Month-by-Month Phonics for Upper Grades: A Second Chance for Struggling Readers and Students Learning English

The phonics activities help students notice spelling patterns in words through clever activities that the older kids will enjoy. For instance, there are phonics lessons based on brand names! I highly recommend this program because it will give upper grade students the chance to learn how to spell high frequency words, to identify spelling patterns in big and small words, to monitor their spelling, and to use root/prefix/suffix parts of words to define and spell words.

This book is suitable for 4-8 grades. It includes lessons that will last for nine months of the school year. Teachers on year round schooling will also be able to use this book. Each lesson should take between 15-30 minutes, depending on the teacher's scehdule. This is an excellent book for upper grade teachers!


FINALLY! A BOOK THAT WORKS FOR UPPER EL   January 23, 2002
Sammy (Florida United States)
67 out of 68 found this review helpful

This book is by far the most beneficial I have found for my upper elementary students struggling to improve their reading skills. It gives simple, step by step instructions for each of the activities and requires very little planning time for the teacher. EVERY child can succeed at improving reading skills, and the activities are appropriate for older students. They do not feel like they are doing 'baby' lessons- an issue I have dealt with when using other phonics books.


Word Work surpasses Spelling!   August 28, 2008
T. McCarthy (Southern California)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

I purchased this after a literacy workshop in our district. After reading the introduction and the first month of lessons, I'm hooked! It's the first "spelling" approach I've seen in my 10 years teaching that makes sense and shows how to teach students to look at words in a whole different light than traditional, ineffective workbook programs. It provides words and structured instructional lessons for TEACHING word work rather than assigning words to memorize for a week, then forget.


Great for students of all ability levels!   September 6, 2008
happy teacher
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

I have had great success with the activities in this book. The students enjoy the activities. It has helped my students spell better and it is great for my ESL students. Students of all ability levels benefit from these activities.


Excellent Interactive Word-Work for Struggling Students   April 22, 2009
Jess
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

As a Reading Specialist, I'm always looking for ways to interest and impact upper elementary students who have either missed phonetic instruction in the past or did not learn it adequately to benefit them in reading passages. This resource gives excellent interactive ways to assist students in filling in the phonetic "gaps" in their learning while giving the teacher step by step instructions on how to teach the lessons. Patricia Cunningham's work is always beneficial to students and teachers and I highly recommend this resource for students learning English and struggling readers.