Hello everyone!
Wow! So here we are at the end of week 6! We are almost halfway through the semester! It’s hard to believe it! As always Ashleigh and I agreed that there was a lot of information, however, it was all very helpful. Together, we discussed the weeks’ “problem” tried to come up with an explanation of what literacy really means. I was harder than we thought since there was so much information! Nevertheless, we considered all the readings when forming our ideas. Ultimately, we feel that literacy is being able to understand and communicate written word in many different contexts. We learned that choosing the appropriate text is essential when helping students develop literacy skills. There is so much more we discovered!
*Note*—As you may notice, I have set up my blog entries a little differently. I felt that putting subtitles would help make reading through my entries a little easier.
The Reading WorkshopFirst, Ashleigh and I followed the module guide and started off the week by reading Chapter 4 of The Reading Workshop. We always enjoy reading Serafini’s work, so it was exciting that this chapter revealed a lot about what a typical focus unit looks like in the Reading Workshop. Serafini described his method of creating a Focus Unit based on the well-known children’s book, Where the Wild Things Are and I thought it was very interesting how he noticed a pattern of how most children’s book focus on the idea of children creating their own worlds, so he came up with the focus unit of “Escaping Reality” (pg. 41-42). This was fascinating to me because I never would have thought to make up my own focus unit but it does make sense! I was drawn to the fact that Serafini was able to get his students to get a lot out of this story. After reading Where the Wild Things Are multiple times, students were able to compile a list of many impressions, connections, and wanderings about the story (pg. 42-44). It was interesting that within this focus unit, students were also able to make comparison charts that compared the book to a few other pieces of children’s literature that centered on the idea of escaping reality (pg. 46-50). I think having the students use poetry and other forms of expression to create different “multigenre” writings such as brochures, maps, and letters to the main character Max, helped them develop a better understanding of what messages the story reveals (pg. 50-51). What a great idea! Serafini did a great job of highlighting what literacy is all about!
The Daily 5
Next, I read through chapter 4 of The Daily 5. This section focused on the importance of “reading to self.” Ultimately, I gathered that giving students opportunities to read to themselves is just the beginning step of the gradual release of responsibility. It was interesting to read that when students begin to read to themselves, they learn 1) to read and talk about pictures in the book, 2) read the words, and 3) retell a book that they have already read (pg. 47). When teaching children to “read-to-self,” I was introduced to the idea of having them create “I-charts” to record appropriate behaviors when reading. Here, students are able to list the responsibilities they carry as well as the teacher (pg. 50-52). As I went through the chapter, I couldn’t help but notice that there is a lot of practicing and reviewing when it comes to self-reading. It was great that the children mentioned in the text seemed eager to learn and enjoyed reading to themselves! As a future teacher, this makes me feel very hopeful about literacy instruction in the classroom!
Chapter 5 of the Daily 5 shifted the attention from reading to self to reading to someone else and listening to reading. I like how the text focused on the importance of reading to others because it reminded me of a lot of things I have learned in previous modules such as guided readings, read alouds, and shared readings. I was glad to learn that reading to someone else is one of the most favorite strategies children like to use. Additionally, it increases a child’s reading rate, fluency, and motivation to read (pg. 60). I thought it was great to learn about various “read-to-someone” strategies such as EEKK and “I Read, You Read” (pg. 61). I feel like I will be able to implement these strategies into my literacy lessons in my future teaching. I enjoyed reading about the daily focus lessons the authors chose to include in the text. I like how they shared their daily routines and how they instructed their students how to read to others. Particularly, I liked the focus lesson for day 6. It centered on the idea of students having a “reading coach” or partner to help them work through their difficulties with reading. The ideas/strategies they put on the coaching sheets they develop were very interesting (pg. 74). Lastly, this chapter focused on the importance of providing students plenty of opportunities to listen to reading. Again, I was reminded that read-alouds and shared readings are essential during the literacy development of a child. The need to listen to reading can be met by listening to books on tape/CD/computer or by simply listening to a partner. As the text mentioned, students come to school with various exposures to reading. Unfortunately, some children are rarely read to at home and miss out on valuable “lap time” as the book describes it. Ultimately, the authors mention that reading aloud 1) helps us become better readers, 2) helps up learn and understand new words and stories, and 3) makes reading fun! Ashleigh and I agree that this is exactly how we want literacy instruction to be in our future classrooms! We certainly learned a lot from these two chapters! They were very insightful!
How to Read A TextbookThe information Ashleigh and I learned in the talking video about reviewing a textbook was very interesting! I used the website Dr. Powell was using (Cuesta College) to review a Social Studies book about North Carolina (published by Macmillan/McGraw-Hill) that I borrowed from the Education Lab. I will say that this was a helpful task because I know that choosing the right textbook for students to use is extremely important! Below, I have listed a few of the different things I found in the book I chose.
By following the steps listed on the Cuesta College website, I explored this textbook for vocabulary, analyzed for comprehension, and synthesized for understanding. The book has a very detailed Table of Contents so students would easily be able to look up a specific chapter and turn to the right page. I liked this particular book because before introducing students to any type of lesson, they are given several pages entitled Social Studies Handbook that gives them things to think about when reading the book, tips on using visuals, using maps and globes, and other information about North Carolina and the United States. The pictures provided in this textbook are very helpful and are relevant to the information given on the page(s). I noticed that important vocabulary words are highlighted throughout each lesson and then listed again in the “Review and Assess” section at the end of each chapter. As I analyzed for comprehension in the text, I noticed that it seemed to have a nice pattern in terms of how each unit/section was set up. Each Unit had chapters and each chapter had different lessons. For example, Unit 1 entitled “Geography of North Carolina” introduced the chapter 1 called “A Special Place.” The 3 lessons within this chapter discussed that North Carolina being a place 1) “Where You Live,” 2) explained how it is “A Southeastern State”, and 3) focused on “North Carolina Connections.” I liked this layout because I think it can help students identify that there are a lot of different topics and concepts to discuss about the state of North Carolina. I think this textbook would be a great resource to help students develop an understanding of the ideas being learned. Although it gives a lot of information, I think it is written clearly enough so that young students are able to read it, take notes on it, and study it to prepare for an assignment or test. I think this is a great textbook to use in an elementary classroom! I enjoyed reading through it!
Although the website I mentioned is intended for college-aged students, there is no doubt that the information given applies to everyone, especially elementary aged students. Dr. Powell also stressed the importance of helping students understand reading flexibility and examining the paragraph structure of a text book. The many tools made available on this website were very helpful because it gave me ideas of things to look for when reading through a textbook. The site lists possible signal words that may indicate whether or not a textbook chapter is written in chronological order (words such as next, later, first, etc.) and also lists words to indicate that a part of a textbook is a definition piece (words such as refers to, defined, term/concept, etc.). I was also able to look at other helpful links on the site such as information about study strategies and finding the main idea. I know that this website will be useful if I ever have input into what textbook I use in my future classroom.
Primary Source Documents
Speaking of finding appropriate texts, I recall Ashleigh and I discussing the fact we will be responsible for teaching students using other types of books other than textbooks and children’s literature books. The links to the UNC Chapel Hill Library was helpful for searching primary source documents. It’s great that these resources and documents are right at our fingertips and just a click away! I enjoyed exploring the docsteach.org because it allows educators to choose from a plethora of primary sources to use in the classroom when teaching specific content areas. Information about historical events such as The Great Depression, The American Revolution, and World War II can be found on this website. Dr. Powell was right—having this resource comes in great use for teachers when as they teach North Carolina social studies! I will definitely keep this site in mind for when I begin teaching!
Textbooks—the New GenerationAlthough this module stresses the importance of carefully choosing the right textbook, it’s ironic to me that the point of switching over to “electronic textbooks,” or e-textbooks, was also highlighted. There is no doubt that this is becoming more and more prevalent within our schools today. We are growing more comfortable with establishing ourselves as 21st century teachers and learners and a 21st century society. With such a change come changes in technology and a shift from traditional learning to high-tech learning. I will say that I tend to favor reading traditional books versus reading books on an iPad or tablet. Nevertheless, when it comes to giving students instruction, I would want to use whatever would help them learn more efficiently and more effectively, even if it means providing them with e-textbooks. I liked learning about the different features these gadgets have that can help enhance the learning experience. The iPad can help teachers bring lessons to life using the many different apps they can download and share. As I explored the Apple’s website on teaching with the iPad, it was amazing to hear about all of the possibilities a ideas there are for incorporating the use of the tablet in the classroom. I skimmed through some real-life stories of how elementary teachers used the iPad to help their students learn to read and develop a deeper understanding of different subjects. It was interesting to read about how such technology is used to help students with special needs and learning disabilities. After reading about the use of iPads in the classroom, I would say that we might be seeing more and more entering classrooms to promote learning. With all the technology children are exposed to at home, it may seem like it’s becoming harder and harder for students to stay focused in class. Many kids today have their own tablets or use their parent’s iPads at home, so I think having them use on in the classroom would make them feel comfortable and open to exploring many different ways of learning information at school.
Literacy WITHIN the Content Areas PowerPointThe PowerPoint presentation about Literacy WITHIN the Content Areas was very informative. First of all, I like how slide 3 stressed the idea that integration is not about integrating all subject areas, but it’s about integrating children with their world. I think this is so true, especially since teachers must make things relevant to the learner. Slide 4 reminded me of some of the things I learned last week in module 5 about reading comprehension. Students must learn early on to think about what they are reading and understand the content they are to be learning. This is an essential step when reading. The question posed on slide 5 asking whether or not students should read more nonfiction books got me thinking. As I learned in a previous module, the standards have been raised to require students to read a certain percentage of nonfiction text. It is important for students to be exposed to the many different types of texts and having them read more books that incorporate things like science, history, and social studies may be beneficial. The various examples of content reading strategies (slide 7) were very familiar in that I used many of the same textbook reading strategies when I was in middle school. The ones I remember most were underlining and highlighting, summarizing, comparison-contrast, and opinion-proof. As I read through the PowerPoint, I was reminded that I addition to the different strategies I will use to teach the major subjects of math and reading, there will be many other strategies I will use to teach the other content areas (science, history, etc.). Slides 11-13 provided helpful information and examples about scientific literacy. Similar strategies used for learning how to read are also used when learning other content areas. Predicting, describing, posing arguments, and evaluating are all things teachers can remind students to do when reading through a textbook (slide 14-15). I noted that slides 17-19 highlighted the familiar steps within the 5Es when discussing the subject of civics—a social science. Similarly, this was done with the subject of history in sides 20-22. It was interesting to think about slide 23’s question about what it was like for Abraham Lincoln to read—they taught themselves! I think this goes to show that anyone has the ability to read and they don’t have to have another person by their side all of the time to drill them on reading. A lot of it may have to do with motivation and having a desire to read but I think if teachers and adults let go and allow students to explore reading on their own, they may pick up on more things we are not teaching them. Engagement IS an important aspect of reading in the different content areas. Having students engage in meaningful tasks and encourage meaningful talk/discussion is a vital step when teaching any subject. With all the information presented in this PowerPoint, it was interesting to think about how I will teach literacy within other content areas. I can see myself using discussion and many of the strategies in this presentation to introduce and teach the different subjects.
Long Range Planning for Integration PowerPointThe next PowerPoint presentation I looked through extended on idea of engaging students in the classroom through an Inquiry Model. I think it’s interesting that the past few modules have touched on the use of Inquiry, so I can see just how important it is! The model on slide 2 was helpful because it does a great job of showing what exactly the role a teacher is. Dr. Powell’s voice over explanation was even more helpful as I studied the model. As I mentioned earlier, I think making learning any subject meaningful for a students is essential. Slide 3 of this presentation emphasized this idea. Just as Dr. Powell mentioned, this is important when considering the responsibilities of 21st Century teachers. I like how slide 5 listed the model of knowledge because it is so simple and basic. When I think about it, knowledge requires the use of understanding big ideas, concepts, and facts. I can see that many of processes we use to help students gain knowledge have drastically changed from then and now. Although we still use reading, speaking, and listening to learn, teachers today must also incorporate learning, innovation, and technology skills (slide 6). I thought the rest of the PowerPoint was very helpful in that it provided many other models for Inquiry learning that I can see myself applying to my future teaching.
Informational Genre HandoutAshleigh and I talked about how the document on Informational Genre was very helpful. Again, I liked it because it was very basic and explained a lot without giving too much information to read. Dr. Powell’s description of this was just as helpful! I think this is an easy tool to use to look at a particular genre and determine examples of it, its features, and the structure it has. I learned that once I become a teacher, I will be responsible for teaching students how to write three specific genres: personal narrative, argument text, and informational text. Since there are many different types of text, I know I need to become familiar with all of the types of texts described in the video.
The Science Notebooks WebsiteThe Science Notebooks website was indeed a great resource to learn about! It is so neat how you can search for Science resources and narrow your results by grade band, discipline, publisher, student context, and entry type. I played around with it and came up with a ton of different items that students created! I wanted to see what else this website had to offer, so I clicked on the Teacher Resources link. It gave me different links to other helpful websites and even information written in Spanish. This would come in extremely handy if I ever have an English Language Learner (ELL) in my class. Ultimately, I think this website helps teachers find new ways to incorporate reading, writing, communication, and mathematics into the subject of science. This is something I will keep in mind for when I begin teaching!
Engaging Students in Active Learning VideoI learned a lot by watching the video about engaging students in active learning in the Annenberg Learner video. There was a lot of information given about how to make learning Social Studies fun for students. Immediately, I was reminded that no matter what children are learning, they need to be actively engaged. Authentic instruction and cooperative learning were both teaching strategies mentioned in this video. Also, I was glad to hear the use of another teaching tool to use—mini lessons. I think the example they gave of developing a mini lesson based on the Pledge of Allegiance is great (around 3:20 and 47:24 in the video). I liked how the video showed a group of teachers asking and answering thought-provoking questions. It was interesting to hear their different ideas about social studies instruction and their thoughts about the different elements of authentic instruction (ends around 19:20). The video also stressed the importance of asking students questions to stimulate thinking. I was introduced to many great strategies that can help students develop a better understanding of their own thinking. The videos of teachers using these different strategies were very interesting! It was helpful to see how these ideas inspire students to ask themselves questions to build on their own learning. The use of graphic organizers seemed to work very well for David student’s (around in video). Ultimately, I learned that it is vital that teachers to start instruction with what students know, helping them share what they know with their peers, and use a variety of materials to create meaningful projects (around 57:00 in video).
