Saturday, October 31, 2015

"Oh, Now I Get It!"

It’s important for us as educators to create reading experiences that foster student comprehension. There are many strategies that can be implemented in our classrooms to teach comprehension skills. Peer interaction is helpful in learning comprehension. A child is more likely to learn and remember the content if they are actively engaged and being social. Why do you think this is?

The book touches on the topic of interactive discussions. The discussion questions should enhance student thinking and give them the opportunity to reflect on their own experiences. Scaffolding is key in any aspect of student learning.
Graphic organizers are a great tool to put your thoughts and ideas down on paper. I’ve seen a K-W-L chart utilized a lot in the classrooms I’ve been in. I think they’re ideal for showing the growth and progression of knowledge as a specific topic is explored. I remember using concept maps to generate ideas and build off them in order to help in writing a paper.
Another strategy to check comprehension is retelling a story. It shows how closely the children were listening to the story and if they’re able to recall facts and main ideas from a text. It can be difficult for a child to retell a story, but with practice, the task becomes easier (page 240). One way to help a student retell stories is through props and pre-and post-discussions regarding the story elements. What are other tools you’ve seen in classrooms to aid in comprehension?

Fluency is a path that leads to comprehension (page 245). Fluency is a talent that has little to no emphasis in literacy today. It encompasses a variety of skills, including automaticity (decoding words instantly), prosody (reading with expression) and accuracy (at a steady pace with no errors). Fluency activities in the classroom are typically entertaining, simple and short in time span. These activities should be done daily in the classroom, as it is our goal to be fluent, accurate readers. This can be done through our classroom literacy instruction.
There are many avenues for us as teachers to take when practicing fluency in the classroom. I’ve seen echo reading and choral reading in classrooms. The classroom teacher for my Edel 350 practicum uses echo reading quite a bit. Echo reading involves a teacher modeling correct reading habits, and then the students repeat the tone, expression and pacing the teacher used. Choral reading is more led by the students. They create their own pace and prosody and read the passage or short story how they choose. Which strategy seems more impactful in a students’ fluency learning?
My favorite fluency activity is reader’s theater. I remember doing this a lot throughout elementary school. I played the little gingerbread man in our reader’s theater play, and I was so proud of it! I'm working on creating a reader's theater skit with my two first graders in my Edrd 430 practicum this week. Reader's theater has the class split into groups and practice oral reading a short play (page 246). The parts are given out, and the students are given the opportunity to practice their lines and “rehearse” them. Then, each group can “perform” their reader’s theater script in front of their classmates, or even in front of parents and family. I really like this strategy, as it incorporates practice and fluency, as well as gives the students a sense of responsibility. The children can even write their own skits and perform them. Reader’s theater can be modified in different ways to fit the style of your classroom. Props are highly encouraged for this activity as well.


Fluency and comprehension go hand in hand. As teachers, we should strive to apply these strategies in our classrooms to ensure a positive, engaging and powerful literacy learning experience.

Book Concepts and Comprehension

Children need to have the ability to understand book concepts before they are able to comprehend the actual text of the book. At Apple Tree my student was able to identify many things about the book concepts. She knew where the title was, the front and back covers, and many more. She knew very well where a large majority of the concepts were. After my partner and I showed her where and what the other concepts were, , we began reading to her. The book was Biscuit Visits the Pumpkin Patch and because my student was able to identify most of the concepts, she comprehended well what the story was about.
While reading the chapter I was reminded of many important things. I was reminded that comprehension is the main goal for reading instruction. I also was reminded that this process is active and it involves having the student make connections between what they already know and what they are being taught. If the student is able to infer about what happened, analyze the words in the text, and come to conclusions then he/she has very strong comprehension abilities.
Along with being reminded of some important concepts, I also learned new things that would be very beneficial when teaching concepts about books, especially. One of those things was Big Books. Big Books are exactly what they sound like. According to the text on page 201, it says that Big Books are, "oversized picture storybooks that measure from 14x20 inches up to 24x30 inches. Holiday (1997) suggests that the enlarged print and pictures help get children involved with concepts about books, print, and the meaning of text." What are other methods that you can think of that would be beneficial when teaching book concepts?
One thing in the chapter that I really like and agree with is the "Collaborative Reading" section on page 220. When students participate in collaborative reading they are working with each other and they are interacting with each other. I think this method is great because not only are the students gaining knowledge of different perspectives on the book but they are also learning that not everyone may think the way they do and they may all have different opinions. The author calls these groups "response groups" as well and mentions that, "allow students to exchange ideas, listen to each other, refine ideas, and think critically about issues related to hat they listened to or read." I did something exactly like this in my EDRD204 class. We all read Wonder and then got in groups (lit. circles) to discuss the reading. I really liked discussing the reading with others because I loved hearing about how they interpreted different things and how they felt about certain parts in the story. After we finished the book we talked about how we could do these lit. circles in the classroom and how we could keep the students focused, and so on. I will definitely have my students be a part of lit. circles in my classroom.
Here are some tools that I think would be helpful in the classroom when teaching about comprehension: Reading Comprehension Reading Cube and Guided Reading Games and Activities for Comprehension. Can you think of any other resources that would be beneficial when teaching about comprehension?

