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?