Big 6 Research StrategiesIt was helpful to learn that if I were assigned to teach Kindergarten, one of the things the Common Core requires me to teach them is the task of researching. I’m glad that Dr. Powell provided us with the Big 6 document which gives a step by step guide on how to help Kindergarteners develop the skills necessary to conduct research using technology such as a computer. Task Definition, Information Seeking Strategies, Location and Access, Use of Information, Synthesis, and Evaluation are all important strategies to consider using when teaching children to research information. I think the Q Matrix chart is a great tool to use in the classroom to help students ask themselves questions about what they read on the computer. They can use this chart to answer the important Who?, What?, When?, Where?, How?, and Why? questions and put them in different categories to predict, imagine, and decide on facts or possible answers. I think this is a great tool and one I would consider using for other grade levels!
As I mentioned at the beginning of my post, I think this module helped Ashleigh and me see what exactly literacy really is. It is so much more than just focusing on reading for 90 minutes a day—it means being able to interpret, understand, and communicate written information. With that being said, this is why it is so important for teachers to choose the appropriate books and other pieces of text they will read in the classroom. Ashleigh and I will definitely take all the information and ideas learned in this module and apply it to our future teachings!
Thanks again for reading my long post! I always have so much to share! See you next week!
Kelsey
Monday, September 30, 2013
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Module 5 Blog Entry
Hello again! I think it is safe to say that we all benefited from the information Dr. Powell presented to us about reading comprehension and critical literacy this week! I know Ashleigh and I had some great discussions about the many things we learned! I hope you find my post insightful!
We both started off this module of course by reading the module guide. Here, I was immediately reintroduced to the concept and structure of the Reading Workshop. I learned about the major routines that must be put in place for effective instruction. As I learned in Module 4, a whole class mini lesson is essential to begin with because it establishes a problem and introduces a strategy to solve the problem. The module guide mentioned that small group time should be a time used for guided reading. I can tell this is an important aspect of the reading workshop process! I learned that other methods for helping a child learn to read include the implementation of literature circles and individual conferences with students. I can see how talking one-on-one with students, especially ones who are struggling with the reading process, is essential. I understand that there is a lot more that goes on during the reading workshop. Essentially, I think the point of it is to get different groups of students working and engaged on many different tasks. I like how this time allows the teacher to be free to work with groups or individual students in order to address potential problems and build different literacy skills. As I read through this description, I tried to visualize this routine going on in my future classroom. I can see one group answering questions about a book they have been reading, while some students are working on “center” activities that address concepts learned that week in class (vocabulary, phonics, etc). Clearly, there are many opportunities available. Oh the possibilities!!
Other things introduced to students during this time are activities suggested in The Daily Five. I have heard the daily five mentioned a few times before but never fully understood what it was or what was involved. I will say that I really like this idea. Ashleigh agreed with me on this one! I like how the authors or—“the sisters” explained how things were before and after they implemented The Daily Five, even including a chart to depict how much things have changed in terms of classroom management (pg. 7-9). The reoccurring theme I see among the changes is the fact that responsibility is handed over from the teacher to the student in many aspects. This is such positive news, but as a future teacher, it’s kind of scary to think about how my first couple of years will go. Will it be chaotic and unorganized as the described their experiences or will it be a rather pleasant process? These are things I am always thinking about. Nevertheless, it’s great that these teachers have put together this system to help other teachers plan more effective and efficient reading sessions. I love how they gave a step-by-step flow chart of how The Daily Five literacy block is structured (pg. 14). I am anxious to read further and dig deeper into what The Daily Five instruction really involves.
To add to the idea of implementing The Daily Five in the classroom, Serafini introduces another important activity to consider—literature circles. Of all the chapters I have read of Serafini’s The Reading Workshop, this one (chapter 7) is my favorite so far! There was a lot of helpful things mentioned! He explains the process of working with literature study groups so clearly! Before establishing study groups, he explains that teachers must determine whether or not their students are ready for this type of learning. He says that students need to: 1) have experienced literature and 2) have had worked well with others in collaborative groups (pg. 88-89). When he is working with an introductory literature group, Serafini mentions that they often “pull back” and discuss/establish expectations for the group. I liked reading about the students developing the T-chart listing “helpers and blockers” to identify things that may and may not help generate worthwhile discussion (pg.92-93). It was interesting to read about how students who are really interested are the only ones who can join a group after hearing a preview of the book. They even have to sign a contract saying that they agree with all of the expectations and are committed to stay with the group until finished and engage in the discussions (pg. 98). I like what he said on page 102: “I believe it is through sharing our ideas, not by asking a series of “critical thinking” questions, that we facilitate these discussions.” This was an interesting statement because all along, we have discussed the importance of asking critical questions. It was nice to hear a different perspective. Ultimately, I think Serafini sums this chapter up perfectly by stressing the importance of reading aloud and having discussions in the classroom. He maintains that these are what set the stage for effective literature study group times (pg. 105). It was great to hear him talk about things I have been hearing all along!
One part of the Reading Workshop that was emphasized throughout this module was Guided Reading. The document Dr. Powell made available for us was very helpful because it answered many questions such as “what are the principles of Guided Reading?,” “what do I need to conduct Guided Reading groups?,” and “how is Guided Reading structured?” Ultimately, I learned that the process of Guided Reading is used as a time for teachers to support students in reading text they cannot read for themselves. This is the optimal time in which effective reading strategies are taught to different learners. I liked how the document provided me with instructional formats appropriate for the different types of learners and what other children do while the teacher conducts guided reading.
After reading a little bit about The Reading Workshop, I was introduced with the task of examining and learning about the things I need to know to carry out this process in my classroom. Many of the specifics I needed to learn came from Nell Duke and David Pearson’s article, “Effective Practices for Developing Reading Comprehension.” This article was really, really long but it provided me with a lot of useful information. First of all, I like how they listed what students need in Balanced Comprehensive Instruction in the classroom. From what I read, I could see that this has a lot to do with making the classroom an environment in which reading is constantly encouraged and discussed. I did notice that their suggested model of Comprehension Instruction is quite similar to the components of a 5E lesson plan we learned about last week. I like how they explained each step and stressed the importance of teaching and elaborating on different strategies to use when reading (pg. 208-209). I thought their model and explanation of the Gradual Release of Responsibility was a little difficult to understand, so I was glad Dr. Powell provided us with the link to a different source about the concept to help me better understand it. This informed me of the different levels of instruction in which responsibility is handed over from teacher to student. I learned that the teacher assumes most of the responsibility during Demonstration and Guided Practice but is then turned over to the learners for Independent Practice and Application.
Ashleigh and I also discussed the fact that Duke and Peterson touched on some other important areas to consider when planning balanced comprehensive instruction and making the transition from teacher to student responsibility go as smoothly as possible. Things such as choosing appropriate text for students to read, being mindful of student motivation, and conducting ongoing assessments are all very important during this process (pg. 211-212). I like how the authors also gave a list of six strategies to use for effective individual comprehension: prediction, text structure, summarization, questioning/questions, think-aloud, and visual representations of text (pg. 212-218). The authors note that these techniques have been proven to help students gain comprehension when reading. I can see how this is true because I often do these things when I am reading something. I am a visual learner and am constantly using the visual representation of text strategy so figure 10.2 in the article is exactly how I go about learning. You can tell me the process of digestion all you want and I might understand it, but put it in a flow -chart with boxes and arrows, I will probably remember it better, especially when it comes time for a test! The same goes with maps and webs like in figure 10.3. Although I don’t use these kinds of maps that often now, I remember how useful they were in elementary school, especially when it came time to write about something.
The article goes into much detail about the use of effective comprehension routines. One strategy they discuss is reciprocal teaching (pg. 225). This one was interesting to me because it ultimately leads children to “become the teacher” themselves. Here, students gradually obtain familiar use with strategies taught by the teacher. I like how Duke and Peterson included two short pieces of dialogue between teachers and their students as examples of reciprocal teaching (pg. 226-227). Another effective routine the authors touched were Questioning the Author (pg. 230-231) and one that I had never hear of: Students Achieving Independent Learning (SAIL). This is a program that many schools use to get children who are struggling in reading to be able to improve and reach a desired level (pg. 288).
I understand that with anything that has been researched, there will always be an argument of whether or not the research is flawed or inconsistent. I like how Duke and Peterson addressed this issue and provided readers with very interesting questions to consider about the challenges of comprehension research. It’s funny to me to think about comprehension. Sometimes, I find it hard to comprehend what comprehension really is. As mentioned, it is necessary to wonder if comprehension will ever be fully understood. Although all the questions addressed in this section are all very important, I spent more time thinking about the following question: “Will we acknowledge that comprehension-learning is different for different people?” I couldn’t help but think about how true this is! Since learning is different for everybody, I can see how important it is to take the strategies and routines I read about in this article and teach them to my students to help them learn more effectively. Most importantly, teachers ought to take these ideas and apply them to their teachings to help students have positive learning experiences. To me, making this process easier is what teaching is all about!
Ultimately, I feel like this article was very useful and did a great job explaining the many different strategies teachers can use to help their students effectively develop reading comprehension. I like how the authors included figure 10.6 in with the article. Ashleigh and I both feel that this is an important tool for teachers to have available to see if their instruction and classroom creates an environment in which children are able to efficiently develop comprehension skills. Although I have yet to begin my field experiences for other EDN courses, I know that I will look out for the many things mentioned on this list as I observe. I know this is something I will definitely consider using when I begin teaching in my own classroom. I would want to use it because it will help me see how well students are responding to my instruction in certain areas. This list will remind me to check and see if students are able to use specific strategies, determine how much time they spend reading, and assessing their motivation during the process. To me, this seems like a good way for teachers to evaluate their performances as a teacher. If not too many things on the list are not checked off, then it may mean that he/she needs to go back and improve instruction.
To add to the discussion of strategies and techniques, I will say that the plethora of websites and videos Dr. Powell gave us was a bit overwhelming but this is definitely a list to keep handy when teaching the major reading comprehension strategies!
I just wanted to expand on the comments Dr. Powell made about the Excellent Public School Act passed in 2012. The requirements associated with this law seems a bit extreme to me. Ashleigh and I discussed this issue and agreed that forcing struggling students into such programs would not be beneficial to them. Although strict reading instruction is vital in the classroom, I feel that a minimum of 90 minutes a day is too much, especially if a student is struggling in specific areas. Like Dr. Powell mentioned, excessive instruction may help students learn how to correctly read words, but it does nothing to help them develop the comprehension skills they need! In addition to instruction, students need time to just read! It’s sad to think about all the students who were held back in school because of their struggles in reading. A lot of times, I think there are better options to consider than retaining students. I see it creating more problems, especially since research shows that retention is not an effective method of improvement!
I was glad to learn more about Comprehension from Dr. Powell in her talking PowerPoints. She first brought up that to some people, reading comprehension may seem invisible but there are different indicators to determine whether or not a child has lost meaning of the text (just as we learned in the module about assessing reading). Although there are many ways to determine if a child has comprehended something, I learned that there is a big difference between TESTING comprehension and TEACHING comprehension. This is where the roles of using reading strategies teaching techniques become most important (on a side note, I thought the ecb.org and carnegiefoundation.org websites offered great ideas for teaching strategies and techniques)! The thought of teaching comprehension may seem complex and hard to understand, but it did help to think about comprehension as something that happens BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER we read. To help me better understand, I attempted to fill out the chart below as I listened to the video.
Before Predicting, Asking questions, assessing prior knowledge, monitoring for sense making, self-correcting/using fix-up strategies
During Predicting, Thinking aloud, Asking questions, assessing prior knowledge, monitoring for sense making, self-correcting/using fix-up strategies, making connections, inferring, creating mental images or visualizing, determining importance of facts or relevancy of information, summarizing
After Digging deeper, synthesizing information, verifying information.
I thought it was interesting to hear Dr. Powell talk about the use of mini lessons being a tool to use as a time for teaching students strategies and techniques. The many possible strategies to use she explains were all similar to the ones I learned about from Duke and Peterson’s article I talked about earlier. It was a nice recap! She even went into detail about the bigger, “Macro” techniques we use during the Reading Workshop such as shared reading, mini-lessons, and literature circles. Also things we have learned about throughout this course so far. I like how she laid out a possible format of what a 90-minute Reading Workshop may follow a similar schedule as this: Word Study, mini lessons, shared reading experience, guided reading groups, and literature circles. Outside of this time, opportunities for independent reading and writing and a time for a teacher read aloud should be implemented. I think this is a very important thing to keep in mind because this sets the structure for a mini-lesson. Mini-lessons are developed after introducing and reading a book/piece of text to a group of students. The next day, students are introduced to a particular strategy. There is obviously a lot that goes on during this 90-minute block of reading time! There is so much to think about so it was rather difficult for me to “dream” up the ideal activities that might go on in my future classroom!
I’m glad that Dr. Powell addressed the issue of what exactly comprehension is at the end of the first comprehension video. To sum it all up, I gathered that is has a lot to do with predicting, questioning, and making connections before, during, and after reading. As mentioned, it is important to teach students to start thinking about their own thinking. In other words—teach them to develop metacognition. Of course, there is a lot that goes into this such as assisting, demonstrating, and modeling!
Ashleigh and I talked about how the YouTube videos about thinking aloud listed in the module guide were helpful because we were able to see how this allows students to develop comprehension using the steps mentioned above (predicting, questioning, and making connections before reading). I think this is a very interesting process and judging from the second video, it can be used with many different types of texts—not just picture books. It would be interesting to incorporate a think aloud and a read aloud during a tutoring session.
