Great class yesterday! We are working well and getting through a lot of key ideas in teaching reading. Our list of activities is growing for each of the stages of learning to read. We put this list into practice and created a vocabulary lesson that allowed for differentiation -- we incorporated other stages of reading into the lesson without breaking the flow of the main lesson. In this way we could continue to teach struggling readers at their level as well as challenge advanced readers. We also read a case study on "Nathan" and how researchers involved him in his understanding of miscues, which helped advance his reading skills. Lastly, we heard about an online program RAZ Kids (image) that sounded interesting. Here is the link: http://www.raz-kids.com/
Keep working on those papers and feel free to send me outlines/drafts. Have a great weekend.
I enjoyed the case study about Nathan and the progress he made with RMA. It is encouraging to read about a case where a student showed significant progress and was able to make connections to further his own learning. I think it can be a highly effective strategy for students to hear/watch themselves read. Often when students are behind in their learning it is easy for them to become overwhelmed and discouraged and think they are hopeless. By taping them and then reviewing old tapes they can see the progress they have made and see that they are improving, which in turn would motivate them to continue striving for success and setting new goals.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading chapter four as it really complimented many of the reading strategies that I learned during practicum. Activating prior knowledge is so important to students because it really gets students interested and excited about the topic. On this same line, teacher enthusiasm is another thing that is mentioned here. I think enthusiasm is SO important across all topics. Students become excited and interested when the teacher is enthusiastic. I once took a university geology class and thought it was going to be the most boring class of all time! I mean, how interesting can rocks be? First day the teacher came bounding into the room wearing an “I love rocks!” shirt. He instantly had our attention as he constantly moved around the room and thrilled us with stories about HIS rocks and gave fascinating descriptions about the rock that looked like a “chocolate chip cookie.” I loved his approach and try to remember this when I am teaching. I am math-a-phobic, but when I taught math I told kids how much I LOVED it (I wanted them to develop the love for it that I never got) and it got to the point that they chose math over reading centers because we were having so much fun!
One thing that really stuck with me from the readings this week was the part on p. 142 of our textbook where it asks you to come up with a definition of purple and then goes on to say, “understanding a word means that you don’t have a definition stored in memory for it.” To me this is just one of this statements that makes so much sense once you’ve read it. I remember so many times when I’ve had upcoming tests trying to memorize word-for-word definitions of various terminology and in most cases that was because I really didn’t know what the terms meant yet. Of course, I don’t think this means that teachers should throw out the dictionary entirely. With the right prior knowledge, a dictionary can help you understand a word. For example, if a student looks up the word yurt and sees the word tent as part of the definition, they will probably gain an understanding of what a yurt is, if their prior knowledge includes the word tent. It seems to me that having students put dictionary definitions in their own words, possibly working in groups to increase the pool of prior knowledge, would be a more beneficial than just copying or memorizing dictionary definitions. Also going back to the idea that we don’t have definitions for things we understand, I think this explains why it’s often difficult to communicate with ESL students. They are often looking for definitions of words that are so common to English speakers like purple or cold, that we have trouble coming up with an on-the-spot definition to help them out.
ReplyDeleteI think the article about Nathan and his miscues was an interesting read. What struck me the most was the way Nathan was involved in the project. It is so much more common to read an article where researchers or teachers take note of students’ miscues and then analyze them without involving the student. As a teacher, I know I’ve spent time staring at a students work and thinking what did he mean by that? Most of the time it is so much more beneficial to put off the marking until you can speak with the student and actually find out what they meant rather than trying to hazard a guess. On the other hand, I can’t help wondering how many students would be as insightful about their mistakes as Nathan. The article makes a couple mentions of him having behavioral problems. Thinking about my own students who had behavioral problems and difficulties with reading, it’s more likely I would have gotten a series of “I don’t knows” or shoulder shrugs out of them if I had asked them about their miscues. At least that’s the experience I’ve had when asking children about mistakes they’ve made in math. They often don’t remember later what they were thinking at the time or have difficulty articulating it. Still, I think this article serves as a good reminder that it’s always worthwhile to ask the students what they were thinking, even if the answer is an “I don’t know.”
