Fayette County Leader from Fayette, Iowa • Page 2

Alii i it LEADER, tArtJUt, 1UWA INTRODUCE LIPPINCOTT BASIC READING PERFORMS AT ISU Creek Bottom Comments The Lippincott basic reading program is being introduced this year in the Fayette schools. This program has attracted a great deal of interest and attention nationally as it represents a new and unusually successful approach in teaching children how to read. Basic reading is normally described as a program. A key to the program's successlies in its phonic foundation. This is not phonics as it was taught 50 or 60 years ago; rather, basic reading introduces children to an understanding of the relationship between sounds of words and their spellings in a new, sequential manner.

Sound-spellings are never taught in isolation, but only as parts of whole words. Wei do not use nonsense syllables in teaching phonics, as was done many years ago. Because the short vowel sounds are most common in spoken English. When the children have mastered the short vowels, they are introduced to some of the more useful consonants so that they can begin building actual words. In basic reading, the children are learning how to decode printed symbols to determine what sounds and words they represent.

Once they have mastered the relationship of a printed letter and the sound it represents, they can decode that letter in a large number of words. The child with a good phonic background is ENGAGED Mr. and Mrs. Lowell Miller, Fayette, announce the engagement of their daughter, Mary Jane Wedemeier, to Kenneth R. Lawless, son of Floyd Lawless, Eldorado.

Miss Wedemeier is a 1 9 6 9 graduate of Fayette High school and is presently working at the county home. Lawless is a 1965 graduate of North High in West Union, and is presently employed at Harry Henry Electric in West Union. No wedding plans have been set. then able to read words he has never seen before. Conventional "look-say" programs, on the other hand, require the child to memorize each word to which he is exposed in the early texts.

If he succeeds in this (and many children do not) he is still able to read only those words he has learned, for he does not know what sounds the letters in those words represent. A rather surprising fact about basic reading is that is contains a vocabulary of well over 2,000 words in Grade 1, as opposed to the 350 to 500 words commonly found in conventional programs. What's more, parents and teachers frequently report that children using basic reading are able to read'many words not even included in their texts, proving that they have learned how to use their skill in decoding quite effectively, Phonetically irregular words such as "light," "though," "tongue," are taught by introducing them as "special words," which must be learned separately, independently from the phonic instruction. While estimates vary from one authority to another, there seems to be general agreement that the child entering school has a fairly large vocabulary of words whose meaning he knows, even if he does not use all of them in his own speech. This figure has climbed rather dramatically in recent years as television viewing has become such an important part of the average child's pre-school life.

If the child can recognize and understand the meaning of a word spoken by' someone else, it is obvious that he will be able to do the same thing if he can decode and pronounce the same word himself. The ultimate value of a reading program is determined by how well it works, and here Lippincott's basic reading is on very solid ground. In the years since it was introduced in 1963, basic reading has been tested in schools all over the country, representing a complete range of mic, intellectual, and preparatory backgrounds, and it has con- The West Central (Maynard) high school band is one of 51 such bands that will perform at Band Day at the first home football game of the season when Iowa State University meets Colorado State Saturday afternoon. Director of the band is Merlyn Finley. ATTENDS SEMINAR Larry Busse of People's Natural Gas, and Gordon Leech, of Leech Electric Service, were two of the twelve Fayette County businessmen who attended a one- day seminar on developing supervisory skills held Sept.

15 at Upper Iowa College. sistently produced average class scores of one to two years above what would normally be expected with other reading programs. Grade 1 children test at grade 2 or grade 3 levels, and this advantage continues to widen as the children move up through basic reading, so that third grade children frequently test as high as grade 6 or grade7. The success of basic reading lies, in part, in the phonic method it employs, and also in the kind of reading selections it offers. As quickly as possible, basic reading begins to offer the children a wide variety of reading matter fairy tales, adventure stories, biography, animal tales, humor, mystery, poetry, history, classics, and much more.

Many of the world's best-knownand best-loved writers are represented. The result is that the children are caught up in an excitement about reading and the experience it brings them. They are motivated to read widely something that often fails to happen with the restricted vocabulary and watered-down selections offered in conventional readers. In the upper grades (basic reading extends through grade 8), the children are guided to an understanding of other dimensions of written word literary style, construction, composition, grammar, literary devices, syntax, and so on. The old and cumbersome approach to syntax has been replaced by a simple and sound new way of analyzing our language one that is tailored to English as it is used, rather than to rules of Latin grammar.

Although it is a bit early to make ments, the indications are that this innovation, too, will have a profound and beneficial effect on the way the student of the future will use his language. SMORGASBORD COOKS No one went away hungry after the smorgasbord held last Thursday at the Grace Luuieran cituicu. Some of the kitchen committee who prepared the large quantities of home-made noodles, meatballs, chicken, ham, and all the necessary trimmings are, left to right, Mesdames James Miller, Russell Ungerer, Earl Gibson, Floyd Alber, Pete Jessen, Paul Voshell, John Nuenring, and Ella Cuandt. We are old enough and square enough that we admire the thoughts of Dr. Max Rafferty, California Superintendent of Public Instruction.

