Many thanks to all our presenters -- we were treated to many good lessons. For today's blog, please complete two tasks. First, on this prompt, share the title of your paper and your thesis statement (or a brief description of your paper). Students with similar interests can contact one another. Second, please post some feedback in each of the group presentation prompts below. You can comment on what you liked about the lessons, what you found interesting, ask questions and share what you may have seen in other classrooms related to the activities.
Just a reminder: for those who presented today, please send your Lesson plans as soon as possible. Also, your 1-2 page (double-spaced) Reflection is due next Thursday.
Finally, this week's topic was "Assessment". Please fill in the handout and we will go over the activities next week. Enjoy the beautiful weather!
Just a reminder: for those who presented today, please send your Lesson plans as soon as possible. Also, your 1-2 page (double-spaced) Reflection is due next Thursday.
Finally, this week's topic was "Assessment". Please fill in the handout and we will go over the activities next week. Enjoy the beautiful weather!
My thesis:
ReplyDeleteLearning morphemes and word patterns has proven to help children identify meanings of words and become successful readers.
Week 9
ReplyDeleteThis was an awesome way to have some reading lessons in out tools box. I found them all to be interesting and fun!! As for assessment, it was great to hear from Sue and reading the text gave lots of techniques to do assessments. The title of my essay topic was “Supporting ELL Students with Reading,” I discussed some of the problems that ELL’s face when learning to read and then ways in which educators can support them. I addressed the benefits of a print immersed classroom, silent reading, buddy reading, reading aloud and guided reading for ELL students.
The title of my paper was: Second Language Reading: types of reading used and the comparison among ESL students and different reading strategies they use
ReplyDeleteMy thesis: “This paper will specifically focus on different instructive reading types used to enhance reading for ESL students, as well as their benefits and drawbacks. It will also explore the differences between ESL students themselves, especially those whose native language does not have an alphabet. It will attempt to explain the different reading strategies and impacts on phonemic awareness”.
Since we did not spend a lot time talking about assessment,I am looking forward to our next class and discussions as well as the rest of the presentations.
Paper Topic
ReplyDeleteGender Stereotypes in Children’s Literature
“Children’s literature that contains gender stereotypes can greatly impact a child’s developmental process and potentially limit their options, attitudes and behaviors in life. Knowing this, teachers can make a positive impact on children’s gender development by carefully selecting books, integrating a variety of activities into the classroom, teaching students to think critically, and facilitating meaningful discussions.”
The title of my paper was “Reading Math”. From my introduction: “A great number of students have difficulties reading math texts, comprehending word problems and deciphering the difference between “English” and “math” words. The aptitude needed to tackle these issues can be addressed by teaching students how to “read math”. In order to teach this to students, the difficulties named above must be examined so that appropriate strategies can be implemented including how to read a math text book, how to decode math information and creating a vocabulary of mathematical terms.”
ReplyDeleteMy topic: Causes of Reluctant Readers & Ways to Support them.
ReplyDeleteMy thesis/introduction: "A literacy gap in reading between boys and girls is well documented. There are several reasons for this. Many boys may become reluctant readers because they have no interest in reading. Others struggle because of learning difficulties. There is anecdotal evidence that boys are a bigger problem when it comes to reluctant reading. In this paper, I will address factors that cause children to be reluctant readers and focus on boys, being the bigger problem of reluctant reading. Several questions I hope to answer include: Why are some students unmotivated to read? Why are there large gender differences in reluctant readers? What strategies can teachers, educators, and parents use to encourage boys to enjoy reading?"
My title was:
ReplyDeleteReaders Theatre: The Key to Fluency
"Not mastering fluency is a significant obstacle to successful and meaningful reading. Two strategies that have been used in the classroom to encourage greater fluency in students are repeated readings and readers theatre. While both strategies produce results, I argue that readers theatre is the more effective strategy to succeeding in fluency."
Esanju
My research topic was:
ReplyDeleteBy focusing on each students’ reading level and strategies and the factors that impact a child’s attitude toward reading, age, gender, reading and writing skills, previous experiences and interests, and gearing lessons toward those findings, teachers will hopefully be able to captivate students into reading.
