Learning ‘b’ and ‘d’ and Reading Short Vowel Words with Aiko, Second Grader — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00[Music]
2. 0:01Linda Farrell: Okay. We're gonna have a lesson. And we are gonna have some fun ...
3. 0:09Today reading expert Linda Farrell will be working with Aiko, a second grader here at
4. 0:14Windy Hill Elementary in Calvert County, Maryland.
5. 0:18Ms. Farrell will help Aiko with telling the difference between the letters 'b' and 'd,'
6. 0:22keeping her eyes on the text rather than looking up to think of words, and reading words with
7. 0:27short vowels.
8. 0:30Linda Farrell: Do you ever get your 'b's and 'd's mixed up?
9. 0:33Aiko: Mm-hmm.
10. 0:34Linda Farrell: Sometimes? Well, let's see if we can't fix that.
11. 0:37Linda Farrell: Aiko confuses 'b's and 'd's. She's in the second grade. And it's going
12. 0:41to get in the way of her reading. So we have to fix that problem. Lots of children confuse
13. 0:47'b's and 'd's. They look alike. It's a ball and a stick. So we know we have to straighten
14. 0:52that out, because that's going to hurt your reading because there are lots of words with
15. 0:57'b's and 'd's.
16. 0:58Linda Farrell: We're gonna work on fixing that. So we're gonna learn about our 'b' hand.
17. 1:01Have you ever used your 'b' hand?
18. 1:03Linda Farrell: They have a 'b' hand. Their 'b' hand, it looks like a 'b.' Here's the
19. 1:08circle. Here's the line. And we teach them to not guess and to slow down and compare
20. 1:17your hand to the letter.
21. 1:20Linda Farrell: This is your 'b' hand, okay? So I'm gonna put this little rubber band on
22. 1:24you, so you can remember which one's your 'b' hand. So which one's your 'b' hand?
23. 1:27Aiko: This one.
24. 1:28Linda Farrell: Okay.
25. 1:29Linda Farrell: I don't tell a kindergartener, a first grader, or a second grader, "It's
26. 1:33your left hand," because they don't know which one is their left hand. Sometimes I don't
27. 1:37even know which one's my left hand. When we first teach it, we put something on their
28. 1:42hand. We might put a sticker. I put a rubber band on Aiko's hand so that when I say, "Where's
29. 1:49your 'b' hand?" she's got something that reminds her. Three lessons she won't need the rubber
30. 1:53band anymore. She'll know what it is. Some kids get it right away.
31. 1:56Linda Farrell: Would you put your 'b' hand up like this ... and make a fist. And then
32. 2:02put your finger out. Okay? That is your 'b' hand. And I'm gonna show you why it's your
33. 2:07'b' hand. Go like this. We put this down here. And this letter is a 'b.' And your hand looks
34. 2:14like this letter. Can you see that? We have the circle right here. Where's the circle
35. 2:20on the letter? Point to the circle on the letter. And where's the circle on your hand?
36. 2:24Yeah. Right there. Where's the stick on the letter? Show me a stick on your finger. This
37. 2:31is your 'b' hand because the stick is on the same side of the circle as your finger. So
38. 2:38your finger and your, and the stick are on the same side of the circle.
39. 2:43Linda Farrell: Lots of kids get 'b's and 'd's mixed up -- kindergarten, first and second
40. 2:47grade. It does not mean that they have dyslexia. Students who have dyslexia have phonological
41. 2:54processing issues. They do not differentiate sounds easily. Their problems are primarily
42. 3:05related to phonological awareness. 'B/d' is about shapes. That is not about sounds.
43. 3:13Linda Farrell: Will you put your 'b' hand by the 'b'? Yep. And is your finger on the
44. 3:24same side of the circle as the stick or on a different side of the circle?
45. 3:27Aiko: Same side.
46. 3:28Linda Farrell: The same side. Yeah. Let's go down here. Is this a 'b' or a 'd'?
47. 3:34Aiko: 'b.'
48. 3:35Linda Farrell: Okay. And when you answer, I want you to look down here and compare it.
49. 3:40Here's what you did. You went [looking upward]. Well, you're not gonna figure it out unless
50. 3:46you look and you compare. Okay. So you have to look and say, "Ooh, I can tell." So is
51. 3:51that a 'b' or a 'd'?
52. 3:55Ms. Farrell's explicit lesson about recognizing the shape of the letter 'b' will take some
53. 3:59time to sink in for Aiko. And there's a common habit she'll need to deal with. When Aiko
54. 4:04is working on identifying a letter, she often looks up to think, looking away from the letter.
55. 4:09Linda Farrell: The answer to what is an incorrect letter or an incorrect word is in the print.
