From the hall comes the sound of violins being played competently, and in Sharon Meconi's first-grade class, the kids are reading and writing with more confidence and poise than ever. Oh, everyone, you have to hear this. She's starting her sentence with different words. She's not starting with the same word. Then the letters are put back in the writing folders, the folders put away, and it's time once again for the word wall.
Today there is a lot of talk about tricky vowel sounds.
The students read the words together confidently, but when, reading them as individuals, one kid has a problem, Meconi keeps things moving so he isn't embarrassed. She gives a quick hint, then discusses generally with the class what the problems and pitfalls might be in recognizing the particular word. But soon the word wall is done, and it's time to move on to the day's story. Sea Frog lives in a bog. When Meconi says something is especially difficult and uses a certain tone of voice, the kids know it's actually something pretty easy.