Assessment 11/19/2012

Lose: A Child's Response to Intervention Requires Response a Responsive Teacher of Reading 

This article was very eye opening regarding the necessary qualifications and dedication that a teacher must have to help a child's literacy development. The IDEA allowed 15% of funds to be spent on Special Education funds for Early Intervening Services (EIS) and support professional development and literacy instruction. RTI stands for Response To Intervention and can be used without labeling students at risk for school failure as learning disabled. Through research, its been discovered that literacy issues will surface after one year of learning in school. Assessments must appropriately explore a child's multiple knowledge sources and literacy experience. 

The main conclusion that I got from this article was that individualized teaching is crucial to a students improvement if they are low performing. Different paths will be taken by individuals when it comes to learning to read, which is why it is imperative to tailor the lesson to his or her needs. The What Works Clearinghouse looked into effective reading programs which encompassed four key domains: alphabetic, reading fluency, comprehension, and general reading achievement.  What are some ways that you think a lower performing student can be helped?  

Guided Reading Article

Guided Reading in the Primary Classroom

By Mary Kreul

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/guided-reading-primary-classroom

Guided Reading is a component of a four-block reading program that consists of self-selected reading, shared reading, writing, and working with words. Guided reading is when the teacher facilitates small groups for students that are beginning readers. The goal of guided reading is to help students begin to use reading strategies independently such as context clues, syntax, word structure, etc. The process of guided reading will be carried out before, during, and after reading. For before reading the teacher should make predictions, introduce vocabulary, and talks about appropriate reading strategies. For during reading the teacher should give prompts, allow proper amount of time, and give clues as needed. For after reading teachers should strengthen comprehension skills and provide praise for strategies that students used during the reading. 

Guided Reading is something that I remember my teachers doing in the classroom and it made me much more interested in the reading content. It is very helpful for students to be knowledgeable of the vocabulary that will be used throughout the reading and can give them a confidence boost. Guided Reading, in my opinion, is the best teaching strategy for beginning readers. 

Real Life Observation Blog

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8112157.stm

How do you keep students attention while you are reading aloud? 

Today I sat in on a second grade reading classroom at a local Knoxville school. We are all aware that young readers can have such passion for reading, but they can also be squiggly in their seats! I was curious to see how a teacher might keep the students attention as she reads aloud to them. The teachers started by giving each student a vocabulary chart which listed a few words that the students would hear in the reading. The class as a whole then completed the chart which had the definition, a synonym, and an example. The teacher had placed her students in rows, besides three disruptive students who were individually spread out in the very back of the classroom. At one point, a student sitting in the very back got up and threw away her vocabulary chart and the teacher never noticed! 

Once they had completed the chart as a class, she asked them to open their books and place their finger on the first word. As they began to read, she walked all around the classroom and was sure to help guide students fingers if they seemed to be struggling. A problem that I continually saw were students looking around, one fixing his shoe laces, and two even standing up away from their desk! The teacher was looking down reading the book aloud and did not even realize these students were not reading along with her. 

I was so glad that I got to experience this class reading. It really got me thinking of ways that we can keep young readers focused on the passage. I feel as if it is better to have the class sitting all together so you can closely monitor each student instead of spread out throughout the classroom. What are some tactics that you have in mind to help keep students attention? 

Blog on Vocabulary for Nov. 5th

Vocabulary Lessons, Educational Leadership 

Blachowitz, C.L.Z. & Fisher P. 

Vocabulary is such a HUGE concept in our daily lives. Our homes, schools, and teachers all have helped to expand our vocabulary. According to this article, research has shown that many preschoolers receive little support for vocabulary growth in their lives. As an educator, you can help give the child the growth and development that they need and might not be receiving from home. An example in the article of ways to help with vocabulary is a "world wall," just like we have in our own reading education classroom. Another helpful strategy for expanding vocabulary was choosing a wide range of books for your students to read. By having your students read different types of books, they will then gain more vocabulary. After your students have read these books, have them participate in a book club or guided reading circle. 

What are some activities that you did in grade school for Vocabulary? Will you use these same activities in your classroom, why or why not? 

