The lack of phonics knowledge came back to haunt Kieran in 4th grade.
He showed no growth as a reader from November until the end of the year.
He was still “too high” a reader to qualify for support.
He started to abandon independent reading because what he was interested in had too many words he didn’t know.
Thank goodness for graphic novels.
Thank goodness for The One and Only Ivan.
Thank goodness for my training in phonics, so that I could sneak lessons in over the summer.
Thank goodness that he ultimately didn’t give up and also discovered Rick Riordan’s books.
I became a renewed advocate for a balanced literacy approach for all students.