I am very disappointed that I could not come to class on Thursday (childcare issue) as it looks like I missed a great deal Consequently, my comments will have to be restricted to the readings. I found this chapter (5) on prior knowledge and its influence on vocabulary very informative. I especially liked the “scavenger hunt” idea and I can’t wait to implement it in my own class. What a great “hook” for introducing a new topic/unit, such as weather, to the class. Not only does this activity activate prior knowledge but it also deepens students’ understanding of the terms. By having students provide concrete objects or representations (pictures) of the vocabulary words, it is appealing to several different types of learners (visual, tactile, and concrete, to name a few). Making vocabulary activities “hands on, minds on” is a great way to ensure student engagement, enjoyment, and ultimately, student learning.
ReplyDeleteThere was one section in chapter 5 that I am not sure I agree with though. On page 126, they list writing as one of the ways to activate prior knowledge. In particular, they suggest that having students write about a character in a book that they will be reading or write about a topic that they will be covering will “go far in activating prior knowledge”. I’m not sure I see how a student can be expected to write about something they do not know anything about. My fear would be that an activity like this may cause more frustration among students than anything else. Obviously, prior knowledge can only be activated if it already exists. So what about those students who lack the prior knowledge necessary to complete such an activity?
The other thing that really made sense to me was the comparison between the development of written and oral language in the “hand-out”. I see this as a very important and insightful analogy for both teachers and parents. The article also stresses the importance of communication between teachers and parents, especially when it comes to explaining to parents how learning to read and write is a developmental process, much like learning to talk.
Shanie
There were many things during last class that really made me think about reading and all that comes with in. In particular the focus on prior knowledge. I really think it is important to activate prior knowledge as it allows the students to reflect and make connections to the readings. I found out when I was teaching that when I encourage the students to think back to previous experiences it made the lesson more successful because they became part of the lesson. I believe that when students feel apart of the lesson they are more willing to try new things, such as reading aloud in front of the class, making connections of a similiar circumstance or book they have read. Getting students involve and sharing their knowledge will make them feel included thus having a greater chance of success. Furthermore, it allows students to share what they alread kno, thus making the learning of reading that much more enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteThe second concept that grabbed my attention was the story about Nathan and his transformation. It was great to hear how excited he was when he could say what reading is and how he wanted to read. My trouble with this was how can we as teachers spend the time with students who are stuggling so they can become excited to read like Nathan. I know from my first practicum, it was really hard to make sure each child had enough attention so they could become successful. Are there different ways to help all students at the same time while trying to teach the rest of the class. I think it is very important for the teacher to work one on one with the students as then the teacher knows exactly what the student is struggling with. I know with my class I ended up reading the novel because many of my students had very low reading level. Some of my students could not identify the words that they missed or even added. I ended up do lots of activities that really focused them on reading what is on the page and not what they added. This was a very challenging task, but by the end I had seen great improvement. My question to you is how do we as teachers with individual students on reading in a short amount of time?
Last class, what really intrigued me was the idea of activating prior knowledge in our students before doing readings. When I did my practicum I recognized the importance of activating prior knowledge for students to better be able to grasp the new information, using tools like scaffolding. However, something that caught my attention in the article about Nathan, was that prior knowledge affects the way children read and interpret words. It never occurred to me that when people read, they may miscue words depending upon their understandings and the relationships they make with their reading. I think this is a significant fact to consider when I am teaching in diverse urban schools where many different cultures are represented. Some children’s cultural background may impact the way they read words and thus gain understanding from text. This elevates the relevance of activating prior knowledge especially in high school because when you give students a passage to read on their own, it’s hard to dictate who understood the reading and who did not and this is the complications of comprehension. But as an educator I can set up the lesson with prior knowledge, relating the reading to what students know so that all of the students at least have some background going into the reading. I also see another important aspect of the lesson whenever reading occurs and that is closure. Without closure, or a check for understanding, you may not know what students took away from the reading. Thus, I think an effective reading lesson requires the activating prior knowledge, check for understanding and closure so that I can make sure that student’s comprehended the reading and extract the intended information.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing from class that inspired me what the introduction to Harry Potter. Being a fan myself, I realized how neat it was to read to students and inspire them to read things you like. I think that as high school teachers we don’t read to students enough and reading a lot of the time becomes work. Some of my students dislike reading and I think its because the only time they think to read is in school. They forget, or have never been told that reading is supposed to be fun. It’s supposed to be enjoyed and a great way to gain information. Sometimes students think that reading is a punishment rather than a joy. Therefore, I think all students would enjoy being read to. Even if its only a few chapters a day or a few minutes I think they would enjoy something they can kick back and allow their imagination to develop. By doing this for a few months students might see reading in a different way and be interested to pick up their own books to continue the experience.