Sarah
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMy introduction/thesis statement as follow:
ReplyDeleteComparison between two literacy approaches
There are numerous programs and strategies for teachers to help students become fluent readers, understand the text meaning, and make connections to what they read. Guided reading is one of the programs which supports students to become good readers through many strategies and instructions. Even though educators are focusing on helping students become fluent readers through different kinds of instructions in guided reading, but it is not a complete program and has some draw backs. On the other hand, Developing Readers is another program which has a holistic approach for assessment and instructing the students through the essence of comprehensive, coordinated literacy efforts. This essay will focus on the detailed description of the two programs, the pros and cons of each reading program, and the implications for teachers.
The title of my essay was: Teacher Read-Aloud:
ReplyDeleteThe Importance of Reading Aloud in the Primary Classroom.
My thesis statement: Read-alouds are fun! Reading aloud to the class plays an essential role in the development personal reading skills. As will be discussed, reading aloud to a class can help students develop skills in word recognition, vocabulary and phonemic awareness. Comprehension will improve, as will general interest in reading. Perhaps most importantly, reading aloud provides a model, and teaches students how to think while reading on their own.
Paper Title:
ReplyDeleteReading Helps Support the Learning of Mathematics: The ABC’s that Support the 123’s.
Thesis:
This paper will examine why it is important for students who study mathematics to engage in literature about math, and how this literature supports their learning.
Summary:
My paper was broken into two distinct sections, the first being why reading math is important, and second, the kinds of literature students should be exposed to. Citing the NCTM, six new standards are important in mathematics, and they all include how math is articulated through language. Knowing that language and reading is linked there was a constant progress to how reading helps achieve the sox new standards. I cited several resources showing the statistics of how reading in math increase results. I also showed that reading mathematic text books is not a linear process, students are required to jump around the page to connect graphs, the diagrams, the charts, and the symbols to the corresponding text. This can create anxiety among students. Introducing students to mathematical concepts via children’s story books is an effective way to reduce some of the anxiety with math. Finally, throughout the paper, I discuss several children’s books that can be used in classrooms, and how each can be used to teach math.
My paper topic was about reading across different content areas in high schools. I looked into the arguments surrounding who should be teaching English skills in schools. I looked into some of the cognitive abilities that surround reading and looked into some research that proves that reading in different subject areas requires different skills. I argued that a basic comprehension instruction strategy called reciprocal teaching taught in every subject area would enhance students reading abilities in all areas. I think that reading is such an important part of academia that it needs to be taught in every subject so students can be the best readers possible and tackle thought academic subjects.
ReplyDeleteAssessment is a difficult process especially when dealing with reading and writing. It is difficult because students come to us with very different levels of ability and we cannot assume they can complete certain tasks at a certain level. I think the most important part of assessment in reading and writing is doing samples at the beginning of the year/semester and continues to take them throughout the year. This type of assessment ensures that students are improving upon their own writing and as a teacher we are not holding them to unrealistic expectations. I even think having a conference with students and parents at the beginning of the year, with the first piece of writing marked and agreeing upon where they want that student to be at the end of the semester is a great way to involve all students and parents. A great thing to do with all of these writing and reading comprehension samples is to create a portfolio and have students keep track of their progress so that they can see where they grow. The most important part of assessment is to promote further learning. Keeping a portfolio and having students reflect upon their improvements is a positive experience because they can see where hard work can take them.
ReplyDeleteThe title of my paper is “An Examination of Sustained Silent Reading in Secondary Schools.” And my paper focused on an examination of some of the many benefits of SSR, clarify the misconceptions regarding disadvantages and discuss strategies to improve SSR in secondary schools. I chose this topic in particular, because throughout my practicum I found SSR to be an invaluable tool in my English classroom. However, as of late I had encountered much literature questioning the value of SSR during class time. After a thorough investigation, I confirmed my original belief—SSR definitely benefits students. But, SSR can take several forms, I hope that in the future more teachers will strive to implement it, whether it’s pure, a variation or a teacher’s own unique adaptation of it.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, my essay was entitled “Comics in the Classroom” and it was about various ways that teachers can use comic books, graphic novels and manga in language arts. I talk about and refute the arguments that kept comics out of schools for many years and refer to research to explain how reading and writing comics can benefit students. I also describe a few activities that can be done in the classroom involving comics.
