I began with a visual drill, including all letters, digraphs, -all, -dge, and -tch. She syllabicated unfamiliar three-syllable words (compromise, insulate, amputate, advocate, calculate, octopus) using the strategies taught in class. For spelling review, I dictated her spelling deck and sentences to edit. I taught a new spelling pattern (a 1-1-1 rule, doubling a consonant, for example, hop, hopping). To conclude we played a card game called SLAP! with closed, open, silent-e, and er/ir/ur.

I began with a one-minute phonological awareness exercise, dropping one letter from and initial blend (Kilpatrick, K1 #2, p. 200). Colson accomplished the task with ease; we will move up next session. Next, we practiced the -dge spelling pattern. Colson is close to mastery on this skill. Colson syllabicated unfamiliar three-syllable words using the strategies taught in class (malcontent, fandango, contralto, intrinsic, asbestos). To conclude, we co-read a short story by Shirley Jackson, "Charles." I modeled how to underline important phrases and take notes in the margins. Tomorrow Colson will answer the written comprehension questions.

I assessed Lilly using the Quick Phonics Screener, a tool to determine her phonetic knowledge. Lilly identified all 26 letter names. Lilly was unable to voice the following letter sounds: /â/, /û/, /ê/, /w/, /y/, /h/, /qu/, /g/, /x/. When asked to decode consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words, she attempted to sound out each letter, but was unable to blend the words successfully. We played a game of Phonics Dice to practice the sounds of the letters; Lilly was thrilled to win the game! To conclude, I read a Mo Willem's book, "I Was Invited to a Party."

I conducted visual, auditory, and blending drills with letters, digraphs and -er, -ir, and -ur. We played a game of Crazy Moose with closed, open, silent-e, and r-controlled syllables (-er, -ir, -ur). Eliana practiced syllabicating VC/CV and V/CV words; I was pleased to see her use syllabication strategies with confidence. We reviewed spelling deck and re-taught a spelling rule she is learning at school (-dge). To conclude, Eliana practiced the cursive letters taught and learned a new letter (g).

I began with a phonological awareness exercise, deleting one letter of an initial blend (Kilpatrick, p. 200). I reviewed the -dge spelling pattern and dictated the words from Colson's spelling deck. Next, Colson syllabicated three-syllable, unfamiliar words using the strategies taught last session (amnesty, infantry, consensus, incessant, ballistics). I noticed that Colson often adds a syllable. I emphasized that he needs to slow down, use the strategies, and read the syllables. To conclude, we re-read two chapters from Oliver Twist. I showed Colson a few reading comprehension strategies (pausing to summarize, underlining important thoughts in the text while reading). He completed the reading comprehension questions. I prompted him to look to the text for the answers.

I began with a one-minute phonological awareness exercise (Level D1 #1, delete one syllable from a two-syllable word). Phonological awareness is the ability to hearing and manipulate sounds within a word and is highly predictive of reading and spelling success. Next, we worked on alphabetic awareness. With help, Libby sequenced the alphabet and identified the vowels and consonants. I introduced the definition of a syllable (a word or a part of a word with one vowel sound). I conducted visual, auditory and blending drills with all 26 letters. We played a game of Phonics Dice to reinforced Libby's identification of the sounds of the letters. To conclude, I read a Mo Willem's book, "Today I Will Fly."

We spent much of the session getting to know each other. Libby gave me a tour of her office and we reviewed her binder of work from Dr. Valerie. I took note of the skills learned (lowercase and upper case letters, VCV and VC-e words) and books that Libby particularly enjoyed. Libby picked out a lavender binder on Amazon which should arrive Wednesday. We will get to work next session!

I began with a one-minute phonological awareness exercise. Phonological awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate sounds within a word and is highly predictive of reading and spelling success. Next, I re-taught Colson the -ge and-dge spelling pattlern. We created a deck of example words. Colson will practice the words until he independly spells them correctly over three sessions. The ability to syllabicate unfamiliar words is an important skill. After re-teaching syllabication strategies, I presented Colson with approximately 15 unfamiliar, three-syllable words (Angling for Words, p 36). With practice, this skill will become automatic. To conclude, Colson read an ESPN article summarizing last nights Kansas City Chiefs- Buffalo Bills AFC football game. When Colson encountered an unfamiliar word that he could not read, we paused for him to practice syllabication strategies.

I began with a review of the three syllable types Eliana has learned: closed (hid), open (hi) and silent-e (hide). We played a game of Phonics Dice to reinforce the concepts. Next, I dictated isolated syllables; Eliana wrote them and then matched the syllables to make real words (human, mistake, neon, inside, dislike, reptile, invent, absent, disgust). To review her spelling deck, I dictated two sentences for Eliana to write and edit. We practiced last session's cursive letters (c, o, a, d) in a larger format which helped Eliana with proper letter formation. To conclude, I introduced a new syllable (r-controlled), specifically -er, -ir, and -ur. We played a round of Crazy Moose (basically, Uno with syllables) to reinforce the new concepts.

I began with a one-minute phonological awareness exercise, followed by alphabetic awareness. We reviewed and practiced syllabication of two and three-syllable words with closed and open syllables (VC/CV and VC/V). After reviewing previous spelling decks with word and sentence dictation, I introduced a new spelling pattern, words with a /ô/ such as all, ball, and walk. We created a spelling deck for Eliana to review. I helped Eliana with a reading passage from school, focusing on the vocabulary. We reviewed all cursive and I taught Eliana three new letters: c, o, a. To conclude, we co-read a chapter from a Junie B. Jones book.