Week 4
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the “hook” at the start of last class. I am not a Harry Potter reader however it was fun to have the story read to us. I think that having hooks, such as magic potions or a great books to intrigue the students is a wonderful idea and often works very well. It was nice to hear from the rest of the class about some activities that they have tried or seen when working on spelling, phonemic awareness etc. I look forward to taking a look at the RAZ program. I t sounds interesting and seems like it would be fun for students. The thing that I have enjoyed the most so far is the fact that we are able to discuss strategies and ideas that can be used in the classroom. Taking a look at the books and discussing a lesson plan allowed me to write down several ideas that I can use in the future. I also really enjoyed the story about Nathan. It was nice to read about a success story. Chapter 5 discussed different ways to activate prior knowledge and ways to teach and learn vocabulary. I look forward to next class!!
During my practicum, I found activating prior knowledge extremely helpful, not only for LA lessons but for every other subjects as well. For me, trying to activate students’ prior knowledge was probably the biggest area of growth and it did not take me long to realize how important it is to get the students ready before starting a new topic. Just like Shanie said, sometimes it is hard to activate students’ knowledge about a topic they have never heard of. I think that in order to prepare students to read a book on an unfamiliar topic, they first need to build their background knowledge if they had none to start with. One of my favourite strategies for activating prior knowledge for both, reading a new book or introducing a new unit, was bringing in a bag full of objects related to our new topic. I would then have the students sit in a big circle and pull out different objects where they could guess what they are and what they are used for. For a new story, after going through the whole bag of objects, I would then have the students write me a short paragraph about their own prediction on what our new topic might be. Students loved guessing about the objects and, of course, reading their silly predictions. Other strategies can be as simple as showing a video or movie, reading the first paragraph aloud, telling students about the author, showing them book’s cover, etc. Also, another very important part of activating student’s prior knowledge is to make connections with personal experiences.
ReplyDeleteI loved the “hook” Sue used before starting to read Harry Potter. It was fun, interesting and honestly I didn’t want her to stop reading. I miss being read to!
The article about Nathan was an interesting read. It shows how important it is for teachers to take some time during their class time and to individually assess students’ reading in a focused way. By doing miscue analyses on Nathan, his teacher was able to identify what strategies Nathan was using and point to the areas where instruction was needed. Nathan was also recorded as he read which was a great way to find reading errors and different patterns in them. I agree that it is very hard to find time for every single student and work with them one on one, but if we try hard enough we could make a difference in our students lives. There is nothing wrong to assess individual reading during a long drawing art unit. Is there? It doesn’t take that much time to call individual students to your desk to read. Even if we can get to two/three students a week, we are still making progress.
I liked the idea brought up in class about using crossword puzzles to build vocabulary. A concern that was raised was some crosswords being too difficult (the pre-made ones). Here is a site where you can build you own crosswords for free:
ReplyDeletehttp://crosswordsforteachers.com/
Another good method to build vocabulary is for students to create their own definitions for words, as opposed to simply looking them up in the dictionary. Generally, if students find out the definitions on their own they will be more likely to remember the word because they have made a personal connection. The same is true in math, this is called an “invented strategy”. Basically, memorising math formulas and word definitions does not inspire true learning. As it was said in Chap. 4, understanding a word does not equal having a ready made definition. Using other words, descriptions and imageries are excellent strategies to help students learn vocabulary, decoding and comprehension skills.
As mentioned in Chap, 5 and by Sue’s Harry Potter demonstration, accessing prior knowledge is extremely important to do before beginning a new topic or idea. It does level the playing field to ensure that all students can participate in classroom activities. During 405, I began teaching a lesson on literary devices. About 5 minutes into the lesson, I realised that most students did not know what literary devices were. I assumed students had prior knowledge on the subject and that was a big mistake on my part. I should have done a brainstorming activity or a “what could this mean” activity prior to starting. I ended up having to backtrack and break down “literary device”. Most students knew what device was, but where unsure about literary. We figured out it was close to literature (a term they were all familiar with) and built from that.
