playing with Grandma’s button jar activated various neurons in
Ken’s brain in such a way as to myelineate axons and create
many dendrictic branches for each neuron. Speed and efficiency increased with repetition and daily routine. Task difficulty
increased as Ken’s competencies increased. He had the opportunity to select, wonder, experiment, and act, and in the process
build his neural network.
How the Brain Functions
Luria (1973) proposed that learning involves three distinct
but interrelated functional units of the brain. Unit 1, located in
the brain stem, is responsible for arousal and regulating wakefulness. The reticular activating system (RAS) located in Unit 1
at the top of the brainstem serves as a gatekeeper, allowing
stimuli to enter the brain and to be relayed through the limbic
systems to the appropriate cortical regions of the brain. The
RAS plays a powerful role in directing and sustaining attention.
Attention is the foundation of learning. For most cognitive
actions, individuals have voluntary control over the RAS.
Ken’s initial interest in seeing and touching the buttons
and his ability to sustain attention in subsequent activities
occurred because he determined the stimuli to let into or keep
out of consciousness. While playing with the buttons, Ken
learned how to focus, regulate, and sustain attention.
The second functional unit of the brain includes the occipital lobe (vision), temporal lobe (hearing, both auditory stimuli
and language), and parietal lobe (touch, motor, and spatial
understanding). These three lobes serve as short-term memory
banks for auditory, visual, and motor activity. Each individual
has instinctive drives to regulate the amount of auditory, visual,
and tactile stimulation that come into the brain.
Activities that enable the child to integrate and coordinate
functions of occipital, temporal, and parietal lobes of the brain
facilitate neural and cognitive growth. Through play with the
buttons, Ken learned how to integrate and coordinate actions
that involved these three lobes of the brain. He learned to:
• Coordinate and control hand and eye movements while
pushing buttons into groups.
• Integrate and connect gesture, touch, sounds, and words.
The third functional unit of the brain, located in the frontal
lobe, is responsible for programming, regulation, and verification (Luria,1973). Luria believed that development of the
frontal lobes, which control the attentional system (RAS),
depends on using words to guide behavior. Through innerspeech children learn how to problem-solve and plan actions.
Varied experiences with the buttons provided opportunities
for Ken to learn how to program, regulate and verify his
actions. He learned how to
• See relationships among buttons and organize/classify
them at the sensory level.
• Associate a specific word to describe a button.
• Recognize patterns, similarities, and differences among
buttons.
• Categorize buttons into discrete groups according to a
plan of action.
• Develop a flexible classification system to categorize buttons. (white, two-holes)
• Provide rationales for Mom’s category system.
• Develop a feedback system to monitor behavior.
(Catching Mom’s and his own errors while putting buttons
into specified groups).
• Use language (self-talk) to regulate his behavior.
• Correct his own behavior.
The combination and interaction of the attentional
system—reticular activating system (RAS), the limbic system
(emotional brain) and frontal lobes (cognitive brain)—is an
important factor in a child’s ability to learn how to learn. In the
next section we take a closer look at the role of emotions in
learning and how the button jar game may have facilitated
Ken’s emotional development.
How Learning is Enhanced:The Emotional Side
Attention is the foundation of learning. Individuals determine what they will and will not attend to because they control
and regulate their reticular activating system (RAS). As the
frontal lobes develop and mature, linkages are made to the
RAS. The limbic system (emotional brain) also plays a critical
role in attention. The limbic system is an integral part of the
brain circuitry that activates and directs messages to the higher
cortical regions (e.g. frontal lobes) of the brain. The RAS (gatekeeper), located in the brain stem, is responsible for arousal
and along with the limbic system (emotional brain) creates a
loop that regulates what is learned and how one feels about the
learning experience. This loop acts as a feedback system that
enables the learner to confirm, check, and/or correct behavior
Spring 1999
NETWORK NEWS
5
Cognitive and Emotional Development of the Mind ———
continued from previous page
while at the same time have a positive or negative response to
the learning experience. When material and/or tasks are too
difficult, individuals oftentimes feel overwhelmed and anxious.
When this occurs, they may have a flight or fight response and
as a result the arousal system (RAS) shuts down, the child
withdraws, and attention is greatly diminished (Goleman,
1997). Conversely, when tasks are easy but challenging and the
individual feels safe and confident that he/she has a reasonable
chance to meet with success, focused attention increases and
opportunities to learn how to learn increase.
Recent research (Damasio, 1994; LeDoux, 1996;
Pert,1997) reports that positive emotions facilitate chemical
substances (neurotransmitters) in the brain that help messages
cross synapses resulting in effective learning. Moreover, particular neurotransmitters (e.g., serotonin) are emitted when the
child feels rested, successful, in control, and secure. Fear, anxiety, pressure, and exhaustion may make it impossible for the
neurons to send or receive the designed signals. Well-intentioned parents may unwittingly short-circuit the neural pathways to cognitive and emotional development by forcing children to learn something they choose to teach. This tactic will
backfire when children (and/or parents) become anxious and
upset.
Infants need safety, love, and supportive conversations
with their parents to facilitate brain growth. Active interest and
mental effort by the child are major factors that facilitate the
development of neural networks. Children want to please their
parents and sense that their parents are happy with their developing competencies. Children who receive positive reinforcement and support are likely to become actively engaged and
take risks when introduced to new tasks.
The following guidelines, adapted from Healy (1994),
facilitate infant’s cognitive and emotional growth and enhance
learning potential.
• Get involved when you have time to be patient.
• Follow the child’s lead. (The RAS will remain open)
• Let the child be the learner.
• Don’t teach; facilitate.
• Make sure the child is actively interested and involved.
• Repeat an activity many times to firm up neural networks
for proficiency ... as long as interest and engagement will
allow.
• Provide positive encouragement for active exploration
and investigation.
• Call attention to objects and help the child to focus on
one sense at a time.
• Link specific language to specific actions.
• Provide opportunities for the child to interact with objects
through auditory, visual, and/or tactile input.
• Talk while demonstrating. (Language is a means by which
the brain develops its ability to act as a control center for
thinking, learning, planning, and decision-making).
• Provide safety and protection in order to explore new
objects and situations.
• Develop and abide by a set of rules.
• Provide a calm, caring environment with reasonable limits
but without fear of punishment or failure.
• Provide stress-free loving interpersonal experiences and
visual-spatial activities that involve touching, feeling,
holding, and exploring objects.
• Establish firm limits.
• Establish predictable routines.
• Teach your child what “no” means, but not punitively.
• As the child gains experience, make sure he/she has more
say in making choices and negotiating them.
• Relinquish control and encourage the child to take over
some parts of the task and eventually all the task.
Grandma’s button jar provided many opportunities for
Ken and me to become partners in learning and enjoy the
process.
Ken’s ability to discriminate, compare, and contrast the
distinctive features (color, shape, size, texture, number of
holes) of hundreds of buttons and associate an abstract symbol
(word) to describe these specific features may have contributed
to his ability to learn strategies for forming categories and
organizing information that provided a foundation for further
learning (i.e., recognizing discrete features of print). At twelve
months of age, the circuitry of his brain (neurons) was becoming organized to intermesh in a thick tangle of communication.
Ken was developing the capacity to see a letter symbol as
a distinct entity and discriminate one letter from another, foundational, fundamental and necessary factors in becoming literate (Lyons, 1999). This may explain why and how Ken was
able to read and write complete sentences before he was 3 1/2
years old. Some Reading Recovery students have not yet
developed these complex sets of understandings nor acquired
the brain circuitry and capacity to promote this learning.
Implications for Reading Recovery Teachers
Ken’s experiences with Grandma’s button jar demonstrate
how emotional and cognitive growth are inseparable in the
learning process. This finding is supported in an extensive
body of neurological and psychological research (Damasio,
1994; Greenspan, 1997; LeDoux, 1996) that documents how
emotions are essential to rational thinking and an inseparable
part of the learning process. Unfortunately teachers oftentimes
teach to develop student’s cognitive skills and forget the emotional origins of intellectual development. Greenspan (1997)
believes that “intellectual learning shares common origins with
emotional learning” (p. 219). Gaining insights into this body of
knowledge is critical to developing effective teaching practices
for all children, especially those who are struggling.
