I feel like I should say something cute, like, "Please pardon the dust. This page is under construction." The truth is, this page will be under construction for a long time. I am attempting to take a wonderful, but somewhat dated method of reading instruction into the twenty-first century. As for the name I have chosen for the website, other authors of reading systems name them after themselves. It only seems fair that Rebecca Pollard retain the credit. After all, it is her excellent method that this entire site is based upon.
This page began as webpage for a six week summer course entitled "The Successful Student." It introduced eighth grade students, entering nineth grade, to the reading and reference skills they would need for success in their content courses. I taught it, at home, to children of friends last year. Many of the things we covered in that course are applicable in this method. So, please bear with me as things come, go, and are moved around.
The copy of Pollard's method that I have was published in 1897. (All of her books are available for free on the internet and are available as word for word reprints through Barnes and Noble.) Many educators who I have spoken to, dismiss the older methods of reading instruction as out dated. One teacher told me that, when compared to modern basal editions, "there is so much wrong with Pollard's book." That discussion was early in my career as a teacher. Now that I know more, I can truthfully say, "There is so much more right with it!"
This website will structure the method like a class or a course of study. It will be designed to begin with the rock bottom basic skills and take students through Greek and Latin roots and affixes. How long it takes will depend upon the needs of the student, how much the teacher wishes to cover, and the age and experience of the student. It will eventually cover the following skills in an integrated program:
It is important to read the preparation material and planning before each lesson. When possible, a variety of options for practice and instruction will be given. After going through the preparation and planning, the material can be adapted to the student's unique needs. All materials will be either available on this site, my companion "The Pollard Reference and Materials Site," or suggested materials at other links. Please do not skip steps. Short-cuts, which will not compromise quality of instruction, will be included whenever possible. The same will be true of extra practice and instruction when needed.
The objective will be to give participating students the tools they need to be successful learners, in and outside the classroom. It is also meant to give the parent/teacher or the teacher the tools they need to present the material successfully. Meanwhile, please pardon any "rough edges." Feel free to look around and see if there is anything that catches your interest or fills a need as this page is developed.
Just the Facts
According to W. Edwards, in his 1986 book, Out of the Crisis, “In God we trust; all others must bring data.”
So, let’s take a look at the data:
Basic facts about reading American Standard English:
The average American adult can memorize a maximum of 10,000 words by sight. (This means that variations on a single word, such as plurals, are all memorized separately.) This will put this reader on a fourth grade level.
|
Time Line |
Educational Trends and Information |
|
In 1840, 93% to 100% of the nonimmigrant American adult population could read at an 11th grade level. |
1500s to the 1800s students, who were taught to read, were taught through various kinds of synthetic phonics. (Synthetic phonics skills are directly and clearly taught—like math.) 1800s-some educational experts advance the theory that the proper way to teach reading is through the whole word method. |
|
1840-1880 – Sight Word Method introduced in to help deaf children learn to read. |
Rev. Thomas H. Gallaudet, director of the American Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb in Hartford, Connecticut, used the sight-word method to teach the deaf to read. In 1852 David Bartlett taught deaf children in a family school. He discovered that signing and finger spelling, combined with sight words helped the deaf learn to read. |
|
In 1945, 96% of the general American adult population could read at an 11th-12th grade level. |
1945 (1955 in some areas of the country), phonics is still the predominant form of reading instruction, supplemented by the basic 220 word Dolch Sight Word List and his 95 word Noun list. |
|
In 1953, 81% of the general American adult population could read at a 10th-11th grade level. |
1950s-1970s saw the popular rise of the Sight Word based Dick and Jane series. |
|
In 1973, 73% of the general American adult population could read at a 9th- 10th grade level. |
Early 1970s saw the introduction of Whole Language. As the Dick and Jane series lost popularity, Whole Language gained ground. Although Whole Language claimed that it was not a whole word method, it is. Supporters believe that students will naturally learn to read through immersion in good literature. |
|
By 1983, only 65% of Americans, aged 16 years or older, read at the 8th-9th -grade level or lower. |
In 1983, “A Nation At Risk” was published. Whole Language was criticized for ignoring necessary phonetic instruction in reading. Whole language proponents claimed that they did teach phonics. It was embedded phonics. “Embedded phonics” are haphazardly presented to the student. They are expected to learn the phonics through a process of natural discovery. Many Whole Language programs still teach students this way.) |
|
By 2002, only 50% of Americans, aged 16 years or older, read at the eighth-grade level or lower. |
1980-c.2006-This was the era of the “Reading Wars.” Whole Language supporters and phonics supporters were often on opposite sides of the argument. Even when phonics was taught, it was largely taught by the embedded method. Teaching synthetic phonics and explicit reading skills became a specialized form of teaching, often found in Special Education classrooms and denied to the mainstream student. |
|
2002-2012 Reading Statistics remain basically unchanged |
2007-present day saw the rise of “research based education.” Many publishers were quick to put labels on their material. Presently, a wide mixture of methods may be used to teach reading to students, even within the same district. Phonics programs tend to watered down and stress embedded phonics. The result is inconsistent and confusing. Students may be taught reading one way one year and receive entirely different instruction the following year. |
Until the introduction of the sight word method in 1840, to help the deaf, basic American reading ability, among individuals, taught to read by synthetic phonics, was consistently at 11th grade level or better. The conclusion is clear-Synthetic Phonics is the best method to teach reading.
