Once
upon a time
there was a little girl named Candy
who very much wanted to learn to read.
Candy was a typical little 6-year-old girl who was excited
about
beginning the first grade. She was looking forward
to
making new friends, learning new things, and learning
to read.
Candy's
parents were excited, as well, for this was the
year
that their sweet little girl would enter a whole new
world
simply by learning to read.
Candy's
mother could still remember how, as a small child,
she had
easily learned to read by sounding out letters and
learning reading rules in:
short vowels,
long
vowels,
consonants,
consonant blends,
consonant digraphs,
vowel
digraphs,
diphthongs,
and
word families.
Candy's mother assumed Candy would learn to read in
the same
way
she had learned, because her own delight in
reading had
led her to places she would never have seen or
heard about
except through the pages of books.
Candy's mother
could read fluently, and she thrilled at the
opportunity to
read exciting stories with connective words and
then to retell those stories to her children
making inferences
from the pages she read. Candy
wanted everything her
parents
wanted, and her parents, of course, planned that their
daughter would learn to read every word on
every page,
and learn to write
good,
consistent, creative sentences.
On the first day of
school, Candy's teacher explained to
all of the children
in her class that there would be three
surprises that
year:
a.) Snack Time
b.) Recess Twice a day
c.) Reading Groups - Reading Groups
would be arranged in a
circle at the front of the
classroom.
On the first day of
Reading Groups, Candy's teacher
divided the children into
groups of eight.
Candy’s Reading Group was
called Group C. There was
also a Reading Group A
and a Reading Group B.
It wasn’t until after
morning recess that Candy heard
her teacher call for
Reading Group C to come to the
front of the classroom.
There, at the front of the
classroom, all the children in
Group C took their seats.
Candy's teacher announced to
the children, "This year
(1956) our school has received
brand new reading books!"
As the teacher opened one of
basal readers, she turned the
pages and showed the children
pictures of a little boy
named Dick and two little girls
named Jane and Sally.
Candy thought the best page was
the one picturing a
little dog named Spot.
Candy looked forward to reading
the adventures of Dick,
Jane, Sally, and their cute
little spaniel dog, Spot. Candy
hoped
that she would finally learn to read.
Did you know that the Bible tells us that
"Hope deferred makes the heart sick"?
During that first reading
session, things went smoothly
for Candy. The teacher taught
her words like:
a, an, the and that.
Candy could easily remember
those words. She could
also "read" four other words
she found in her reader:
Dick, Jane, Sally, and Spot.
She could read those words
because Dick, Jane, Sally,
and Spot’s pictures were on
each page.
Candy was excited because she
could now "read"
eight
whole words in all.
On the third day, Candy could
see Dick run,
and Candy
could
see Spot run.
Again, Candy was told that the
picture on each page
would help her to "read"
whole
words.
When Candy looked at the
picture she could see
Dick run.
When Candy looked at the
picture she could see
Spot run.
By looking at the pictures on
each page, Candy could now
"read"
whole sentences like:
See Spot run.
Run Spot run.
Dick saw Spot run.
Jane saw Dick run.
It also was a big help to Candy that
the same whole words
were repeated
over and over and
over and over
and over
and
over again.
Candy thought, “This is going be
easy. I like reading!"
Unfortunately, Candy's excitement did
not last long.
Click here to find out why.
