I’ve put several reading charts and worksheets to go along with them on eight free websites provided by my internet carrier, Earthlink. I developed the charts and the worksheets while teaching reading resourse and first grade in Baltimore’s inner city. Throughout my teaching career, I’ve shared this work with my collegues. Many of them told me I should write my work and get it published. A couple of years ago, I took early retirement and set to work on putting my charts and worksheets on the internet. My goal is to eventually find someone who will help me publish the work, but until then, I just want to share this with others who are teaching reading to the emergent reader, with or without reading disorders.
The address of the first website is: http://home.earthlink.net/~firstphonics .
At that first site, you’ll find an entry on the index page entitled, “A Word About Wise Owl”. Click on that to find the other 7 web addresses.
Some browsers have trouble reading the work. If this happens, try getting to the sites by using Internet Explorer instead of your regular browser. Also, some school computers that are used by children have parental blocks on them and cannot get to the sites because they are personal ftp sites that are used by anyone to share just about anything. If this occures, you have to remove the blocks or use a home computer without blocks.
The fourth site, http://home.earthlink.net/~thephonicsteacher , has a placement test for sight words and phonics instruction. This may be a good place to start if the child or children already know the beginning sounds and a few words.
Any feedback you care to give me about the work is welcome. You can write me at [email protected] with any comments or concerns.
Fran, I think your work is great! I like the sequence and variety of work. Of special interest to me are the stories and questions for specific vowel sounds. It is hard to find good stories with a controlled vocabulary that give the child in context practice with a specific sound. Your work really complements the skills I teach. The graphics are appropriate for older children. I hope that you find a publisher. Thank you for sharing your work with us. I will be using the stories with students of various ages. I’ll let you know how it goes. Thanks again.