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Show V , v . - v. . -r - -I i , . K 1 f , ' i ; - -. ' ' ' ' , , I ' M ' ' I- 1 . S-t-1 . J Helen M. Knight elementary students are all ears as reading teacher John Fogg spins the tale of Dr. Suess' "Horton Hatches the Egg." They're hanging on every word of Horton's perilous adventures. Instructor wants kids to "turn on" to reading By Beth Heggeness "I want kids to turn on to reading." These words, spoken by Grand County Middle School special reading teacher, John Fogg, had a sense of both sincerity and enthusiasm about, them. His desire to excite his students to read is so strong that it is hard to believe that all the kids in his classes can not help but feel that edge of excitement and the desire de-sire to learn. To fulfill his goal to "turn on kids" to reading, John Fogg employs a wide variety of teaching methods, meth-ods, the heart of which is an incentive program that he has designed in order to encourage his students to read on their own. And, that is the key, said Mr. Fogg, to get the kids to develop the habit of reading at home as well as at school. Students who enter his classes are those who are reading 35 percent below their grade level. Although Mr. Fogg cannot have very many in his classes 35 is the limitthese lim-itthese are the children who desperately need his help. Each student has his own individualized program pro-gram geared to his own needs stated Mr. Fogg, with the primary emphasis empha-sis being phonics. Daily reading and phonics exercises exer-cises bring most of the students up to their grade i ' ; t 'v . ) - : i t , - . j . ' ! w . A ; ? Vr . r . V,. The kids at HMK giggle and smile at the thought of an elephant sitting on an egg. John Fogg, special reading teacher at the Middle School, is striving both to entertain and to win the kids' enthusiasm about reading as he tells the Dr. Suess story, "Horton Hatches the Egg." (photos by Beth Heggeness) reading level within two years, although some take three years or even one. After leaving middle school it is hoped that the special reading students are also capable at that time of keeping up with the further progress of their classmates. There is no special reading program pro-gram at the high school so Mr. Fogg's class is the kids' last chance for special spec-ial help. Incentive Program Just walking into John Fogg's room at the Middle School is a fun experience. Right away the eye is attracted by brightly colored, col-ored, handmade posters of various Walt Disney characters and popular comic book figures. ' 'They make nice decorations, but they are also there for a very particular purpose," pur-pose," Mr. Fogg explained. explain-ed. These posters and many of the books in the room are all part of the incentive incen-tive program for reading that John has developed. Each child has a chance to earn points by completing various reading exercises. When the student has earned enough points, he may "buy" a book or a poster, or earn some free time. Reading at Home In order to encourage the children to get into the reading habit outside of the boundaries of the classroom, Mr. Fogg has reading exercises that may be taken home. The student can then earn points by reading to his parents and bringing back a signed worksheet. A fringe benefit to this said Mr. Fogg, is that the parents get involved in the reading process as well as their child. Parents are given a space on the worksheets to comment and thfir responses are welcomed. Sometimes, John commented, com-mented, the work at home is the best indicator of progress. The child feels more relaxed at home with his parent and he often can read better. Dr. Suess Helps Another part of his teaching methods and one of John Fogg's favorites is the utilization of the popular popu-lar children's author, Dr. Suess. The mention of this writer brings a special sparkle to Mr. Fogg's eyes. "He makes the language lan-guage so alive." ' Mr. Fogg himself obviously ob-viously loves Dr. Suess stories and he knows quite a few of them by heart. He has many times turned storyteller for his classes by reciting to them word for word a Dr. Suess book. He illustrates his talk with his own drawings of the zany characters, and changes his voice to suit them. Dr. Suess is a good teaching tool, says Mr. Fogg, for many reasons. First of all his stories are interesting. "Europeans think that English is a very dull language," he said, "but it's not at all, and I think Dr. Suess really brings out the color of our language." Besides being just plain fun, Dr. , Suess tales always have a very adult moral. They also utilize the basics of phonics in their rhymes. Stories Become Alive The purpose of telling stories to the students is to develop listening skills. "Reading is simply a fancy fan-cy way of listening," explained ex-plained Mr. Fogg. "And, if I make it seem exciting, reading is exciting. The stories are more alive if I tell them than if I simply read from a book. The students' listening is much more involved." New reading program Continued from Bl He admitted that many people do not find much of value in Dr. Suess' literature, litera-ture, "including my father," fath-er," he said with a smile, but Mr. Fogg feels that just getting his students to rend, rend, rend is the most important task he has. John Fogg must make reading seem exciting, because be-cause in order to drum up any enthusiasm for it, he often must first overcome his students' lack of rending rend-ing habits. In addition, (mother obstacle is thnt these children probably do not have n very positive feeling about their rending rend-ing ability. However, Dr. Suess' stories can be a starting point because tlicy nre creative, they appeal to the child's perspective per-spective of the world, and they hold the kids' interest. inter-est. Fascinates Children The fact, that Dr. Suess does indeed fascinate children was quite evident . when John Fogg recently told t wo of his favorite Dr. viess tales to a group of mJ Helen M. Knight youngsters. young-sters. The children were absolutely abso-lutely captivated and entirely en-tirely delighted with Mr. Fogg's voice chnrncteriza-tions chnrncteriza-tions of Horton the ele-phnnt ele-phnnt and Mazy, the lazy bird in "Horton Hatches the Egg." Very often a smile beamed across the primary pri-mary children's faces and frequently there was spontaneous laughter. The language . and the story became very much alive for those students. John Fogg also urged the children and teachers to think about the message of the stories and to talk alxnit them after he left. It would be very strange "deed if John Fogg did t succeed in his goal to "turn kids on to reading." His belief in the fun of the written word is infectious. Who amid help wanting jo read and read and road l,.V being around some w'i "breathes books" and helps kids to nnder-"'"! nnder-"'"! the Lie and n,or P--nmU in the written language |
