I have been at the fair all week. Many poignant stories. Surprisingly, as
many people there know what an elkhound is, as don't.
One fella let his wife do all the talking. He had an Elkhound in his youth,
and he's never bonded with any other dog like that elkhound. He's had many
dogs since. Having them at the fair really made his day. He was so broken
up about seeing an elkhound that he was speechless. He could only wipe
tears.
Many stories similar.. but no one else was speechless.
Some of Tuck's READ students and parents were in. I had not spoken to any
of Tuck's READ parents before except for the one child who would not speak.

One of my students could not read when she started. She was in second
grade. Once she started with Tuck, that's all she talked about. She
started having her mom dig for books about dogs. Especially books about
dogs that had tricks in them. Everytime a dog did a trick in the book,
Tuck performed that trick for reader on demand, right in front of them.
Her mother said, from the moment Tuck came into the reading program, her
child was on fire about reading. Because dogs with tricks were in more
advanced books, because of the difficulty in reading obstacles, this child
went from not reading at ALL, to reading at 4th grade level in one year.
She attributes this to Tuck.

She was very disappointed that Tuck was not going to the third grade
elementary (different school) next year. There is no dog READ program in
third grade. She said this program was so amazing, she's going to the
school to get this fixed. She feels the dog READ program is a must in the
schools.

Another parent was there with her Downs syndrome child. This child also did
not read when we started. I was really surprised at his reading level and
proficiency by the end of the school year. His mother said, he reads daily
now to his own dogs. One sticks around and tolerates being read to. One
won't. But he now finds reading to dogs fun, and he does read every day.
She did not mention how high his grade level of reading was. But she said
she made all Tucks's Youtube movies and put them on a disk. All the parents
who I met at the fair have said that they have kept all Tuck's letters
throughout the year.


I told them how this program worked.

IF they completed their reading assignment in time, they got to make Tuck
do special tricks and were allowed to play with him.

If they did not, they simply returned to the classroom. There was no
pressure, no penalties. But those who didn't finish heard about the things
from those children who DID finish, and they wanted to see these tricks for
themselves. When they asked. They were simply told there was not enough
time.

That was the incentive. At first,, they chose shorter books, and then they
got time. As their reading proficiency grew, they also sought out dog
books, and dog books with tricks. Their reading proficiency grew.
Then we stuck Tuck's mail box in the classroom.
They were told that if they wrote a letter to Tuck, they would get one
back. Each child got an individualized letter with pictures of them and
Tuck, and activities that Tuck did through the week that he shared with
them in their letters.
Tuck answered any questions they asked. So they learned interaction skills
as well as honed their writing skills, and forced them to write in normal
language, rather than just using words at their reading level.
This was not a writing assignment, it was purely voluntary. Their prize
was a letter with pictures from Tuck.. When they asked why Andy got a
letter from Tuck, and they didn't, I'd answer, Because Andy wrote Tuck a
letter!

The light bulb went on, and next week, there was a letter from Shane.

And my work load increased keeping Tuck letters going. This writing program
took no time from the teacher, because these kids wrote these letters at
home, and their parents helped.

So reading AND writing skills improved. They would read their letters to
Tuck, and if they couldn't read their own letters, They realized without
grading or criticism, that they needed work in that area. It was a self
improvement project. All it took was to put a mail box in the classroom and
keep it there. Tuck loved it too. The first thing he would do when he hit
the classroom was to run to his mailbox and see what was there!

Opening his mail box was like Christmas to Tuck.

I got a lot of feedback from the fair from the parents of Tucks READ
students last year. I had not had the opportunity to do this before. It's
a bit delayed, but I think I need to take Tuck to school open house this
year so that the parents get to actually MEET Tuck during the school year
and explain the program. I did not realize that Tuck had so engaged the
parents behind the scenes. They felt like Tuck was better than AMERICA'S
GREATEST DOG to them. They said he was a billion dollar guy. America's
Greatest Dog is all about the dogs. The READ program was all about giving
their children a life.

diddy wrote:

I have been at the fair all week. Many poignant stories. Surprisingly, as
many people there know what an elkhound is, as don't.
One fella let his wife do all the talking. He had an Elkhound in his youth,
and he's never bonded with any other dog like that elkhound. He's had many
dogs since. Having them at the fair really made his day. He was so broken
up about seeing an elkhound that he was speechless. He could only wipe
tears.
Many stories similar.. but no one else was speechless.
Some of Tuck's READ students and parents were in. I had not spoken to any
of Tuck's READ parents before except for the one child who would not speak.