Reading is the ability to understand text.

As I read chapter 6, I began thinking about different ways in which a person can understand a book. One of the more important topics I found was comprehension of the text found in books. Reading comprehension is the end goal that all teachers have for their students. Without reading comprehension, students are unable to understand what they are reading. Comprehension allows students to infer, analyze, and draw conclusions about books, this increases the quality and importance of books to children. Fluency is another large part of comprehension. If a child is not a fluent (being able to read at the same pace as spoken language) then they do not fully understand the books they are reading. I have always been a huge fan of books and reading since a young age. At home my parents would model fluent reading every time they read books to me. They would allow me to feel comfortable when practicing and were very patient with me. I think that school is where I struggled to most when still learning. I can remember my teachers using many different techniques when we read. One way was calling on random students to have us read in front of the whole class without practicing the text first. Today at times I am still uncomfortable reading in front of others. A question to think about is, “How can we make our students feel confortable when first learning to read?”. This is an important component because if a child is not at ease, they are not focusing on understanding the text and reading fluently.

            There are many different techniques that teachers can use when working on a students reading comprehension. A teacher can do this formally by using reading lessons. They can do this by picking out a reading, reading with the children, and reviewing the book afterwards. They can also encourage small group readings, partners readings, have teacher instructed read a louds, and repeated reading of the same books. Listening to a child read is a great way to see if the child understands what they are reading. Teachers can also learn a lot about a child from listening to them speak when they are with their friends or talking during class as well. Another question we could ask is, “How do teachers help parents to know how to work with their children at home to help them learn better?” Teachers could give them literacy games, have students take home the books and answer questions with their parents, and they could have the parents give the students timed reading checks that could take up a lot of time to do everyday at school. “How do teachers help the students that are not reading to the best of their ability? (don’t comprehend the readings/aren’t reading fluently). Teachers can pair the students in groups with the stronger readers and they can help them focus on one of the three components that make them fluent readers. I think that it is important to remember that all students need different support and learning styles and have need to adapt our learning to their specific needs as best we can.