Reading Recovery children enter first grade with limited
prior literacy knowledge and generally a low repertoire of literacy skills. Many of these children may have missed out on
rich, early childhood experiences that stimulate and support
6
NETWORK NEWS
Spring 1999
Cognitive and Emotional Development of the Mind —
continued from previous page
cognitive and emotional growth. Reading Recovery students
have the capacity to learn. What they need is a teacher who
knows how to help them use this capacity to learn how to
learn. The following list of suggestions may be helpful in
accomplishing this goal.
1) Identify and get in tune with what the child can do easily and finds difficult.
2) Create opportunities geared to the limited repertoire of
knowledge the child brings to the literacy task.
3) Know how to make it easy for the child to learn.
4) Use clear, straight forward, specific, consistent language to teach the task and develop a shared understanding of this language with the child. For example, a
child must understand what he/she is required to do
you say “Read it with your finger.”
5) Engage the child in conversations before, during, and
after the lesson so that he/she has many opportunities
to use language to make sense.
6) Systematically observe and evaluate what the child can
do independently and use this information to help the
child construct a processing system.
7) Follow the child’s behavior closely, making sure he/she
is active and successful.
8) Recognize, support, and praise the child’s efforts and
partially right responding.
9) Recognize when the task is too difficult or too easy and
adjust your teaching accordingly.
10) Convey through actions and words that the child can
and will learn and that you will be his/her partner in
this endeavor.
11) Assume that if the child is not learning to read and
write, the teacher has not yet found the right way to
teach him/her.
12) Always be the child’s advocate.
An extensive body of recent neuropsychological research
reveals that an individual’s capacity to learn depends on the
quality and quantity of active involvement, interest, and exploration they have in successful learning experiences. What the
teacher does, and how he/she does it, determines the nature
and quality of an individual’s thought processes for a lifetime.
References
Damasio, A.R. (1994). Descartes’error: Emotion, reason, and the
human brain. New York, NY:Avon Books.
Goleman, D. (1997) Emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam
Greenspan, S.I. (1997). The growth of the mind. Reading, MA:
Addison Wesley Publishing, Inc.
Healy, J.M. (1994). Your child’s growing mind. New York:
Doubleday.
LeDoux, J. (1996). The emotional brain. New York: Touchstone.
Luria, A. R. (1973). The working brain: An introduction to neuropsy chology. New York: Basic Books Inc.
Lyons, C. A. (1999). Letter learning in the early literacy classroom. In
I.C. Fountas & G.S. Pinnell (Eds.) Voices on word matters (pp.
57-66). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Pert, C.B. (1997). Molecules of emotion. New York: Scribner.
Sylwester, R. (1995). A celebration of neurons. Alexandria, VA:
ASCD.
Thank you
RESOURCES FOR READING!
The teacher leaders and Reading Recovery Council of
North America thank you for sponsoring a most outstanding
evening and beginning to our 1999 Teacher Leader Institute
in New Orleans.
We appreciate your support!. THANK YOU!!
Sincerely,
Year 2000
Teacher Leader
Institute
Mark your calendar now for the 2000
Teacher Leader Institute. Enter the new
millennium with excitement and challenge
in Reading Recovery. June 1 - 3, 2000, at
the Radisson Hotel South and Plaza Tower
in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
RRCNA Copyright Notice: Permission to quote is granted for passages contained in Network News under 500 words. Permission to
photocopy is granted for nonprofit, one-time classroom or library reserve use in educational institutions.
Spring 1999
NETWORK NEWS
7
Language Patterns that May Help or Hinder Learning:
Taking an Inventory of Your Assumptions
NANCY ANDERSON, TEXAS WOMAN’S UNIVERSITY
leaders and teachers to check on
s we coach Reading Recovery teachers and teach children, our efforts to support children to compose mean- their assumptions through examining patterns of language interingful text may result in frustration. Is this scene
actions in lessons.
familiar?
“So what did you do after school yesterday?” Terry
Language Learning &
shrugged his shoulders and in a monotone voice responded, “I
Communicative
don’t know.” Okay, I thought, maybe if I share something he
Competence
will get the idea. “Well, I read this really good book after
school. What did you do that was fun?” Silence, blank stare, “I
The goal of Reading
don’t know.” Okay, what do I do now? The example comes
Recovery is to help the child confrom one of my lessons and throughout the exchange, I
struct a self-extending system, which fuels further learning in
thought if I asked the right question, or brought up the right
the classroom. How do we do this? I suggest it is through our
topic, a conversation would follow.
purposeful conversations. Language learning opportunities
Conversation similar to the preceding example and Dr.
allow the child to develop communicative competencies
DeStephano’s presentation at the 1998 Teacher Leader Institute (Hymes, 1974) necessary for success in school.
prompted me to inventory my assumptions and actions
Learning lanCharacteristics of
related to language learning in Reading Recovery
guage is the process
lessons. Why is it important to take a closer look at the
whereby children,
Language Learning
patterns of language, or discourse, in the conversations
interacting with
• Learning language
in our lessons? Conversations occur throughout the
others, construct a
• Learning through language
lesson as we communicate with children and are not
language system.
limited to a procedural component of the lesson relat- • Learning about language
Halliday (1982)
ed to composing. Our theories of the world, literacy
asserted there are
learning, and children are manifested in the discourse
three interrelated
patterns evident in our interactions with children (Gee, 1990).
characteristics of language learning that take place side by
Essentially, laying our cards on the table, or talking about our
side, reinforcing each other, and are largely subconscious in
theories, enables us to refine and reshape our assumptions
the learner.
(Costa, 1994) regarding children, language, and learning.
As children are constructing a language system, they are
Because there is a relationship between language, conversaalso learning through language to make sense of their world.
tion, and thought (Bruner, 1983; Clay, 1998; Dewey, 1916;
They negotiate new learning as opportunities arise. Using both
Diaz, Neal, & Amaya-Williams, 1990; Luria, 1981; Vygotsky,
systems allows them to develop awareness of the nature of lan1986), accelerated progress and the rate at which children
guage and its forms and functions.
move through their Reading Recovery program intertwines
As children learn language, they are also learning the
with the discourse patterns we use. These discourse patterns
social and linguistic rules that enable us to speak and interact
are evidence of our theories of literacy and children. It is critiappropriately in different social situations (Hymes, 1974).
cal that teacher leaders invenThus, when children learn language, learn about
tory their assumptions about
language, and learn through language, they are also
Discourse in Reading
language. They often have to
learning how to understand and effectively engage
Recovery Lessons
problem solve with teachers
in the cultural practices in which language is
The teacher’s theories of
who are working with chilembedded (Gee, 1990).
dren who may be reluctant to the world, literacy learning,
If we view language learning in our lessons as
engage in conversations.
these three intertwined connected strands, I argue
Terry is an example of such a and children are manifested we would use discourse patterns that help children
child.
in language patterns during construct communicative competencies related to
How children construct
success in school. A first step is to examine our
lessons.
communicative competencies
assumptions about language variation and
(Hymes, 1994) necessary for
acknowledge that children entering school are
success in school is addressed first. Then, I use examples from already communicatively competent at home, a rich strength
my own lessons to examine discourse patterns that help or hin- we must tap.
der language learning. The article closes with a call to teacher
A
continued on next page
8
NETWORK NEWS
Spring 1999
Language Patterns that May Help or Hinder Learning ———
continued from previous page
Children and Communicative Competence
ing his language is somehow deficient. Perceiving a child from
Young children quickly develop communicative competen- a deficit model is a serious threat to accelerated progress in a
Reading Recovery program. Additionally, the deficit model
cies as they relate to their family. Observing the interactions
may hinder the development of communicative competence
between children and caregivers, you can begin to understand
necessary for success in school.
how parents show their children what is acceptable and unacKeeping in mind that we as teachers set the patterns of lanceptable in terms of behavior and communication in a variety
guage use in our lessons and the students are the ones that take
of settings—on the children’s playground, in a church service,
them aboard (Clay, 1998), we must constantly
or at a restaurant.
monitor
our assumptions regarding variations in
When children begin
Communicative
language that manifest themselves in our disschool, their competencies
Competence:
course. Our goal is to develop the communicawhich served them well at home
The knowledge of the social tive competence that is related to success in
may not be congruent with
school with children who may have already
schooling because they are difand linguistic rules that
experienced frustration and are hesitant to talk
ferent (not deficient!). For examto a teacher.
ple, a child may not be required enable us to speak and
to wait his or her turn to speak
interact appropriately in
Discourse Patterns
at home, yet in many classroom
different
social
situations.