One of my students could not read when she started. She was in second
grade. Once she started with Tuck, that's all she talked about. She
started having her mom dig for books about dogs. Especially books about
dogs that had tricks in them. Everytime a dog did a trick in the book,
Tuck performed that trick for reader on demand, right in front of them.
Her mother said, from the moment Tuck came into the reading program, her
child was on fire about reading. Because dogs with tricks were in more
advanced books, because of the difficulty in reading obstacles, this child
went from not reading at ALL, to reading at 4th grade level in one year.
She attributes this to Tuck.

She was very disappointed that Tuck was not going to the third grade
elementary (different school) next year. There is no dog READ program in
third grade. She said this program was so amazing, she's going to the
school to get this fixed. She feels the dog READ program is a must in the
schools.

Another parent was there with her Downs syndrome child. This child also did
not read when we started. I was really surprised at his reading level and
proficiency by the end of the school year. His mother said, he reads daily
now to his own dogs. One sticks around and tolerates being read to. One
won't. But he now finds reading to dogs fun, and he does read every day.
She did not mention how high his grade level of reading was. But she said
she made all Tucks's Youtube movies and put them on a disk. All the parents
who I met at the fair have said that they have kept all Tuck's letters
throughout the year.


I told them how this program worked.

IF they completed their reading assignment in time, they got to make Tuck
do special tricks and were allowed to play with him.

If they did not, they simply returned to the classroom. There was no
pressure, no penalties. But those who didn't finish heard about the things
from those children who DID finish, and they wanted to see these tricks for
themselves. When they asked. They were simply told there was not enough
time.

That was the incentive. At first,, they chose shorter books, and then they
got time. As their reading proficiency grew, they also sought out dog
books, and dog books with tricks. Their reading proficiency grew.
Then we stuck Tuck's mail box in the classroom.
They were told that if they wrote a letter to Tuck, they would get one
back. Each child got an individualized letter with pictures of them and
Tuck, and activities that Tuck did through the week that he shared with
them in their letters.
Tuck answered any questions they asked. So they learned interaction skills
as well as honed their writing skills, and forced them to write in normal
language, rather than just using words at their reading level.
This was not a writing assignment, it was purely voluntary. Their prize
was a letter with pictures from Tuck.. When they asked why Andy got a
letter from Tuck, and they didn't, I'd answer, Because Andy wrote Tuck a
letter!

The light bulb went on, and next week, there was a letter from Shane.

And my work load increased keeping Tuck letters going. This writing program
took no time from the teacher, because these kids wrote these letters at
home, and their parents helped.

So reading AND writing skills improved. They would read their letters to
Tuck, and if they couldn't read their own letters, They realized without
grading or criticism, that they needed work in that area. It was a self
improvement project. All it took was to put a mail box in the classroom and
keep it there. Tuck loved it too. The first thing he would do when he hit
the classroom was to run to his mailbox and see what was there!

Opening his mail box was like Christmas to Tuck.

I got a lot of feedback from the fair from the parents of Tucks READ
students last year. I had not had the opportunity to do this before. It's
a bit delayed, but I think I need to take Tuck to school open house this
year so that the parents get to actually MEET Tuck during the school year
and explain the program. I did not realize that Tuck had so engaged the
parents behind the scenes. They felt like Tuck was better than AMERICA'S
GREATEST DOG to them. They said he was a billion dollar guy. America's
Greatest Dog is all about the dogs. The READ program was all about giving
their children a life.



I'm so proud of you and Tuck, and so envious that you get to bring your
dog to interact directly with the students. Mine are only there in
spirit and story, and even then, sometimes I get a whiff of the scent of
new ideas, opening doors, the changing of paths.

