By Cindy Adams
"How do you teach students to read Shakespeare when they can’t read Dr. Suess?" That is the question that plagued Amanda Funkhouser, Wytheville Minnick high school English teacher.
"When I got to Minnick, I didn’t know how to teach these kids, but they taught me how to teach them," Amanda said.
Robert Woodie is one of her greatest teachers. In ninth grade, Rob was reading at a kindergarten level. He struggled to recognize common words. He knew some letters, but he couldn’t associate sounds with them.
Still, Amanda and assistant teacher, Allison Kirby, knew they had a good teaching foundation with Rob because he had refined auditory skills, strong retention, and an especially rich vocabulary. He has a way with words.
He also has a way with a pencil. Rob can draw a detailed illustration of just about anything in minutes. He is particularly fond of drawing monsters and that is where the teachers saw their opportunity.
To overcome Rob’s word blindness, the teachers leveraged his drawing prowess and asked him to transform each letter of the alphabet, both capital and lowercase, into the form of a monster. Then, they asked him to name the monster using the sound of the letter. For example, "Mule" is the name of the uppercase "M" monster and "monkey" is the name of the lowercase "m" monster.
"When they are engaged, that’s when the topic you are teaching becomes a part of their world," Amanda explained. "Rob is a talented artist. We just had to find a way to use his giftedness."
Rob’s letter-monsters connected sounds with letters, creating the basis for forming words and the foundation for reading. This year alone, Rob has progressed three grade levels in reading.
The illustrations also infused his creative storytelling. Each "letter monster" has an accompanying story, and it never wavers, no matter how many times he tells it.
"This monster is relatively friendly unless you mess with its friends," Rob explained. "I would probably put it at a level two on the tier of danger."
On the other hand, "Yakitty Yak" and "yak apple," upper and lower case "Y" monsters are what Rob describes as a "breath of fresh air." And "Mule" and "monkey," upper and lower case "M" monsters are "a 2.5 danger level, but they can easily be tamed."
Like Dr. Seuss, he weaves words with captivating creativity. He is an enthusiastic storyteller.
Rob has even tackled letter blends like th, sh and ch. The accompanying monsters for these blends are "Thorny the Horse," "Shiny Shark Shimmers," and "Choo-choo the Nightmare Train." Each one, of course, with a descriptive back story.
"We knew he was capable of reading," Amanda said. "It just took us a little while to figure out how to teach him."
Rob is now an 11th grader and recently passed the business writing portion of his SOL, putting him on track to earn a standard diploma.
"Maybe it wasn’t me having trouble reading," Rob said quietly. "Maybe it was how I was being taught to read before now."
It sounds like Shakespeare may be next.
Giving Tuesday, celebrated annually on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving, is a global day of generosity that harnesses the power of people and organizations coming together to support worthy causes. Giving Tuesday represents a unique chance for you to make a lasting difference in the lives of those who need it most. This year, every dollar you donate to enCircle on Tues., Nov. 28, will be matched, up to a total of $5,000, effectively doubling the impact of your gift!
By providing art supplies, you are helping adults with disabilities discover new forms of self-expression, giving children and teens in foster care an outlet for their emotions, and empowering students with challenges in the classroom to explore their creativity. Your support plays a vital role in creating a more inclusive and supportive community.
Join us on Nov. 28 for Giving Tuesday!