In order to monitor our assumptions it is
settings, children must learn to
critical that we take careful records of the contake turns and raise their hand as
versational patterns we create in our lessons and note when
an indicator they have something to say. Few dinner conversathey are successful and when and why they may break down. If
tions include raising your hand to speak.
a child is reluctant to talk, it may be related to the typical interAll languages are rule-governed, patterned systems, which
actional patterns found in school. How we use language in the
are generative in nature (De Stephano, 1978). Differences do
setting of school is entrenched in our discourse pattern; it takes
not equal deficits; rather the deficits lie in our understandings
a conscious effort to move away from potentially limiting patof the learner and how they learn language. Children who are
terns and explore new ones.
learning English as a second language use a generative system
During the interaction described in the introduction, I
of syntax, based on their first language to provide the foundation of their acquisition of English. These children use a “struc- unknowingly limited the conversation with Terry and his opporture” in their newly emerging understanding of the English lan- tunities to use language. Two patterns of classroom discourse
that frequently surface in our talk are the IRE sequence
guage, and their home language is the foundation. Children
(Mehan, 1979) and pseudo questions (Barns, Britton, & Torbe,
learning English as a second language have “structure” to their
language; it just may be different than the teachers. All children 1969). Both patterns have a place in our interactions with children, but become troublesome when they dominate the interacand especially ESL children must have a wealth of opportunities to experiment with meaningful language use while they are tions. IRE is a three-part structure:
in the process of learning language.
If the ways in which children express meaning are not validated through interactions during the transition to school there
is potential for frustration and withdrawal resulting in a passive
learner. We must resist using the label of “low” language simply because the amount of talk is minimal or the language is
different from ours. We may have unknowingly encouraged the
passive response.
An example of language difference lies in one of the conversations Terry and I had as I picked him up for our lesson one
day. When I asked him where his books were, he replied, “I got
two book. This is Deshon book!” Terry’s oral language follows
the syntax and rule bound system Dandy (1991) calls “Black
communication.” Plurality is expressed once in a sentence, usually by number. As a speaker of Standard English, I might say,
“I have two books. This is Deshon’s book.” Plurality in
Standard English can be expressed in the noun, verb and adjective. If I perceive the way I communicate as “correct” and discount Terry’s language construction, I am framing my expectations for him as a language learner from a deficit model, mean-
(a) teacher’s initiation (I);
(b) child’s reply (R);
(c) teacher’s evaluation (Mehan, 1979).
Here is an example from a lesson prior to my careful
inventory:
(I) Did they catch Dan the flying man?
(R) Yes
(E) You’re right. They did.
The example also illustrates what Barns et al. (1969) called
pseudo questions, where the teacher knows the answers to the
questions she is asking. Where else but school do we make a
habit of asking questions when we already know the answer?
After considering what may get in the way of Terry’s learning, I decided a change was in order. I consciously moved to
patterns which might facilitate Terry developing communicative
competence related to school.
continued on next page
Spring 1999
NETWORK NEWS
9
Language Patterns that May Help or Hinder Learning ———
continued from previous page
Characteristics of good communication
The characteristics of good communication may serve as a
guide to think about how we might use conversation as a language learning tool. Clay (1998) describes characteristics of
good communication, assuming that speakers and listeners are
like teachers and students.
Speakers
a) The speaker has to get the attention of the listener.
b)The speaker has to be sensitive to the listener, observing
the listener to look for signs that he or she is understanding you.
c) The message has to be adapted to the context or situation.
d)The speaker has to listen when it is his or her turn to listen.
Listeners
a) Listeners judge whether or not they are getting the message.
b)Listeners recognize when meaning has been lost.
c) Listeners can let the speaker know the meaning has been
lost.
d)Listeners can ask for additional information. (Clay, 1998)
I used these characteristics to analyze a conversation with
one of my students, Kristina, after she read one my favorite stories, Dan the Flying Man. In the story, Dan flies over the city
taunting the people to catch him. Finally they catch him and he
takes to the air with them on his heels. As you read this interaction, think about what makes it different from the IRE and
pseudo-question approaches. What is Kristina learning about
language?
Nancy: I like how Dan teases everyone. What do you think?
Kristina: (pause) Ya, he’s laughing at them. (pause) He’s flying so high so they can’t grab his feet.
Nancy: Well, what about the end?
Kristina: I think he wanted them to catch him!
Nancy: I’ve never thought about that before, Dan must be a
pretty smart guy!
Kristina: Ya, like me.
This simple interaction during familiar reading between
Kristina and me contains several important conditions that
apply to good communication.
Using these conditions, we can analyze the interactions and
see how Kristina and I are moving in and out of roles as speaker and listener, negotiating the construction of meaning, in
ways that are not typical of an IRE or pseudo question type
interaction. I initiated the conversation with the goal of connecting the meanings of her life to the meaning of the text, thus
emphasizing meaning as a critical source of information when
reading.
Initially I was the speaker getting her attention through
commenting on what I thought about the book then asking what
she thought. Kristina as the listener acknowledges that she is
getting the message by agreeing with me. Then, I turned into a
listener when I didn’t understand what she meant by saying the
people couldn’t grab Dan’s feet, when in fact in the story they
did. I let her know this through asking her a question to get
more information. Then as a speaker, she realized I didn’t
understand her and explained she thought Dan wanted the people to catch him. As a listener, I judged I got the message so I
shifted to a speaker and adapted my response to the context and
the situation, and followed her lead, saying I never thought
about it that way before and asserting he must be a smart guy.
Finally Kristen as a listener judges she understands what I
mean, and turns into a speaker and takes the opportunity to tell
me how smart she is, taking into account the context. She likely
wouldn’t say that out on the playground with her friends; this is
evidence of her adapting her response to mine.
Purposeful Conversation as a Discourse Pattern
Conversation has the potential to be a “tool” for language
learning and developing communicative competence during
Reading Recovery lessons. We consciously direct children’s
behaviors to help them construct new understandings regarding
language. This is how the conversations in lessons may differ
from those in which we engage in other places in schools.
Armed with an understanding of the nature of language learning, we deliberately create opportunities through our discourse
patterns.
In my own teaching, the sample conversation reflects the
teacher and the student moving in and out of the roles of speaker and listener in meaningful and purposeful conversations.
Through the discourse pattern we help children construct new
understandings as they relate to the oral and printed language
system.
Extending and Shaping vs. Questioning
How can we help children learn language, through language, and about language simultaneously without unknowingly limiting learning opportunities? If we think about our role as
a listener and a speaker, using language to extend and shape
children’s semantic and syntactic systems, we have a place to
begin. We can elicit language by convincing the child that he or
she has something important to say and we are there to listen.
Children who have developed oral communicative competence in school may easily figure out what the teacher wants
when the questions begin. It is critical we acknowledge the
competence of diverse children whose strengths may be
cloaked by our assumptions. Eliciting meaning may be as simple as an invitation to talk about something or tell about something, rather than ask questions. With passive speakers we may
need to monitor our teaching for listening and give the child
verbal and non-verbal feedback that signals what the child has
to say is important.
Terry, the child in the introduction who refused to talk to
continued on next page
10
NETWORK NEWS
Spring 1999
Language Patterns that May Help or Hinder Learning ———
continued from previous page
me, later came around when I realized how typical classroom
discourse was interfering with his learning. I watched him on
the playground and asked his mother if he talked at home. She
said he never shut his mouth. He was communicatively competent at home, but it was my responsibility to help him learn to
be communicatively competent in school.
Because Terry’s oral language structures differed from
mine, it was even more critical that we have meaningful
stretches of conversations. I knew Terry had been to the dentist
because of extensive dental work and I decided to approach
composing from a different stance, the stance of a listener. As
you read, think about how and what Terry is learning about
language.
Nancy: Over spring break I had to go to the dentist and get a
root canal. You’ve been there. Right?
Terry: Ya
Nancy : Tell me about your dentist.
Terry: He stick it in and it hurt.
Nancy: uhhh, huh … . (nodding)
Terry: Right there, see? (Sticking his finger in his mouth)
Nancy: ya (nodding)
Terry: Where he stick you?
Nancy: The dentist stuck a shiny little pick in the top of my
mouth. It didn’t hurt…Tell me more about the dentist.