Comprehension: October 29th

Comprehension: Gill and Pardo Articles

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVKkyc_ne4M

 

I learned so much reading Gill and Pardo's Articles on reading comprehension. Gill stated that many teachers find comprehension a mystery and often focus more on understanding rather than comprehending. Students reported that they comprehended poorly when the text was assigned by teachers, knew little about the topic, the page was dense with few paragraph breaks or illustrations. Readers reported to comprehend well when they had interest in the topic, there was a purpose to read, and they were undistracted by worries, chores, and noise. All of these answers are things that teachers should keep in mind when planning to teach reading comprehension.

 

 

The three major factors said to affect comprehension are text, reader, and the situation. Gill's articles described pre-reading, during reading, and post-reading activities. Now looking back on my grade school years I can remember my teacher doing these activities and it really did help me to comprehend the text and connect it to old information. A pre-reading activity might be to ask questions regarding the topic or have the students create a graphic organizer. A during reading activity could be to have the students make predictions as they read. A post-reading activity might be to a create a timeline, map, or newscast concerning the story or topic. Pardo stated that every teacher should know that comprehension is a transaction between the reader and the text and from this transaction meaning emerges. Thinking back to your grade school years, what are some ways that your teacher taught reading comprehension?



Blog for October 15th: Creating Fluent Readers

http://youtu.be/PN9sE_b7j7o

Creating Fluent Readers: Rasinski, T. 

Reading fluency is something that many people tend to have their own definition for. There are three important dimensions of reading fluency which are: accuracy in reading, automatic processing, and prosodic reading. These three dimensions require students to be able to sound it out, use little mental effort, and put text into syntactically and semantically appropriate units. Teachers can assess a students reading fluency through many different ways such as calculating the percentage of words a reader can accurately decode on grade level material. A way that teachers can calculate a students reading rate is by having them read on their grade level for 60 seconds. 

Two ways which help improve reading fluency is repeated reading and assisted reading. If you add in couching with these two ways then it can really become a classroom routine and will greatly help your students. Some teachers make the mistake of confusing being fluent with being fast. A student might be able to read quickly but might have no comprehension of what he or she just read. What are some ways in which you will be sure to promote reading fluency in your classroom? I really loved the "Readers Theater," in the attached Youtube video. I know that at a young age I enjoyed reading with much expression and having those who read to me changing voices or doing different actions. 

October 8th Blog: Making Words

http://youtu.be/7nxljktf-Hw

Making Words 

Making words is a fun way to help young students with decoding, spelling phonetically, and phonemic awareness. It has been found that there is a relationship between spelling ability and ability to identify words in a reading, which is why "Making Words" is such a helpful method of teaching. Not only is this a simple activity but it is also short and is recommended to be only fifteen minutes. Children will make between 12 and 15 words and will begin with two letter words until they gradually increase to larger words. An example is the word spider. By using a pocket chart the letters e, p, i, s, d, r are presented to each child. The teacher may start out with the word "Ed" then go to "Red." Many students would then change the uppercase E to lowercase and the teacher can ask them why they did that certain action. 

Making Words is something which I wish that I participated in when I was a young student. In elementary school I did not have much emphasis in spelling and it is apparent to this very day. My spelling is actually a big joke with my family that I get teased about often. I think that Making Words is a wonderful activity and I hope to use that in my classroom. What are some good words that you would like to do in a Making Words activity? 

October 1st Blog

http://www.ehow.com/facts_5728127_role-phonics-teaching-reading.html

Thinking back to the early years of elementary school I can vividly remember my teacher telling me to "sound it out." In this article it states that a main way children learn to read and develop their reading system is through powerful interactions with teachers. A way that many successful teachers teach their children to read is through "Coaching." Coaching word recognition is when a teacher creates cues to prompt the reader to think on the edge of their knowledge while they attempt to familiarize themselves with unfamiliar words. 

