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Each year, I welcome my new kindergartners in starting their first year of school. These 5 year olds are curious and eager to experience everything around them. An especially rewarding part of teaching is kindergarten is seeing the light bulb go off as students start to see the connections between letters and sounds and word creation. They get very excited when they realize that they can form words and put those words together to form sentences and then read those sentences in books. Their eyes light up as they discover that they are readers! Each year, I strive to find new tools and strategies to support students in developing their reading skills. At the end of this school year, our principal sent our entire K-2 team to an Orton-Gillingham training in order to provide each of us with the necessary training to support our struggling readers. We left the five day training feeling invigorated and excited to use the strategies with our students. Students learn letters, sounds, blending, and sight words using different kinesthetic activities, such as writing letters in specialized sand, and writing words on bumpy plastic mats that allow their brain to access information through multiple modalities. Sight words are color coded red because they use irregular sounds, and students practice them with different physical activities as they spell them out. These practices help students who have difficulty accessing information from just visual and auditory learning, by giving them a more tactile experience. The program uses a variety of hands-on materials, however, our school funding is limited, so I would like to use the funding to purchase some of the specialized materials that the students will need. Your help is greatly appreciated. Thank you for supporting our struggling readers with the key that may unlock the gift.
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