I learned a lot while listening and reading along with the “Teaching Reading Comprehension with Researched Techniques—Part 2” PowerPoint. I think the most important thing to remember about teaching comprehension is that children learn by asking questions! The ideas that Dr. Powell gave about using the Question-Answer-Relationship (QAR) method and having children use sticky notes or literature notebooks to record notes were interesting (slide 2). I had never heard of QAR, so I really learned new ways to help students find ways to answer questions: Right There Questions, Author and You Questions, Think and Search Questions, and On My Own Questions) (slide 3). I feel like these are things I will be using in my own teaching one day! The information within the PowerPoint about “thinking-aloud” and reciprocal was also interesting! The slide about schemas (slide 7-8) reminded me a lot about assessment because you can tell if a child knows what a story’s structure is by having them do a retelling—something that I did on the second day of assessment. The information on slide 9 about the many other ways to assess story structure was very helpful! I liked the tip given to teachers on kidbibs.com (link on slide 9) that gives teachers the idea of doing scrambled stories. I had never heard of this before but I think this teaching strategy can help students with sequencing events and remembering important parts within a story! I was a little bit more familiar with story frames and circular story maps because I remember doing something similar while I was in elementary school (slide 9). Listening to the podcast through the link on slide 10 was very informative. I learned a lot about how their method of “read, write, and talk” is a great thing to use in the classroom. What I took from this recording was that teachers should get their students excited and involved in reading. It was surprised to hear one of them say that the more challenging the text teachers give, the more interaction they have with their classmates. What a great way to build community! I thought back to thinking about my own educational experiences when the presentation talked about using graphic organizers because I remember using just about all of the ones mentioned on slide 11. Webs and Vann diagrams were among the most used! I used the K-W-L chart mostly in middle and high school and from what I remembered; I did learn something from that because my teachers would often revisit the lists to answer questions. I also learned a lot about the importance of critical literacy through the podcast link on slide 12. Throughout the podcast, I listened to Greg McClure giving his thoughts about his experiences with writing and sharing ideas in the classroom. It was interesting to listen to the poem his class came up with. It really went into depth about the fact that as teachers, we are responsible for teaching groups of diverse students in a diverse society. How true! This brought me back to the first module of this course—when we learned about becoming 21st Century teachers for 21st Century learners. The last slide of this PowerPoint was a great ending point because it helped me tie in everything I have learned about inquiry and the process of reading and applying it to mini-lessons.
To add to the idea of Critical Literacy, I thought the article (https://learn.uncw.edu/bbcswebdav/...) was helpful because it described the process of reading aloud to students and the many benefits that come from it. I used to think that reading aloud does little to help children read, but clearly, that’s where you begin! Again, from reading this, I was reminded of the importance of developing critical questions when read-aloud and using these questions to conduct a mini-lesson (pg. 78). However, the most important step is choosing the correct book to read and draw the questions from. I understand that this can be a challenging task—finding a book that all the students will find interesting in order to have meaningful conversation is not easy (pg.77). I was enlightened by Dr. Powell’s comments about Critical Literacy on Blackboard. Reading and writing are very important aspects of social change! Many authors represent their own thoughts and ideas through their texts, so children are exposed to a lot of new things as they read. So as teachers, we need to keep in mind that we are not helping them learn to read, we are helping change the future! This idea stuck with me, especially after scanning the Critical Literacy from theeducation.tas.gov… document!
I feel like I learned a lot from the Reading Comprehension videos on the Annenberg learner website. The first video made me think hard about how to improve students’ comprehension. It was interesting to note the different characteristics of “good readers.” Such traits include collecting background knowledge, looking at text structure, and asking questions (around 7:30 in video). These are all things that we have been learning about throughout this module. I also noticed that the video heavily focused on the idea that teachers are to be coaches when it comes to learning reading comprehension. I like how Nell Duke mentions that many teachers should be out to create a reading culture for students (around 16:30). As a future teacher, this is what I would want for my future students. I like how the video touched on the importance on monitoring those students who may be struggling with reading comprehension (25:00).
I think the other video found on the Annenberg Learner website, called to “Close Reading for Understanding” was insightful because the teacher in the video, Dana Robertson, addressed some interesting concepts as he read aloud. I did think that the way he read (read-stop-read-stop) was rather confusing. I know he was trying to model a strategy during reading, but I think it made it hard to understand and put the text all together (around 4:00). I like how he would instruct students to “turn and talk (8:00).” I think this is a great way for students to become exposed to different ideas and points of views! I thought the comment he made around 15:03 was so true. He simply said that “assessment drives instruction.” This statement really solidifies everything I have come to know about assessment. It can tell you so much about a child! I like how he has the students write down their thoughts and questions about the text they read. I can relate this idea back to the PowerPoint that discussed the QAR method. There were a lot of other things I saw the teacher doing in this video to help students develop better comprehension skills.
The article on readingrockets.org was an eye-opening read! As a future teacher, my biggest fear is not being good at helping children develop skills to become readers, especially if I ever teach Kindergarten because that’s where they will begin learning more about reading. I have had many teachers tell me that it is not as hard as it seems, but to me, it’s a lot! I was glad that this piece touched what reading instruction looks like. This article stressed the importance of helping beginning readers become fluent readers by using the process of rereading text and reading aloud to them. I noted how motivation plays a big part in this process as well. It can be hard to motivate student to want to read. I know this because the student I am tutoring has no desire to want to read. It is my hope that he will soon understand that reading can be fun so that he can overcome his struggles. Through reading this piece, I am reminded that having shared book experiences as we have discussed, is also an important part of developing fluent readers. It was great to read about the different ways to help on-level readers maintain fluency and help struggling readers improve. I liked how Dr. Powell mentioned a few other techniques to help students develop fluent reading skills. They include Reader’s Theaters, Choral Reading, and Radio Reading. These are all new to me and possible strategies I may use! Although the information learned in this piece is valuable, there are some things we must keep in mind. These caveats include: 1) raising a student’s fluency score is the main objective with reading instruction and 2) there is still a lot to learn about fluency practice.
For teachers, the instruction of reading comprehension and critical literacy is important, not only because it helps build a better future for many children, but because the Common Core State Standards has the ultimate say in what teachers should be teaching! As the Standard’s mission statement explains, “The Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them.” To me, as a future teacher, this means that I MUST follow these guidelines—my job will depend on it! Although I feel that going by these standards is important, it is interesting to me that all educators put so much faith into the standards alone. After looking through the Key Points about the English Language Arts Standards, I realize that there are big expectations associated with these standards and it is essential that they be implemented in the classroom!
Wow! So I had A LOT to say about the things I learned this week! I enjoyed reading up on some of the things and had great discussions with my blog partner, Ashleigh. I am sure that more masses of great information is yet to come.
Thank you for reading my post! See you next week!
Kelsey
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Module 4 Blog Entry
Hello again everyone!
Wow! It is amazing the amount of information I have learned in just four short weeks. This week—module 4—was filled with tons more information to think about and potentially apply to my future teaching. After discussing what we learned in this module, Ashleigh and I felt like we agreed with a lot of the things brought up in each assigned reading! It’s great to have someone to share thoughts and ideas with to reflect on what was learned.
I started off this module by looking over the Developmental Characteristics of Children’s Language, Behavior& Book Handling Skills document (Gymboree). As I read through, I was reminded that babies begin communicating—as soon as they are born! They immediately take on behaviors such as hand gestures and producing sounds to indicate that they have needs to be met (food, diaper change, etc.). I took note of a lot of similar characteristics I’ve seen in infants, babies, and toddlers. Although I don’t have children of my own, I was able to think back to when my niece and nephew were babies and toddlers. As we all know, the normal reaction people have when they see a baby it to engage in “baby talk.” The baby will normally respond with babbles, laughs, and smiles. When my nephew was around 7-9 months, he loved to hold books and look at bright, colorful pictures. In their toddler years, both my niece and nephew displayed many of the behaviors mentioned on the list. When any baby/toddler reaches a memorable milestone, parents and adults offer praise and encouragement. This was the case when my niece and nephew said their first words and started to give names to different objects. My niece, Reagan, is three years old right now so it was interesting to be reminded of common characteristics children her age often show. The first one saying preschoolers “are high in energy” is especially true for her! I was recently able to observe her as she played at home. Although Reagan has had some issues with learning how to talk and forming sentences we could understand, she still is able to use words she knows to communicate with us. Unfortunately, she has not been fully weaned off of the pacifier (she only uses it for naps and bedtime), so she will sometimes rub her mouth to indicate she wants her “passy.” I often notice my sister encouraging her to ask for it by name and say what she wants instead of using signals and other forms of communication. I think doing this is just one way my sister supports the oral language development of her daughter.
The talking PowerPoint provided by Dr. Powell (Developmental Literacy Stages) was very informative and revealed a lot about how young children develop the ability to read. First, it was great to read and listen about how we all have theories about reading and how it applies to children (slide 2). The Reading Readiness theory, developed in the 1900s, was an interesting thing to learn about because I have never heard of it before. The PowerPoint explained that within this readiness program, are sets of skills and experiences that children are believed to possess at certain stages. I like how the presentation gave sample activities of what readiness activities may have looked like (slide 3). Learning about the first stage of literacy learning: Emergent Literacy was very insightful! I was reminded again that although young children are not able to read, they are surrounded by letters and words and know that adults use them to read and communicate feelings and emotions (slide 4). The pictures and explanations included (slides 5-15) reminded me that young children are constantly exposed to brand-name prints and pictures/logos and know to associate certain pictures with certain items (for example, they know the “golden arches” means McDonalds—however, they cannot read the sign telling them that it is McDonalds). Having been around a lot of children throughout the years, things like this have never surprised me. Kids are smarter than we sometimes give them credit for. However, after listening to Dr. Powell talk about context clues and the role they play in a child’s literacy development was quite interesting to me. Since younger students cannot read, they use context clues to identify a particular object or place.
Although I thought I had an idea of what some of the characteristics of emergent readers were, it was great that I was able to learn more about it on slide 16 of the PowerPoint. These types of readers and writers understand that printed words are meant to carry messages. These children often listen to/discuss storybooks with adults, and experiment with rhyming words. I also learned that during this emergent stage, these types of children develop concepts of print and learn these concepts by being read to and constantly seeing words being read by others (slide 17). This information really helped me see the just how important it is to expose children to reading every opportunity you get. This could mean reading a bedtime story each night or simply reading the tags of items in a store. I think this really opens their minds! The slide about having shared reading experiences (slide 18) brought me back to when I was a young child. I remember having my parents read to me! They often presented me with large books featuring my favorite Disney characters. I recall following their fingers swiping across the page as I read along with them. Of course I would want to go back and re-read the story, so I was able to pick up on certain words. I can say that engaging in shared reading played a part in helping me learn to read and made for great memories!
Speaking of shared book reading, I thought the YouTube video featuring Eric Carle reading Bill Martin Jr.’s book: “Brown Bear, Brown Bear” was great! Mainly because I remember reading that book when I was in school! I haven’t read it in so long but I can now see a lot of predictable qualities within this book. First of all, there are a lot of rhyming words that children can pick up on. I think the book is also predictable in that children will begin to understand that the previously mentioned animal is going to see a different animal of a different color. The pictures are colorful and go a long with the words. I like how the ending reviews all the pictures of the animals mentioned (as well as the words). This gives students a great opportunity to be reminded of what they remember from the beginning of the book! I also enjoyed viewing Mr. Carle reading “The Very Hungary Caterpillar”—another one of my childhood favorites!
One of the most interesting pieces of information I took from the PowerPoint was when Dr. Powell mentioned that out of the 43 years she has taught, she worked with ONE student who had a legitimate case of dyslexia. This really amazed me! There are a lot of times I hear of parents/teachers suggest that their child/students have dyslexia, so learning such an astounding fact really helped me see that letters and numbers are the only thing a child cannot reverse (slide 21).
As I continued to follow along with the PowerPoint, I was able to gain some knowledge about Novice Readers and writers (slide 22). The biggest thing I took from this was that novice readers tend to take more risks and apply different learned strategies. I really liked how she pointed out that at this stage, children begin to take responsibility for their own reading. I think this is where the role of a teacher is vital in a child’s life! Next, I learned that transitional readers and writers (slide 23) take on more responsibility and become stronger in using strategies to aid them during the reading process. They learn to become more independent and lose the need to rely on the teacher for constant help.
The slide displaying the drawing of how the reading process works in proficient readers and writers was a whole lot different than the drawing Ashleigh and I came up with in the first module. There is certainly a lot going on here! It is evident that there are a lot of things readers consider as they read. I agreed with Dr. Powell when she mentioned that as proficient readers, it’s hard to stop and actually take a look at what goes on in our heads when we read. I don’t even think I want to know what goes through my mind! Haha. It’s a lot to take in! I think reading about the characteristics of proficient readers made sense—I guess because this level is the highest level a reader can achieve. Since I pretty much consider myself a proficient reader, I can say that I can read and write with a critical perspective, use effective strategies when reading/writing, and read/write with fluency. The last slide of this PowerPoint was very helpful in that I was able to hear about ways to take running records from emerging readers and getting a writing sample after reading such books. I found these ideas to be very helpful for when I begin assessing and teaching my tutee.
The short Environmental Print Task assigned in this module expanded on the things I learned in this PowerPoint. For the assignment, I chose to work with my three-year old niece, Reagan. The focus item I used was an empty, colorful Hi-C Flashin’ Fruit Punch juice box. I presented her the item and after asking her what it was, she told me it was apple juice. I accepted this answer even though it was fruit punch—at least she thought it was some kind of juice! I was not surprised she could identify the item since she is so used to drinking drinks out of boxes and pouches like that. However, when I presented her with the other 3 items, she yelled out: “apple juice!!” At this point, I wasn’t quite convinced that she really knew that’s what it was. After the second picture I presented her with, I think “apple juice” was a predictable answer. I think she wanted to be cute and funny by repeating the words. Nevertheless, the fact that she was able to tell me what the item was without being able to read it tells me that children as young as Reagan can recognize things given that they have colorful images or logos. Since children are constantly surrounded by words with pictures and fancy writing, they are capable to identify something; normally when it’s in its original context. These emergent readers can pick up on a lot of things. We often don’t give them enough credit as they deserve. It’s amazing what young children are able to learn! I enjoyed conducting this short activity and seeing Reagan apply her knowledge of colorful words and images to identify the juice box.