In regard to some of the present-day school problems, Dr. Rafferty asks "Since when did children become adults?" A adult is not placed in anybody's daily care because he or she is old enough to take care of himself or herself. A child is, because he or she isn't. No one exerts custodial authority over you, sir or ma'am, because you're grown up. A WORTHY WINNERS The Westfield Worthy Winners meeting was called to ordqr by president Rosemary Orr.

Fifteen members and one guest were present. The roll call was What Do You Like To Cook Best? A cookout will be held Oct. 3 at 1:30 p. m. at Klock's Island.

Invitations will be sent to prospective members. Anyone 10 years old after Jan. 1, may come as guests. Order of Rainbow Miss Lois Broughton, West Union, was installed worthy advisor of the Fayette Assembly, Order of Rainbow for Girls, Sept. 13, in the West Union Masonic Temple.

Miss Broughton was escorted to her station by her father and presented a bouquet of red and white carnations. Special music was presented by Linda Hanson and Vickie Jellings, West Union. Other officers installed were Elaine Pickett, Fayette, worthy associate adviser; Joan Johnson, West Union, charity; Ann Alderson, Fayette, hope; Marva Jo Ingels, Fayette, faith; Vickie Richards, Fayette, treasurer; Janis Aanes, Fayette, recorder; Jean Streeter, Fayette, chaplain; Leslie Vance, West Union, drill leader; Ellen Thomas, West Union, love; Marcia Anderson, West Union, religion; Rose Orr, Fayette, nature; Karen Oakes, Fayette, immortality; Susan Rutt, Fayette, fidelity; DeniseSamuel- son, West Union, patriotism; Kristin Conner, West Union, service; Becky Streeter, Fayette, confidential observer; Marcia Whitver, West Union, outer observer; and Mary Lewis, Fayette, musician. The installing officers for the ceremony were Wendy Bitterman, Fayette, worthy advisor; Marcia Whitver, West Union, marshall; Mrs. M.

W. Broughton, West Union, chaplain; Mrs. Cecil Snively, West Union, recorder; and Mrs. Doran Meyer, West Union, musician. Wendy Bitterman, grand representative and immediate past worthy advisor, summarized the activities and projects of her term in office.

Mrs. Marvin Ingels, mother advisor, and John Broughton, Rainbow dad, were presented. Mrs. Ingels presented merit badges to Ann Alderson, Fayette; Kristin Conner, West Union; Vickie Richards, Fayette; and Leslie Vance, West Union. A reception was held following the installation with Mrs.

Ed. Hoehne, Westgate, Mrs, Charles Broughton, Dysart, Mrs. Harold Conner, West Union, and Mrs. William Pninn. child isn't.

You get sent to jail if you misbehave. A clyld gets spanked. Dr. Rafferty a ys- "Perhaps if we could just get the adult child relationship into proper perspective, we could call off the lawyers. There was a time when the principal could call a highschool kid into his office and tell him to empty his pockets if he was suspected of carrying a live bomb or a dead skunk.

Maybe it's about time to get toack to that simplet way of doing things. No police, no lawyer, no ACLU, no search warrant. Just a properly qualified principal taking charge of the situation. Dr. Raferty further declared: "I may be a bit square, but for four millenia we teachers have been running our schools as though they were schools, not as though they were law college moot courts.

I see no particular reason to change all our horses in the middle of a 4, 000-year-old stream Treat children as children, and their problems as the problems of children. And let's knock iff out current jug- headed tendency to make a federal case of everything in sight. Kids are kids, and as kids they have not yet qualified for the rights and privieges which will be theirs, when they are legal adults. Graduate Miss MarjorieA. Henry, daugu ter of Mr.

and Mrs. Thomas Henry, has successfully completed the International Travel and Secretarial Course as a resident student of Humbolt Institute's Airline and Travel Personnel course, a division of Career Academy. EASTERN STAR The Fayette Chapter Order of the Eastern Star met Thursday evening with Mary Lucille Simmons and Gordon Leech, worthy matron and worthy patron presiding. Mrs. Gordon Leech was honored as skipper for the evening.

Invitations were read from several chapters to honor Mrs. Eileen Minnich and Leo Maurer, worthy grand matron and worthy grand patron of Iowa in Becker Chapter, Waterloo, Sept. 19; Oelwein Chapter, Sept. 30; and West Union Chapter, Oct. 3.

SOCIAL SECURITY A representative of the Social Security Administration office in Waterloo will be in West Union at the Court House Assembly Room on Oct. 6, 20, and 27, from 9 a.m. to 11 a. according to Vernon S. Meyer, District Man-.