Terry: It hurt. My mom make me go and she say you don’t
brush your teeth right.
Nancy: How do you brush your teeth now?
Terry: My teeth, I brush every morning and night.
Nancy: Go on …
Terry: I go all the way to the top and all the way to the bottom. I wash it off. It’s clean.
Nancy: You’ve told me all about your dentist and brushing
your teeth … . What could we write about that?
Terry: I brush my teeth.
Nancy: All right. You also said something about how and why
you brushed your teeth. How could we say it so when
your friends read your story today, they will know
more about brushing their teeth.
Terry: My mom make me brush my teeth
Nancy: Oh, really …
Terry: Every day!
(After writing the story, Terry rereads and adds to the story)
Terry: My mom make me brush my teeth every day and night.
Nancy: I really think your story will help me remember to
brush my teeth.
During this purposeful conversation I helped Terry begin
to develop the communicative competence necessary for
school. The evidence lies in how I helped him learn language,
learn through language, and learn about language.
I elicited language from Terry in order for him to learn
about language. Then I encouraged his responses through listening and communicating to him that what he had to say was
important. ‘Tell me more’ and ‘Say more’are different from
shooting questions, and they encouraged him to produce more
oral text. Terry learned language through my response although
it was syntactically different. We moved in and out of stick and
stuck which demonstrated examples of trying out the structures
of language.
I extended and elaborated his responses without negating
them or asking another demanding question every time. Terry
asked, “Where he stick you?”, and I extended his response
with more complex sentence structure without negating his
personal structure. I ‘upped the ante’ in terms of meaning and
syntax.
The purpose of eliciting, extending, and elaborating his
language was not so we would have more words to problemsolve; the issue was language learning. I taught him about language by eliciting more complex language structures. I connected him to purpose for his writing and the need to communicate with print.
Extending language means talking to the child and acting
as a listener and a speaker. Through moving in and out of those
roles, we can elicit meaningful oral text from the child. I am
learning to observe and think about how Terry is constructing
and adapting his existing oral language system to that of
school. If you examine changes over time in children’s writing
in lessons, you can see the potential that conversation has to
help children develop more complex oral language and communicative competence for school. Kristina’s initial stories
were simple sentences, “I want to eat some gummy bears.” By
the end of her program, she was writing more syntactically
complex sentences like, “My brother John was shooting a BB
gun at the stop sign. He said, ‘Don’t tell Mom.’”
Conclusion
Through analyzing the discourse in my lessons, I have
pushed the boundaries of my own learning. I encourage you to
ask yourself some tough questions about how you create language learning opportunities that facilitate the construction of
communicative competence.
1. How much talk are you doing and how much talk is the
child doing?
2. How many questions do you ask that you already know
the answer?
3. How much time do you give for the student to respond?
4. How do you show the child you are listening through verbal and non-verbal messages?
5. Is the child asking any questions?
6. How do you elicit, extend, and elaborate the child’s language while validating the construction of meaning?
Children construct communicative competence necessary
for success in school through language learning in Reading
Recovery lessons. Some discourse patterns may help or hinder
this process. One way to push the
continued on next page
NETWORK NEWS 11
Spring 1999
Notes from the Editor
I
am pleased to announce the
appointment of Paula Moore of
the University of Maine as the
new editor of the Network News
beginning with the ‘99 Fall issue.
Paula has been a trainer of teacher
leaders for the past eight years. She is
also State Coordinator for the
Reading Recovery program and
Director of the Center for Early
Literacy at the University of Maine.
The Center disseminates professional
development courses for educators at
the pre-K to grade 5 levels. It also
operates as a center for inquiry into topics related to early literacy teaching and learning. She is an active member of RRCNA
and the author of several important, informative articles for
this publication. Welcome, Paula!
I have enjoyed my time as editor for the Network News. I
look forward to serving as Publications Chair. It was a pleasure to work with the authors who contributed outstanding,
pertinent articles. I thank each of them for their dedication and
willingness to share their expertise. My deepest gratitude to
each member of the Network News Review Board. They share
their commitment to Reading Recovery in innumerable ways,
and always have time for one more request. Thank you,
authors and review team, for your time, commitment, and pursuit of excellence!
The Network News serves as a communication channel for
teacher leaders, site coordinators, RRCNA board members, and
other members of the network. It is a place to share ideas, to
learn, and to enjoy colleagues’ inspired work. Those interested
in submitting manuscripts should send them as an attachment
in an e-mail to Paula Moore at
[email protected], as a fax (207-5812423) or on a disc to Dr. Paula Moore, Reading Recovery
Trainer, University of Maine, Center for Early Literacy, 5766
Shibles Hall, Orono, ME 04469-5766. If your manuscript is
accepted, you will be asked to send a black and white, glossy
photo for publication of your article.
Some ideas for articles might include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Theory and practice related to the teacher leader role
Getting children out of the program faster
Working with administrators and enlisting their support
Review of articles and books related to Reading Recovery
Effective ways to communicate with school boards/administrators/classroom teachers
Budgeting ideas and advice/funding models and sources
Continuing Contact ideas and success stories
Ongoing research on implementation – news from sites
from across the country and outside the U.S.
Legislative action
Reading Research updates
Problem solving success stories by teacher leaders and site
coordinators
Implementation issues
We welcome your articles. The Network News has an outstanding review board that enjoys working with authors and
provides helpful feedback before publication. We hope that
you will consider writing an article for inclusion in an upcoming Network News!
Language Patterns that May Help or Hinder Learning ———
continued from previous page
boundaries of your own learning is to check on your assumptions through examining patterns of language in your own
lessons.
References
Barns, D., Britton, J., & Torbe, M. (1969). Language, the learner and
the school. Baltimore, MD: Boynton Cook, Incorporated.
Bruner, J. (1983). Child's talk; learning to use language. New York:
W.W. Norton & Company.
Clay, M. M. (1998). Conversation as one model for teaching interaction, Different paths to common outcomes. York, ME: Stenhouse
Publishers.
Costa, A. J., Garmston, R.J. (1994). Cognitive coaching; A foundation
for renaissance schools. Norwood, PA: Christopher-Gordon
Publishers, Inc.
Dandy, E. B. (1991). Black communications; Breaking down the bar riers. Chicago, IL: African American Images.
De Stephano, J. (1978). Language, the learner, and the school. New
York: John Wiley & Sons.
Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and education. New York: MacMillian.
Diaz, R. M., Neal, C. J., & Amaya-Williams, M. (1990). The social
origins of self-regulation. In L. C. Moll (Ed.), Vygotsky and edu cation (pp. 127-154). Cambridge, MA.: Cambridge University
Press.
Gee, J. (1990). Social linguistics and literacies. New York: The
Falmer Press.
Halliday, M. A., K. (1982). Three aspects of children's language
development: learning language, learning through language and
learning about language. In Y. Goodman, M. Haussler, & D.
Strickland (Eds.), Oral and written language. Urbana, Illinois:
National Council of Teachers of English.
Hymes, D. (1974). Foundations in Sociolinguistics, An Ethnographic
Approach. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Luria, A. R. (1981). Lectures on language and cognition. Washington,
DC: Wiley.
Mehan, H. (1979). Learning lessons. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
Vygotsky, L. (1986). Thought and language. Cambridge, MA: The
MIT Press.
12
NETWORK NEWS
Spring 1999
Teacher Leader Communications Network Initiated
LIBBY LARRABEE AND WAYNE BROWN, RRCNA TEACHER LEADER REPRESENTATIVES
Opportunities for increased communication between
teacher leaders and RRCNAhave been initiated. Teacher leader
representatives have been selected for each of the university
training centers. These representatives will help facilitate a twoway communications network between teacher leaders and the
teacher leader representatives to the RRCNA Board of
Directors, Wayne Brown (California) and Libby Larrabee
(Ohio).
Wayne and Libby will be in contact with representatives
throughout the year. Representatives will be invited to attend
two meetings during the upcoming year—one during the
National Conference and the other during the Teacher Leader
Institute.
Wayne and Libby will use this network to provide information to teacher leaders so that issues related to the teacher
leader role can be discussed at professional development meetings at the university training centers.
Teacher Leaders! If you do not know who your representative is, please contact your university training center.
