Open Court and "low" and "high" kids

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Home : 2002 : November : 2

Open Court and "low" and "high" kids
By Kristina

I've watched third-grade teachers using Open Court and see what SC is saying. The literature used in class is pretty sophisticated, and the discussions of concepts can go into quite a bit of depth if you've got students
who get into it. The vocab words are also challenging, although if the kids are comprehending the story at all they should be able to learn the vocab words without too much difficulty.
But...the spelling words are way too easy, the phonemic awareness portion is stuff these kids learned in first grade, and the decodable books are "babyish and insulting," in the words of one bright third-grader

who I know well. The low kids are lost during the discussion of concepts, and the high kids tune out for the rest of it.

In first grade, it's definitely "dumbed down." My high kids are bored out of their minds and not challenged at all. And unfortunately, the endless drilling on phonemes bores my low kids to tears too, although it's valuable stuff for them. I just think there are better ways to present that material.