ReplyDelete(Since I wasn’t in class this week I can’t comment on the lessons. Instead I’ll talk about this week’s readings.)
One thing I really liked about the chapter on assessment was the idea that we should collect information about the students’ attitudes and interest in reading as part of our assessment data. I’ve never seen this suggested for language arts before, but I think it is a wonderful idea. Not only can this help you plan future units that will interest the students, but it would also be very rewarding if you could measure a change in attitude over the school year as a child moved from being reluctant to enjoying reading. I like the suggestion of having children bring in their three favorite books to talk about. This would be a valuable first week of school activity that would help you get to know your students. I also liked the point that you could easily identify which students will need extra encouragement based on which children don’t bring books or don’t have much to say about their books
I liked the point the authors made that standardized tests tell you more about how a group of students is doing than an individual. While the assessment chapter seems to come out pretty strongly against using tests in language arts, I think this is an idea that’s good in theory, but not in practice. Unless we can get rid of testing in high school and post-secondary education, I think we need to be testing children in elementary school. Children need to know how to take tests and how to study for them because they are going to be encountering them throughout their schooling. A key part of language arts should be helping students analyze what test questions are asking and what components are needed to create a good response. I think the key to using tests would be to introduce them in non-threatening ways. For example, start with open book tests or tests where students work together to answer the questions. As well, the test should only make up a small percentage of the student’s grade in a particular unit. Since many students don’t test well, it’s important to give them other opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge such as through book conferences or research projects.
Paper Title:
ReplyDeleteWhat’s All the Fuss About?: Gay and Lesbian Literature in BC Classrooms
Brief look into my argument:
"... By banning books that expose gay and lesbians for what they are, normal and acceptable citizens of our society, are we not are perpetuating the ignorance and therefore bullying? Could we be empowering bullies if we are bystanders? This topic is critical to evaluate, not only for our students who will eventually (if not already) develop LGBT feelings, but who will also both meet and know many people who are LGBT throughout their lives..."
Paper Title:
ReplyDeleteThe Joys of Children’s Literature: Fostering a Love of Reading
An excerpt from my introduction:
"Reading is intended to be an enjoyable activity but when too much time is spent “struggling through the alphabet” in order to learn how to read, students loose the important lesson of why to read; for the pure joy and the inherent pleasure. The unfortunate result of focusing on the “how” is that it produces “students who can read but have no desire to do so” (Cunningham and Moore, p. 155). For these students, reading becomes more like work than pleasure. Such results necessitate the following question: How do we encourage our students to learn to read without “getting considerably worried and scratched by every letter”? In other words, how do we foster a love of reading in our students while we teach them how to read? The answer is simpler than we might think; we focus on creating positive experiences with books and positive feelings towards reading. With this in mind, the purpose of this paper is to explain why learning to love books and to enjoy reading is so important. In the process, we will also explore several different ways we can use children’s literature to foster this love in all of our students."
Shanie
My thesis to my paper was:
ReplyDeleteIn order to slow down this increasing trend, a careful examination of what causes reading problems, the effects of poor reading skills, and strategies to improve reading will be looked at.
My paper title was Teaching Literacy in Aboriginal Settings: Questions and Considerations. Here I examined how supporting language and literacy development of Aboriginal children requires approaches that reflect cultural values, beliefs, and experiences of Aboriginal families. Also, educators need to be aware and educate themselves to the variety of interactional and participation frameworks of Aboriginal children whose norms may not match situations or expectations in preschool or school. A brief look at the Aboriginal Head Start Program and a speech and language theme box for parents and early childhood educators, called ‘Moe the Mouse’ was also discussed.
