Spider-Man vs. the spiders

Erick picked out a superhero book this week: The Amazing Spider-Man. Unfortunately, the book had quite a few words that Erick has not encountered before such as "radioactive," "goblin," "wrestler," and "skyscraper." Even understanding the purpose of an enemy was a little daunting. As he read and asked questions, I realized that Erick didn't know very much about Spider-Man. He asked if Doctor Octopus was one of Spider-Man's friends (no). He asked if Spider-Man could make webs (yes). He asked how Spider-Man became a Spider-Man (let's keep reading and find out!).

As we read on about Spider-Man, I could tell that Erick did not have the same enthusiasm for this superhero as he did for regular spiders and Super Mario. From his perspective, I think it might be confusing to have a fantastical character dwelling in the real world as Spider-Man does. After all, it did take Erick a long moment to get over the fact that Spider-Man lives in New York City. Perhaps he will have a greater appreciation for the messiness of the superhero world when he is older.

After finishing that book, we read the crocodile section of an animal book and then Erick did some word puzzles. As an extra challenge, I had him write the puzzle words on a white board without looking at the spelling. Then he checked his work against the puzzle pieces. He did pretty well, but still has some trouble with the silent 'e' that makes short vowels into long vowels (e.g.: how "can" becomes "cane" with that silent letter at the end).

We only continue to meet together for about a month-and-a-half more. I'm hoping that Erick will recognize short and long vowel patterns before summer comes.

Changes for OUSD

Right now, the biggest news in OUSD is the sudden resignation of superintendent Tony Smith. He and his family are moving to Chicago to be closer to his father-in-law whose health has been in decline. You can read his resignation letter here.

Now board members and officials are faced with the task of finding a new superintendent.

This interview can illuminate some of Tony Smith's accomplishments and controversies during his four years at OUSD as well as bring to light the difficulty of finding someone to fill his position.

We can only hope for stability and wisdom with OUSD leadership as the district moves forward.

No More Yawns!

This week, I picked two nonfiction books for Erick to read. One was titled Mighty Spiders! and the other, simply, Frogs!

The books did not need their exclamation points to draw Erick's attention.
"I love spiders!" he said, grabbing the spider book. Inside its pages we learned about different kinds of spiders. Some spiders are large enough to eat birds and frogs. Other spiders live under rocks. Some spiders can make air bubbles to travel underwater. Yet others have bright coloring and horns.
At the end of the book, there were small labeled illustrations of each spider that had made an appearance in the book. Erick pointed to each one, repeating, "I like this one! I like this one! I like this one!" When he pointed to the last one, he closed the book and said, "I love them ALL!"

I don't have half as much enthusiasm for spiders as Erick does, but I was excited to see him reading some of the harder words, like "creeping" and "catch" and "insects."

The frog book was similarly engrossing for Erick. Did you know that some frogs are large enough to eat mice and other frogs? Some frogs are also so small that they can sit on the edge of your fingernail. When we turned to a photograph of a frog puffing its throat, Erick cried, "Ew! That's so sick! Ew! I don't want to see that!"
"Well, if this book is too gross, we can pick a different one to read," I responded. I was a little taken aback because I thought the spiders had been much more disgusting.
Erick paused.
"No. I'm going to finish reading it."
"Well, if you see a picture you don't like, you can put your hand over it."
"No. I'm okay."

And he was.

Writing and Puzzle Practice

With his new workbook, Erick gets to write more, and this week, he made two short 'i' sentences. First he wrote, "The fish looks like a rainbow." Before beginning his second sentence, he asked if he could use "fish" again. I told him he had to pick something else, so he picked "wish" and quickly wrote, "I wish the fish was jumping."

We worked on some short 'o' words and moved onto reading. We started A Fly Went By which involves a fly being chased by a frog that is being chased by a cat that is being chased by a dog that is being chased by a pig...and that's where we stopped because Erick was yawning.

"Would you like a break?" I asked, and Erick gladly accepted.
"Let's do a puzzle!"

Erick likes the word puzzles. The first few times that we worked on the puzzles, I noticed that he put the letters together based on whether or not they physically fit. He wouldn't even look at the words that he was forming. It would take 20 minutes to make eight words.
Now Erick pays attention to the letters as he lays them down and he spells the words out based on the letters on the puzzle piece rather than the shape. He can finish the same eight words in about five minutes now.