Friday, October 30, 2015

Reading Fluency

        In Elementary Education classes we talk a lot about teaching children to read, and because of this I have found myself asking the question, "how did I learn to read?" Just this week I came to the realization that I literally cannot remember how I learned to read. I can recall my parents reading to me, my teachers reading books to me, and even some of my in-class small group readings, but I absolutely cannot remember turning letters into words, and words into sentences. It is almost as if one day I had no idea how to read, and the next day I was a completely fluent reader. However, I think the reason I cannot recall how I went from learning letters and words, to reading full sentences without hesitation, is because fluency is a process. If someone were to ask me what reading fluency is I would say it is about being able to read sentences without hesitation, however it is so much more. On page 245 of our course text, fluency is defined as "a combination of accuracy, automaticity, and prosody when reading." The text book shows fluency is made up of different elements that enact as a path to comprehension. If a child can read accurately, than that means he or she can decode text automatically and accurately, and does not have to dwell on every sound in a word. If a child can read automatically, then that means he or she can read at an appropriate pace and expression. Once a child masters accuracy and automaticity, then he or she has reached the aspect of language;prosody. If a child obtains prosody, then that means he or she can comprehend the text they are reading because they are able to read with appropriate rate and expression.
        Upon first learning about fluency, I had no problem with grasping the meaning of the word. However what stumped me was trying to figure out how someone might actually teach fluency. I originally thought reading fluency was acquired by expanding ones vocabulary and constantly reading things over and over again. Though repetition is a key component of reading fluency, it is not the whole package. On page 245 of our course text there are multiple ways reading fluency can be incorporate into the classroom. These methods include, echo reading, choral reading, paired readings, Reader's Theater, antiphonal reading, tape-assisted reading, and repeated reading. Whether listening to a reading and repeating it back, reading together as one, taking turns reading, reading with a partner, or listening to readings, children are expanding their reading fluency. My favorite method is Reader's Theater because there is so much you can do with it. You can do as little as having your students stand up and read the lines of a story, to as much as reading the story out loud, dressing up, and acting the story out.  This not only helps their reading fluency, but also teaches them to listen and follow along, as well as comprehend what they are hearing. Children vary from one another when it comes to the ways that they learn and comprehend things, but what we do know is that children learn best when they are having fun. Therefore the more engaged children are with their readings, the quicker their fluency will develop. Like I stated above fluency is a process and takes time to develop, so as teachers it is important for us to incorporate reading fluency into our classroom everyday, with every lesson. Simple things such as having students repeat back things we have read or said, can be crucial in a student's reading fluency development. The more they practice, the more they will begin to comprehend and lose all sense of hesitation.
        One question for thought that I have is, Do you think the fluency methods that involve a teacher reading out loud a sentence, then having the students repeat it back, could possibly take away from the students actually paying attention to the words that are in front of them? They might be saying the words/sentences back, but are they recognizing the letters that form the words, or the structure of the sentences? Just because they can say it, does not mean they can necessarily recognize it on paper.

      

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Resources

When I finally realized that I wanted to be a teacher during my senior year of high school, I had no idea what it really took.  Teachers need to know a variety of ways to teach one thing—ONE THING in ONE SUBJECT.  But then after almost four years in college, I realized that I have a plethora of resources at my fingertips, including our textbook.
I constantly stress about my future classroom and if I have enough to teach them and the tools to teach them.  What if I can’t teach my students? What if I don’t have the right resources to reach my students?  I realized while I was reading, just like you will realize, don’t worry about the silly questions.  We buy $100 textbooks for a reason, most of the time, and it’s because they can give us tons of different strategies to teach and not worry.  Just for phonological awareness our textbook gave us a multitude of activities and strategies for us to use.  For explicit instruction of alphabet letters they gave us 29 different was to introduce and practice the alphabet.  For evaluating the mastery of letters, the book gave us 11 different ways.  The book gave us 9 different strategies to figure out words.
On page 145, environmental print is defined as familiar print found in the child’s surroundings.  A wonderful strategy to teach high frequency words into sight words is to create a word wall.  After many discussions in our class, I know each and every one of us will have a word wall in our classrooms.  We know that just making text into environmental print makes a different.
Another wonderful strategy that you can incorporate into your classroom that I have seen several teachers do is using a morning message. A morning message is when you and the whole class will sit in one area every single morning and post printed messages and assignments for the children.  This is a wonderful way to introduce to your children what you are learning that day, be able to answer questions for your students, and can formalize it into a lesson.

These were just a few of the strategies to help in an early childhood classroom that are so easy to incorporate into your classroom.  Don’t be like me and worry constantly! Just use your resources that you have at your fingertips.

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Phonological Awareness

Being in this class, I feel like I am actually understanding what phonological awareness is and everything that is done when you teach it. I always thought that children learned the alphabet in the order it listed in. When I was in kindergarten, my teacher taught the alphabet starting with ‘a’ and ending with ‘z’. From reading the chapters, I realized that it’s more efficient to teach students the letters in groups, and introduce the letters that are more common at the beginning.

Another thing that is discussed in the fifth chapter is the type of environment in the classroom. It should be print-rich, which I always knew what it consisted of. I am noticing it more in classrooms I observe in and substitute teach in, how heavily the print rich environment is stressed. Everything is labeled with a picture, the word in English and sometimes in another language depending on whether there is an ESL student.

When students come into school in kindergarten, I always thought that students would learn the alphabet, then the word families like “-at” and “-am”, then advance on to sight words. The way the chapter goes through the many steps about how to tackle the process of teaching phonological awareness. It’s very interesting to see how many steps and subcategories fall under phonological awareness.


What strategies do you have if a child is struggling with learning the alphabet, or making the sounds for each letter? What would you do if a student simply gets frustrated while learning the letter/sounds?