In order for students to be excited about learning, teachers must make sure that students have the necessary background/prior knowledge as well as skills needed to decipher new terms and vocabulary. Taking the time to create definitions with the class is time well spent, since they will fell more connected and as a result be more likely to retain the new information.
June 2nd, 2009 – After class four
ReplyDeleteI am finding the concept of activating prior knowledge, connecting information to experiences, having the children involved and having a good hook, as mentioned through-out the other posts, are very interesting strategies. I love the look that emerges on the students faces during that first initial ‘ah-ha’ moment, when it all comes together and the puzzle pieces of prior knowledge, experiences and interest connect. When the students are engaged, understanding and involved the lesson encourages more interaction, attention and furthers learning. I loved the idea in one of the readings that had the students having a say in the spelling words for the week. I have seen this implemented in the classroom and the students absolutely love it! They look forward to brainstorming words and then voting on their favourite three to add to the spelling list. Words like princess, spiderman, ironman and monster have been some of the words that the children have chosen, words they love to use in their writing, journals and story writing. They are so proud of their choice that they can’t wait to show their parents the words for the week, to study and to ace them on the spelling test at the end of the week. It is an amazing strategy! And it only goes to show that if given input the students will gain ownership, excitement and enhance their learning, something that can be applied in any subject!
The readings also mentioned making sure that the students have fun time to read, listen to a book on tape, buddy read, or partner read, every day. I remember having silent reading everyday in school after lunch, something I see applied in almost every classroom in the schools I work in. Other strategies I see put into practice are buddy reading, story writing and presenting it to the class, readers theatre (which the kids LOVE), literacy centres, small group reading and the teacher reading to the whole class. I find the students love the interactive reading the most, but once they are given the time for independent reading it is often hard to get them to put the book down when it is within their reading level and interests.
There are so many strategies I can’t wait to implement!
Sue, great job at showing us what activating prior knowledge looks like with your Harry Potter presentation!! Activating prior knowledge is a critical component for a good lesson. When we forget, our students lose out and get lost in our rush to teach the “next thing.” I learned during my practicum that building off of prior knowledge is crucial. Students can learn so much more when they can connect new information to knowledge they already have.
ReplyDeleteSomething from the textbook that I must comment on is the idea of a student-created bulletin board to promote vocabulary (pgs. 144-145). The activity mentioned is a scavenger hunt where the teacher creates a list of vocabulary relating to the unit the class is about to cover. The students work in groups to find out what the word(s) mean and to bring in pictures or objects representing the items on the list. The winning team (group with the most points) gets to design and display their pictures and objects on and in front of the bulletin board. I thought this was an excellent activity that could be used cross-curriculum to introduce and learn new vocabulary. I can’t wait to try it out in my own class!!
Unfortunately I was unable to make it to the last class, due to some family commitments. Therefore, my comments are based solely on the reading, sorry if they are repetitive.
ReplyDeleteI find the concept of activating prior knowledge extremely valid and practical. It is important for students to remind themselves that they may already know something about the new topic. This way students do not need to feel they are learning useless and boring new information, instead they may feel they are building on previously learned concepts. From personal experience, during my practicum I found students to be much more motivated to learn if they understood that they were extending their previously acquired knowledge. Therefore, I began every lesson with a activity to promote the activation of prior knowledge. The five methods to activate prior knowledge mentioned in the textbook (brainstorming, questioning, predicting, writing and discussing) are all excellent ways to not only activate prior knowledge but also to build comprehension skills.
The other idea which I found quite interesting was vocabulary development and the idea that “...multiple actions are needed for maximum effects.” (p.133) I think vocabulary development is an essential part of literacy, since studies have continuously shown that there is a direct relationship between vocabulary knowledge and passage comprehension. I really like the idea of introducing word meanings in a multiple of ways as this allows students to broaden their knowledge and contextual meaning of a word while using different modes of learning, such as visual, auditory and social. The strategy I found most innovative and interesting is Dramatization of a word. I think this is a great way to introduce new words or extend the meaning of already known words for students. Firstly, it involves physical movement which is always a great opportunity for some of the more overt and active students to demonstrate their knowledge. Additionally, because students have watched their classmates act out an experience related to the vocabulary word they in turn have an experience to attach to the word meaning and thereby will likely have an easier time recalling and attempting to use the word. I can’t wait to try this strategy with my class!!!
