different opinion

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Home : 2002 : March : 17

different opinion
By christine

Hi Debbie!
Although you don't know it, I'm a great fan of yours I really appreciate all your ideas and tips.
But I have to disagree with you on 4blocks. True, I'm not a great specialist as I'm self-taught, with noone
around to help me ( except for a great mailring but that's another story). Anyway, it's like this: I teach first grade in a French school in Turkey, to 90% Turkish kids - French is their second language. I've been experimenting with different reading methods for a few years, I never found one that was very satisfying. I read and studied 4blocks for 2 years and this past September I took

the plunge. I might not be doing 'pure' 4 blocks since I have to translate/adapt everything to our French curriculum ( finding the right books is so quite time-consuming) but I'm trying my best. And I must say that my 75% of my kids are reading quite above level. All of my kids love reading and writing. I teach at grade level during Guided reading and kids read at their level during SSR ( self selected reading).Even during GR, some kids will work at a different level depending on the purpose and format I set. I still have some fine-tuning to do but I really like 4 blocks
I'd be happy to hear others'opinions!