Assessment

Chapter 11 of Classrooms that Work immediately reminded me of work that I am doing in my Special Education class.  In that class we are learning about how to adapt our curriculum for any level of learner whether it be above or below average abilities.  I found it very interesting to read about several reading specific strategies.  I think it is highly beneficial for budding readers to read with a partner whether it be someone that is on their level or not.  When you have someone to bounce ideas off a process that seems daunting can be very helpful.

I think it would also be helpful to have some sort of self-monitoring system in place, similar to asking your buddy to "say something" when you are done reading a page.

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• What are some other ideas to increase self-assessment in our students?

Real-Life Reading Inquiry

For my real-life reading inquiry project I decided to observe a reading lesson at a local elementary school.  I chose to observe a fifth grade classroom, which just so happened to have the best reading scores in the entire school.  The class was doing a book club activity like we have done in class, except that the readings were assigned and they did not get to choose.  Despite the fact that the students were not given a choice of book that they were reading, they were given many other options by the instructor. During their allotted reading time the students were allowed to choose where they wanted to read in the room, and often they were allowed to read with a friend if they were capable of working well together.  This seemed to give the classroom as a whole a sense of ease as the students read.  This reminded me of some of the first readings that we read in Classrooms that Work.  The instructor gave them a choice which allowed them to be happier, healthier readers.

During the reading time the instructor was pulling small groups according to the book that they were reading to the back of the room for their book club meeting.  The students gave the instructor a summary of what they read.  After the book had been discussed the instructor handed out a mixture of cards with main ideas and details from the chapter.  The students had to put the details around the main idea cards with nonverbal communication.  It was interesting to see how they were able to communicate without using words.  This activity reminded me of the different cards that we used in class to demonstrate onset and rime.  While this activity was obviously geared towards the fifth graders abilities it was great at increasing their awareness with the literature.  After this activity he gave them a worksheet to do with a partner that was a bubble diagram where they could complete one main idea and four details about either of the first two chapters that they read that week.

Some of the other things that the instructor in the class that I was observing did was that he encouraged his students to read at any available opportunity.  I was reminded of the article that stated that we provide our students with a text rich environment, and discussed the importance that our children learn to read for pleasure, as well as school.   The instructor provided a wide range of reading materials and gave out stickers for a small chart, located in the back of the room, that was specifically for these small, easy to read books.  The instructor stated that by giving the kids something at their level and rewarding them for amount of material read, rather than how many points they had accumulated many of the students that were not normally motivated had the ambition to read, and to read an increasingly more difficult level.   There was a computer set up specifically for AR tests.  I noticed two students finish their books and immediately take their tests without having to be reminded to do so.  This instructor encouraged the students to self-monitor themselves, which helps the students to hold responsibility and helps them with their self-confidences about reading.

I really enjoyed my experience overall.  It was really interesting to see the different levels and approaches that we have talked about in class in a real-life scenario.  I could definitely see that when the children had a choice of material and a comfortable environment that they were much more willing to read, and not only that they wanted to read.  I do not think that many of these techniques would apply to a younger audience, but for this class they seemed to work wonderfully. 

Guided Reading

In the article that I found over guided reading I found a very interesting argument that said that showed teacher modeling as method of increasing reading comprehension.  This put less pressure on both the student and the teacher which I think is fantastic.  This model also seemed to increase motivation for the student to want to comprehend the material.  This model also allows teachers to share their personal trials and tribulations, which I think is always helpful for students.  I know that when an instructors shows that they have been in my shoes before that it always seemed to motivate me to want to comprehend the material that I was being presented with.

• Do you think this model would be appropriate for all grade levels?

Voluptuous Vocabularies

I have always been a lover of words and I love finding new ways to incorporate newly acquired words into my daily vocabulary.  I really liked how in chapter 6 of Classroom That Work they encouraged picking out three "Goldilocks" words from a book that would be reading aloud to your class.  It would be a great way to keep everyone engaged on the literature and a way to model how to look up words that we do not know in a dictionary.  I would like to include the self-monitoring system where the children hold up a certain number of fingers as related to their own understanding.  I think that if I was reading my class a book it would be great for them to raise their fingers whenever they hear a word that they do not understand.  I realize that this would not be appropriate for every read-aloud as it could be distracting, but I think it would definitely work for some book that present a higher level vocabulary.