The importance of hooking the students interest and retrieving prior knowledge is vital so the students can become engaged and excited about all they know and all that they are about to learn. As you demonstrated with the creation of blue potion example before you began to read Harry Potter created a level of excitement that would get students interest and attention. Yet this activity didn’t take much time or preparation. Sometimes as adults we tend to get caught up in the curriculum and forget that learning should be fun.
ReplyDeleteAssessing prior knowledge also helps when building and discussing new vocabulary. I really liked the suggestion in the text about the scavenger hunt for new vocabulary when starting a new unit.
As I read the article about invented spelling it was nice to get some insight. I am a somewhat on the fence about invented spelling as maybe because many of the students that I work with are still at the invented spelling stages even though some are in grades 4 & 5. When the article states that invented spelling is reasoned and rule-governed I begin to see that it is the less phonetic pattern sight words that many of the students struggle with, as some of these words don’t seem to follow specific patterns or rules. So now when I see them writing: ov-of, wuz-was, etc.. This helps me to understand where their at with their reading as well as their spelling. I am now beginning to see the connection with spelling, writing, and reading as well as fluency, which is this weeks reading. I also like how the article mentions that ideal spelling program is a balance of writing and word study. Sometimes there is too much of one type and not enough of the other. I hope I am able to foster a healthy balance when I am in the classroom.
I enjoyed the discussions on activating prior knowledge and the importance of it in engaging children in reading. It makes sense that children who do not have any prior knowledge before a story is read or a topic is discussed, will likely not understand or be interested in what is being discussed. Sometimes, the children I work with in LST groups have more difficulty accessing prior knowledge and if they are able to, many have difficulty expressing themselves. A strategy I have found to be very successful with any grade is giving examples of my own personal experiences. Most children seem to love this and it usually encourages and prompts them to make connections with one of their own personal experiences. After I have told my story or experience, all of the students` hands go up to tell one of their own similar experiences (even the ones who do not usually talk or offer an opinion)! I love this because prior knowledge has been activated with so much enthusiasm and the sharing of wonderful stories!
ReplyDeleteVocabulary is another area that is very important in developing readers and can vary greatly from one child to another depending on life experiences. A good example of this is children entering Kindergarten. It has always amazed me how one child can have an extensive vocabulary, beyond a Kindergarten level, and another same-age child will have an extremely limited vocabulary. Many students will not ask what something means when they don`t know and can often give the impression that they do know. Therefore, I have made it part of my teaching pratice to automatically ask if ‘anyone’ knows or has a guess about what a word means. When someone takes a guess, often others will follow. This process usually results in understanding the unknown word!
The “post-it” note strategy really appeals to me and is definitely something I`m going to try with my students.
I also am excited about trying the “Raz-Kids” Reading A-Z resource. This sounds like an excellent tool for a variety of learners at various levels.
Thanks for the wonderful ideas!
Julie
After reading the “Beyond Word Study” article, I really loved the idea of “Readers Theatre”. I have also experience Readers Theatre today in a workshop at SFU. I strongly believe that Readers Theatre is extremely great tool to enhance the reading fluency especially for ESL or struggling readers because Readers Theatre gives the opportunity to read the text many times before you present to the class. Also, students comprehend the text better when they read it over and over. The best part about the Readers Theatre is, you need no set, costumes, and simply students present the story with vocal expressions. In order to read the story with expressions, students have to read it many times and understand it, in their own words. Therefore, I will introduce this activity in my class and help the students to enhance their reading fluency. I am putting some more information on Readers Theatre which I have collected during the workshop. May be this information will gives us more insights into Readers Theatre.
ReplyDeleteWhat is Readers Theatre?
The presentation of literature by two or more readers who interpret the mood of a text.
The readers may take the parts of the narrators or characters and employ those techniques of expression which bring the text alive for an audience.