Although I have learned a lot in EDN 340 so far, I am a little hesitant to say that I have a full understanding of what reading actually is and how to begin making it possible for a child to read. It was great to be able to listen to watch the short video Dr. Powell provided (through one of her old blog entries) to gain more insight. Ultimately, I learned that language and meaning go hand in hand! If we start teaching letter recognition by saying: “this is a B,” then students won’t know what this means. Therefore, it confuses them and makes things more difficult! We don’t want to give them reason to hate or have negative thoughts about reading. I thought it was interesting that she said that such negative thoughts take up a child’s short-term memory in the brain, making it impossible for them to learn! This was a pretty amazing thing to me! I like how she gave an example of a way to review individual letters—one in particular the use of an anchor chart!
I realize that learning to read and write is one of the most important things children will learn in school. With all this talk about literacy development and the different ways to approach it, I think it was easy to forget that as a future teacher, I will more than likely have students whose first language is not English. The Literacy Development for ESL Children document really opened my eyes. I like how the document pointed out that children who grow up in English speaking homes are exposed to the language as soon as they were born—however, children who speak other languages may only be exposed to English at school! That is amazing to me! I often lose sight off this fact, and I was reminded that teaching these types of students is a whole lot different than teaching English speaking students. These children need plenty of opportunities to hear and discriminate words. I learned that English Language Learners (ELLs) do not benefit from strictly learning about phonics because it lacks meaning for them. It is essential to consider ELLs when teaching phonics in the classroom. I like how the document gave ideas of effective language development practices for these types of students. I noticed that the things on the list all seem to involve the use of the child’s native language while gradually introducing words in English.
As I learned last week about assessing many different types of students in different areas, the video on the Annenberg website gave a lot of extra helpful information on the topic. It was interesting to be able to see Mrs. Perez use assessment in ways that lead to effective instruction. First of all, it was interesting to read about a typical day in her classroom. I noted that a lot of time was spent on reading and literacy development. I took a lot from the video, but the one thing I learned from Mrs. Perez, was the importance of helping children become independent readers. She uses ongoing individual assessment to guide instruction in many ways. One way I took note of was her use of running records—an all too familiar concept now! She mentioned that she uses these assessments to get to know her students as readers and to see exactly where they are in terms of their reading abilities. I see this as a form of ongoing assessment because it is something that can always be done more than once. She can choose to assess students at any time if she feels they can move up a level or need to go down a level in their reading. If she finds that some students don’t work well with others, she can always switch up groups/partners. I think assessment is an ongoing process and teachers are always looking for indicators of whether or not a child has grasped information or needs more time/help. I think observation will always be integrated into my own classroom practices!
Mrs. Perez also does a great job of engaging children at different developmental levels. She has a set time for shared reading and literacy learning. Here, she uses a poem that used different types of words. She explains that from these readings, she pulls out a phonics lesson. This supports her student’s problem solving skills because if one child seems to struggle with a certain word or concept, they all try to solve the problem together. Such shared reading experiences (developed by Don Holdaway) are intended to involve a poem/text/story being read TO students BY the teacher encouraging the students to read along WITH him/her. I feel this is an important technique in teaching children to read. They are able to take risks with their reading but have someone there to correct them if they make a mistake. It is evident that Mrs. Perez puts this into action in her classroom!
I like how Mrs. Perez also organizes her classroom to fit the diverse learning needs within the class. I noticed her letting students choose different literacy activities that fit their interests and/or needs. I think she is able to observe the students completing these activities to see where they are and how they like to do things. This is also helpful for her when she pairs/groups students up for group work. She can choose to take students with certain strengths and weaknesses and pair them up to work with students of differing strengths and weaknesses. I like the activity she came up with involving the poem about the silly fish. She saw how much the children enjoyed the poem and decided to extend it into a writing activity. I thought about how great this is! By having her students finish the sentence: “My fish can _________,” she is able to read their responses and assess them on a variety of areas; reading, writing, and spelling! Other activities involve students developing their phonemic awareness using pictures and letters.
During guided reading (GR), Mrs. Perez is seen discussing a book with a group of students who, at the beginning of the year, were found to have similar levels of reading. She explains that her goal with GR is to have them develop better fluency and make sense of what they read. She finds it important for them to verbalize their thinking and strategies because “the more you verbalize, the more it gets internalized.” I thought about how true this is! I understand that encouraging my future students and tutee to talk about what they are thinking can help them make sense of what the text really says.
Throughout the video, I was reminded of the use of Inquiry teaching and learning. Mrs. Perez did a great job of incorporating this into her teaching! I enjoyed reading the document about inquiry, mainly because it was bit of a refresher of what I have learned about in previous classes and even in module 2 of this course. My favorite thing about inquiry is that it is a learner-centered process—meaning that students are in control of where a lesson goes, what is said during the lesson, and ask questions they may have. In such cases, the teacher is simply a “moderator” and listens to students interact with one another. He/she may ask a few questions, but stands back to allow student to share thoughts, ideas, and opinions in hope that they begin to see things from different perspectives. Mrs. Perez had a lot of things for children to choose to do but they always seemed to be the ones to discover things for themselves—with just a little bit of questioning from the teacher. I like how the document about inquiry (on Blackboard) mentioned that schooling is not about individual students—rather “the coming together of the child’s interests with those of society.” As read, I thought about how true this statement is. I think it’s important to give students plenty of opportunities to seek advice and work with others. After all, this is what they will grow up to do when they choose a career and begin working alongside co-workers.
The video of Dr. Powell discussing the link between literacy development and poverty was very interesting, yet startling! I have always known that poverty was a big issue here in the U.S. but I was astounded to learn that about ¼ children live in poverty! I agree that this is unacceptable! Especially one of the most developed countries in the world! This is a sad realization—but I glad to hear that statistics show that children who are exposed to such conditions usually grow to become responsible, successful adults. This really puts it in perspective because if children can overcome such obstacles, they can be expected to achieve in the classroom. This video really helped me see just how important a positive home life is in a child’s life and how it affects the educational development of the child. It is disheartening to know that a child’s health issues, premature exposure to drug use, and trauma/abuse can all affect his/her brain development. The statistics are staggering and I know that the numbers of children who enter poverty each year is increasing while their chances of excelling in school are declining! If it is like this now, I can only imagine how it will look in a couple of years when I begin teaching! Since I plan to teach in the state of North Carolina, I know that I will more than likely have students in my class living on or below the poverty line. It was shocking to learn that we are ranked #14 in the country with the highest poverty rates! One thing Dr. Powell brought up in this video that I have always thought of was the varying annual costs for a prisoner in N.C. versus the annual amount spent to send a child to school. Ultimately, I figured that an extra $21,475 is spent on keeping a criminal in prison, rather than on an innocent child in school. I think this is crazy! I imagine the endless possibilities we could do with that kind of money in ours schools! I can see it going towards meeting the needs of those less fortunate children who come to school. To gather more information about poverty, I accessed the articles on americanprogress.org and huffingtonpost.org. It was saddening to learn so many negative statistics about our well-developed country and where we are in terms of poverty compared to other underdeveloped countries.
Ultimately, this video helped me see that there are many opportunities for teachers and schools to make a difference despite the widespread issue of poverty. Ashleigh and I discussed the importance of helping our future students, especially the ones who may live in poverty. They may not receive any attention at home, so giving them positive attention at school can do wonders for their education development. We 100% agree that children deserve the best education they can get!
Ashleigh and I also talked about things we found interesting in chapter 5 of Serafini’s text. I think we agree that it was hard to pick out the best parts because it was all very interesting! We both said that we love what Serafini said about we can’t make children to read but we can show children how and why we read (pg. 55). This is so true! As a future teacher, I hope that I can make reading fun so students will want to read. The author shares a quote from Shirley Brice that makes an astounding point: “children become iterate by establishing a bonded relationship with a joyfully literate adult (pg. 55)” I think this is a very important thing to keep in mind; especially as a teacher. I like how the book discussed and provided a list of the strategies and benefits of reading aloud (pg. 56-57). I thought it was interesting to read the Serafini often invites special guests to come read to his class (pg. 58). This is a great idea! I think this would help grab the attention of more students. It’s a break from listening to the same voice students hear at school for hours a day. As I got to page 61 of the text, I was stuck on such a profound statement. The author mentioned that as teachers, we need to provide students with access to a variety of materials to read and uninterrupted time to facilitate their reading development. They need time. They need choices. Being able to read is not a privilege, it is every child’s right! That is really something to think about! Although he has plenty of responsibilities in the classroom, Serafini described some of the responsibilities students have when it comes to reading in his classroom. They must choose their own books, keep a record log, and work together in groups (pg. 62). I like how the book lists many things to consider when choosing different types of books to read aloud. I am sure this will come in handy when it comes time for me to choose books for my future classroom (63-67).
Chapter 8 of The Reading Workshop gave me a better understanding of using instruction to facilitate a child’s development as a reader—something I have read all throughout this module! I like how Serafini opened up the chapter by explaining the three types of instruction: “1) providing demonstrations, 2) allowing time for self-initiated exploration of texts, and 3) direct reading instruction (pg. 106-107).” I agree with the facilitated reading approach because the teacher works alongside the student as they read. I like how Serafini mentions how he is constantly on the look-out for “teachable moments” to help his students make sense on reading (pg. 107). As I read through the chapter, I was glad that Serafini addressed and discussed answers to the questions: “1) What strategies will I teach? 2) What resources am I going to use? 3) How am I going to group students to provide reading strategy instruction?, and 4) What learning experiences am I going to provide to develop these strategies? (pg. 109-116).” Ultimately, I learned that not all strategies will work for every student. That’s the art of teaching—you have to find ways to fit the needs of every student. I like how the text stresses that the most important thing to teach children about reading is their understanding (pg. 116). Ashleigh and I talked discussed how true of a statement this is! After all, that’s what reading is all about—making meaning/sense of words.
As a future teacher, I feel that the “Fonics maid simpel???” document will come in quite handy—so it is great to have access to it! After reading through the list of phonics rules and words, I noticed that there were a lot of simple rules I had forgotten about or just never realized since I have become an efficient speller/writer. Ashleigh and I talked about how easy it is to forget about such rules and learn to spell/write words because “that’s just the way you spell it.” It’s nice to have this list to refer back to if students have similar questions about phonics.
The great deal of information I read about developing a mini-lesson plan was very informative. A little overwhelming, but informative. The document about the 5-Es was helpful. I learned that literacy lessons almost always begin with a piece of literature---but that just makes sense to me! I also learned about how the 5-Es are to be incorporated into such lessons. First, a teacher must ENGAGE students to establish a “need to know” situation. EXPLORING strategies come next followed by EXPLAINING and EXTENDING/ELABORATING. I was reminded that by explaining a concept to students, teachers can often surprise themselves because they make real-life connections for the learners. EVALUATION, the last “E,” is an important thing to consider during a lesson. Here, teachers can look back at what was taught, how it was taught, and how it was received by students. At this time, they are able to evaluate their performances and find ways to improve on them for future teaching. I believe this is something I will keep in mind while working with my tutee and my future students.
The “Going Deeper: Teaching Writer’s Workshop in K-1” document went into much greater detail about mini lessons and the 5-Es. I like how this gave a sample schedule for K-1st grades. I noticed that the mini lesson is of course done first thing before instructing students to work on independent work. I like how the document gave examples and ideas of what goes on in each “E” step. I know the Mini Lesson Planning Form provided by Dr. Powell will definitely come in handy when it comes time to plan my mini-lesson! It’s always nice to have a step-by-step format, especially after reading so much information about planning. I think it can really get overwhelming!
Wow! After reading over what I wrote, I feel like I have learned so much about the developmental stages of literacy and the many strategies to facilitate the reading process for them. Ashleigh and I had a ton of information to talk about this week!
Thanks for taking a few minutes to read my post. As always, I had a lot to say!
See you next week!
Kelsey
Wow! It is amazing the amount of information I have learned in just four short weeks. This week—module 4—was filled with tons more information to think about and potentially apply to my future teaching. After discussing what we learned in this module, Ashleigh and I felt like we agreed with a lot of the things brought up in each assigned reading! It’s great to have someone to share thoughts and ideas with to reflect on what was learned.
I started off this module by looking over the Developmental Characteristics of Children’s Language, Behavior& Book Handling Skills document (Gymboree). As I read through, I was reminded that babies begin communicating—as soon as they are born! They immediately take on behaviors such as hand gestures and producing sounds to indicate that they have needs to be met (food, diaper change, etc.). I took note of a lot of similar characteristics I’ve seen in infants, babies, and toddlers. Although I don’t have children of my own, I was able to think back to when my niece and nephew were babies and toddlers. As we all know, the normal reaction people have when they see a baby it to engage in “baby talk.” The baby will normally respond with babbles, laughs, and smiles. When my nephew was around 7-9 months, he loved to hold books and look at bright, colorful pictures. In their toddler years, both my niece and nephew displayed many of the behaviors mentioned on the list. When any baby/toddler reaches a memorable milestone, parents and adults offer praise and encouragement. This was the case when my niece and nephew said their first words and started to give names to different objects. My niece, Reagan, is three years old right now so it was interesting to be reminded of common characteristics children her age often show. The first one saying preschoolers “are high in energy” is especially true for her! I was recently able to observe her as she played at home. Although Reagan has had some issues with learning how to talk and forming sentences we could understand, she still is able to use words she knows to communicate with us. Unfortunately, she has not been fully weaned off of the pacifier (she only uses it for naps and bedtime), so she will sometimes rub her mouth to indicate she wants her “passy.” I often notice my sister encouraging her to ask for it by name and say what she wants instead of using signals and other forms of communication. I think doing this is just one way my sister supports the oral language development of her daughter.