To Reading Recovery Teacher Leaders and Site Coordinators:
In cooperation with the North American Trainers Group, the Board of Directors of the Reading Recovery Council of
North America approved at its recent meeting in Columbus, Ohio, February 9, 1999 the establishment of a Teacher Leader
Registry. This Registry will ensure the continued quality of the teacher leader cadre and will serve the following functions:
•
To recognize the significant achievement of those educators who have participated in the rigorous,
year-long training as Reading Recovery teacher leaders.
•
To recognize the commitment of teacher leaders to their on-going, long-term professional development.
•
To affirm to the public that the Reading Recovery Council of North America and its Reading Recovery
teacher leaders are serious about maintaining high quality standards of instruction for children, on-going
professional development of teacher leaders, and the integrity of Reading Recovery implementations.
Teacher leaders who remain in compliance with the Standards and Guidelines of the Reading Recovery Council of North
America (Third Edition as published in Fall, 1998) will be eligible for listing in the Teacher Leader Registry. “Compliance”
includes annual, or more frequent as needed, updates to the Council by the time of the Teacher Leader Institute each year of
changes in status (retirement, change of professional position, change of location, and similar teacher leader changes) as well
as changes in sites (new sites, closed sites, merged sites, and similar changes).
The annual fee for listing in the Teacher Leader Registry will be $25.00 per teacher leader. This fee provides for the following services:
•
It covers the cost of maintaining the Registry and updating it on an annual basis.
•
It provides for access to the Registry information to the public, including school districts that are
seeking trained teacher leaders to employ.
•
It supports the network of teacher leaders represented in the Registry through publication of the
Registry as a part of the annual Reading Recovery Directory.
Except for the summer of 1999, the annual fee will be collected as a part of the Teacher Leader Institute registration fee.
For teacher leaders who are excused from the annual Institute obligation by the university training center trainer with whom
the teacher leader is affiliated, a separate billing will occur.
The $25.00 fee will not be charged for the first edition of the Registry, 1999-2000.
Fee payment alone does not ensure listing in the Registry. The teacher leader also must be in compliance with the
Standards and Guidelines as indicated previously. The Council will work closely with the university training centers to ensure
that the Teacher Leader Registry is current on an annual basis.
Sincerely,
Wayne Brown
RRCNA Teacher Leader Representative
Los Osos, California
Libby Larrabee
RRCNA Teacher Leader Representative
Cleveland, Ohio
NETWORK NEWS 13
Spring 1999
Teacher Leader Award Goes to Ann Goldberg and Mary Mascher
T
he annual Teacher Leader Award was presented to two
recipients at the 1999 Teacher Leader Institute in New
Orleans in June. Ann Goldberg, Site Coordinator in
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and Mary Mascher, State
Representative from Iowa’s 46 District, were on hand to
receive their awards and recognition from the teacher leader
community.
Ann Goldberg is Coordinator
of English Acquisition and
Literacy in the Bethelehem Area
School District. Her role includes
serving as the Reading Recovery
site coordinator. Ann is a member
of the Mid-Atlantic Site
Coordinator Consortium and has
been active at the state level to
gain support for Reading Recovery
from Title I. She has actively promoted Reading Recovery in
Pennsylvania for the past nine years, including launching the
first Reading Recovery site in Eastern Pennsylvania through
building a collaboration among New York, East Stroudsburg,
and Shippensburg Universities. The Bethlehem site has grown
to include eight neighboring districts and to train over seventy
Reading Recovery teachers.
Most recently, Ann presented at the Pennsylvania Reading
Recovery Implementation Visit and at the RRCNA’s Second
North American Leadership Academy in San Antonio. Ann
shared information about site data and Reading Recovery
implementation issues such as staffing models, full coverage,
and results of a longitudinal study.
Ann states “Reading Recovery is the most powerful intervention I’ve seen in my educational career going back to 1959,
and I’m very proud to be associated with it.” Ann Goldberg is
an exemplary educator who has made a difference in the lives
Teacher Leader
Award Nominations
Attention Teacher Leaders: Nominate someone who has made
extraordinary contributions to Reading Recovery today! Each year
Reading Recovery teacher leaders are asked to nominate candidates
for the Teacher Leader Award. Nominees can be anyone not currently
serving as a teacher leader or Reading Recovery teacher who has
made significant contributions to Reading Recovery implementation
beyond their local level. Because we rely on a broad constituency for
continued support and expansion of the program, it is particularly
important to publicly recognize our many friends. Please take time to
identify anyone who fulfills the criteria. Then:
• write a letter listing the contributions your nominee has made,
and formally nominate him or her as a candidate.
• solicit letters of support from a range of people familiar with
your nominee’s contributions (superintendents from school sys-
of many students, teachers, and parents through her work in
Reading Recovery.
Mary Mascher has represented Iowa House District 46 since
1991. She is the ranking member
of the Education Appropriations
Committee and of the Standing
Education Committee, the
Environmental Protection
Committee, and the Appropriations
Committee. She has been an elementary school teacher in Iowa
City since 1976. During this time
she has been both a classroom
teacher as well as an elementary guidance counselor.
Mary has been a tireless advocate for Reading Recovery at
the school level, at the Iowa City School District level, and at
the state legislature. In 1996, Mary was among the group of
educators, administrators, and members of the Department of
Education that created the Iowa Reading Recovery Task Force.
The goal of the Task Force was to take steps leading to full
implementation of Reading Recovery in the state, including the
establishment of a Reading Recovery University Training
Center.
With her leadership in the state legislature, the goal of full
implementation is now within reach. With funding from the
state, Mary Lose received her training as a university trainer
during 1997-98. Now Iowa has a Reading Recovery Program
Director and Trainer of Teacher Leaders, and the first class of
Iowa-trained teacher leaders has “graduated.”
Mary Mascher is truly a remarkable educator, legislator,
and supporter of Reading Recovery. She balances the teaching
of students at Weber Elementary School with her tasks as a
state legislator. Mary is seen as a leader among her peers and is
a welcome participant in all Reading Recovery activities.
•
•
tems, site coordinators, classroom teachers, legislators,
school board members, Reading Recovery teachers, administrators, and others).
collect the letters of support so that you know who might need a
friendly reminder.
forward the letters with your letter of nomination, before
March 15, 2000, to:
Synda Slegeski
Teacher Leader Award Committee
873 Walcutt Avenue
Columbus OH 43219.
The Committee will review each nomination and will contact the
Award recipients. The Awards will be presented at the Teacher Leader
Institute in June 1999. Please consider making a nomination this year.
Reading Recovery supporters deserve public recognition of their significant contributions. Thank you.
14
NETWORK NEWS
Spring 1999
Marie Clay to Headline the National
Reading Recovery Conference
In honor of the 15th year of
Reading Recovery in North
America, Marie Clay will present
the opening keynote address at the
National Reading Recovery
Conference. The Conference is
scheduled for February 5-8, 2000,
in Columbus, Ohio. This year’s theme is “Partnerships for
Literacy: Ensuring the Best First - A Celebration of 15 Years
of Reading Recovery in North America.”
Joining Dr. Clay as second keynote speakers are
Dr. Barbara Watson, Director of the New Zealand Reading
Recovery Program. Candace Boyd, Professor at St. Mary’s
College in Moraga, California, and P. David Pearson, John
Hannah Distinguished Professor of Education at Michigan
State University.
Featured speakers include:
Joetta Beaver
Diane DeFord
Rose Mary Estice
Dianne Frasier
Mary Fried
Mary Ellen Giacobbe
Kate Kirby
Carol Lyons
Jeannette Methvan
Yvonne Rodriguez
Maribeth Schmitt
Garreth Zalud
Fourteen preconference
institutes will precede the
Conference opening. All day
sessions on Saturday, February
5, will feature topics such as
teaching for strategies during
writing, working with children
at higher levels of text reading,
learning to work with words
and how words work, defining
and responding to children’s
theories of reading, working
with children who are hard to
accelerate, teaching for shifts in student learning in a Literacy
Collaborative classroom, word matters, and others.
Two-hundred concurrent and study sessions will provide
educational opportunities for Reading Recovery teachers,
teacher leaders, and site coordinators plus classroom teachers
and early literacy specialists. Additional sessions will focus on
implementation and research issues in Reading Recovery.
Registration materials for the Conference will be mailed
at the end of August. Also check the Council’s website
www.readingrecovery.org for registration information.