Readers:
Using scripts
Reading the story
Audience:
Hearing and seeing the story
Imagining
Props:
None are required but they may be used with restraint to enhance the script
Roles
Director:
Motivates the readers and assists them to both interpret and communicate the meaning of the script
Assists with the ‘blocking’ of the readers (i.e. placement of the readers on the stage in the relationship to one another and the audience)
Narrator:
Weaves the story around the characters to show their relationships
Sometimes focuses on the audience and other times focuses on the characters.
This is referred to as an offstage focus (audience) or an onstage focus (characters).
Characters:
Bring action to the story in the minds of the audience. They can have both an onstage and offstage focus depending on which best delivers the mood of the story.
Oral Interpretation
Oral interpretation lies at the heart of Readers Theatre
The reader uses vocal expression to give the listener a vivid picture of the action
There are many ways to say a sentence. There is a noticeable difference between saying “Come here” in and angry and annoyed voice and saying it in a secretive whisper. This is oral interpretation at its simplest
Readers Theatre in Review
A bare bones theatre production, a combination of expressive oral interpretation and conventional theatre using two or more readers to extrapolate the full intellectual, emotional, and aesthetic content of a piece of literature to an audience.
There is no memorization, full costumes or stage sets; it is the text’s narration which provides the framework for the dramatic action
Used to teach any subject matter that can be converted into a script…reading, grammar, literature, history, math, science, shop…all have been successfully taught using Readers Theatre.
Particularly beneficial for EAL and students who find reading challenging, as it naturally incorporates repetition and scripts can be chosen or written to encourage expanded vocabulary usage.
Can be highly motivating for children who are otherwise sometimes hard to reach academically.
Through voice development and minimal costumes even the simplest script can yield wonderfully rewarding results.
By Carol Edwards
After reading the book, the other idea stood out for me is Echo reading. I think Echo reading is a great tool for struggling and shy students. A teacher can read first to model the reading then fluent students can take turns to Echo read. I strongly believe that struggling readers and ESL students can definitely benefit from it. I will incorporate this reading in my teaching practice because I have done it in my home country and it worked really well for struggling readers.
I was very interested in reading about how students in small groups could research vocabulary on page 130. However, I think that depending on how much time you are focusing on this, it could be a waste of time. The description on page 130 says that while reading a chapter student could be assigned a variety of jobs such as, vocabulary researcher, discussion director, literary luminary, and secretary checker. I believe that this is too many students focussing on vocab. Instead, I think a more productive way that this could be accomplished would be to insert a vocabulary job into lit circles. This way everyone has a completely different job, yet everyone can learn from each other.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 13, the part that really stuck out to me was on page 158 where it said, “they may need to understand that learning to write is a much bigger more complex process than learning to make letters,” when discussing how parents may feel about invented spelling. I think that the chart on which a teacher records the letters students use each month could be a great resource for showing a student’s development and progress to parents. I thought it was a very powerful example when it saw stated that parents should encourage students at their beginning signs of communicating by writing down letters just as they encouraged them when they started to communicate with baby talk. A good way to get this across to parents would be to have parent-teacher meetings. However, for parents that could not make themselves available, letters could be sent home explaining the importance of not only encouraging, but also celebrating the ways that children communicate through letters and invented spelling
I found the case study article about Nathan, an interesting read. It was good that Nathan felt empowered of his own reading because he was actively involved in the process and development of it. Also, because he was talking about his miscues and listening to the reading he had just recorded, he actually self-corrected himself on the words. I think that listening to a recording of a book while reading it through reinforces the right way to say a word. In addition, it was great that the teachers weren’t being critical of him. Sometimes, we, as teachers, have the tendency to correct students when they make a mistake because there is often a conflict going on. Should teachers allow students to continue making the same mistake, or should they correct them so that the students do it better the next time? In the article, the teachers decided to ask questions that lead to thinking about what Nathan had read.
ReplyDeleteI especially enjoyed the Vocabulary lesson plan we had to do as a group using a specific book for the grade level. I didn’t know about all of the different activities that could be used. For example, in my practicum and music workshop, I gave cue cards with action verbs on it to students. Their group had to come up with a way to represent the word through a moving vignette and could make sounds. (It was later transferred to musical instruments.) The rest of the groups had to decide what the action verb was. Therefore, during brainstorming while the groups came up with ideas, they had to feed off each other and know what the word meant either from experience with the word or by word associations. The kinaesthetic approach worked because many kids are movers and can’t stay in one place too long.