The talking PowerPoint provided by Dr. Powell (Developmental Literacy Stages) was very informative and revealed a lot about how young children develop the ability to read. First, it was great to read and listen about how we all have theories about reading and how it applies to children (slide 2). The Reading Readiness theory, developed in the 1900s, was an interesting thing to learn about because I have never heard of it before. The PowerPoint explained that within this readiness program, are sets of skills and experiences that children are believed to possess at certain stages. I like how the presentation gave sample activities of what readiness activities may have looked like (slide 3). Learning about the first stage of literacy learning: Emergent Literacy was very insightful! I was reminded again that although young children are not able to read, they are surrounded by letters and words and know that adults use them to read and communicate feelings and emotions (slide 4). The pictures and explanations included (slides 5-15) reminded me that young children are constantly exposed to brand-name prints and pictures/logos and know to associate certain pictures with certain items (for example, they know the “golden arches” means McDonalds—however, they cannot read the sign telling them that it is McDonalds). Having been around a lot of children throughout the years, things like this have never surprised me. Kids are smarter than we sometimes give them credit for. However, after listening to Dr. Powell talk about context clues and the role they play in a child’s literacy development was quite interesting to me. Since younger students cannot read, they use context clues to identify a particular object or place.
Although I thought I had an idea of what some of the characteristics of emergent readers were, it was great that I was able to learn more about it on slide 16 of the PowerPoint. These types of readers and writers understand that printed words are meant to carry messages. These children often listen to/discuss storybooks with adults, and experiment with rhyming words. I also learned that during this emergent stage, these types of children develop concepts of print and learn these concepts by being read to and constantly seeing words being read by others (slide 17). This information really helped me see the just how important it is to expose children to reading every opportunity you get. This could mean reading a bedtime story each night or simply reading the tags of items in a store. I think this really opens their minds! The slide about having shared reading experiences (slide 18) brought me back to when I was a young child. I remember having my parents read to me! They often presented me with large books featuring my favorite Disney characters. I recall following their fingers swiping across the page as I read along with them. Of course I would want to go back and re-read the story, so I was able to pick up on certain words. I can say that engaging in shared reading played a part in helping me learn to read and made for great memories!
Speaking of shared book reading, I thought the YouTube video featuring Eric Carle reading Bill Martin Jr.’s book: “Brown Bear, Brown Bear” was great! Mainly because I remember reading that book when I was in school! I haven’t read it in so long but I can now see a lot of predictable qualities within this book. First of all, there are a lot of rhyming words that children can pick up on. I think the book is also predictable in that children will begin to understand that the previously mentioned animal is going to see a different animal of a different color. The pictures are colorful and go a long with the words. I like how the ending reviews all the pictures of the animals mentioned (as well as the words). This gives students a great opportunity to be reminded of what they remember from the beginning of the book! I also enjoyed viewing Mr. Carle reading “The Very Hungary Caterpillar”—another one of my childhood favorites!
One of the most interesting pieces of information I took from the PowerPoint was when Dr. Powell mentioned that out of the 43 years she has taught, she worked with ONE student who had a legitimate case of dyslexia. This really amazed me! There are a lot of times I hear of parents/teachers suggest that their child/students have dyslexia, so learning such an astounding fact really helped me see that letters and numbers are the only thing a child cannot reverse (slide 21).
As I continued to follow along with the PowerPoint, I was able to gain some knowledge about Novice Readers and writers (slide 22). The biggest thing I took from this was that novice readers tend to take more risks and apply different learned strategies. I really liked how she pointed out that at this stage, children begin to take responsibility for their own reading. I think this is where the role of a teacher is vital in a child’s life! Next, I learned that transitional readers and writers (slide 23) take on more responsibility and become stronger in using strategies to aid them during the reading process. They learn to become more independent and lose the need to rely on the teacher for constant help.
The slide displaying the drawing of how the reading process works in proficient readers and writers was a whole lot different than the drawing Ashleigh and I came up with in the first module. There is certainly a lot going on here! It is evident that there are a lot of things readers consider as they read. I agreed with Dr. Powell when she mentioned that as proficient readers, it’s hard to stop and actually take a look at what goes on in our heads when we read. I don’t even think I want to know what goes through my mind! Haha. It’s a lot to take in! I think reading about the characteristics of proficient readers made sense—I guess because this level is the highest level a reader can achieve. Since I pretty much consider myself a proficient reader, I can say that I can read and write with a critical perspective, use effective strategies when reading/writing, and read/write with fluency. The last slide of this PowerPoint was very helpful in that I was able to hear about ways to take running records from emerging readers and getting a writing sample after reading such books. I found these ideas to be very helpful for when I begin assessing and teaching my tutee.
The short Environmental Print Task assigned in this module expanded on the things I learned in this PowerPoint. For the assignment, I chose to work with my three-year old niece, Reagan. The focus item I used was an empty, colorful Hi-C Flashin’ Fruit Punch juice box. I presented her the item and after asking her what it was, she told me it was apple juice. I accepted this answer even though it was fruit punch—at least she thought it was some kind of juice! I was not surprised she could identify the item since she is so used to drinking drinks out of boxes and pouches like that. However, when I presented her with the other 3 items, she yelled out: “apple juice!!” At this point, I wasn’t quite convinced that she really knew that’s what it was. After the second picture I presented her with, I think “apple juice” was a predictable answer. I think she wanted to be cute and funny by repeating the words. Nevertheless, the fact that she was able to tell me what the item was without being able to read it tells me that children as young as Reagan can recognize things given that they have colorful images or logos. Since children are constantly surrounded by words with pictures and fancy writing, they are capable to identify something; normally when it’s in its original context. These emergent readers can pick up on a lot of things. We often don’t give them enough credit as they deserve. It’s amazing what young children are able to learn! I enjoyed conducting this short activity and seeing Reagan apply her knowledge of colorful words and images to identify the juice box.
Although I have learned a lot in EDN 340 so far, I am a little hesitant to say that I have a full understanding of what reading actually is and how to begin making it possible for a child to read. It was great to be able to listen to watch the short video Dr. Powell provided (through one of her old blog entries) to gain more insight. Ultimately, I learned that language and meaning go hand in hand! If we start teaching letter recognition by saying: “this is a B,” then students won’t know what this means. Therefore, it confuses them and makes things more difficult! We don’t want to give them reason to hate or have negative thoughts about reading. I thought it was interesting that she said that such negative thoughts take up a child’s short-term memory in the brain, making it impossible for them to learn! This was a pretty amazing thing to me! I like how she gave an example of a way to review individual letters—one in particular the use of an anchor chart!
I realize that learning to read and write is one of the most important things children will learn in school. With all this talk about literacy development and the different ways to approach it, I think it was easy to forget that as a future teacher, I will more than likely have students whose first language is not English. The Literacy Development for ESL Children document really opened my eyes. I like how the document pointed out that children who grow up in English speaking homes are exposed to the language as soon as they were born—however, children who speak other languages may only be exposed to English at school! That is amazing to me! I often lose sight off this fact, and I was reminded that teaching these types of students is a whole lot different than teaching English speaking students. These children need plenty of opportunities to hear and discriminate words. I learned that English Language Learners (ELLs) do not benefit from strictly learning about phonics because it lacks meaning for them. It is essential to consider ELLs when teaching phonics in the classroom. I like how the document gave ideas of effective language development practices for these types of students. I noticed that the things on the list all seem to involve the use of the child’s native language while gradually introducing words in English.
As I learned last week about assessing many different types of students in different areas, the video on the Annenberg website gave a lot of extra helpful information on the topic. It was interesting to be able to see Mrs. Perez use assessment in ways that lead to effective instruction. First of all, it was interesting to read about a typical day in her classroom. I noted that a lot of time was spent on reading and literacy development. I took a lot from the video, but the one thing I learned from Mrs. Perez, was the importance of helping children become independent readers. She uses ongoing individual assessment to guide instruction in many ways. One way I took note of was her use of running records—an all too familiar concept now! She mentioned that she uses these assessments to get to know her students as readers and to see exactly where they are in terms of their reading abilities. I see this as a form of ongoing assessment because it is something that can always be done more than once. She can choose to assess students at any time if she feels they can move up a level or need to go down a level in their reading. If she finds that some students don’t work well with others, she can always switch up groups/partners. I think assessment is an ongoing process and teachers are always looking for indicators of whether or not a child has grasped information or needs more time/help. I think observation will always be integrated into my own classroom practices!
Mrs. Perez also does a great job of engaging children at different developmental levels. She has a set time for shared reading and literacy learning. Here, she uses a poem that used different types of words. She explains that from these readings, she pulls out a phonics lesson. This supports her student’s problem solving skills because if one child seems to struggle with a certain word or concept, they all try to solve the problem together. Such shared reading experiences (developed by Don Holdaway) are intended to involve a poem/text/story being read TO students BY the teacher encouraging the students to read along WITH him/her. I feel this is an important technique in teaching children to read. They are able to take risks with their reading but have someone there to correct them if they make a mistake. It is evident that Mrs. Perez puts this into action in her classroom!
I like how Mrs. Perez also organizes her classroom to fit the diverse learning needs within the class. I noticed her letting students choose different literacy activities that fit their interests and/or needs. I think she is able to observe the students completing these activities to see where they are and how they like to do things. This is also helpful for her when she pairs/groups students up for group work. She can choose to take students with certain strengths and weaknesses and pair them up to work with students of differing strengths and weaknesses. I like the activity she came up with involving the poem about the silly fish. She saw how much the children enjoyed the poem and decided to extend it into a writing activity. I thought about how great this is! By having her students finish the sentence: “My fish can _________,” she is able to read their responses and assess them on a variety of areas; reading, writing, and spelling! Other activities involve students developing their phonemic awareness using pictures and letters.
During guided reading (GR), Mrs. Perez is seen discussing a book with a group of students who, at the beginning of the year, were found to have similar levels of reading. She explains that her goal with GR is to have them develop better fluency and make sense of what they read. She finds it important for them to verbalize their thinking and strategies because “the more you verbalize, the more it gets internalized.” I thought about how true this is! I understand that encouraging my future students and tutee to talk about what they are thinking can help them make sense of what the text really says.
Throughout the video, I was reminded of the use of Inquiry teaching and learning. Mrs. Perez did a great job of incorporating this into her teaching! I enjoyed reading the document about inquiry, mainly because it was bit of a refresher of what I have learned about in previous classes and even in module 2 of this course. My favorite thing about inquiry is that it is a learner-centered process—meaning that students are in control of where a lesson goes, what is said during the lesson, and ask questions they may have. In such cases, the teacher is simply a “moderator” and listens to students interact with one another. He/she may ask a few questions, but stands back to allow student to share thoughts, ideas, and opinions in hope that they begin to see things from different perspectives. Mrs. Perez had a lot of things for children to choose to do but they always seemed to be the ones to discover things for themselves—with just a little bit of questioning from the teacher. I like how the document about inquiry (on Blackboard) mentioned that schooling is not about individual students—rather “the coming together of the child’s interests with those of society.” As read, I thought about how true this statement is. I think it’s important to give students plenty of opportunities to seek advice and work with others. After all, this is what they will grow up to do when they choose a career and begin working alongside co-workers.
The video of Dr. Powell discussing the link between literacy development and poverty was very interesting, yet startling! I have always known that poverty was a big issue here in the U.S. but I was astounded to learn that about ¼ children live in poverty! I agree that this is unacceptable! Especially one of the most developed countries in the world! This is a sad realization—but I glad to hear that statistics show that children who are exposed to such conditions usually grow to become responsible, successful adults. This really puts it in perspective because if children can overcome such obstacles, they can be expected to achieve in the classroom. This video really helped me see just how important a positive home life is in a child’s life and how it affects the educational development of the child. It is disheartening to know that a child’s health issues, premature exposure to drug use, and trauma/abuse can all affect his/her brain development. The statistics are staggering and I know that the numbers of children who enter poverty each year is increasing while their chances of excelling in school are declining! If it is like this now, I can only imagine how it will look in a couple of years when I begin teaching! Since I plan to teach in the state of North Carolina, I know that I will more than likely have students in my class living on or below the poverty line. It was shocking to learn that we are ranked #14 in the country with the highest poverty rates! One thing Dr. Powell brought up in this video that I have always thought of was the varying annual costs for a prisoner in N.C. versus the annual amount spent to send a child to school. Ultimately, I figured that an extra $21,475 is spent on keeping a criminal in prison, rather than on an innocent child in school. I think this is crazy! I imagine the endless possibilities we could do with that kind of money in ours schools! I can see it going towards meeting the needs of those less fortunate children who come to school. To gather more information about poverty, I accessed the articles on americanprogress.org and huffingtonpost.org. It was saddening to learn so many negative statistics about our well-developed country and where we are in terms of poverty compared to other underdeveloped countries.
Ultimately, this video helped me see that there are many opportunities for teachers and schools to make a difference despite the widespread issue of poverty. Ashleigh and I discussed the importance of helping our future students, especially the ones who may live in poverty. They may not receive any attention at home, so giving them positive attention at school can do wonders for their education development. We 100% agree that children deserve the best education they can get!
Ashleigh and I also talked about things we found interesting in chapter 5 of Serafini’s text. I think we agree that it was hard to pick out the best parts because it was all very interesting! We both said that we love what Serafini said about we can’t make children to read but we can show children how and why we read (pg. 55). This is so true! As a future teacher, I hope that I can make reading fun so students will want to read. The author shares a quote from Shirley Brice that makes an astounding point: “children become iterate by establishing a bonded relationship with a joyfully literate adult (pg. 55)” I think this is a very important thing to keep in mind; especially as a teacher. I like how the book discussed and provided a list of the strategies and benefits of reading aloud (pg. 56-57). I thought it was interesting to read the Serafini often invites special guests to come read to his class (pg. 58). This is a great idea! I think this would help grab the attention of more students. It’s a break from listening to the same voice students hear at school for hours a day. As I got to page 61 of the text, I was stuck on such a profound statement. The author mentioned that as teachers, we need to provide students with access to a variety of materials to read and uninterrupted time to facilitate their reading development. They need time. They need choices. Being able to read is not a privilege, it is every child’s right! That is really something to think about! Although he has plenty of responsibilities in the classroom, Serafini described some of the responsibilities students have when it comes to reading in his classroom. They must choose their own books, keep a record log, and work together in groups (pg. 62). I like how the book lists many things to consider when choosing different types of books to read aloud. I am sure this will come in handy when it comes time for me to choose books for my future classroom (63-67).