I really like this activity for new words that I found on Pinterest!

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In addition, if my class was engaging in a book club activity I would like for them to identify their personal three "Goldilocks" words and compare them with the rest of the class.  I think that this would be a great way for me to gage the whole class' involvement and understanding of the vocabulary being presented in the novel/book.

• Do you remember an specific experiences with vocabulary?
• How appropriate is it for students to copy definitions from a dictionary, and/or how did you feel about having to do it when you were growing up?

Comprehension and Think-Alouds

I immediately connected the readings for this week to a section that I am studying for Educational Psychology.  We were discussing how when a child is learning something that they use their prior knowledge to form a schema about the new stimulus.  It makes perfect sense for educators to also apply this to reading comprehension.  When we read something for the first time as active readers we, or I at least always try to connect it to something in my knowledge bank.  I do not remember if this was something that I was explicitly taught or something that I just started to do.  I really liked the article about how Kindergarten students were learning how to connect to the literature that they were exposed to.  I do not believe that I would have thought to encourage that a such a young age in their reading development.

I believe that comprehending the material is much more than just a few questions at the end of a reading selection.  I know that recent testing has been changed to reflect a more thoughtful response, although I am not sure that more testing is the answer to increasing our student's comprehension in the material.  If a student in unable to connect the material to something that they already know it will become increasingly more difficult for them to comprehend it.  I really liked the different examples of thought map, such as the KWL chart.  I don't remember doing this activity until my Children's Literature class in college, but I believe it would be extremely beneficial to do at all levels, especially as a group activity before beginning a reading assignment.

• Do you think that thought maps and organizers are beneficial to all students for comprehension?
• Can forcing comprehension scare some students away from the joy of reading?

Fluency

When I first thought of fluency I immediately began to connect it to being fluent in a language such as Spanish.  To be fluent in a language it means that you can speak it without hesitation in your communication.  I had not thought of applying it to a child learning how to read.  Fluency is such an important skill that I believe that many educators tend to overlook or mis-define to increase test scores.  I found that both of the readings were very helpful in both defining and giving examples to improve the fluency of my future students.

I found it very interesting that in Classrooms that Work they emphasized rereading books that students enjoy.  This is so common sense, but I would not have thought that immediately.  I know that when I was growing up I had a subscription to American Girl magazine, and I would read them over and over until they fell apart.  I never would have thought that students would want to reread books.  I think part of how our society is now is that we tend to read things and move on.  I am so glad that I was reminded that everyone likes to revisit familiar things.  I also really liked the idea of having older students read to kindergarteners.  This would help both students to expand their love for learning.

I really liked the article about creating fluent readers.  I loved that they emphasized that we should instill in our students a love of the drama that reading has.  If students do not know that reading shows emotion and feeling then they will truly not understand the joy that reading can bring into your life.  I think that using drama and theater would be a great way to show students this in the classroom.  In addition, they would be able to get up and move which is always a positive with little ones.

• Do you think that all students benefit from activities like reader's theater?
• How can you emphasize comprehension over speed?

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Making Words

I was very inspired by the article about "Making Words."  I know that several educators that still accept invented spelling in their assignments.  I think that making the language something that is both tangible and fun for the students will increase their ability to remember the onset and rime of many of the complex words that we have in the English language.  I know it is important to encourage our students to attempt all forms of communication, but accepting a made up spelling will not help them in the long run.  Teaching them patterns will not only help them to read, but help them understand the complex structure of English. 

What are some other activities that we can do with our students to encourage the spelling/decoding connection?