ReplyDeleteI found the chapter on assessment both interesting and relevant. As a new teacher, assessment seems to the one of the most difficult pieces for me to wrap my head around. Getting into the habit of observing students everyday and finding useful ways of recording this information on a regular basis is something that I have to keep at the forefront of my mind. Something that I had not thought about in any detail was including students’ attitudes and interests in assessment. Our readings throughout this course have really emphasized the importance of developing a love for reading. Why shouldn’t that be included when a teacher goes to assess their students’ reading capabilities? I thought the idea of having children bring the “three best books they read all summer” an interesting tool for assessment. Especially useful would be knowing right away the students who don’t bring in any books or who don’t really have anything to say about them. This seems to be a simple indicator at the beginning of a school year where students are at in terms of reading and their reading habits.
My paper title was: "Reading Comprehension and Language Acquisition for ESL Students."
ReplyDeleteMy paper thesis was: "... in order to extract the best possible strategies to enhance English language learning for students from minority language backgrounds, we must contemplate what is lacking from reading instruction geared at ESL learners today, along with the attributes and shortcomings of focussing teaching predominantly on oral language, and what kinds of reading comprehension techniques can be used to compliment oral language development."
The title of my paper was: In Retrospect: “Analysing the Assumptions of Retrospective Miscue Analysis”.
ReplyDeleteMy thesis statement is, basically, “While RMA offers some apparent strengths in that it enables children to challenge commonly-held assumptions about reading, celebrate their miscues as evidence of strength, and gain confidence as readers, there are also some inherent weaknesses in the method.”
Although I started this paper with a lot of enthusiasm for RMA as an alternative way to teach readers, especially struggling older readers, I discovered that “flawed research, a skewed emphasis on certain types of miscues and strategies, and lack of clear empirical evidence on reading level gains” made me question its usefulness or even the advisability of using it as a central method. While the approach has potential, I think teachers need to be well informed about the teaching strategies they use, and balanced in their choice of reading methods.
My Thesis is on how read aloud can be used along with explicit instruction on comprehension to improve student comprehension.
ReplyDeleteI found that read aloud is a great modeling tool for teachers to model comprehension strategies with students. Showing students the way we think reduce confusion. Although not mentioned in my paper, I was watchign Spongbob Squarepants the week after the paper is due and SpongBob is required to write a 800 word essay on what not to do at a traffic red light. One of the quotes he said was: "Come on pencil, do your writing!" In a sense, he treated himself as a passive learner and the pencil should have the active role to write the words down. In a way, won't kids feel this way too if they have not been taught how to think when reading?
My thesis is on how use graphic novels to engage reluctant readers.
ReplyDeleteMy paper is about how the use of graphic novels can engage students in a way that traditional text novels cannot. I also discussed how there are quality graphic novels out there that cover a wide range of subjects and topics and how they can be the hook to specific topics or something to attract students to read text novels that are related to the graphic novels.
Paper: Comprehension
ReplyDeleteThesis: As many educators have observed, for some students there appears to be a gap between the mechanics of reading (i.e. word recognition, vocabulary, fluency) and the ability to comprehend text (understanding language, inferring meaning, recalling details and events, etc.). As the primary purpose of reading is to gain meaning from text, it is of paramount concern when students appear to be lagging in their development of this critical skill. This paper will attempt to describe the key components necessary for comprehension of text and some strategies that can help foster and strengthen comprehension.
The title of my essay is "Motivational Strategies for Struggling Readers in Elementary School"
ReplyDeleteMy thesis is "teachers need to be able to recognize those students that are struggling with reading and be able to implement strategies and activities in order to engage them in reading. Teachers must also be able to create an atmosphere for students to promote and encourage reading in a safe environment.
My paper was on the importance of reading aloud to intermediate and high school students. My focus was on the benefits of both novels as well as picture books. I was inspired to write my paper by some of the discussions that we had in class. I had never thought of using picture books in high school, and so I decided to research it. I was actually really surprised by the amount of literature available which promotes reading picture books to high school students. In my paper I wrote about how books can be incorporated into all subjects. One of the most interesting things that I discovered while researching my paper was the benefits of using picture books and novels in mathematics. For example, reading bibliographies of famous mathematicians can help student put meaning behind abstract math concepts.
ReplyDelete