While I was teaching the 5th grade one day it dawned on me that they recognized many words. However, when they came upon ome new words they seemed really stymied. The next day with the 4th grade class I came prepared to teach sounding out words and spent the hour that way. Thinking I was really on to a gap in their education I went from the 4th to the 6th grade class. When I tried the lesson with the 6th graders they had no trouble with words so I kept making them more difficult. I was unable to stump them. It was my last day teaching. I wish I could have checked the 5th grade class with the same material.
One caveat to the ability of the 6th grade is that they were working as a group. It was apparent that there was significant individual difference in ability. An interesting sidebar is that the English teacher, who is sometimes in the room with me, is quite candid about admitting that she would have pronounced some words differently. English pronunciation, with all its irregularity can be difficult for those who learn from a book.
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