Paige Builds a Phonics Notebook

Having conducted extensive research into the history of the Orton-Gillingham (OG) approach, programs that are off-shoots of OG (e.g., Lindamood-Bell, Wilson Reading), sample OG lessons, and myths concerning dyslexia, Paige has reached a stage at which she feels ready to apply her extensive understanding.  She has debated between options for a few months now.  This careful consideration, however, has allowed her to settle upon a project:  a phonics notebook not unlike one that a tutor would craft with an elementary student at Kildonan.  Paige hopes to compile a chapter concerning open and closed syllables; this section would contain games, lesson plans, cards, and manipulatives.

To craft this piece, Paige is currently conducting a three-fold process.  First, she is communicating with both elementary school teachers on-staff, Mrs. Elliott and Ms. Hollander.  She hopes to observe both of their classes in order to determine how younger students respond to challenges in language acquisition, and she also plans to interview both teachers about their approaches to coaching students through these tasks.  Second, she continues to add content to a process portfolio that she maintains through iBook Author.  She manages this document in order to compile her notes, track resources, and hypothesize situations that she will face as a future elementary school teacher.  To date she has produced sixty-five pages.  Third and finally, she took time out during her break to draft sound-symbol cards.  Soon she will engage in a critique with Ms. Charlap during which the two can evaluate the layout and design of her slip.  They will also explore alternative designs for such manipulatives.

What do you think of Paige's work? Do you have a question or recommendation? Please post in the comments section below.

Description of 1st image:  A page from an interactive, kindergarten phonics notebook.  Picture located at www.pinterest.com.  Kildonan and its IP program do not claim ownership over the above photo.

Bull's "Cacophony"

Inspired by his tentacle piece, Bull decided not too long ago that he was ready for another project.  It would need to extend his whimsical streak, certainly, but it would also have to prove more rigorous in prompt.

Ms. Charlap hit upon a suitable option in no time.  Having advised Kildonan alumnus August Hunt through a successful application to The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (@cooperunion), she proposed a simulation of the Cooper Union home test.  This evaluation is an integral part of the application to Cooper Union's School of Art.  As described on the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section of Cooper Union's website, the home test "consists of a number of visual projects to be completed in approximately 3-4 weeks and returned to The Cooper Union for review."  Interested students choose from a number of prompts, respond to one directive through a multimedia project, and submit their work for consideration.

Ms. Charlap offered this undertaking to Bull, who - after examining several prompts - chose to represent the word "cacophony."  To flesh out his project, he worked with a limited number of resources under a strict deadline.  At week's end, he submitted a quirky yet heady project.  Sound waves, graphed and visually represented, played across the various surfaces of a box.  Random resources - cardboard feet and plastic tubing, for instance - were re-appropriated for anthropomorphic effect.  Overall, the piece was an eclectic, humorous, and interdisciplinary hodgepodge of math and art.

To share your thoughts on Bull's piece, please post in the comments section below.

Descriptions of four images:  A front view of "cacophony," pictured top right.  Top left shows the project's top view (note the sound wave graphed with pins).  Bottom right reveals the Newton-Laplace Equation, a calculation used by Bull to graph the speed of sound.  Finally, bottom left pictures a rear view (note the tubed tail).