My favorite author, Terry Pratchett, calls those moments "the trousers
of time" - a riff on quantum physics where the outcome is not fixed
until observed. He says that at certain crucial times, a decision or a
random event sends you down one pant leg or the other and all it takes
is a tiny nudge at just the right instant. Sometimes I get to give that
tiny nudge. You and Tuck, though, are like flashing lights, a great big
funnel and a sign that says "DETOUR".

On 2008-08-18 08:45:17 -0400, diddy none said:

I did not realize that Tuck had so engaged the
parents behind the scenes.

I bet.

You did so much work and it so greatly benefitted those kids. Tuck is
fantastic, but what you put together is far above and beyond any other
READ programs. And of course, Tuck wouldn't be so fantastic without
your work with him.

Giving that much time, energy, attention and love to those kids is life
changing.

"diddy" none wrote in message:

I got a lot of feedback from the fair from the parents of Tucks READ
students last year. I had not had the opportunity to do this before.
It's
a bit delayed, but I think I need to take Tuck to school open house this
year so that the parents get to actually MEET Tuck during the school year
and explain the program. I did not realize that Tuck had so engaged the
parents behind the scenes. They felt like Tuck was better than AMERICA'S
GREATEST DOG to them. They said he was a billion dollar guy. America's
Greatest Dog is all about the dogs. The READ program was all about giving
their children a life.

I hope these people realize just how much you have invested in this program,
and how big a role you've made in their children's lives. You don't need me
to tell you that you've done good.

Suja

diddy wrote:

And my work load increased keeping Tuck letters going. This writing program
took no time from the teacher, because these kids wrote these letters at
home, and their parents helped.

So reading AND writing skills improved. They would read their letters to
Tuck, and if they couldn't read their own letters, They realized without
grading or criticism, that they needed work in that area. It was a self
improvement project.


Several years ago, I volunteered with an adult literacy program. This
was one-on-one tutoring of adults who, for one reason or another, hadn't
learned to read as children. (We tried not to dwell on whose fault it
was and just go forward to teaching the person in front of us.) In the
training program for the volunteers, they made a big deal out of working
with the student's goals. The idea was to find out what the student
wanted to learn to do and go for that, not the teacher's idea of what
everyone should know. Usually the students wanted to read to make their
daily lives easier. They weren't interested writing or spelling.
(Sometimes you'd get a student who wanted reading and writing skills for
job advancement, but that was more unusual.)


Still, the teachers were told to teach writing and spelling anyway. I
couldn't see why and tried to skip it at the very beginning. I quickly
learned that one good reason to teach writing and spelling is that it's
the fastest, most sensible reinforcement for reading there is. A
student who wants to improve reading skills and spends the entire hour
on reading doesn't learn as fast as the student who wants to improve
reading but who gets 15 minutes on writing and 15 minutes on spelling,
like it or not.


We were also told to spend the last 10 minutes on reading to the
students no matter what. I thought that was counter-intuitive and
quickly learned otherwise there too. Even as the students' reading
skills improve, being read to is still important in making sure their
comprehension and vocabulary is a step ahead of their ability with
sounding out phonics.


So to me, this makes sense. If the kids are reading to Tuck, they
should be writing to Tuck. Now get busy and fix it so Tuck can read to
them ...


--Lia

diddy wrote:
America's
Greatest Dog is all about the dogs. The READ program was all about giving
their children a life.

That's awesome, Diddy, and I mean AWE-some. You and Tuck really
provided the chemistry to make a big difference for these kids -
not just bringing Tuck to the kids, but your creativity in
setting up the contingencies - read and Tuck will do tricks,
write, and Tuck will answer with a note and pictures. What great
motivators!

And you have a bunch of kids who will grow up knowing how great a
dog can be.

Wow.

FurPaw

--
The plural of anecdote is not proof.

To reply, unleash the dog.