RRCNA’s Website to Add New Features
By autumn 1999 the RRCNA website will
include a special new feature for teacher leaders.
The Council will establish a teacher leader list
serve. This means that any teacher leader who is a
member of RRCNA will have access by electronic
communication to all other teacher leaders who are
RRCNA members and have internet addresses. The
list serve will enable teacher leaders to ask questions and exchange ideas with other teacher leaders
throughout the Council.
If you have provided your email address to
RRCNA, watch for an announcement about signing
up for the list serve in your email. If you have not
provided your email address, please send it to Julie
Reeves at RRCNA [email protected]. RRCNA
looks forward to providing this exciting new service to teacher leaders!
www.readingrecovery.org
Spring 1999
NETWORK NEWS 15
A Third Chance to Learn
GWENNETH PHILLIPS AND PAULINE SMITH
R
eading Recovery is well established in New Zealand
and national data indicates that over the last decade the
national program has maintained its quality and effectiveness. On average, 18% of the nation's 6-year-old population
of 57,416 are provided with this second chance to learn after
their first year at school (Kerslake, 1998). Although Reading
Recovery is still not fully implemented in New Zealand (especially in small, isolated rural schools), national figures indicate
that, by providing quality classroom programmes and this second chance to learn, more than 98% of children in their second
year of schooling can be reading and writing within the range
expected for their age. Data also suggest that these children
should continue to make progress (Clay & Watson, 1982;
Smith, 1994).
Reading Recovery also allows us to identify a very small
group of children who do not successfully reach their school's
discontinuing criteria after 20 weeks in their second-chance
programme. The accelerative power of Reading Recovery
ensures that these children are identified when still young.
They make up 1-2% of the total 6-year-old population and they
have come to be called the hardest-to-teach. For them the prevention of failure may still be possible but to achieve this they
need 'something else' beyond Reading Recovery: a third wave
of teaching effort, a third chance to learn.
In 1993 the authors were awarded the J. R. McKenzie
Senior Research Fellowship and undertook to develop ‘something else’for this hardest-to-teach group after Reading
Recovery. The aim of the Third Chance to Learn project was to
develop new ways of working with these children, to enable
them to catch up to their same-aged schoolmates making average progress before their eighth birthday. The eight teachers in
the study achieved extraordinary results with children from different language backgrounds, across different ethnic groups,
from two metropolitan areas (Wellington and Auckland) in
New Zealand.
Each teacher taught the lowest-achieving, hardest-to-teach
children in their area. (Their instructional text level was, on
average, 6.6 at entry to the study.) Twenty-seven of the thirtyfive hardest–to-teach children taught by these teachers were
enabled to catch up to their peers. This contrasted sharply with
previous research (Clay & Tuck, 1991) which showed that children who had not met Reading Recovery discontinuing criteria
subsequently did not catch up to their peers, but fell further
behind.
However, it became clear that teachers, when working
with hardest-to-teach children, needed training beyond that
required for the first and second teaching efforts. Teachers not
only needed to be conversant with “teaching for strategies”
(Clay, 1993) and other aspects of literacy acquisition known to
be successful for most children at risk but they needed much
more. They needed more expertise, more adaptive teaching
responses, and a more sophisticated understanding of quality
theory. Nevertheless, in the study we used what we had learned
from Reading Recovery as a stepping stone to discovery. We
used a similar interactive relationship between theory and practice, and teachers also participated in colleague interaction sessions.
Over the first months of the project we explored and
refined both theory and practice. We gradually developed an
‘operational guide’ to support precision teaching. The guide
consisted of four inter-related components:
• Observation of strengths in critical behavior,
• Expectations for the child,
• A skeleton of powerful prompts and
• A framework for the teacher.
These components supported teacher self-monitoring
which over time became formalized.
The Operational Guide and explicit Formal Teacher SelfMonitoring were keys to the success of the project, but they did
not provide easy, quick-fix solutions. Teachers tried very hard
to gain control over the complex processes involved. Those
teachers previously trained in Reading Recovery also found it
was extremely difficult to achieve this control without training
and expert support.
An analysis of taped, teacher-child interaction, when
teachers were working with their slowest children, i.e., the very
hardest-to-teach, showed that as the child became confused so
did the teacher. Post-project analysis showed two major things.
Firstly, it demonstrated that the language of instruction is critically important. And secondly it showed that these children seldom benefited from the teachers’ planned instruction. This was
because teachers only said and did what they planned to do
11% of the time. Experienced teachers knew what they wanted
to say and do but were unable to achieve this with their most
puzzling children. Therefore teachers needed to learn how to
check on their own interactions in a systematic and focused
way. For this to happen specialized training is needed.
In summary and looking ahead:
Hardest-to-teach children, provided with this third chance
to learn, achieved remarkable success. With an average of 20.4
weeks they were able to function at the literacy level of a
matched peer, of the same age, making good progress.
Some things stood out for us:
• Reading Recovery clearly identifies 1-2% of children
who need ‘something else’beyond Reading Recovery
—a third teaching effort; a third chance to learn.
• In order to get back to reading and writing with their
peers, hardest-to-teach children need super-intensive,
specialized instruction provided by experienced teachers who have undertaken specialist training.
• The strengths of both teachers and children are fragile
when working in this ‘third chance to learn’area.
Teachers need ongoing support and detailed guidance
from experts.
continued on next page
16
NETWORK NEWS
Spring 1999
A Third Chance to Learn ——
continued from previous page
Specialist training in the use of the operational guide and in
explicit, formal teacher self-monitoring is the key to future
developments.
We are proceeding systematically and carefully. We are
continuing to develop our theoretical base—a co-constructivist
view of language, literacy and instruction (Phillips, 1997). To
make further analyses of ‘critical’child-teacher behavior, we
are currently establishing a pilot training program for teachers.
References:
Clay, M.M. (1993). Reading recovery: A guidebook for teachers in
training. Auckland: Heinemann Education.
Clay, M.M., & Tuck, B. (1991). A study of reading recovery subgroups: Including Outcomes for children who did not satisfy discontinuing criteria. Auckland: University of Auckland.
Clay, M.M., & Watson, B. (1982). The success of Maori children in
the reading recovery programme. Report to the Director of
Research. Wellington: Department of Education.
Kerslake, J. (in press). A summary of the 1996 data on reading recovery. The Research Bulletin. Wellington: Ministry of Education.
Lyons, C. A. (1999). Emotions, cognition, and becoming a reader: A
message to teachers of struggling learners. Literacy teaching
and learning: An international journal of early reading and
writing, 4, 67-87.
Phillips, G.E. (1997). An analysis of the co-construction of context in
beginning reading Instruction. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis,
University of Auckland.
Smith, P.E. (1994). Reading recovery and children with English as a
second language. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies,
29 (2), 141-159.
This study was funded by the J. R. McKenzie Trust, the
New Zealand Ministry of Education, the New Zealand Council
for Educational Research (NZCER) and The Child Literacy
Foundation. Full details of the research can be found in the
major research report, “A Third Chance to Learn: the development and evaluation of specialized interventions for young
children experiencing the greatest difficulty in learning to
read” (Phillips & Smith, 1997) and an abridged version
“Closing the gaps: literacy for the hardest-to-teach” (Phillips &
Smith, 1997). Both books are published by the New Zealand
Council for Educational Research Wellington, NZ. Any correspondence can be addressed to CLF<[email protected]>
Francisco X. Gómez-Bellengé, Director, NDEC
F
rancisco Gómez has accepted the position of Director of
the National Data Evaluation Center. He has been with
The Ohio State University since 1991, most recently as
Interim Associate Director of the Young Scholars Program and
Director of the Medical/Science Research Initiative. These
were both pre-collegiate programs that prepare disadvantaged
students for college. In that capacity, he supervised nine field
offices throughout Ohio and conducted evaluation research
and other data-related work. Before that, he spent several
years as program coordinator for The Ohio State University
Young Scholars Program. Among other things, this involved
setting up and maintaining a database of student academic
records and writing reports based on those student statistics.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio of a Spanish father and French
mother, Francisco is trilingual. He holds a Bachelor’s degree
in anthropology from the University of Arizona and a Master’s
degree in Medical Anthropology from Case Western Reserve
University. He is currently completing his dissertation in the
Urban Education program at Cleveland State University. It
involves an analysis of census data to test a theory of academic achievement for various minority groups.
