Travels Towards Literacy

Is there anything more exciting than when a five or six-year-old “uses their sounds” to read a new word for the first time? Is there anything more exciting than to witness that wonderful moment when the squiggles on a piece of oaktag elicit a series of individual, disjointed, and puzzling noises, phonics noises, you might say, which suddenly, magically blend together: “monster!”(“Read” is probably not the correct verb. For, as you know if you’ve observed this delightful, gestalt moment before, “shout” is much closer to what happens.) “MONSTER!”

But, wait! The excitement continues. For, apparently this monster is hungry and needs a snack; a backstory must be written. Which requires some authorly discussion: Is this a cookie monster? “Does it actually prefer mac-n-cheese?Backstory explored, each five or six year old is handed their very own, spiral-bound, shiny-cover journal; creative writing accompanied by illustration begins. Spelling and handwriting practice happen. too. (Is there anything more touching than watching a five or six year old clutch a pencil as they laboriously form letters? Or when they struggle to figure out how to approximate the sounds of a new word? Nope.) Sometimes, if there’s time during Language Arts, these children engage in a whole-body workout, too. Using a designated marker, these students can practice writing large-scale letters on a classroom window, guided by  the same “Clouds,” “Airplane” “Grass,” and “Worms,” lines as are found in their journals. (Were you aware that capital letters extend all the way to from the “Clouds” line, past “Airplane” to end on “Grass,” while a few, like the lower-case J and P, actually curve down among those wiggly “Worms”? Neither was I.)  

As “Sesame Street” might put it, “This modalities and phonic-rich lesson was brought to you today by the Fundations Program.” Developed by noted literacy educator, Barbara Wilson, Fundations is grounded in “the science of reading.” But like those excellent journals, assembled and spiral-bound by gifted and versatile teacher, Beth Boelter-Dimock, many in-the-moment moments, designed to meet each child’s needs, had been individualized. One-to-one.

For as those journals signify, each child is in a slightly different place as they travel towards literacy. At one point in the lesson, Beth gently reminded these young scholars of that journey by introducing the word “editing”: “Whatever you produce today needn’t be perfect. You can fix it later,” she explained.

“Some day,” she was to tell them later, “you will be much older and you’ll appreciate seeing these journals and the work you’re doing today.” (What do you suppose those five and six year olds made of that!?)