From Colleen Creager, Reading Specialist in Saratoga Springs, NY:
Thanks for the effort you put towards improving the IRLA. Research shows the importance of Phonological Awareness. Phonological awareness is essential for reading because written words correspond to spoken words. Readers must have awareness of the speech sounds that letters and letter combinations represent in order to move from a printed word to a spoken word (reading), or a spoken word to a written word (spelling). These are pre-literacy skills. I feel there should be a place within the IRLA to document progress in all the areas of PA (somewhere in yellow/green. Putting it in both levels would be appropriate and helpful). Since ARC collaborates with Dr. Kilpatrick and his Equipped for Reading Success (I've been using this book for years and LOVE it), I think it's only appropriate to use the accompanying assessments (the PAST) within the system. The way I'd see it best used would be to start out with syllable deletion (ex: say "bookcase, but don't say book"). then another checklist for Onset-Rime (which IRLA) already has). But it could be broken down further into levels of onset-rime. Deletion ("say feet, but don't say /f/... eat"). Then substitution: Say Guide, but instead of /g/, say /r/: ride. So, on and so forth. Please refer to the PAST to see what could be used. In addition, I'd love to see more parts of PA on the IRLA. Rhyming Recognition. Do these two words rhyme? bed, bat. Next: Rhyme generation. Tell me a word that rhymes with: sip. Word awareness: how many words are in this sentence: Happy Birthday! It's time to eat. First Sounds: Tell me the first sound you hear in "table". Final sound identification: Tell me the last sound you hear in "pat". Sound segmentation: Tell me all the sounds you hear in 'dog' (/d/ /o/ /g/). Sound blending. You give the sounds in the word and student must blend together to make a word. Medial sound. tell me the middle sound of a word: "cup" /u/. In each of these checklists, I'd love to see multiple forms. For example: Form 1 would have 6 "words" and we'd see how many the student could get correct out of those 6. Form 2 would have a different set of 6 words, etc.
If we have the ability to document these skills, then we are able to show progress and show where work needs to be done. In turn, move the student further, faster!