Julia Altshuler spoke these words of wisdom in
:

diddy wrote:

And my work load increased keeping Tuck letters going. This writing
program took no time from the teacher, because these kids wrote these
letters at home, and their parents helped.

So reading AND writing skills improved. They would read their letters
to Tuck, and if they couldn't read their own letters, They realized
without grading or criticism, that they needed work in that area. It
was a self improvement project.


Several years ago, I volunteered with an adult literacy program. This
was one-on-one tutoring of adults who, for one reason or another, hadn't
learned to read as children. (We tried not to dwell on whose fault it
was and just go forward to teaching the person in front of us.) In the
training program for the volunteers, they made a big deal out of working
with the student's goals. The idea was to find out what the student
wanted to learn to do and go for that, not the teacher's idea of what
everyone should know. Usually the students wanted to read to make their
daily lives easier. They weren't interested writing or spelling.
(Sometimes you'd get a student who wanted reading and writing skills for
job advancement, but that was more unusual.)


Still, the teachers were told to teach writing and spelling anyway. I
couldn't see why and tried to skip it at the very beginning. I quickly
learned that one good reason to teach writing and spelling is that it's
the fastest, most sensible reinforcement for reading there is. A
student who wants to improve reading skills and spends the entire hour
on reading doesn't learn as fast as the student who wants to improve
reading but who gets 15 minutes on writing and 15 minutes on spelling,
like it or not.


We were also told to spend the last 10 minutes on reading to the
students no matter what. I thought that was counter-intuitive and
quickly learned otherwise there too. Even as the students' reading
skills improve, being read to is still important in making sure their
comprehension and vocabulary is a step ahead of their ability with
sounding out phonics.


So to me, this makes sense. If the kids are reading to Tuck, they
should be writing to Tuck. Now get busy and fix it so Tuck can read to
them ...


--Lia



Tuck can read 10 words

"diddy" none wrote in message
. ..
I have been at the fair all week. Many poignant stories. Surprisingly, as
many people there know what an elkhound is, as don't.
One fella let his wife do all the talking. He had an Elkhound in his
youth,
and he's never bonded with any other dog like that elkhound. He's had many
dogs since. Having them at the fair really made his day. He was so broken
up about seeing an elkhound that he was speechless. He could only wipe
tears.
Many stories similar.. but no one else was speechless.
Some of Tuck's READ students and parents were in. I had not spoken to any
of Tuck's READ parents before except for the one child who would not
speak.

One of my students could not read when she started. She was in second
grade. Once she started with Tuck, that's all she talked about. She
started having her mom dig for books about dogs. Especially books about
dogs that had tricks in them. Everytime a dog did a trick in the book,
Tuck performed that trick for reader on demand, right in front of them.
Her mother said, from the moment Tuck came into the reading program, her
child was on fire about reading. Because dogs with tricks were in more
advanced books, because of the difficulty in reading obstacles, this child
went from not reading at ALL, to reading at 4th grade level in one year.
She attributes this to Tuck.

She was very disappointed that Tuck was not going to the third grade
elementary (different school) next year. There is no dog READ program in
third grade. She said this program was so amazing, she's going to the
school to get this fixed. She feels the dog READ program is a must in the
schools.

Another parent was there with her Downs syndrome child. This child also
did
not read when we started. I was really surprised at his reading level and
proficiency by the end of the school year. His mother said, he reads
daily
now to his own dogs. One sticks around and tolerates being read to. One
won't. But he now finds reading to dogs fun, and he does read every day.
She did not mention how high his grade level of reading was. But she said
she made all Tucks's Youtube movies and put them on a disk. All the
parents
who I met at the fair have said that they have kept all Tuck's letters
throughout the year.


I told them how this program worked.

IF they completed their reading assignment in time, they got to make Tuck
do special tricks and were allowed to play with him.

If they did not, they simply returned to the classroom. There was no
pressure, no penalties. But those who didn't finish heard about the things
from those children who DID finish, and they wanted to see these tricks
for
themselves. When they asked. They were simply told there was not enough
time.