Next week is Spring Break for OUSD, and the week after, I will select some science books for Erick to read. I noticed that he is not as interested in fiction (though he does like Dr. Seuss books) as he is in learning about space and animals. Good thing we have some books about animals with photographs so there might be less yawning next time we meet!

Prizes and Prizes!

How did they get 30 stickers in here?

After reading, working on his second phonics book, and finishing his last box of sight words, Erick got his prizes this week: a Cat-in-the-Hat bookmark and superstar sticker for finishing his first phonics workbook, and then a very special Super Mario surprise box for finishing the last box of sight words.

Even though it doesn't look like much, Erick immediately recognized it as a Glow Block that Mario can pick up in the game to light his way. "Thank you, Miss Madalyn!" he exclaimed, "I like it!"
"It's not just a box," I replied. "There's something inside!"
At this revelation, Erick became so excited that he had to ask for my help to open this little box. Inside, to his amazement, there were 30 stickers of different characters from the game.

I was a little worried that Erick would be let down by the stickers. I had gotten it from a toy dispenser, not knowing which capsule would fall out. I was a little disappointed myself when I opened the box beforehand and discovered that all the characters inside were villains--Bowser, grumpy mushrooms, snapping flowers, flying turtles, and not a single Mario or Yoshi--but I didn't have time to go back to try my luck at getting a different set. It turns out that I didn't have to worry, because as soon as Erick saw the stickers, he shouted "YES!" while pumping his fist in the air. And if that were not assurance enough, he said, "Wow! I really like this! I'm going to show my mom! Thank you! Thank you!"
"You're welcome." I replied. "It's because you have been working so hard and you did such a good job with your sight words! And...maybe you can use your little Super Mario to fight all those bad guys."
"Maybe." Erick said. Then, "I'm going to put these in my bed."
I think that must be where he hides his small treasures. I was about to ask him about it when he said, "You and me--we can be friends forever. Okay?"
"Okay!" I agreed, as I did my own mental fist pumps.

Reading is Exciting!

Erick is always very excited during our tutoring time. Before I have a chance to say, "Hi, Erick!" he greets me with, "Hi, Miss Madalyn!" which is usually quickly followed by a question such as, "Is that your car?" or "Why do you wear a name tag?" or "Do you speak Chinese or Spanish?" or "Where is your sister?"
Oftentimes, my answers lead to more questions, and I have to steer him to our task at hand. It always surprises me that he is equally enthusiastic about learning more about reading as he is about our conversations before we start tutoring. I take this as a sign that Erick values our relationship as well as becoming a strong reader. We are a bit like gym partners, working out our literacy muscles.

This time, he said, very seriously, "I want to tell you something."
I asked him, "What is it?"
Then he told me about how he got lost in Sears during the weekend, and the security guards helped him find his mom.
We talked a little about getting lost and helpful people, then Erick started his work.

He finished his phonics workbook and whizzed through most of his sight words. He then read a book to me that amused him greatly: Put Me in the Zoo.
This is a book about a bear/dog creature that can change the color, shape and size of his spots as well as  transfer them to other objects (including people), juggle them, make them fly, and form them into sock-shapes. Though it sounds like an odd book based on my summary, it makes a lot of sense when you read it. Erick enjoyed it immensely. "Oh! I like his spots when they are blue!" he said, and, "Look. Now his spot is shaped like a big egg."

 

As with the last two weeks, Erick picked a book to take home. This week, he took home a story about a the adventures of a boy and his large dog. Next week will bring more excitement as Erick collects his prizes for finishing his sight words as well as his phonics workbook!

A Treat for Our Students

During our last tutoring session, we had a special treat: all the students got to pick a book to take home. Erick mulled over his choice for a long time--so long, in fact, that most of the students picked the books that interested them and he was left looking at what they had already glanced through.

He was looking for a book that not only had a good number of pictures to go with the words, but also one that was interesting to him. He passed up a book about construction (too many long words), one about forest animals (too many pictures and easy words), and one that appeared to be a colonial biography (no pictures at all!).

Erick eventually decided to take home a book called A Trip to the Doctor. It had some difficult words, like "stethoscope" and "receptionist," but also pictures to go along with them. He was glad that there were kids in the book and that there were real pictures instead of illustrations.

Perhaps this book could inform his next trip to the doctor or even a career choice!