Melanie wrote:
ReplyDeleteThis week really highlighted the impact of teaching vocabulary for me. Vocabulary knowledge is critical to reading comprehension and it is important that those working with young readers help foster their development of a large “word bank” and effective vocabulary learning strategies. Good readers constantly monitor their comprehension. This is something that I have found through my own reading and experience in the classroom working with students. This class and the readings on vocabulary prompted me to do some more research on the subject. I came across a website, K12reader, which includes useful tips for both educators and parents on everything from phonemic awareness, reading comprehension, sight words and vocabulary to struggling readers and tips for parents. One article explicitly states several indicators of a good reading program. I found this information and some ideas about what to look for very insightful. As a new teacher embarking on my career I have found it overwhelming sifting through all of the information out there and deciphering what is a good program and what components best fit with my teaching style. Another useful article I have read recently is titled “Putting it All Together: From One First-Grade Teacher to Another, written by Marcie Kaufman. This article describes a balanced literacy program this teacher has developed that would immerse students in meaningful literacy experiences. Here Kaufman describes a language arts schedule and ideas for implementation in the classroom that I thought were especially perceptive. Anyone struggling with implementing curriculum and working with students ranging from developing readers, early readers, and emergent readers to fluent readers in the same classroom may find this article useful. Something that I have also recently questioned is the use of home reading programs in school. The development of home reading programs, for example, can greatly impact and improve children’s literacy learning. As educators we have to be careful to not make home reading look like something done at school with lesson plans and assessments. In doing so, teachers may be taking away the qualities that make home reading programs successful. Bedtime stories must be about families enjoying themselves around a book and not just an extension of school. It is a fine line for both teachers and parents to foster a love of reading and develop children’s literacy skills both at home and in the classroom.
Perhaps my favourite part of last class, and the part that most got me thinking about strategies I’d like to implement in my own classroom, was Sue’s opening activity. Having never read any of the Harry Potter books and having only caught glimpses of the first movie, I really enjoyed the opportunity to listen to some of J.K. Rowling’s work. Not only did I gain an appreciation for the truly magical way in which the author captivates the audience, but I got a feel for just how effective a teaching tool oral reading can be. As a child, and even as an adult, I have always enjoyed being read to because it allows me to form a clear picture in my head of the events taking place within a story. As a teacher during my practicum, I was blown away with how responsive the children always were to oral reading, regardless of the genre and complexity of literature, or of the various comprehension levels of students. Oral reading was something I tried to make time for several times a week, during storytime and often during language arts and social studies. Further into my practicum, I can recall that the second grade teacher from across the hall was a strong advocate for bringing the children together for a story at the carpet when the day seems to be going rough. Subsequently, in one particular moment of frustration over some disruptive classroom behaviour, I called everyone to the carpet with a story in hand. I found oral reading in this scenario to be extremely effective as it brings your at times disassociated classroom together for a common and rewarding purpose. If done in such a way, it can excite, intrigue and mystify your students.
ReplyDeleteAnother strategy I thought was particular helpful from last day was the idea of activating prior knowledge. Sue modelled this with her opening activity and throughout the class, and I really appreciated hearing some of the different ways to go about doing this from other members of our class. Activating prior knowledge can come in various forms, as Sue showed up with her Harry Potter “hook”. Reviewing familiar and unfamiliar vocabulary can be one way. This also ensures students are up to speed so to speak with what is going on. In other words, activating prior knowledge is also a good way of refreshing students’ memories, getting them excited about the topic and filling in any knowledge gaps.
Starting off a lesson or unit by tapping into the student’s prior knowledge and triggering what they already know about a topic is undoubtedly an important part of teaching. I think it talks about it in the text, but I remember my FA talking about how we all sort of have files in our head where we store information. Students, he said, need to file the new information somewhere, so they try to search for a file that would relate to the new info as a way of sorting. I certainly do that. This ‘file folder’ analogy helped me understand the important of prior knowledge in my own teaching. It makes it less overwhelming when learning about a new topic. I believe the text describes the prior knowledge as a “stepping stone” or a “bridge to new knowledge.” Yet, I could also see how this filing system might file new info incorrectly. Maybe the info we think we already have about something is incorrect or maybe it isn’t related to the new info at all? Or, as teachers, what if we wrongfully assume that the student has the same prior knowledge as ourselves and we lead them to the wrong stepping stone or bridge?