That was the incentive. At first,, they chose shorter books, and then they
got time. As their reading proficiency grew, they also sought out dog
books, and dog books with tricks. Their reading proficiency grew.
Then we stuck Tuck's mail box in the classroom.
They were told that if they wrote a letter to Tuck, they would get one
back. Each child got an individualized letter with pictures of them and
Tuck, and activities that Tuck did through the week that he shared with
them in their letters.
Tuck answered any questions they asked. So they learned interaction skills
as well as honed their writing skills, and forced them to write in normal
language, rather than just using words at their reading level.
This was not a writing assignment, it was purely voluntary. Their prize
was a letter with pictures from Tuck.. When they asked why Andy got a
letter from Tuck, and they didn't, I'd answer, Because Andy wrote Tuck a
letter!

The light bulb went on, and next week, there was a letter from Shane.

And my work load increased keeping Tuck letters going. This writing
program
took no time from the teacher, because these kids wrote these letters at
home, and their parents helped.

So reading AND writing skills improved. They would read their letters to
Tuck, and if they couldn't read their own letters, They realized without
grading or criticism, that they needed work in that area. It was a self
improvement project. All it took was to put a mail box in the classroom
and
keep it there. Tuck loved it too. The first thing he would do when he hit
the classroom was to run to his mailbox and see what was there!

Opening his mail box was like Christmas to Tuck.

I got a lot of feedback from the fair from the parents of Tucks READ
students last year. I had not had the opportunity to do this before.
It's
a bit delayed, but I think I need to take Tuck to school open house this
year so that the parents get to actually MEET Tuck during the school year
and explain the program. I did not realize that Tuck had so engaged the
parents behind the scenes. They felt like Tuck was better than AMERICA'S
GREATEST DOG to them. They said he was a billion dollar guy. America's
Greatest Dog is all about the dogs. The READ program was all about giving
their children a life.


What a wonderful year you and Tuck have had, diddy. So much progress for
the children, and so much fun for Tuck! I'm glad you had the opportunity to
meet with the parents and get all that feedback. Wish you were in the
schools down here.

What happened to the little boy who didn't talk?

td

"diddy" none wrote in message
. ..
I have been at the fair all week. Many poignant stories. Surprisingly, as
many people there know what an elkhound is, as don't.
One fella let his wife do all the talking. He had an Elkhound in his
youth,
and he's never bonded with any other dog like that elkhound. He's had many
dogs since. Having them at the fair really made his day. He was so broken
up about seeing an elkhound that he was speechless. He could only wipe
tears.
Many stories similar.. but no one else was speechless.
Some of Tuck's READ students and parents were in. I had not spoken to any
of Tuck's READ parents before except for the one child who would not
speak.

One of my students could not read when she started. She was in second
grade. Once she started with Tuck, that's all she talked about. She
started having her mom dig for books about dogs. Especially books about
dogs that had tricks in them. Everytime a dog did a trick in the book,
Tuck performed that trick for reader on demand, right in front of them.
Her mother said, from the moment Tuck came into the reading program, her
child was on fire about reading. Because dogs with tricks were in more
advanced books, because of the difficulty in reading obstacles, this child
went from not reading at ALL, to reading at 4th grade level in one year.
She attributes this to Tuck.

She was very disappointed that Tuck was not going to the third grade
elementary (different school) next year. There is no dog READ program in
third grade. She said this program was so amazing, she's going to the
school to get this fixed. She feels the dog READ program is a must in the
schools.

Another parent was there with her Downs syndrome child. This child also
did
not read when we started. I was really surprised at his reading level and
proficiency by the end of the school year. His mother said, he reads
daily
now to his own dogs. One sticks around and tolerates being read to. One
won't. But he now finds reading to dogs fun, and he does read every day.
She did not mention how high his grade level of reading was. But she said
she made all Tucks's Youtube movies and put them on a disk. All the
parents
who I met at the fair have said that they have kept all Tuck's letters
throughout the year.


I told them how this program worked.

IF they completed their reading assignment in time, they got to make Tuck
do special tricks and were allowed to play with him.