Francisco’s research experience includes an evaluation
study of coffee cultivation in Mexico, directing a study of consumer behavior in Mexico City, a prospective longitudinal
study of health and retirement at Case Western Reserve
University and a study
involving raw Spanishlanguage historical data
at the University of
South Florida.
Already attracted to
education by a brief stint
as a Spanish bilingual
educational aide in the
Washington, D.C. Public
Schools working with
Salvadoran refugees, he
joined the Cleveland
Public Schools bilingual
program at the end of
1987. There he worked
on remediation and reteaching in both Spanish and English.
This sensitized him to the challenges of teaching reading and
issues of teacher preparation. It also familiarized him with the
culture of elementary schools.
Francisco Gómez is the proud father of Adrian, who recently completed first grade. Adrian’s favorite readings are
Beverly Cleary, Ranger Rick and Game Boy instruction
manuals.
NETWORK NEWS 17
Spring 1999
Positions Available:
K-6 Elementary Reading Specialist
American School of Brasilia
Brasilia, Brazil
Contact: Dr. Ray Lauk, Headmaster
[email protected]
Phone: 011-55-61-244-1312
Reading Recovery – Title I Reading
Specialist
Mr. Tim McCormack, Superintendent of
Schools
Sanford Public Schools
263 Main Street
Sanford, ME 04073
(207) 324-2810
FAX (207) 324-5742
Teacher Leader
Michelle Madden, Acting Project
Manager
Reading Recovery Project
New York University
Pless Hall Annex
82 Washington Square East, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10003
(212) 998-5408
DLL Teacher Leader or DLL Trainer
New York University
Jane Ashdown, Project Director
(212) 998-5408
Teacher Leader
Dr. Judy Embry
Director of Reading Recovery
University of Kentucky
(606) 257-7859
Teacher Leader
Ms. Terry Ross, Site Coordinator
Austin I.S.D.
1111 W. 6th Street, Suite A-450
Austin, TX 78703-5399
(512) 414-4242
http://www.austin.isd.tenet.edu
Teacher Leader
Fort. Bend ISD
Ray Hill, Executive Director of Staffing
Human Resources
16431 Lexington Boulevard
Sugar Land, TX 77479
(281) 634-1780
email: [email protected]
Reading Specialist/Teacher Leader
Connie Haugen
Director of Human Resources
Sheridan County School District #2
P. O. Box 919
Sheridan, WY 82801
(307) 674-7405 x 307
FAX: (307) 674-5041
email: [email protected]
http://wyjobs.state.wy.us
Teacher Leader
Ms. Patti Ross
Department of Defense Dependents
Schools, Okinawa, Japan
(703) 696-3277 x 2623
obtain brochure, “Overseas Employment
Opportunities for Educators”
http://www.odedodea.edu
Teacher Leader
Candy Frawley, Personnel Director
Savannah-Chatham County Public
Schools System
208 Bull Street
Savannah, Georgia 31401
Teacher Leader-Teacher on Special
Assignment
Dr. David Hughes, Assistant
Superintendent
Poway Unified School District
13626 Twin Peaks Road
Poway, CA 92064
Phone: (619) 679-2510
Fax: (619) 486-2984
Teacher Leader
Jack Gatewood, Personnel Administrator
Region 5 Education Service Center
2295 Delaware Street
Beaumont, TX 77703
(409) 951-1837
Fax: (409) 833-9755
NOTE: For more details see the RRCNA website. http://www.reading recovery.org/es/positions.htm
18
NETWORK NEWS
Spring 1999
Reading Recovery Council of North America
Spring, 1999
Publications and Products for Trainers and Teacher Leaders
Advocacy Handbook (ADVHBK): The essential
handbook for everyone who is interested in advocacy for Reading Recovery! Contains over fifty
pages of information, ideas, and strategies for
advocating for Reading Recovery and the children
served by Reading Recovery. Learn what you
need to know to be an effective advocate at local,
state, and national levels. Benefit from resources
such as advocacy outlines, sample fact sheets and
letters, and directories of state and federal officials. (Members $15.00 per copy; Non-Members
$25.00 per copy)
Best of the Running Record (BORR2E): The
newly revised publication contains articles frequently requested from past issues of the Running
Record Newsletter. Includes selections from
March, 1989 through Spring, 1998. Articles are
arranged by subject matter, including Historical
Perspective; Research and Rationales; Reading
Recovery Training; Teaching for Diversity; and
Teaching and Learning in Reading Recovery. A
total of 23 articles are included in this 110-page
publication. (Members $10.00 for single copy;
Non-Members $15.00 for single copy)
Volunteer Literacy Manual (VOLmac or
VOLpc): Volunteer management manual for
schools and community organizations which are
interested in developing or expanding existing literacy programs. Provides information, resources,
and materials for understanding the value of volunteer service, defining volunteer roles, recruiting
volunteers, training volunteers, recognizing vol unteers, and managing the risks inherent in a volunteer program. A list of selected readings is
included. Black and white masters and computer
diskettes for modifying the masters are included.
Specify “VOLmac” for Macintosh diskette or
“VOLpc” for IBM PC compatible diskette.
(Members $15.00 single copy; Non-Members
$25.00 for single copy)
Audiotapes from the 13th Annual Ohio
Reading Recovery Conference and National
Institute: Contact the RRCNAProducts
Department at 614/292-2869 to request a special
order form and price information.
Executive Summary 1984-1998 (ES98): Annual
report of Reading Recovery in North America.
Organized to answer questions such as “What is
Reading Recovery?”, “Does Reading Recovery
Work?”, and “How Is Reading Recovery
Implemented?” Special sections on the Reading
Recovery Council of North America, the
Canadian Institute of Reading Recovery, and
Descubriendo La Lectura. (Members $5.00 single
copy or $400.00 for 100 copies; Non-Members
$9.00 or $800.00 for 100 copies)
Reading Recovery Review (RRRAT):
68-page monograph addresses the current understandings, outcomes, and implications of Reading
Recovery. Provides essential information about
Reading Recovery – what Reading Recovery is
and is not, its goal, its role in professional development, its research base and data collection and
reporting procedures, its two positive outcomes,
its implementation factors, and its trademark and
licensing procedures. Provides clarifications to
common misconceptions about Reading
Recovery. Presents a review of research and eval uation related to Reading Recovery. Contains
responses to major challenges to Reading
Recovery. Addresses the collaborative mission of
Reading Recovery in helping to insure literacy
opportunities for all children. Includes an extensive Reference Section. (Single copies available
for $2.00)
Research in Reading Recovery: A publication
by Heinemann which includes the original
Reading Recovery research articles from the first
three issues of the RRCNAprofessional journal
Literacy Teaching and Learning. Available only
from Heinemann with royalties benefiting the
RRCNA.
Reading Recovery: A Review of Research
(ER23): A publication by Gay Su Pinnell which
describes and analyzes available research in
Reading Recovery. Includes a complete bibliography. (Members $5.00; Non-Members $8.00)
Site Coordinators Handbook (SCH): A “must
have” for Reading Recovery site coordinators.
Contains descriptions of Reading Recovery, the
site coordinators’role, timelines and issues for
teacher leader training year, responsibilities and
characteristics of teacher training sites, definition
and calculation of full implementation, developing consortia, research and evaluation responsibilities, and references and related readings. Over
100 pages in length and presented in a three-ring
binder with dividers and room for expansion.
(Members $25.00; Non-Members $35.00)
Leadership forLiteracy: A Guidebook for
School-Based Planning (Revised Edition) (SBP):
Specifically designed for schools which are developing new approaches to Title I funding and pro gramming. Highlights ways to provide for
Reading Recovery programs under new Title I
regulations. (Members $5.00 single copy or
$400.00 for 100 copies; Non-Members $9.00 or
$800.00 for 100 copies)
Standards and Guidelines (GS2): This booklet
presents the revised national standards and guidelines as adopted in Fall, 1998 by the North
American Trainers' Group and the RRCNABoard
of Directors. Describes standards and guidelines
for training and implementation of Reading
Recovery related to selection and training of
Reading Recovery teachers, teacher leaders, and
trainers; guidelines for trained Reading Recovery
educators; and requirements for Reading
Recovery sites and university training centers.
