Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments My Plan

Background:
I have a DD6 which I have recently learned was gifted. I am in the process of coming out of gifted denial and paying more attention my DD abilities and needs. We attend a good magnet school which has gifted pull-out for math & science.
The Story:
My DD6 STAR reading level was 3.1 grade going into 1st grade this year and it has barely moved as this year has progresed, while most of the other 1st graders levels are increasing dramatically.
I casually asked the teacher about this and was told that it is nomal for advanced readers' pace to slow down while the others are still moving up. And as long as she keeps reading books at her level she is fine.
Well after reading the "Do things even out in 3rd grade" post I began to question this concept.
So, I called a few other GT 1st grade parents at my school to see if they were noticing the same trend and suprise! My DD is not the only GT kid who has slowed down after reaching the 3rd grade benchmark.
Is this leveling normal or is it due to lack of language enrichment?
Does it take more than reading alot to stimulate reading growth?
So now comes the question how do we prove or disprove that our kids are leveling off due to lack of language arts enrichment?
So here is my plan....
I going to talk with one of the 4gr teachers at our school to see what they are doing for language arts. She told me the textbook that they are using and will hopefully give a vocabulary list.
I plan to use this reading text book and vocab with to my DD6 this summer and see what happens to our STAR level. Usually levels tend to drop or stay the same over the summer.
I figure if my DD scores higer on her STAR after having some higher level reading assignments,then I will have a valid argument to request additional language arts enrichment next year. If her level stays the same or dops then I will let the school have this one.
So, I would love to hear your thoughts, ideas, and even criticism on my plan.

My belief--for what it's worth:

There should be progress over the year. I have found that the lower level books can be really stupid--how can a kid develop a passion for reading when they're facing such inane stories (many times with poor grammar)?

My suggestion is to use the summer to visit the library and take out lots of fairy tales (from all different countries/cultures--our library has them divided into Native American folk tales, Russian, Asian, English, etc.). We must have read the Cinderella story at least a dozen different versions. Take out 20 at a time (10 fiction and 10 nonfiction about plants or animals or biographical profiles). Read to her and make it really fun.

Also get out books for her to read (I really liked the numbered books (Step? 1-4). On things like Pompeii, Snakes, Dinosaurs, the Titanic. Really help her look so they're not silly. Our summer goal was 100 books--keep a list on fridge recording book title.

I believe reading is the most important skill to be successful later on, even for math/science strong kids. It's so important to nurture love of reading and reflecting about what you've read. The AR system doesn't do much for reflecting, but if you're working together over the summer, she'll learn to do it on her own for next school year.

Floridama, wish I could offer you advice but we're going through something very similar. Our child is probably at the end of year 2nd level or early 3rd grade for reading, but DS isn't in the highest reading group in first. (They think there is an issue with comprehension, which I doubt. There is an issue with DS's willingness to write about what he's read.)

We basically unschool. We don't necessarily do vocab words and such, but we make available any reading material DS wants. DW will also, from time to time, do "projects" with DS like a whale project where he researched the topic and then write up a little report on it. We turned that into the school, but this could have also been a summer project.

We're slightly jaded at the moment, so we're really focusing on the enrichment opportunities outside of school. If the fourth grade teacher helps you, then great. Sounds like a good summer project.

JB

OH JBDad, I'm sorry you're jaded at the moment...things looked so hopeful in the beginning. But you never know what next year's teacher will be like.

As far as reading level, I didn't see my son slow up at a 3rd grade level. Now that he reads about 5th-6th grade level, I see a slowing...mostly b/c a lot of books start to get inappropriate for his age. IMHO, they should still be challenging. If she is getting every word correct when reading books in reading group it's too easy. That's at least what my teacher friend said.

And I wouldn't worry so much about levels....different teachers score differently. I would focus on cultivating a love of reading and giving your DD access to good books w/ lots of discussion about what she's reading.

Amen! I've been looking for chapter books for DD4. She needs something with at least some girl-appeal. I tried Junie B. Jones and was not impressed with the wretched grammar. For now, she seems to really enjoy DS7's second grade textbook (which he isn't wild about...).

Ramona and Beezus books will be good when she gets to that level (Floridama, have you tried them?).

If anyone has suggestions, I'm all ears.

Val

My daughter loved the Catwings series by Ursula LeGuin.

Val,
At 4, DS loved the following:
Magic Tree House
Geronimo Stilton
A-Z Mysteries

Thanks!

My DD is half girly girl, half tomboy. It's kind of trippy.

Val

I think I need to say that our school uses a computer test to screen reading level every 9 wks. It uses time, comprehsion, and working vocabulary to determine level.
I am sure if the test was on speed and comprehension alone she would be at amuch higher level. She is constantly reading higher level books and does great on her AR quizzes.
I think the problem is not lack of reading or reading progress but lack of working vocabulary at the 3rd grade level.
Which is why I am trying a structured approach this summer.

We don't even have reading groups, It is one size fits all, except for the AR requirements which are determined by level.



My DD use to love big apple barn which is about horses and now she likes Ramona and Judy Moody now.

Anyone use swaptee to trade books?

I found that when my DS was in first grade, he tested at 4th grade level reading at the beginning of the year. And he still tested at that level at the end of the year according to his first grade teacher. He could read at a higher level, but according to her had comprehension issues. Much like someone earlier, he just didn't want to write book reports in 1st grade when no one else was doing it. He would not read a long book unless he "got" it and enjoyed it. He is not known for his amazing work ethic or sticktoitiveness

Meanwhile at home, he read 4th grade books in an hour as brain candy and read many higher level books with increasing difficulty throughout the year. We never had any formal vocab or curriculum. I just really watched the lexile levels of books and shopped around for things he would be interested in.

I wouldn't necessarily believe the reading level the teacher is getting. Some teachers (like our 1st grade teacher) figured that once you were above grade level, it wasn't worth investing a lot of time to figure out what they should be reading.

Anyway - good luck! Hope you get a better teacher next year! We actually are homeschooling at this point.