If they did not, they simply returned to the classroom. There was no
pressure, no penalties. But those who didn't finish heard about the things
from those children who DID finish, and they wanted to see these tricks
for
themselves. When they asked. They were simply told there was not enough
time.

That was the incentive. At first,, they chose shorter books, and then they
got time. As their reading proficiency grew, they also sought out dog
books, and dog books with tricks. Their reading proficiency grew.
Then we stuck Tuck's mail box in the classroom.
They were told that if they wrote a letter to Tuck, they would get one
back. Each child got an individualized letter with pictures of them and
Tuck, and activities that Tuck did through the week that he shared with
them in their letters.
Tuck answered any questions they asked. So they learned interaction skills
as well as honed their writing skills, and forced them to write in normal
language, rather than just using words at their reading level.
This was not a writing assignment, it was purely voluntary. Their prize
was a letter with pictures from Tuck.. When they asked why Andy got a
letter from Tuck, and they didn't, I'd answer, Because Andy wrote Tuck a
letter!

The light bulb went on, and next week, there was a letter from Shane.

And my work load increased keeping Tuck letters going. This writing
program
took no time from the teacher, because these kids wrote these letters at
home, and their parents helped.

So reading AND writing skills improved. They would read their letters to
Tuck, and if they couldn't read their own letters, They realized without
grading or criticism, that they needed work in that area. It was a self
improvement project. All it took was to put a mail box in the classroom
and
keep it there. Tuck loved it too. The first thing he would do when he hit
the classroom was to run to his mailbox and see what was there!

Opening his mail box was like Christmas to Tuck.

I got a lot of feedback from the fair from the parents of Tucks READ
students last year. I had not had the opportunity to do this before.
It's
a bit delayed, but I think I need to take Tuck to school open house this
year so that the parents get to actually MEET Tuck during the school year
and explain the program. I did not realize that Tuck had so engaged the
parents behind the scenes. They felt like Tuck was better than AMERICA'S
GREATEST DOG to them. They said he was a billion dollar guy. America's
Greatest Dog is all about the dogs. The READ program was all about giving
their children a life.



This gave me goosebumps. I'm going to send it to my daughter and see what
they might be able to do in their school if that's okay with you.

Kathy

"diddy" none wrote in message
. ..
Julia Altshuler spoke these words of wisdom in
:

diddy wrote:

And my work load increased keeping Tuck letters going. This writing
program took no time from the teacher, because these kids wrote these
letters at home, and their parents helped.

So reading AND writing skills improved. They would read their letters
to Tuck, and if they couldn't read their own letters, They realized
without grading or criticism, that they needed work in that area. It
was a self improvement project.


Several years ago, I volunteered with an adult literacy program. This
was one-on-one tutoring of adults who, for one reason or another, hadn't
learned to read as children. (We tried not to dwell on whose fault it
was and just go forward to teaching the person in front of us.) In the
training program for the volunteers, they made a big deal out of working
with the student's goals. The idea was to find out what the student
wanted to learn to do and go for that, not the teacher's idea of what
everyone should know. Usually the students wanted to read to make their
daily lives easier. They weren't interested writing or spelling.
(Sometimes you'd get a student who wanted reading and writing skills for
job advancement, but that was more unusual.)


Still, the teachers were told to teach writing and spelling anyway. I
couldn't see why and tried to skip it at the very beginning. I quickly
learned that one good reason to teach writing and spelling is that it's
the fastest, most sensible reinforcement for reading there is. A
student who wants to improve reading skills and spends the entire hour
on reading doesn't learn as fast as the student who wants to improve
reading but who gets 15 minutes on writing and 15 minutes on spelling,
like it or not.


We were also told to spend the last 10 minutes on reading to the
students no matter what. I thought that was counter-intuitive and
quickly learned otherwise there too. Even as the students' reading
skills improve, being read to is still important in making sure their
comprehension and vocabulary is a step ahead of their ability with
sounding out phonics.


So to me, this makes sense. If the kids are reading to Tuck, they
should be writing to Tuck. Now get busy and fix it so Tuck can read to
them ...


--Lia



Tuck can read 10 words

Out loud?

Kathy