56. 4:16And we have to teach Aiko to keep her eyes on the print, on the words, when she's reading,
57. 4:21or the letters. I've worked with many kids that have this same difficulty. And I'll say,
58. 4:28"Keep your eyes on the words," and they can't do it, because their habit is so strong that
59. 4:34they can't try to do what I'm asking them to do and remember to keep their eyes down.
60. 4:39So we just practice keeping your eyes down.
61. 4:41Linda Farrell: We're gonna practice looking down here, okay? So I'm gonna ask you a question,
62. 4:46and you can't look up until I go like this [pounds fist], okay? So you keep looking down.
63. 4:51Don't look up. Look down. Look down. Look down. Look down. [pounds fist] Now you can
64. 4:55look up. Okay. Let's try it again. Look down. Look down. Look down. [pounds fist]
65. 5:01Eventually, Aiko will need to have images of words stored in her brain. This is critical
66. 5:05to the immediate word recognition necessary for fluent reading. When students say a word
67. 5:11without looking at it, they miss opportunities to develop those images.
68. 5:15Linda Farrell: So hold your hand up here. So I'm gonna go 'a,' cause I don't need my
69. 5:19'b' hand. But do I need my 'b' hand for that letter?
70. 5:22Aiko: Mm-mm.
71. 5:23Linda Farrell: Yes, I do, cause that's a 'b' or a 'd.' So I have to put my 'b' hand and
72. 5:28-- let me see. Is that a 'b' or a 'd'? Which one do you think? Ohp. Where are you gonna
73. 5:34look?
74. 5:35Aiko: Down.
75. 5:36Linda Farrell: Yes. Okay. Is that a 'b' or a 'd'?
76. 5:37Aiko: 'b.'
77. 5:38Linda Farrell: Let's try that. Put your 'b' hand next to that. Okay. Is your finger on
78. 5:44the same or a different side?
79. 5:45Aiko: Different.
80. 5:46Linda Farrell: Different. So is that a 'b' or a 'd'?
81. 5:49Aiko: 'd.'
82. 5:50Linda Farrell: Yes. And we're gonna keep looking down. Remember? You don't get to look up until
83. 5:53I stomp. Okay? So now, I want you -- we're gonna go just right to here. Okay? So watch
84. 6:01me. 'a, d, s, b.' You do it. Okay. Put your hand up here for the 'a.' Okay. Do it.
85. 6:13Aiko: 'a, d, s, b'?
86. 6:15Linda Farrell: Okay. Now. See how far away your hand is? You gotta go like this. And
87. 6:21you know where you looked when you read? You looked at me. But where are you supposed to
88. 6:24be looking?
89. 6:25Aiko: Here.
90. 6:26Linda Farrell: Yep. At the letter. So. Okay. So we did those four. You do these four.
91. 6:32Linda Farrell: And this is isolated practice. I see lots of teachers who use a 'b' and 'd'
92. 6:38hand or a 'b' hand. But they only do it when the kid misses a word. So, "Oh, you read 'bog'
93. 6:43as 'dog.' Use your 'b' hand." You don't have to use your 'b' hand. If it's not "bog," it's
94. 6:48"dog." We've gotta have isolated practice to rewire the brain -- to stop guessing and
95. 6:55start looking. And that's what we did with Aiko. Aiko has pretty significant 'b/d' issues.
96. 7:02With this kind of practice, she could solve her 'b/d' issues, I believe, in three to four
97. 7:08weeks if we did this every day.
98. 7:10Aiko: 'b'
99. 7:11Linda Farrell: You got it. Do you think you can do 10 in a row?
100. 7:14Aiko: Mm-mm.
101. 7:15Linda Farrell: I think you can. Let's try it. Okay.
102. 7:20Aiko: 'x, b, d, a'
103. 7:34Linda Farrell: [whispering] Hand down. Is your finger on the same side or a different
104. 7:40side?
105. 7:41Aiko: Different, so it's a 'd.'
106. 7:43Linda Farrell: Yes. Okay.
107. 7:47Aiko: 'o, b, c, d, j'
108. 8:03Linda Farrell: Ten out of 10! That's ...
109. 8:05After a little more practice with 'b' and 'd,' Ms. Farrell will help Aiko work on another
110. 8:09skill -- reading short vowel words without sounding them out aloud first. And Aiko will
111. 8:15need to lean on her new skills -- distinguishing between 'b' and 'd' using her 'b' hand, and
112. 8:21concentrating on looking down at the words while she thinks.
113. 8:24Linda Farrell: Can you just read these words right here?
114. 8:27Aiko: "Not, ran, tap, man, on."
115. 8:37Linda Farrell: Could you read these words right here please?