Chapter 8 of The Reading Workshop gave me a better understanding of using instruction to facilitate a child’s development as a reader—something I have read all throughout this module! I like how Serafini opened up the chapter by explaining the three types of instruction: “1) providing demonstrations, 2) allowing time for self-initiated exploration of texts, and 3) direct reading instruction (pg. 106-107).” I agree with the facilitated reading approach because the teacher works alongside the student as they read. I like how Serafini mentions how he is constantly on the look-out for “teachable moments” to help his students make sense on reading (pg. 107). As I read through the chapter, I was glad that Serafini addressed and discussed answers to the questions: “1) What strategies will I teach? 2) What resources am I going to use? 3) How am I going to group students to provide reading strategy instruction?, and 4) What learning experiences am I going to provide to develop these strategies? (pg. 109-116).” Ultimately, I learned that not all strategies will work for every student. That’s the art of teaching—you have to find ways to fit the needs of every student. I like how the text stresses that the most important thing to teach children about reading is their understanding (pg. 116). Ashleigh and I talked discussed how true of a statement this is! After all, that’s what reading is all about—making meaning/sense of words.
As a future teacher, I feel that the “Fonics maid simpel???” document will come in quite handy—so it is great to have access to it! After reading through the list of phonics rules and words, I noticed that there were a lot of simple rules I had forgotten about or just never realized since I have become an efficient speller/writer. Ashleigh and I talked about how easy it is to forget about such rules and learn to spell/write words because “that’s just the way you spell it.” It’s nice to have this list to refer back to if students have similar questions about phonics.
The great deal of information I read about developing a mini-lesson plan was very informative. A little overwhelming, but informative. The document about the 5-Es was helpful. I learned that literacy lessons almost always begin with a piece of literature---but that just makes sense to me! I also learned about how the 5-Es are to be incorporated into such lessons. First, a teacher must ENGAGE students to establish a “need to know” situation. EXPLORING strategies come next followed by EXPLAINING and EXTENDING/ELABORATING. I was reminded that by explaining a concept to students, teachers can often surprise themselves because they make real-life connections for the learners. EVALUATION, the last “E,” is an important thing to consider during a lesson. Here, teachers can look back at what was taught, how it was taught, and how it was received by students. At this time, they are able to evaluate their performances and find ways to improve on them for future teaching. I believe this is something I will keep in mind while working with my tutee and my future students.
The “Going Deeper: Teaching Writer’s Workshop in K-1” document went into much greater detail about mini lessons and the 5-Es. I like how this gave a sample schedule for K-1st grades. I noticed that the mini lesson is of course done first thing before instructing students to work on independent work. I like how the document gave examples and ideas of what goes on in each “E” step. I know the Mini Lesson Planning Form provided by Dr. Powell will definitely come in handy when it comes time to plan my mini-lesson! It’s always nice to have a step-by-step format, especially after reading so much information about planning. I think it can really get overwhelming!
Wow! After reading over what I wrote, I feel like I have learned so much about the developmental stages of literacy and the many strategies to facilitate the reading process for them. Ashleigh and I had a ton of information to talk about this week!
Thanks for taking a few minutes to read my post. As always, I had a lot to say!
See you next week!
Kelsey
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Module 3 Blog Entry
Hello everyone!
This week was filled with a lot of information to read and reflect on! Ashleigh and I had a lot to talk about at the end of the week! I first started out by reading about the 6+1 Writing Traits. I thought this information was very helpful because it listed the characteristics to remember when assessing and teaching writing in the classroom. I learned that it’s important consider student’s ideas, organization, voice, word choices, sentence fluency, conventions, and presentations when examining their writing (http://educationnorthwest.org). By reading over and discussing this information with Ashleigh, I know just how important it is to make sure that students must understand the main message of a given text. “Good” writers tend to have elaborate ideas and give details about things other people may leave out. Furthermore, students may come up with great ideas but organization should play a big role in their writings. They need to make clear points that make sense and give the reader something to think about. I was reminded that a writer’s voice needs to be heard through their work. It’s funny to me how you can read something a person writes and kind of “hear” them talking in your head. I think that is what it means consider their “voice” in their writings. I think a person’s voice plays a big role his/her choice of words. The website suggested that word choices often reflect the writer’s skills in using everyday vocabulary. Another thing to consider when analyzing writing is the sentence fluency of a given piece. I think this can be tied in with the organization characteristic. It’s important that a sentence is easy to understand and has a nice flowing tone. I took the Conventions characteristic to be an important, yet easily overlooked trait when assessing reading. This requires careful assessment of the mechanical aspects of writing (grammar, punctuation, etc.). Lastly, I learned about the presentation trait associated with assessing writing. Here, I may ask myself questions such as “how does this student’s handwriting look?” “Does the student include pictures or graphs that grab my attention?” Although others may not agree, I think this is one of the most important aspects to consider. People have to be drawn to read something, so making it look “good” is essential. I’ve always know that such characteristics are ones to look for when reading other’s writings but it was nice to be reminded of such things!
The next item I read over (and listened to) was the Assessing Writing PowerPoint provided by Dr. Powell. Ashleigh and I talked about how helpful it was to have a voice recording along with the text to explain the content. Ultimately, I felt that this presentation was a continuation to the 6+1 Writing Traits I mentioned earlier. However, some of the things she revealed were interesting. For example, I was surprised to learn that about 50% of the text students read will be non-fictional. Also, it’s great to know that under the new Standards, narrative, informational, and argument/opinion based writing will be introduced to students (slide 1). I like how she pointed that “writing is for reading” (slide 3). It took me a few minutes to take in this statement. Just as the first module led me to ask myself: “what is reading?,” I am finding that I am now asking myself “what is writing?” in this module. And she’s right! Writing IS for reading! We write for many different reasons and I like how the PowerPoint stressed the importance of having children write about things that interests them if you want them to improve on their writing (slide 3). Slide 4 went into detail about conferencing. This reminded me of information I read in Module 2. Serafini touched on this concept in Chapter 9 and explained how he tried to have one-on-one sessions with students. Although he was talking about improving their reading skills, I can see this working to improve their writing skills as well. Slide 6 emphasized the importance of engaging children in writing. I think having children make a writing folder and listing ideas by answering the three questions is a great brainstorming tool! I noticed that this was a step listed in the directions for when I begin to tutor my student. I was reminded that this step is something that I might have to complete with my student, especially if he is a younger child (slide 7). I liked how Dr. Powell gave some tips on what not to do during this time. I think the most important thing to remember is to be there to help but let the student take over! (slide 8). Although I found the Writing Continuum chart to be rather confusing, I was glad Dr. Powell went through the charts as I read and followed along. That really helped! I didn’t feel so bad when she said that it may take some time to get used to the process (slide 9-10). I liked how the rest of the PowerPoint gave various examples of student writing on different levels.
Within this PowerPoint, I was able to analyze and dig deeper into Kyle’s writing. It was a bit difficult to understand, but honestly, I don’t think it’s the worst I’ve ever read. I think there are well-educated grown adults who tend to write and spell like that in e-mails and text messages! It’s really sad to think about! Anyways, I was interested to see what level Kyle’s writing falls under. Although I had some trouble really understanding how to assess Kyle, I was glad that Dr. Powell held a WebEx session to clear up some confusion. During this time, we went over a few of the initial assessments and then talked about Kyle’s 2nd draft writing. I like how she touched on assessing his writing and went over examples of how he substituted different letters for words he misspelled. Ultimately, we agreed that Kyle spelled words based on how they sound. Also, he may make frequent spelling errors because he does not know correct patterns to use or has a difference in dialect. I remembered reading about this concept in the PowerPoint I mentioned earlier. Based on what I recall from that and other problems Kyle faces in his writing, I would say that Kyle has a big issue with developing mental orthographic images (MOI). Dr. Powell also introduced us to the use of a new website and helpful tool called the Universal Writing Continuum. She walked us through the site and explained how teachers can use it to analyze and record individual student’s writing and compare such works to other children’s work. I realized this would be a helpful tool to use when I assess my tutee’s writing. Towards the end of this particular class “meeting,” I noted something interesting Dr. Powell said. She explained that the process of spelling is based on three different things: sound, sight, and meaning. I think that sums up spelling in general. When we spell, we normally sound out the word (out loud or in our heads), we envision the word (writing on paper or seeing the word in our heads), and then associate it with something meaningful. I think the last part is especially true! This makes me think about writing in foreign languages. Some people don’t know that “libro” means “book” in English. Therefore, “libro” means nothing to them. But if you tell them that it means book, then they can sound out the word, envision the word, and understand what “book” means. I’m not sure if anyone else thinks of it that way, but that’s just me!
Ashleigh and I also talked about the information about the language of reading and spelling on speechpathology.com and thought it was interesting. Here, we learned the definition of phonological awareness. Before reading further, I tried to think of what this could possibly mean. Well, I related the word: “phonological” to phonics—or speech sounds. I took phonological awareness to be a reader’s awareness of speech sounds. As I read kept reading, I discovered that I was on the right track. The website mentioned that phonological awareness is used to break down words into smaller units and identify phonemes. Readers also use this process to understand that a difference in sound signals means there has to be a difference in the meaning of a word. I’m glad that I was given an example to help me see what they meant by this. Take their example of the word pet vs. pit. Of course “pet” has a much different meaning than “pit” but I was able to use my phonological awareness to understand that they also do not have the same sounds. Further reading on this concept revealed that readers use phonological awareness to separate individual sounds and blend them together. The next concept introduced on this website was the idea that we use orthographic knowledge when reading. Before reading more about it, I tried to come up with my own idea of what it meant but I was lost, so I read on. It explained that we rely on our knowledge of common sound-letter relationships to convert spoken language into written word.
The information I read about these two ideas brings me back to my (and Ashleigh’s) initial belief that reading happens when our eyes see the text and our brain recognizes common combinations. Our brain takes those sounds and places them together to form a word. After reading about the similar process on this website, I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of how reading occurs.
I read through the “A Detailed Look at Spelling Analysis” document and was surprised to learn that there are different forms of spelling errors that are considered “legal” and “illegal.” Ultimately, I can see how the “legal” misspellings are acceptable mistakes to make. I realized that just as I learned last week about reading miscues, it’s okay for beginners to make some spelling errors too. I am glad that I have this document to help me identify similar spelling errors my tutee may make when it comes time to assess his/her writing. I am anxious to see what he/she knows!
As I mention the task of spelling, I am reminded of the “Assessing Spelling” PowerPoint provided by Dr. Powell. This presentation covers A LOT of helpful information. First of all, it was interesting to read about how spelling works. I’ve always known that English is a very complex language and I agree that it is highly irregular (slide 2). There are many words I often look at and say “why is it spelled like that?” Words like “know” and “knife” have always amazed me because the “kn” seems like an odd combination. It’s interesting that many people say words differently but they are all spelled the same. This reminds me of how different Southerners talk versus how Northerners talk. The accents may be different but they both spell words the same. I like how this Power Point stressed the importance of assessing a child’s spelling. I was reminded that with anything learned by students, there is a difference between being taught spelling and being assessed in spelling (slide 3). This document helped me see how to go about assessing spelling. It was helpful to have the “Spelling Analysis” chart handy so I could follow along with each slide. This helped me see that spelling assessment is based on common strategies children use in spelling (slide 4). Before I read further into the content, I realized that I needed to brush up on some basic phonic/spelling facts. I took the quiz to see just how much I remember about phonics. I would highly recommend for anyone to read over the phonic rules before starting the quiz. Ashleigh and I talked about our experiences with the quiz, and both of us had some trouble! There were so many rules and vocabulary associated with spelling that I forgot about! I recognized the word “diphthong” but couldn’t remember the last time I personally used it! As an efficient reader and speller, I was surprised that I had trouble answering some of the questions. I know I need to spend some time re-learning the rules for long and short vowels! It was an eye opening experience!
As I think about assessing my student’s writing, I am reminded that he/she will be placed on a scale of one of four possible phases: Emergent, Novice, Transitional, and the desired Independent phase. I know that studying his/her writing will let me know the student stands (slide 7-8). I like how assessing writing/spelling is somewhat similar to assessing reading in that we analyze miscues. However, in spelling errors, we focus on things such as Mental Orthographic Imaging (MOI), sound, and visual/meaning. We are to then take the miscues and compare them with the correct spelling of a word (9-10). The rest of this Power Point guided me through how to use the Spelling Assessment chart. I was reminded that during assessment, we must check for phonic alternatives and dialect/faulty auditory perception (slide 13-14). It’s interesting to think about how some children spell the way they talk to think words are said. As I read about this, I was reminded of when my nephew was younger (about 4 or 5). He used to love going to K-mart to pick out toys. Each time we made a visit, he would shout: “yay! We are here at K-mark!” I know this is a little different since he wasn’t spelling, but I think of it as the same concept. Just as the Power Point mentioned, I think he was not hearing some sounds or wasn’t distinguishing them at the time (slide 14). I like how the presentation advises adults to encourage students to use space holders in place of missing letters they may not know (slide 15). As I continue reading, I thought it was interesting to read about transposing letters (slide 17) because I understood exactly what it is talking about! There are many times I spell words and have to look at them and say “now that doesn’t look right.” A lot of times I am right, but there are still words I need to use my mental orthographic imaging (MOI) to make sure I have the correct spelling. I do this with words such as “license” and “exercise.” I learned that substituting letters is one of the most common types of miscues children (and even adults) make. This means that a child may need to develop a better MOI (slide 19). It was interesting to learn that although a word a child writes may be “unclassifiable,” it can still be written with a particular strategy in mind (slide 23). The rest of this Power Point was very helpful in that it gave me a better understanding of the spelling analysis and how to record a child’s miscues (slide 26-30). Ashleigh and I are confident that this, along with the information about the spelling inventory (slide 33) will help us when it comes time to assess each of our tutee’s spelling/writing.