In the case study that was conducted it said that the teacher can give the child two types of cues, general and focused. General cues prompt thought while focused cues prompt the child to specific action.  I really like the support the students are given through the cues because I feel like "Sound it out" can cause a student a lot of anxiety and gives them very little direction. I really liked when the teacher asked them to use the pictures for help and had them touch certain letters and say aloud the sounds. One suggestion that I really liked was involving other children. For example, while a child may be trying to sound out a word they are unfamiliar with the teacher can ask what everyone else thinks the word may be.

What helped you when it came to learning unfamiliar words? How will you use coaching in your classroom? 

What can I say besides "Sound it out?": Coaching word recognition in begging reading. The Reading Teacher, 57, 440-449. 

The reading this week has been my favorite reading thus far. I really enjoyed learning the different ways to encourage young children as readers and writers. As someone who is newly familiar with the education system, I was fascinated to read about what is needed to provide strong development of young children's literacy. The top few things that really stood out to me in the "Stages of Development," reading were sufficient resources weather teacher to student ratio or books and computer software, policies to promote continuous learning processes, and appropriate assessment strategies. I believe if schools nationwide were consistent on these things then young students reading development would look much different. 

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about different strategies on how to boost young children's confidence and curiosity with reading. It was very fascinating how much it helped students to learn to read when they were taught to reference back to words they are already familiar with. I really liked the idea of putting students pictures and names by the letters of the alphabet for students to refer to. In the Yopp and Yopp articles, The story called "The Hungry Thing" is mentioned. This story gets students involved through trying to decode what the creature in the story is trying to tell the townspeople. It is so helpful to make reading playful, engaging, and social and I know that this story can do that in the classroom. There is an after reading activity that is mentioned in the articles and I believe if more things were done like this in the classroom then many people would have a strong passion for reading due to their foundation in early education.

What were fun activities that you did with reading as a young student?  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxNjGGZp5cM

Sept. 17th Blog

http://www.visualphotos.com/image/2x3799008/children_4-6_learning_the_alphabet_in_classroom

The way in which your literacy foundation is created can predict so much about your future in literacy. Through these two readings I was fascinated with what all creates your literacy foundation. In "The Jones Family Culture of Literacy," it was really neat how they incorporated literacy in all that they did. From financial aspects to religious aspects, the important role of literacy in each of these was cherished and made aware to each family member. When reading this article it really made me think of students I might have that would not be so fortunate to have this strong literacy foundation from home. I hope that I can help each student form a strong passion for literacy even if they are not being taught the importance of it at home. 

Before reading chapter three I truly did not realize the value of developing literacy at home, especially at an early age. Chapter three mentioned how children who come to school with ideas of why we read have been exposed to many real world situations in which reading is necessary. I had never heard of "Pretend Reading," until chapter three but many instances of this fled my mind when I came across this paragraph. My cousin is 4 years old and he loves to sit and "pretend read" books for hours upon hours. I can really see where literacy around the home can be a wonderful foundation for children. I also loved reading through ways in which I can promote literacy in my classroom. I hope to spark children's passion for literacy and make it a fun thing to learn in the classroom. In closing, I have truly realized the importance of promoting literacy at home beginning at a young age in order to have the children go to school and have a foundation already built. 

In what ways did your home environment influence your literacy foundation? 

September 10 Blog

Through these readings I have learned what truly matters in a classroom when it comes to reading instruction. When I think back to elementary school, I often think of sitting on my very own rug while my teacher read aloud to the class. The studies which were mentioned in the readings pointed out many things that made a classroom successful. Reading aloud to students was something that was happening in each of the effective classrooms. The teacher's reading had a large affect on students and tended to spark their interest. One thing that was stressed was the importance of choosing different forms of literature such as magazines, information books, series, etc. The reason various forms of literature is important is because it must be something everyone in the classroom can enjoy or show interest in.

I really enjoyed the idea of reading parties, reading conferences, and dedicating the last 15 minutes to students sharing their readings in small groups. I hope to have a classroom which students feel interested and fascinated by reading. These readings helped me to see the importance of focusing on each individual student and making sure that I shed a positive light on the importance of reading and writing. This assignment really made me think back to my experience in school and see how each of the strategies mentioned really impacted me. 

What did your teachers do in elementary school which impacted your reading and writing the most?