116. 8:41Aiko: "Bib, ad" ...
117. 8:43Linda Farrell: Could you check and see if that's a 'b' or a 'd'? Use your 'b' hand.
118. 8:49Is that a 'b' or a 'd'?
119. 8:52Aiko: 'd'
120. 8:53Linda Farrell: It is a 'd.' So what's ...
121. 8:54Aiko: 'd' -- "did"
122. 8:58Linda Farrell: Okay.
123. 9:00Aiko: "ad," /p - al/
124. 9:04Linda Farrell: What's the word?
125. 9:08Aiko: "Pal."
126. 9:09Linda Farrell: Look down. Always keep your eyes on the words.
127. 9:16Aiko: "Gum." /k/. "Kit. Hump."
128. 9:21Linda Farrell: Okay. You got five words right. Can you touch and say that word?
129. 9:27Aiko: "Hug."
130. 9:28Linda Farrell: It is "hug." Read them all again.
131. 9:31Aiko: "Did, ad," /p/, "pal, gum," /k - it/, "hug."
132. 9:42Linda Farrell: Okay. You got six out of six right. When you read this word, you went /k
133. 9:48- i - t/. Did you hear yourself do that? Okay. It's okay. I want you to do that in your head.
134. 9:55So what we're gonna do is we're gonna close our mouth until we're ready to read the word.
135. 10:00It goes like this. [pause] "Did." [pause] "Ad." I have to think those sounds in my head.
136. 10:09So can you do that? Let's read these.
137. 10:13Aiko: "Cut, dig, pup" ...
138. 10:21Linda Farrell: [whispering] Mouth closed.
139. 10:23Aiko: ... "lip, kit, lot."
140. 10:32Linda Farrell: Okay. Now. Two things: you got five right. Can you? What's that word?
141. 10:38Aiko: "Kip."
142. 10:39Linda Farrell: It is "kip." And the other thing is, you looked up. So we're gonna practice looking
143. 10:43down. Okay. You're gonna look down, look down here until I stomp, okay? [pounds fist] You
144. 10:49can look up. Okay? Do it again. [pounds fist] Okay. Now you're gonna read, and you can't look
145. 10:56up until I stomp, okay? So remember, you're not gonna look up until I stomp, so I'll hold
146. 11:03this, okay? So start reading.
147. 11:05Aiko: "Cut, big, pup, lip, kip, lot."
148. 11:19Linda Farrell: [pounds fist] That was perfect. You kept your eyes down the whole time. Can
149. 11:23you check and see if that's a 'b' or a 'd'? Use your hand. Use your 'b' hand.
150. 11:29Aiko: /d/
151. 11:30Linda Farrell: Yeah. So what's the word?
152. 11:33Aiko: "Dig."
153. 11:34Linda Farrell: It is. We're gonna go over here -- and again, don't look up until I stomp.
154. 11:39So read those.
155. 11:42Aiko: "Hot."
156. 11:45Linda Farrell: You can use your 'b' hand, right there.
157. 11:47[Music]
158. 11:48In one short lesson, Aiko has made a lot of progress. She's learning to keep her head
159. 11:53down as she reads, focusing on the letters. She's using her 'b' hand to help her identify
160. 11:58her 'b's and 'd's more accurately. And she's reading words as a whole rather than sound
161. 12:04by sound. As she practices and works toward mastery of these skills, her reading will
162. 12:09get better and better.
163. 12:12Aiko: "Mud."
164. 12:13Linda Farrell: [pounds fist] You kept your eyes down and you got 'em all right! Six out of six!
165. 12:18Yes!
166. 12:21We'd like to thank the wonderful students and families at Windy Hill Elementary School
167. 12:25in Calvert County, Maryland. We hope that sharing these experiences will help other
168. 12:30children who are learning to read.
169. 12:32Special thanks also to Kelly Cleland, Julie Donovan, Joanne Harbaugh, and their outstanding
170. 12:38colleagues at Windy Hill Elementary ... and to Leanne Meisinger at Calvert County Public
171. 12:44Schools.
172. 12:45We are deeply grateful to Linda Farrell, Michael Hunter, and Nicole Lubar of Readsters for
173. 12:51their invaluable contributions to this project.
174. 12:55Produced by Noel Gunther
175. 12:56Edited by Christian Lindstrom
176. 12:58Graphic Design Tina Chovanec
177. 13:00Camera Richard Chisolm
178. 13:02Audio Dwayne Dell
179. 13:04For more information about teaching reading, please visit
180. 13:08www.ReadingRockets.org
181. 13:12Reading Rockets is a service of WETA, Washington, D.C.
182. 13:16Copyright 2019, WETA, Washington, D.C.