BIG BOOKS: SCHOOLS ADOPT NEW READING SERIES

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- A new reading series will change the way children learn to read in Cape Girardeau public schools.

The Board of Education last week approved the purchase of a new elementary reading series for children in kindergarten through sixth grade at an investment of about $90,000.

The board lists teaching reading among top priorities of the district, and three years of studying the matter preceded selection of the D.C. Heath and Company series.

This year, a committee has formally studied the elementary reading curriculum. For two years prior, an informal study of ways to improve reading skills was under way, explained Richard Bollwerk, director of elementary education.

"That informal study fed right in to our curriculum study, helping us answer some questions about what was good and not so good about our current reading series," Bollwerk said.

"I think we've already been experiencing some changes in the way kids are learning to read," Bollwerk said. "What we're doing is following what is happening in classrooms in our district across the United States."

The series, Bollwerk said, meets the goals outlined by the committee studying the reading curriculum. For example, reading teachers believed students should be encourage to read because its fun. They believed parents should be involved, and they wanted an integrated way to teach reading, writing, spelling and language arts.

Bollwerk said the new series includes elements to meet all these goals.

"We're not the first ones to say kids need good literature. We want to present reading in a way that's interesting and exciting for kids," Bollwerk said. "We wanted to develop a program to encourage students to read for pleasure and enjoyment," Bollwerk said.

"That's one of the goals that came from our two-year informal study," he said. "We found that what was occurring with our (current) program is that kids felt is was boring and reading became drudgery.

"It's got to be a good story and fun to read," Bollwerk said. "When they finish reading at school, we want them to go home and read. So this program encourages reading for pleasure."

The program also includes "good literature by good children's authors like E.B. White," he said.

He said the older method of teaching reading, called basal readers, took good stories and made them into poor stories. "They had rules; like in first grade, all sentences must have four words. They rewrote good stories like `The Three Billy Goats Gruff' to include certain vocabulary words and to meet these rules.

"Now we use the original stories to teach the skills," Bollwerk said. "The stories have good style and form rather than choppy little sentences that really don't make sense."

He said stories also include things that happen in real life and stories about and written by minority groups.

He said parental involvement is important to a child's success in reading.

"One of the strengths of this series is that there are a lot of opportunities for parents to become involved," Bollwerk said. "For almost every unit, which is based on some theme, a letter goes home explaining the theme and giving suggestions on how parents can help lay the groundwork for that theme. This series provides ways to draw the parents in and make them a part of it," he said.

He explained that research shows children learn to read better if they are familiar with the topics they are reading about.

The series also integrates subjects related to reading. "In the past we taught reading, language arts, writing, and spelling as separate entity," Bollwerk said. "Now what we want to do is integrate all those areas together."

Students are encouraged to write stories that continue a story they have read.

"I've talked with secondary teachers," Bollwerk said. "They've said they were concerned about writing skills not being up to par."

Elementary teachers will receive training in the new series this spring and will have the summer to review their materials. School principals will also receive training in the program.

He said the reading program will be in place for seven or eight years. The company provides a number of complementary items, including teachers' kits, wall charts and other supplemental materials. A consultant paid by the textbook company will help implement the series.