Kate Harrington was born Rebecca Harrington Smith and later known by the pen name of Rebecca Smith Pollard. She, was an American teacher, writer and poet. Pollard was born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania on September 20, 1831. She spent her most productive years in Iowa. Her father, Prof. N.R. Smith, was a playwright and an authority on Shakespeare. She was married to New York poet and editor Oliver I. Taylor.
Harrington’s family moved to Ohio, then Kentucky, where Harrington worked as a teacher. Later, she taught in Chicago. Harrington lived in various Iowa cities. She began her writing career with the Louisville Journal, whose editor opposed secession and was an important influence in keeping Kentucky in the Union. Harrington continued to teach during this time, being known for her uniquely effective hands on approach to instruction.
In her Letters from a Prairie Cottage, Harrington included a children's corner with tales about taming and raising animals and of a cat who adopted orphan chicks. Harrington also wrote other children’s books, including a primer and a speller. Pollard's work in the field of reading represented a pioneer effort in terms of creating a sequential reading program of intensive synthetic phonics. This method was unique in that it came complete with a separate teacher's manual and spelling and reading books, and developed into a broad based graded series of literature readers.
Her series is important for its high correlation of spelling and reading instruction, for its concern for the interests of children, for its incorporation of music into the process of learning to read, and as the forerunner for other phonics systems. Her readers were used in every state in the Union and were still in use in Keokuk, Iowa, as late as 1937. Few women have single-handedly contributed so much to the field of reading.
In 1869, she published a book of poems entitled Maymie, as a tribute to her ten-year-old daughter, of that name, who died that year.
In 1870, Harrington published "In Memoriam, Maymie, April 6th, 1869", a meditation on death and suffering, written on the occasion of the death of her young daughter. In 1876, Harrington published “Centennial, and Other Poems,” The volume included many poems about Iowa, as well as selected poems of Harrington's father, Prof. N.R. Smith, and illustrations of the Centennial grounds in Philadelphia.
Kate Harrington, or Rebecca Harrington Smith Pollard wrote all of her life. She was 79 years old when she produced the poem, “Althea” or “Morning Glory,” which relates to Iowa. She died in Ft. Madison on May 29, 1917.
Who is this reading method meant for? Pollard originally meant her reading method to begin with the very young student. This would be equivalent to today's first grade student in the United States. This version will be aimed at the third through sixth grade student. Adaptions will be provided, eventually, to help parents who are teaching older students in the seventh and eighth grades. If the three year schedule for the curriculum is kept the starting points would look like this:
The grade levels in parenthesis will be addressed at a later time.
Since I retired from teaching, I have read about, talked with, and been e-mailed by parents and teachers about the problems many students above third grade are having in reading. (This applies to other subjects too.) Many of them have been homeschoolers. This is intended for:
I've been there, professionally as a teacher tying to help students and personally both as a dyslexic myself and with a dyslexic child, nieces, nephews, and other family members. There are no silver bullets, magic wands, or quick fixes. It takes work, patience, and time. Some days are better than others. Don't give up. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Please wait...