Part IX - Recommendations to Teachers and Parents/Caregivers

3 December 2018

Dear parents and teachers of Kanoe Lehua,

Over the past two and a half months, I have been working with Kanoe on her literacy skills
approximately twice each week during her RTI block. When our intervention began, Kanoe showed an
appreciation of book reading routines, possessed solid book handling skills and strong oral communications
skills. Another area of strength was her grasp of rhyme and her ability to segment one syllable words into
phonemes (sound units). On the other hand, assessments in alphabetics and decoding revealed that these skills
were well-below grade level. Here, Kanoe was insecure on letter identification (both upper and lowercase), she
displayed either low skill or low motivation when tasked with decoding simple, consonant-vowel-consonant
words, and she had not yet begun to build a personal sight word library.
Ten weeks after the first assessment, I am pleased to say that Kanoe has come a long way in her literacy
journey. While she continues to have a few letters that give her trouble, she is more secure, and her knowledge
of letter names and the sounds they make is enabling her to find greater success in reading and writing
activities. Kanoe’s earlier strength in segmenting words into their sounds is supporting her in her ability to both
decode and spell. All that practice in SFA, in 1st grade, in RTI and at home is working - keep it up!
Suggestions for home: 1) Continue reading with Kanoe! These experiences and conversations are
helping her to maintain a positive relationship with reading. 2) While you read, ask questions about details and
character’s motivations. Talk through finding the answers to any questions she might have. 3) Occasionally
ask Kanoe to read simple sentences during story time. Most of the words read in her books are common ones,
and the number of these words she can read instantly will help her feel confident and ready to tackle decoding
those words that are less common. I will supply a list with suggestions. 4) Encourage Kanoe to draw and tell
you stories about her pictures. She is a talented artist with a vivid imagination; practice putting together a
logical sequence with details will help her recognize the importance of these elements in what she reads and
writes. 5) For those times when Kanoe is playing on the phone on long car rides, consider adding apps that
require her to use her phonics skills and perhaps add a link to ​www.pbslearningmedia foundational reading
skills videos​ for when internet is available.
Suggestions for Kanoe’s teachers: 1) Kanoe has an ear for music and rhythm, an artistic eye, and an
excellent memory. Whenever possible, support her literacy activities with poetry, songs, and mnemonics
utilizing these strengths. 2) Kanoe continues to grapple with G vs. Q, u vs. v, d vs. b, p vs. q, g vs j. Verbalize
these letters as you write them, and when she is writing, ask her to name them or turn them into picture
mnemonics; consider carrying letters in your pocket to quiz her on throughout the day. 3) Kanoe does not
always hear the differences between the end sounds /t/ and /d/, between the medial vowel sounds /ĕ/ and /ĭ/, or
/ĕ/ and /ă/. Carefully enunciate these sounds for her and with her, asking her to repeat target words, spell aloud,
and repeat again. 4) Continue to build Kanoe’s sight word vocabulary with support from home. Games and
flashcards with friends and at home are a good way to keep her engaged while giving her needed drill time. 5)
Gradually build up Kanoe’s stamina for reading and writing activities; while her tolerance for these activities
has increased in the past weeks, Kanoe continues to need regular, structured movement breaks with carefully
planned transitions.
I very much enjoyed my time with Kanoe, and hope I will be able to continue to work with her in either
a formal or informal basis. If you should have any questions or concerns regarding these suggestions, please
feel free to contact me at ​cfrost@emailserver.edu​ or by phoning the school office at (111)-222-3344.

Sincerely,
Celia Frost