ReplyDeleteI thought about these questions when re-reading the chapter in attempt to find some suggestions. Fortunately, the textbook is full of helpful tips. I particularly like the idea of having the students create the alphabet letters (often seen on the walls of classrooms) themselves. This is way more authentic than buying the letters (and saves money too.) I found the plan that suggested creating a scavenger hunt of vocabulary words when introducing a new unit particularly meaningful for me. I love the idea of having it set up as a game, where the students have to collaboratively find pictures or items representing the vocabulary words. This encourages students to research the unit before it starts, as the game would start a few weeks before. (I think older grades would really like this one - they love competition!) This ensures that every student walks into the unit knowing what a hurricane looks like, even if they previously had not heard of it. I think this idea somewhat attempts to address the challenge of how some students don’t have any prior knowledge on a topic at all. The scavenger hunt creates prior knowledge because it ensures that every student has hunted for the info before the unit has even begun. Brilliant, I think.
I just wanted to first of all comment on Sue’s hook to the classroom last week. Sue your hook definitely served it’s purpose because I really wanted to run out before class and grab a drink, however your set up of the Harry Potter blanket and the potion intrigued me so much that I waited until the break just so I would not miss the introduction. This is exactly what our PDP class taught us about “hooks.” The best hooks grab the student’s attention and help them to be absorbed in the lesson. After last weeks class I realized hooks can really be used for any age group.
ReplyDeleteThe topic of activating prior knowledge when presenting new ideas is another discussion that I think is worthwhile. We have already determined that when students can make connections to their studies it will help them achieve a better understanding. Sue pointed out that some teachers like to go over a review of the previous class before each new topic. This helps to refresh the minds and review vocabulary in order to lead into a new lesson. "Activating prior knowledge is a bridge to new knowledge." The text book does say however that sometimes prior knowledge involves students' misconceptions about the world and sometimes interferes with learning. I actually had this happen to me today for an example. I was watching the sports network today with my boyfriend and they showed a highlight of a tennis match. They showed that one of the player's was hit by the tennis ball by his opponent. I asked my boyfriend which player would get the point in that situation. To my surprise he said that even though he was hit, he missed the ball so he does not receive the point. My prior knowledge of baseball interfered with my knowledge of tennis. I figured that if a person was hit in baseball and was able to walk to the base, that tennis should be the same. Although this example is not an academic example, it still goes to show how prior knowledge can sometimes interfere with learning.
One thing that really intrigued me about last week's lesson was the case study on Nathan, the third grade student whose pre-primer reading level was significantly improved by teaching him to be aware of his own miscues. As a learning assistance teacher, I am always looking for methods and ideas that will help children on their journey to reading fluency. I found the method very empowering for the student, as it helped him to see what he was doing, and to realize that his miscues were evidence that he was actually thinking productively about reading. Any approach that can enable students to see even their "mistakes" as valuable markers on the road to success are very valuable indeed. This kind of approach changes the equation from "failing student" to "capable learner" in the mind of both the child and the adults providing support. The changes in Nathan's confidence, reading behaviours, and definition of the meaning of "reading" are examples of the kind of responses that supportive teachers are trying to nurture in all students.
ReplyDeleteIn the same vein, I found this week's reading on Reading fluency very valuable. So often, we focus on word decoding when working with beginning or struggling readers, and may be frustrated when the fluency does not come naturally. The suggestions for promoting fluency were not only valuable,but fun and engaging. How often do young children love a favourite book to be read and re-read until they know it by heart, but how difficult can it be to get older students to re-read a text many times? The methods here are certainly more engaging than the approaches used when I was in school, in which we just had to read a story multiple times. The approaches described are definitely ones I plan on incorporating, and ones that have the potential to help students across many grade levels within the culture of a single school, to build the skills of reading fluency and enjoyment.