The required readings from Pinnell and Founta’s text: Word Matters revealed a lot of similar information presented throughout this module. Chapter 10 highlighted the topic of assessing what children already know. Ultimately, I think this is a more detailed description of what I have learned in the past couple of modules. This chapter explained the importance of assessing children in such areas as their attitudes for learning, knowledge vocabulary, word meaning, letter and sounds, and use of effective word solving strategies (pg. 104-105). I like how the authors gave helpful questions w teachers/tutors can ask themselves when assessing students in each category. I’m sure these will come in handy when I assess my tutee. The text further discusses the process of shared, guided, and independent reading. I learned that through guided and independent reading, we can see how a child does reading alone and can see how he/she approaches the use of new vocabulary (pg. 108-109). I thought it was important to learn and note that independent writing is much similar. I see it as an essential part of writing. Teachers are able to examine student’s written works and understand how the language system works (pg. 111). The text adds that self-assessment has major benefits for students. I can see how it can not only promote independence, but allows them to identify their own errors/weaknesses without having the teacher point it out to them (pg. 111). I was glad to read up on some familiar information throughout the rest of this chapter. The sections discussed conducting different types of introductory assessments such as running records, miscue analysis, and IRIs. The introductory interviews and conferences mentioned in this chapter reminded me a lot of the Interest Inventory and the Burkes Interview I will use in my tutoring sessions (pg. 112). I recognized a lot of other information in this chapter. The section about assessing speech and written word (pg. 115-119) reminded me a lot about assessing Kyle’s writing. I liked how that text gave examples of other student’s writing so I could see how they may interpret language.
Chapter 19 of Pinnell and Founta’s text focused on forming appropriate benchmarks and standards for student progress with learning words. I agreed with what the authors said about learning words being a continuous process (pg. 249). I feel this is so true because I continue to learn new words as I read books watch T.V., talk with other people. Another thing I read that sparked a lot of thought was when the authors mentioned that most of the time, kids are genuinely interested in reading and writing, even at such young ages. I was reminded that constant interaction with a student developing such skills is the key! Teachers and adults need to work with children on their level and build them up. I agree that they must make sure that this is an exciting and easy experience for the child (pg. 249-252). This is what I want for my tutee! I like how the rest of this chapter gives detailed characteristics of the different types of word solvers. I learned about emergent, early, transitional, self-extending, and advanced word solvers (pg. 252-260). As I read through this, I was reminded of the Universal Writing Continuum I mentioned earlier. I think it has a lot of familiar concepts in that I can use that website to place a student in similar categories based on their writing.
Speaking of word-solving, chapter 20 of Word Matters allowed readers to think about developing appropriate programs for children as the learn words. I like how the authors gave detailed steps that support the development of an acceptable program to help children approach word study (pg. 262-269). As I read through the end of this chapter, I read about professional development. I understand that just as children develop their learning skills, teachers grow and develop professionally as they get more experience (pg. 269-270).
Wow! So as you can see, the readings for this week gave me a lot of insight about a lot of different things. Ashleigh and I enjoyed discussing our thoughts and ideas with one another. It’s great that I was able to learn so much!
Thanks for reading my blog! See you next week!
Kelsey
This week was filled with a lot of information to read and reflect on! Ashleigh and I had a lot to talk about at the end of the week! I first started out by reading about the 6+1 Writing Traits. I thought this information was very helpful because it listed the characteristics to remember when assessing and teaching writing in the classroom. I learned that it’s important consider student’s ideas, organization, voice, word choices, sentence fluency, conventions, and presentations when examining their writing (http://educationnorthwest.org). By reading over and discussing this information with Ashleigh, I know just how important it is to make sure that students must understand the main message of a given text. “Good” writers tend to have elaborate ideas and give details about things other people may leave out. Furthermore, students may come up with great ideas but organization should play a big role in their writings. They need to make clear points that make sense and give the reader something to think about. I was reminded that a writer’s voice needs to be heard through their work. It’s funny to me how you can read something a person writes and kind of “hear” them talking in your head. I think that is what it means consider their “voice” in their writings. I think a person’s voice plays a big role his/her choice of words. The website suggested that word choices often reflect the writer’s skills in using everyday vocabulary. Another thing to consider when analyzing writing is the sentence fluency of a given piece. I think this can be tied in with the organization characteristic. It’s important that a sentence is easy to understand and has a nice flowing tone. I took the Conventions characteristic to be an important, yet easily overlooked trait when assessing reading. This requires careful assessment of the mechanical aspects of writing (grammar, punctuation, etc.). Lastly, I learned about the presentation trait associated with assessing writing. Here, I may ask myself questions such as “how does this student’s handwriting look?” “Does the student include pictures or graphs that grab my attention?” Although others may not agree, I think this is one of the most important aspects to consider. People have to be drawn to read something, so making it look “good” is essential. I’ve always know that such characteristics are ones to look for when reading other’s writings but it was nice to be reminded of such things!
The next item I read over (and listened to) was the Assessing Writing PowerPoint provided by Dr. Powell. Ashleigh and I talked about how helpful it was to have a voice recording along with the text to explain the content. Ultimately, I felt that this presentation was a continuation to the 6+1 Writing Traits I mentioned earlier. However, some of the things she revealed were interesting. For example, I was surprised to learn that about 50% of the text students read will be non-fictional. Also, it’s great to know that under the new Standards, narrative, informational, and argument/opinion based writing will be introduced to students (slide 1). I like how she pointed that “writing is for reading” (slide 3). It took me a few minutes to take in this statement. Just as the first module led me to ask myself: “what is reading?,” I am finding that I am now asking myself “what is writing?” in this module. And she’s right! Writing IS for reading! We write for many different reasons and I like how the PowerPoint stressed the importance of having children write about things that interests them if you want them to improve on their writing (slide 3). Slide 4 went into detail about conferencing. This reminded me of information I read in Module 2. Serafini touched on this concept in Chapter 9 and explained how he tried to have one-on-one sessions with students. Although he was talking about improving their reading skills, I can see this working to improve their writing skills as well. Slide 6 emphasized the importance of engaging children in writing. I think having children make a writing folder and listing ideas by answering the three questions is a great brainstorming tool! I noticed that this was a step listed in the directions for when I begin to tutor my student. I was reminded that this step is something that I might have to complete with my student, especially if he is a younger child (slide 7). I liked how Dr. Powell gave some tips on what not to do during this time. I think the most important thing to remember is to be there to help but let the student take over! (slide 8). Although I found the Writing Continuum chart to be rather confusing, I was glad Dr. Powell went through the charts as I read and followed along. That really helped! I didn’t feel so bad when she said that it may take some time to get used to the process (slide 9-10). I liked how the rest of the PowerPoint gave various examples of student writing on different levels.
Within this PowerPoint, I was able to analyze and dig deeper into Kyle’s writing. It was a bit difficult to understand, but honestly, I don’t think it’s the worst I’ve ever read. I think there are well-educated grown adults who tend to write and spell like that in e-mails and text messages! It’s really sad to think about! Anyways, I was interested to see what level Kyle’s writing falls under. Although I had some trouble really understanding how to assess Kyle, I was glad that Dr. Powell held a WebEx session to clear up some confusion. During this time, we went over a few of the initial assessments and then talked about Kyle’s 2nd draft writing. I like how she touched on assessing his writing and went over examples of how he substituted different letters for words he misspelled. Ultimately, we agreed that Kyle spelled words based on how they sound. Also, he may make frequent spelling errors because he does not know correct patterns to use or has a difference in dialect. I remembered reading about this concept in the PowerPoint I mentioned earlier. Based on what I recall from that and other problems Kyle faces in his writing, I would say that Kyle has a big issue with developing mental orthographic images (MOI). Dr. Powell also introduced us to the use of a new website and helpful tool called the Universal Writing Continuum. She walked us through the site and explained how teachers can use it to analyze and record individual student’s writing and compare such works to other children’s work. I realized this would be a helpful tool to use when I assess my tutee’s writing. Towards the end of this particular class “meeting,” I noted something interesting Dr. Powell said. She explained that the process of spelling is based on three different things: sound, sight, and meaning. I think that sums up spelling in general. When we spell, we normally sound out the word (out loud or in our heads), we envision the word (writing on paper or seeing the word in our heads), and then associate it with something meaningful. I think the last part is especially true! This makes me think about writing in foreign languages. Some people don’t know that “libro” means “book” in English. Therefore, “libro” means nothing to them. But if you tell them that it means book, then they can sound out the word, envision the word, and understand what “book” means. I’m not sure if anyone else thinks of it that way, but that’s just me!
Ashleigh and I also talked about the information about the language of reading and spelling on speechpathology.com and thought it was interesting. Here, we learned the definition of phonological awareness. Before reading further, I tried to think of what this could possibly mean. Well, I related the word: “phonological” to phonics—or speech sounds. I took phonological awareness to be a reader’s awareness of speech sounds. As I read kept reading, I discovered that I was on the right track. The website mentioned that phonological awareness is used to break down words into smaller units and identify phonemes. Readers also use this process to understand that a difference in sound signals means there has to be a difference in the meaning of a word. I’m glad that I was given an example to help me see what they meant by this. Take their example of the word pet vs. pit. Of course “pet” has a much different meaning than “pit” but I was able to use my phonological awareness to understand that they also do not have the same sounds. Further reading on this concept revealed that readers use phonological awareness to separate individual sounds and blend them together. The next concept introduced on this website was the idea that we use orthographic knowledge when reading. Before reading more about it, I tried to come up with my own idea of what it meant but I was lost, so I read on. It explained that we rely on our knowledge of common sound-letter relationships to convert spoken language into written word.
The information I read about these two ideas brings me back to my (and Ashleigh’s) initial belief that reading happens when our eyes see the text and our brain recognizes common combinations. Our brain takes those sounds and places them together to form a word. After reading about the similar process on this website, I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of how reading occurs.
I read through the “A Detailed Look at Spelling Analysis” document and was surprised to learn that there are different forms of spelling errors that are considered “legal” and “illegal.” Ultimately, I can see how the “legal” misspellings are acceptable mistakes to make. I realized that just as I learned last week about reading miscues, it’s okay for beginners to make some spelling errors too. I am glad that I have this document to help me identify similar spelling errors my tutee may make when it comes time to assess his/her writing. I am anxious to see what he/she knows!
As I mention the task of spelling, I am reminded of the “Assessing Spelling” PowerPoint provided by Dr. Powell. This presentation covers A LOT of helpful information. First of all, it was interesting to read about how spelling works. I’ve always known that English is a very complex language and I agree that it is highly irregular (slide 2). There are many words I often look at and say “why is it spelled like that?” Words like “know” and “knife” have always amazed me because the “kn” seems like an odd combination. It’s interesting that many people say words differently but they are all spelled the same. This reminds me of how different Southerners talk versus how Northerners talk. The accents may be different but they both spell words the same. I like how this Power Point stressed the importance of assessing a child’s spelling. I was reminded that with anything learned by students, there is a difference between being taught spelling and being assessed in spelling (slide 3). This document helped me see how to go about assessing spelling. It was helpful to have the “Spelling Analysis” chart handy so I could follow along with each slide. This helped me see that spelling assessment is based on common strategies children use in spelling (slide 4). Before I read further into the content, I realized that I needed to brush up on some basic phonic/spelling facts. I took the quiz to see just how much I remember about phonics. I would highly recommend for anyone to read over the phonic rules before starting the quiz. Ashleigh and I talked about our experiences with the quiz, and both of us had some trouble! There were so many rules and vocabulary associated with spelling that I forgot about! I recognized the word “diphthong” but couldn’t remember the last time I personally used it! As an efficient reader and speller, I was surprised that I had trouble answering some of the questions. I know I need to spend some time re-learning the rules for long and short vowels! It was an eye opening experience!
As I think about assessing my student’s writing, I am reminded that he/she will be placed on a scale of one of four possible phases: Emergent, Novice, Transitional, and the desired Independent phase. I know that studying his/her writing will let me know the student stands (slide 7-8). I like how assessing writing/spelling is somewhat similar to assessing reading in that we analyze miscues. However, in spelling errors, we focus on things such as Mental Orthographic Imaging (MOI), sound, and visual/meaning. We are to then take the miscues and compare them with the correct spelling of a word (9-10). The rest of this Power Point guided me through how to use the Spelling Assessment chart. I was reminded that during assessment, we must check for phonic alternatives and dialect/faulty auditory perception (slide 13-14). It’s interesting to think about how some children spell the way they talk to think words are said. As I read about this, I was reminded of when my nephew was younger (about 4 or 5). He used to love going to K-mart to pick out toys. Each time we made a visit, he would shout: “yay! We are here at K-mark!” I know this is a little different since he wasn’t spelling, but I think of it as the same concept. Just as the Power Point mentioned, I think he was not hearing some sounds or wasn’t distinguishing them at the time (slide 14). I like how the presentation advises adults to encourage students to use space holders in place of missing letters they may not know (slide 15). As I continue reading, I thought it was interesting to read about transposing letters (slide 17) because I understood exactly what it is talking about! There are many times I spell words and have to look at them and say “now that doesn’t look right.” A lot of times I am right, but there are still words I need to use my mental orthographic imaging (MOI) to make sure I have the correct spelling. I do this with words such as “license” and “exercise.” I learned that substituting letters is one of the most common types of miscues children (and even adults) make. This means that a child may need to develop a better MOI (slide 19). It was interesting to learn that although a word a child writes may be “unclassifiable,” it can still be written with a particular strategy in mind (slide 23). The rest of this Power Point was very helpful in that it gave me a better understanding of the spelling analysis and how to record a child’s miscues (slide 26-30). Ashleigh and I are confident that this, along with the information about the spelling inventory (slide 33) will help us when it comes time to assess each of our tutee’s spelling/writing.
The required readings from Pinnell and Founta’s text: Word Matters revealed a lot of similar information presented throughout this module. Chapter 10 highlighted the topic of assessing what children already know. Ultimately, I think this is a more detailed description of what I have learned in the past couple of modules. This chapter explained the importance of assessing children in such areas as their attitudes for learning, knowledge vocabulary, word meaning, letter and sounds, and use of effective word solving strategies (pg. 104-105). I like how the authors gave helpful questions w teachers/tutors can ask themselves when assessing students in each category. I’m sure these will come in handy when I assess my tutee. The text further discusses the process of shared, guided, and independent reading. I learned that through guided and independent reading, we can see how a child does reading alone and can see how he/she approaches the use of new vocabulary (pg. 108-109). I thought it was important to learn and note that independent writing is much similar. I see it as an essential part of writing. Teachers are able to examine student’s written works and understand how the language system works (pg. 111). The text adds that self-assessment has major benefits for students. I can see how it can not only promote independence, but allows them to identify their own errors/weaknesses without having the teacher point it out to them (pg. 111). I was glad to read up on some familiar information throughout the rest of this chapter. The sections discussed conducting different types of introductory assessments such as running records, miscue analysis, and IRIs. The introductory interviews and conferences mentioned in this chapter reminded me a lot of the Interest Inventory and the Burkes Interview I will use in my tutoring sessions (pg. 112). I recognized a lot of other information in this chapter. The section about assessing speech and written word (pg. 115-119) reminded me a lot about assessing Kyle’s writing. I liked how that text gave examples of other student’s writing so I could see how they may interpret language.
