Week 4: Chapter 5

This week's readings discussed strategies and activities to help students with spelling and reading. Chapter 5 of the textbook focused on phonics and spelling patterns.  I liked that it provided interactive and fun ways to practice spelling and reading.

One example is Guess the Covered Word.  I think that this activity is a great idea because it breaks down the steps of reading a new word and uses context clues to help.  This game also uses the idea of seeing reading as finding meaning. First, students first guess any word that might make sense in the sentence. Then the see the first letters until the vowel and alter that list of words before finding the correct answer.  This game is also nice because it can be adjusted to build off of earlier lessons- incorporating sentences and paragraphs, as well as digraphs. I really like this activity because it steps away from the boring 'sounding out' of words, and teaches smart strategies and thought processes that 'good readers' use. I also liked trying to figure out the examples of Guess the Covered Word in the book!

For similar reasons, I thought the Using Words You Know activity was a fun idea. This builds upon words that readers are already confident about, and helps them learn the task of finding similarities between known and unknown words. I also think that kids will enjoy the game because it uses rhyme and allows the students to write on the board. This activity sets up the skill to use spelling patterns to help learn new words.

               

1. What are some of the possible challenges in an activity like Guess the Covered Word?

2. What are some ways to take the Using Words You Know activity to the next level?

Week 3: valued readers and writers

I enjoyed this weeks readings because they put reading and writing in a whole new context.  In the article about supporting phonemic awareness, Yopp and Yopp explain what phonemes are and how they help young children to read and write, and many fun activities and games to get kids interested.

The article I liked most was "Letting Go of the 'Letter of the Week'". A main part of this is making the students feel confident by letting them know that they are already valued readers and writers.  I think that this is a great idea. Learning these skills can be a daunting task for young children, but by instilling confidence, the task is made easier. Kids are better readers than they are aware- recognizing food labels and media sources. Another idea I really liked in the article by Bell and Jarvis was that reading is about making sense.  One example in the article was making an alphabet using pictures of classmates and environmental print. This had real life value to the students, and they could place meaning with each letter, and transfer that into reading other words.

I have seen these ideas in action with the girls I babysit.  They may not know how to read officially, but they are readers.  They can name every movie in their collection (they have a million- it's impressive) and know which microwave button to push to make popcorn.

They also know how to write, maybe not in a way that you and I can understand, but in a way that means something to them. One of the girls just turned four today.  She is all about writing letters.  She'll draw a scribble and say- "what letter is this?", sometimes I'll take a guess, but other times I'll ask her. It might not always be right but she is having fun and is practicing.  She is also starting to recognize letters. Her name is Sarah so whenever she sees a word that starts with 'S' she says "this says Sarah!". Last week she asked me to write out her family members' names, then she got a crayon and traced over them. I praised her like crazy and she seemed pretty happy.  Next however, she got another sheet of paper and put long swirls all over it- telling me she wrote her family's names on her own. This time she was beaming.  It wasn't necessarily that she was writing properly, she was just happy to be writing something that was important to her.

1. What are some other ways to empower kids to feel like valued readers/writers?
2. Did you ever feel defeated or put down when learning to read or write like the authors of the 'Letting Go' article? How did that affect your later learning?

Week 2: Chapter 3 and the Jones family

Both Chapter 3 of the textbook and the article about the Jones family emphasize the importance of early literacy development.  They also both showed the different places from which children can draw their literacy foundations.

In the article about the Jones family, the women explain all aspects of their lives that include literacy- which is almost all of them. Some are obvious examples like reading the newspaper, magazines, the bible, and letters. Others were less obvious, like practicing oral literacy through prayer.  Lessons and examples of literacy can be applied and used in practically all situations of life.  These real-life examples help give a child a head start in the world of reading and writing.

Chapter 3 of the textbook discusses building a foundation for literacy.  Early on the authors discuss why we read and write.  I think this is an important concept to consider when teaching children.  Why would they learn if they can't use the skill?  I also appreciate all of the activities, and ideas geared towards developing children into readers. One of my favorite suggestions was providing a print rich classroom.  In addition to reading materials like books and magazines, it is helpful to label, put up charts and bulletin boards, and basically fill the room with words.  This keeps kids reading and shows the importance of reading- showing the real-life application of the skill. I also like the idea of allowing new readers and writers to practice writing on/with various different materials.  Maybe whiteboards, chalkboards, using paints, finger painting, using post-it notes, or even making letters out of noodles, or goldfish.

What area of your young life included the most literacy?
What are some out of the box ways in include literacy in a kid's day?

Week 1: classrooms that work

     After reading the article "What I've learned about effective reading instruction" and the first two chapters of Classrooms That Work I feel excited about the challenge ahead of me.  The textbook and the article cover many of the same points and ideas.  What I found to be the bottom line is that to have a class of successful students, reading and writing need to be emphasized in every area of learning.
     Aspects I found interesting were things that went against the typical routine/norm of elementary education.  The readings sort of stripped away the excess unproductive parts of instruction and got to the core of learning.
     I especially liked the idea of making the classroom more conversational.  Kids love to talk and tell you what they know/think.  Kids don't love 100s of worksheets a week.  This type of learning allows students to practice reading comprehension in a more real-life way.
     I also really liked the concept of grading proposed in the article.  It explains how effective teachers determined grades by effort and improvement, not achievement and assessment.  I think that this is a great idea because in addition to learning subjects and facts, elementary school is largely about learning how to be a student.  This type of grading allows students of all levels to be achievers, setting up a fair playing ground for each child.
   

Questions:
1. How can teachers overcome administrative guidelines to 'go against the organizational grain'?
2. What are the pros and cons of grading by improvement and effort rather than achievement and assessment?