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I was a little puzzled by the article for this week.  It was about coaching reading, but it did not seem that it was coaching meaning.  It seemed to me that it counteracted everything that we talked about last week. I have worked with beginning readers before and I know how important coaching can help a reader's self-confidence.  I am confused however as to how we can coach the reading AND the meaning.  The article did not seem to directly encourage any sort of meaning.

 I really enjoyed all of the activities that Classrooms That Work gave about forming words.  I remember doing a few of these activities growing up, and I think they are a great way to interact with your students.  I have found several such activities on Pinterest that I think would be fun also.

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Reading Building Blocks

Until I had read the first two chapters of Classrooms that Work I had forgotten how much we as active readers take for granted the level of fluency that we have achieved.  As far back as I can remember I was always encouraged to read aloud and independently.  It is important that as future educators and/or parents that we not forget that the process of learning to read is crucial to learning in general. 

I never wanted to read aloud throughout my early years of education.  Even now as I am in college classes I still cringe when a professor asks me to read aloud.  It's not that I don't know how, but it's the fear of messing up in front of my peers.  I imagine that if I didn't know how to read that reading independently would also emphasize this fear.  It is important that we encourage all of our students to read aloud and for comprehension.  I really liked how the book emphasized reading into every activity that you do in your classroom.  Reading is an essential part to daily life and doing so with every activity will help your students understand that it is important, regardless of how often they are exposed to it in their lives at home. 

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For example, as soon as I learned how to read I was eager to read stories to my younger brother like my parents had read to me.  He was encouraged to learn how to read at a young age because I could already do this.  I really liked how the book emphasized having older children read to the beginning readers.  This helps to build confidence in both of the students.

I really liked the idea of having reading journals to documents not only what the students are reading, but also how long they are reading.  This would help me as a teacher to visually see which students need more exposure to reading in school.  It helped to emphasize the point to me that we should not only make a comfortable reading spot in our classrooms, but they we should schedule personal reading time everyday, which is something I did not always have in my school.

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How do we as educators provide a comfortable reading environment and the time away from instruction for reading?

Being a "Read" Model

As I began to read through the article by Bell and Jarvis I was shocked.  I remember having a letter every week and doing different activities related to that letter such as the macaroni projects.  I never thought how detrimental that could be for developing readers. Young readers do not retain the meaning of the symbols that they are reading when they are sounding out letters one at a time.  It makes much more sense for them to use context clues to build upon words that they already know.  I also really liked the example with the journals.  I would like to incorporate a mail system in my classroom so that my students can use it to communicate.

  I remember spending a whole week with this book.

 I was also reminded of my time tutoring a small group of first graders.  They were often very confused by large words when we were reading together.  My initial strategy was to sound the words out with them, but I now realize that they did not retain any meaning for the words that they were reading.  They were very upset when they didn't know a word and when asked to write out their thoughts they did not feel like they knew how.  It is very important to realize that young children's self-esteem is very fragile and they desperately want to be grown up like their parents and siblings.  I think it takes a strong commitment between the parents and the teachers to build and nourish the self-esteem of a developing learner.

How do we as educators stay on the same page with parents about modeling encouraging behavior?

Chapter 3 and Jones Family

I found the readings for this week to be very interesting.  They helped me to better focus on the literacy history paper because I was able to ask myself the questions that were found at the end of the reading for the Jones' family. As I read through how the Jones family used literature it reminded me of how my family utilized writing.  My parents are both very strong believers in writing literally everything down.  My mother has several cookbooks full of recipes that she she has collected and my father has notes in nearly all of his manuals for the different machines and vehicles in our household.  Books were always abundant and available to be read at anyone's leisure.  It made me feel very sad that not everyone grows up with that many opportunities to learn.  I really like the activities that the book, Classrooms That Work, provided.  I remember doing several of those activities in my early grades education.  I was a little confused as to why you were not supposed to correct the students handwriting.  It seems to me that you would want to help the children and allowing them to write in an incorrect forms seems counter-productive. 

What are some activities that you remember doing in your early education that were not mentioned in the book?  Do you feel like they enriched your learning?