Chapter 19 of Pinnell and Founta’s text focused on forming appropriate benchmarks and standards for student progress with learning words. I agreed with what the authors said about learning words being a continuous process (pg. 249). I feel this is so true because I continue to learn new words as I read books watch T.V., talk with other people. Another thing I read that sparked a lot of thought was when the authors mentioned that most of the time, kids are genuinely interested in reading and writing, even at such young ages. I was reminded that constant interaction with a student developing such skills is the key! Teachers and adults need to work with children on their level and build them up. I agree that they must make sure that this is an exciting and easy experience for the child (pg. 249-252). This is what I want for my tutee! I like how the rest of this chapter gives detailed characteristics of the different types of word solvers. I learned about emergent, early, transitional, self-extending, and advanced word solvers (pg. 252-260). As I read through this, I was reminded of the Universal Writing Continuum I mentioned earlier. I think it has a lot of familiar concepts in that I can use that website to place a student in similar categories based on their writing.
Speaking of word-solving, chapter 20 of Word Matters allowed readers to think about developing appropriate programs for children as the learn words. I like how the authors gave detailed steps that support the development of an acceptable program to help children approach word study (pg. 262-269). As I read through the end of this chapter, I read about professional development. I understand that just as children develop their learning skills, teachers grow and develop professionally as they get more experience (pg. 269-270).
Wow! So as you can see, the readings for this week gave me a lot of insight about a lot of different things. Ashleigh and I enjoyed discussing our thoughts and ideas with one another. It’s great that I was able to learn so much!
Thanks for reading my blog! See you next week!
Kelsey
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Module 2 Blog Entry
Wow! I thought that the first module required a lot of reading but this module had a lot more things to pay attention to. My blog partner, Ashleigh Copeland and I agreed that our experiences in module 2 gave us lot more insight and was packed full of interesting information! This week, we read and discussed a lot about assessing students in reading. After reading over the battery of tests provided my Dr. Powell on Blackboard, Ashleigh and I learned that there are many ways to tell where a child is in terms of their reading level and abilities. Although I have yet to meet with my assigned student, I am anxious to begin assessing him/her and work with the student to improve his/her reading skills. Ultimately, I learned that these assessments are great tools that many teachers today use to help their students. I feel that I may end up using them once I have students of my own. Before this module, I had never heard of assessments such as the Running Records, Miscue Analysis, or the San Diego Quick IRI. I am curious to see these assessment put into action once I administer them to my tutee.
Although I have a somewhat deeper understanding of assessment, it was interesting to read about other procedures Serafini uses when assessing students. He shares his ideas in chapter 9 of his book. He made a good point by saying that assessing should be something done while the teacher is teaching, not after. He comments that he makes mental notes about each student as he works alongside them throughout each day (pg. 117). He mentions that classroom-based assessments require the instruction of a knowledgeable and observant teacher. I think this is especially true because if a teacher is not going to closely examine a child’s growth or regression in class, then there is no point in assessing him/her in the first place. I took note of how he described what assessment really is: an ongoing process that requires the teacher to watch students while they learn, talk to them while they learn, and lastly gather products of their learning (pg. 118). As Ashleigh and I discussed this, we were reminded that this is exactly what we will be doing when we go to tutor a child for the lab portion of this class.
As I read through Serafini’s explanations of keeping observational records, I saw similarities to types of records/assessments made available in this module. For example, he keeps a record of each student’s information by asking parents about their child’s interests, hobbies, and reading habits (pg. 120-121). Although I will not be asking parents these things, I will ask the student similar questions in the “Interest Inventory” and the “Burke Reading Interview” during our first tutoring session. Serafini made a great point about teachers making checklists to remind themselves of what to look for when observing students in the classroom (pg. 124-125). As I read this, I thought: “why would you need a checklist to remind yourself to look for improvements/changes in your students? You should always be looking at that.” My opinion changed once I read over his example checklist. I was amazed at how much could go on a checklist and it is very easy to overlook an item if you are not thinking about it. Now it’s not such a bad idea!
More reading through this chapter led me to learn a lot more about assessment. I was happy to hear him mention another familiar step learned in this module—retellings. I like how he described retellings as something that requires no prompts or questions from the teacher (pg. 130). Looking back to my tutoring schedule, I am reminded that “retelling” will take place on day 2. I also liked Serafini’s description of teachers keeping reflective notebooks or journals. Ultimately, this means writing down thoughts, ideas, or issues about classroom observations. This is where teachers also make notes on whether or not they could improve their performance (pg. 131). After discussing these things with Ashleigh, I am more aware that I will be doing something quite similar after each tutoring session.
In addition to reading Serafini’s work, I found chapter 17 from “Word Matters” to bring a lot of similar ideas to the surface. Pinnell and Fountas share a lot about their thoughts on routine observation. It was interesting to hear them discuss the use of running records (pg. 222-228) and miscue analysis (pg. 228-230) as forms of assessment. From this description, as well as the actual assessment provided by Dr. Powell, I was reminded that Running Records are essentially assessments that help teachers/tutors identify a student’s reading behavior. They are intended to help pinpoint the approximate reading level a child feels most comfortable reading. The video provided at the end of the Running Record document was a great example of how a running record assessment works. It helped to see the assessment put into action, rather than reading about it on paper. I liked how the video gave some great benefits of recording a child’s voice. This is something I may consider using in my future teaching (On a side note, the technology the lady talking in the video was using was very neat! I can see how that would come in handy for so many areas in a classroom)! The Informal Reading Inventory (IRI) gives the teacher a similar idea as to what level a student is reading. I continue to be surprised as I read about such items in different books and documents. I think it’s mainly because I have never heard of them before. I am sure that I will become more familiar with these and many other types of assessments as I continue my pathway to becoming a teacher. It helped that the authors provided step by step details about the process of completing each task. I really liked how they included examples of the results of each given assessment. I believe this will help me when it comes time to work with my own child tutee.
The document provided in this module about finding the right book for my tutee listed a lot of helpful information about the readability of books. I liked the definition timetabler.com gave of readability: “all the factors that affect success in reading and understanding a text.” I learned that when choosing an appropriate book for a student, things such as the interest of the reader, legibility of the print, and the complexity of words in the book. I noticed that the possible “tests” to assess a reader’s age discussed on this site are quite to the similar to the assessments discussed throughout this module. When it comes time to assess my student and determine what reading level he/she is on, I know that the Scholastic website (bookwizard) and the Lexile website will be easy, helpful tools to help me find the right book(s) for him/her to read. This will also come in handy for my future teaching! The readability index calculator (standards-schmandards.com) was a very interesting tool! I think it is so neat that you can type in any text and it will give you a Flesch-Kincaid score—this will tell you how easy or hard the text is to read. I thought it was really interesting reading about how to determine the readability of a passage using Microsoft Word! I had no idea this was possible. This goes to show you that you really do learn something new every day! I can see this feature coming in handy for times when internet connection may not be available. Very cool! I like how Dr. Powell provided us with a Data Chart to record all of our findings from each assessment. I think it will be helpful to have all of my results in one place so I am able to go back and read over my observations.
Although I have learned a lot about assessing reading so far, I was rather excited to get to try out an assessment on myself! The “Have a Go!” assignment really opened my eyes about my own reading. As I mentioned in my discussion post on Blackboard about the activity, I feel that it strengthened my views (and Ashleigh’s) about reading. Last week, I explained that we think that reading occurs when the eyes see words, the brain recognizes words, and the mouth produces the sounds words make. After recording myself reading the given passage, I was surprised to hear myself stumbling over many words, mainly because I was reading too fast. From what I learned, I know that not all miscues need to be corrected. I felt better after reading that since I made several mistakes in my reading. I know that it’s okay to stumble as long as I correct myself or I did not change the meaning of a word/sentence. I was excited that I was able to take my miscues, analyze them, and come up with ways to prevent making similar mistakes in the future. This activity helped me better understand the information I learned about running records and miscue analysis in this module. Analyzing my own reading has equipped me with new information and new ideas of what to look for when it comes time to assess my tutee. Since I know how reading works for me, then I can use that to help my student think about his/her own reading!
The readings I have mentioned throughout this blog entry were helpful but I think that the “Reading Assessment” Powerpoint provided by Dr. Powell, helped me to see the breakdown of assessment. It covered everything pretty much everything we need to know for this module. It was the most helpful because everything was found in one place! Honestly, it made things really simple. I really liked the “Assessment/Teaching/Assessment Cycle” slide she included (slide 3). This was simple, yet useful diagram to help me what happens during assessment. The presentation informed me that assessment is always formative in that it informs you of where students are on a reading level, and summative because it will tell you what a child has or has not learned (slides 5-6). Measuring students on their knowledge could be done through formal or informal testing. As I look back on my own experiences, I can definitely say that the more formal assessments did not appeal to me. They often made me feel anxious and worried that I was not going to perform well. The first thing that comes to mind is the End of Grade tests (EOGs). It seemed like this type of formal, standardized testing caused everyone to freak out! I was excited to read through the “Test Taking Tips-Reading and Mathematics” Powerpoint Dr. Powell provided in this module. It indeed offered excellent tips for younger students to remember to do such as read the directions slowly, look for key words, reread sentences, and most importantly: RELAX. I know it was always hard for me to do that! I personally felt better with being assessed informally by having the teacher observe my progress, making checklists, and having me retell things to them (slides 5 and 7). The slides about the 3 major informal reading assessments were very helpful because they gave a very brief description of the meaning and reason behind each (slides 10-13). Reading about these things helped me understand what exactly the Literacy Profile is for. It also led to a deeper awareness that these will lead me to diagnose my tutee’s reading level, strengths, weaknesses, etc. and help me put it together in a formal document. The description and links to information of other inventories were just as helpful (18-21).
After reading over the websites discussing the use of authentic assessment, I found myself liking this type of assessment much more than formal, standardized testing as I mentioned above. I think that Ashleigh agreed with me on this one! The first article found on teachervision.com helped me see exactly what authentic assessment really is. It was great to hear that it ultimately aims to evaluate students on their “real-world” abilities. I think it makes more sense to assess students on their knowledge of something by observing their performance of completing a task rather than having them memorizing information and then taking a test on it. Watching students perform science experiments, solve real-life math problems, and write/interpret literature often provides teachers with proof of student knowledge and improvement. I really liked how the website provided me with ideas of how to use authentic assessment in my future classroom. I feel that these simple, yet very informative tools to use to help me see what students have learned in class. The second article: “Portfolio Assessment Guide” on the teachervision.com website was also emphasized the importance of assessing students, not only at the beginning of the school year, but throughout a student’s educational journey. I liked how this article stressed that the assessments are meant to be developed by the students themselves, not the teacher. As I read through this, I thought about how some students may not be interested in keeping a portfolio and may not put as much effort into it as others would. However, I realized that that is what the teacher is there for—to be a coach and encourage their students to keep up with their portfolios. This article also reminded me that it would benefit me once I start teaching to start my own portfolio, one where I will want to file away interesting documents, lesson plans, self-evaluations, and ideas on how to improve my job as a teacher. In addition to the articles provided, I really enjoyed watching the “Comprehensive Assessment: An Overview” video on edutopia.org. This video revealed some really surprising facts. As I mentioned earlier, I have always had a negative outlook on standardized testing. I don’t think the scores students receive on these tests always reflect the knowledge and educational potential they actually have. I loved what Howard Gardner, a professor at Harvard University had to say about these types of tests: “people may be good test takers but once you leave the world of testing you have to think for yourself because the world doesn’t come organized in for choices with the fourth one being ‘none of the above’.” I could not help but think about how true that statement is! The video covered a lot of different, yet important ideas to consider about high-stakes testing, student portfolios, and student achievement. I thought it was interesting to learn that many high schools are fighting to ditch standardized testing and assign students with major projects that will showcase what they have learned. I thought the part about students designing their own school sounded like an interesting task. I could tell that a lot of the students seemed to enjoy working on their design and presenting their work in front of real architects—how cool! I liked how the video explained that these big projects would go into a student’s portfolio so they can see what they actually learned overtime.
With all the negative talk about standardized testing, I was surprised to hear that a lot of people are critical of putting students in charge of independent study projects. In the video, Grant Wiggins, President of Relearning by Design makes a great point of ensuring that students develop projects that fit into certain criteria/standards that can prove they can learn something from doing “really cool” projects. I personally think that this is an excellent method to use. Students are able to learn more if they do it for themselves. Sure, you can tell a student that flowers need water and light to survive and grow, but if they take the time to plant the seeds, water them every day, and make sure they are getting enough sun, they can see adequate results. From my experiences, I still remember a lot of things I learned in school because I actually did them. It reminds me a lot about doing science fair projects in middle school because I can remember all the projects I completed. Although this video highlighted the use of authentic assessments for middle and high school students, the ideas can most definitely be applied to younger student’s learning. As the video stressed the overwhelming need for high schoolers to make high scores on SATs, the same goes for elementary students when it comes to the EOGs or other state given exams. I can see how giving them age appropriate projects to complete throughout the school year could give teachers and other adults a much more accurate report of what a child has learned. It’s amazing how an 8 minute long video can spark so much thought and ideas about assessing student knowledge!
Wow! So I don’t know about everyone else in the class, but Ashleigh and I learned a lot from this module. I know that a majority of the information will stick with me throughout the rest of my time in college and more importantly, throughout my future teaching career. I am eager to take what I have learned and apply it to the assessment of my student tutee.
Thanks for reading my blog!
Kelsey
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