(Members $5.00; Non-Members $8.00)
International Reading Recovery Directory
(DR98): Alphabetical and geographical listings of
addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers, and email addresses for Reading Recovery teacher
leaders, tutors, site coordinators, and trainers in
North America, Australia, Great Britain, and New
Zealand. (Members $20.00; Non-Members
$30.00)
Descubriendo La Lectura Booklist (DLL) :
Spiral-bound, sixty-page document with books
organized in separate sections by title, by level,
and by publisher. Published in collaboration with
the Descubriendo La Lectura National
Collaborative. (Members $10.00; Non-Members
$15.00)
Reading Recovery Book List (BL97): Provides
the titles, levels, publishers, and some word
counts for books that have been leveled for use in
Reading Recovery. Revised in January, 1997, the
Book List is a printed list including all titles
selected for use in Reading Recovery, sorted by
title, level, and publisher. New titles are designated by asterisk. Available only to trained Reading
Recovery educators as a single, copyrighted list or
as a master with permission to duplicate. (BL97S:
Single copy: Members $20.00; Non-Members
$25.00; BL97M: Single copy: Members $100.00
includes permission to duplicate; Non-Members
$125.00 includes permission to duplicate)
Videotape: Introducing Books and Early Book
Reading: Colleen and Tristan (C & T) features
Colleen who finds A Bird Can Fly difficult (80%
accuracy). Following the survey, she learned how
to successfully read three books, all at an easy
level. Tristan found At the Zoo hard (86% accuracy). Following the survey, he is supported in reading several books at different levels of difficulty.
The videotape is accompanied by Observation
Survey information including running records of
text reading and observation summaries.
(Members $35.00; Non-Members $45.00). MAY
BE PURCHASED ONLY BYTEACHER LEADERS AND TRAINERS.
Videotape: The Observation/Diagnostic
Survey: Katherine (Katherine) features
Jeannette Methvan administering the Observation
Survey to Katherine, aged 6 years, 2 months. The
videotape is accompanied by Observation Survey
information including running records of text
reading and observation summaries. (Members
$35.00; Non-Members $45.00) MAY BE PURCHASED ONLY BYTEACHER LEADERS
AND TRAINERS.
RRCNA Promotional Items:
Timers (TIMERS): (Members $12.00;
Non-Members $15.00)
Coffee Mugs (MUG): (Members $5.00;
Non-Members $6.00)
Folders (FOLD): (Members $1.00;
Non-Members $1.50)
Use the Membership/Order Form on the inside back cover of this issue to obtain any of these items except as indicated.
Reading Recovery Council of North America
Benefits of membership in RRCNA include:
☛ A one-year subscription to RRCNA newsletters
Council Connections (3 issues)
Running Record or Network News (2 issues each)
☛ A one-year subscription to Literacy, Teaching and Learning research journal (2 issues)
☛ Special member rates on other RRCNA publications
☛ Voted representation on the RRCNA Board of Directors
☛ A lapel pin and membership certificate for new members
☛ A network of colleagues throughout the Continent
❑ Renewal ❑ New
Name _______________________________________________ Employer _____________________________________________
Work Street Address _________________________________________________________________________________________
Wk City ______________________________ Wk State/Province ________________ Wk Zip Code ______________________
Wk Phone _____________________________ Wk FAX ________________________ Wk E-Mail ________________________
Home Street Address ________________________________________________________________________________________
Hm City ______________________________ Hm State/Province _______________________ Hm Zip Code ________________
Hm Phone ____________________________ Preferred Mailing Address:
❑ Home ❑ Work
❑ RR Teacher ❑ RR Site Coordinator ❑ RR Teacher Leader ❑ RR Leader Trainer
❑ Partner: Specify ❍ Classroom Teacher ❍ Title 1 Teacher ❍ Principal ❍ Administrator
❑ I am associated with Descubriendo La Lectura.
❑ I am associated with Canadian/Western Institutes of Reading Recovery.
❍ Parent ❍ Volunteer ❍ Other
Please help the Council maintain an accurate Reading Recovery database by providing the following information:
If a Teacher Leader, list your affiliated university regional training center ___________________________________________
If Reading Recovery Teacher, list name of Teacher Leader _______________________________________________________
If Reading Recovery Site Coordinator or Teacher Leader, list name of your site(s) ____________________________________
I was referred for membership by ___________________________________________________________________________
I would like to pay annual membership dues of $40.00 per year.
$_____________
I would like to pay supporting membership dues of $100.00 per year.
$_____________
I would like to make an additional tax deductible charitable contribution to help support the Council’s work.$_____________
You may use this section to order additional RRCNA Products and Publications
Code:_______ Item Description: _______________________________________ Quantity: ______ Total:
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Signature: ______________________________
Please send completed form with your check,
credit card information, or purchase order
made out to RRCNA to the following address:
Reading Recovery Council of North America
1929 Kenny Rd., Suite 100
Columbus OH 43210-1069
(614)292-7111
FAX (614)292-4404
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The Reading Recovery®
Council of North America
The Ohio State University
1929 Kenny Rd., Suite 100
Columbus, OH 43210
www.readingrecovery.org
1275-990273-361
Non Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Columbus, Ohio
Permit No. 711
. . . Serving Children in Canada
and the United States . . .
Reading Recovery Conferences
Date
10/7-8/99
10/13-16/99
10/22-23/99
11/3-5/99
11/7-9/99
11/7-9/99
11/13/99
12/4/99
1/12-14/00
2/5-8/00
2/17-18/00
2/25-26/00
3/2-3/00
3/3-4/00
TBA
2/10-12/20
3/8-10/00
4/13-15/00
TBA
4/13-15/00
5/31-6/3/00
Title
South Carolina RR Conf.
Texas RR/Early Literacy Conf.
South Dakota RR Conf.
Western RR Conf.
Northeast RR Conf.
MidAtlantic RR Conf.
St. Paul Public Schools
New Jersey RR Conf.
Michigan RR Conf.
National Conference
Illinois RR Conf.
Iowa RR Conf.
Arkansas RR Conf.
Southern CA Regional RR Inst.
Central CA Regional RR Inst.
Northern CA Regional RR Inst.
Southeast Regional RR Conf.
Descubriendo La Lectura
Cowboy State RR Conf.
Canadian RR/Early Literacy Conf
Teacher Leader Inst.
Dates for 2000/01 and beyond . . .
10/26-28/00
Western RR Conf.
11/5-7/00
MARRC
11/15-18/00
Texas RR & EL Conf.
1/11-12/01
Illinois RR Conf.
2/10-13/01
National Conference
2/9-12/02
National Conference
2/8-11/03
National Conference
Location
Columbia, SC
Dallas, TX
Vermillion, SD
Portland, OR
Boston, MA
Baltimore, MD
St. Paul, MN
TBA
Grand Rapids, MI
Columbus, OH
Chicago, IL
DesMoines, IA
Little Rock, AR
Anaheim, CA
TBA
Sacramento, CA
Greensboro, NC
TBA
Casper, WY
Toronto, ON
Minneapolis, MN
Contact
Ruby Brown
Colleen Ferguson
Maurine Richardson
Patty Braunger
Karen Travelo
Janet Bufalino
Karen Odegard
Linda Marple
Laurie Richards
Holly Bartholomew
Ellen Swengel
Cheryl Cox
Debbie Williams
Pat Kelly
Judith Neal
Barbara Schubert
Kathy Harrell
Yvonne Rodriguez
Nancy Ann Lauderback
Dianne Stuart
RRCNA
Phone
(864) 656-3740
(817) 898-3408
(605) 677-5210
(503) 239-7277
(617) 349-8163
(717) 477-1166
(651) 293-5488
(609) 998-0685
(517) 545-1471
(614) 846-7932
(217) 359-7434
(515) 271-2183
(501) 569-3405
(760) 723-1230
(209) 278-0223
(408) 268-0111
(919) 758-5788
(940) 898-2443
(307)266-2543
(416) 261-6896
(614) 292-7111
Portland, OR
Pittsburgh, PA
Dallas, TX
Chicago, IL
Columbus, OH
Columbus, OH
Columbus, OH
Patty Braunger
Janet Bufalino
Colleen Ferguson
Mary Ann Esler
RRCNA
RRCNA
RRCNA
(503) 239-7277
(717) 532-1166
(817) 898-3408
(847) 465-0575
(614) 292-7111
(614) 292-7111
(614) 292-7111