Comment: This really stuck out to me because it was such a big number. Students who have only been talking for a few years are expected to learn to read, and there are so many different rules and exceptions to the rules in English. It's always been amazing to me that we are able decipher words at all when there is so much variability, and I had never realized how much there really was.
Question: How do we keep our students from getting frustrated by all the exceptions to the rules we taught them as they read and write? How do we get them excited about learning all of the random exceptions and different ways of saying things?
I was also surprised at the number 500. In response to some of your questions- we talked a lot in class about not emphasizing "rules" since they are usually broken anyway. So instead of teaching when two vowels go a walking the first one does the talking as a rule teach it as a trick that is sometimes useful. Also like Dr. Wimmer mentioned keep a list of the times when a "rule" or "trick" does not work. That way students will be excited to point them out and add them to the list and you have ready made teaching oppurtunities.
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