October 28th Blog Post

I learned a lot from this weeks readings on comprehension. Pardo stated that every teacher should

know that comprehension is a transaction between the reader and the text and from this transaction meaning emerges. I could not agree more. If a student is not understanding what the text is saying, then they are unable to form meaning. As a teacher you must make sure that your students are really grasping and understanding what they are reading, and what they text is trying to say to them. In my opinion, reading is much more enjoyable if you are able to comprehend what you are reading and if you are able to make sense of the text. That way you will be able to relate to what you are reading, which makes the act of reading more fun!

As a teacher you have to allow students to ask questions about the text that they are reading, especially if it is new material for me. You should encourage your students to make connections to the text, to visualize, to make inferences about characters, to wonder, and to recognize text features. I know when I was in school my teachers always encouraged questions and always made me focus on the things listed above. When you give students the task of visualizing or making connections it is much easier for them to comprehend the text that they are reading. In what ways did your teachers teach you reading comprehension? What are some activities that were implemented in your classroom to help you better understand what you were reading?

Below is the link to a cute video on reading comprehension that I found on YouTube. It is from the students point of view, so I think it would be great to show to my students in my classroom. They come up with a catchy song that they sing to help them remember what questions to ask when trying to understand the text a little better. Take a look!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5Xw9yoYCRY

October 21st Blog Post

Reading fluency is something that many people tend to have their own definition for. There are three

important dimensions of reading fluency. These include: accuracy in reading, automatic processing, and prosodic reading. These three dimensions require students to be able to sound it out, use little mental effort, and put the text into syntactically and semantically appropriate units. Teachers can access their students reading fluency through many different ways. One of these ways for example, would be to calculate the percentage of words the student can accurately decode on grade level material. A way that teachers can calculate the students reading rate is by having them read on material for their particular grade level for 60 seconds.

 

Assisted reading and repeated reading are two ways which help improve reading fluency. If you use these two activities along with coaching in the classroom, you will see great results in students fluency levels. Some teachers and parents tend to make the mistake of confusing being fluent with being fast. A student might be able to read quickly, but might have no comprehensions of what they have just read.

What are some ways in which you will be sure to promote reading fluency in your classroom?

I found this really cute YouTube video where the teacher implements "Readers Theatre" to help encourage and prove to his 2nd graders that reading is fun! I know at a young age when my teachers offered a chance to read aloud in a fun, interacting with the class kind of way, I was all about it. It really made me want to read and want to keep reading at home so that I could improve and impress my classmates and teachers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L5q0Y8hukU

October 7th Blog Post

Making words is a fun way to help young students with decoding, spelling phonetically, and

phonemic awareness. It has been found that there is a relationship between spelling ability and the ability to identify words in a reading, which is why "Making Words" is such a helpful method of teaching. Not only is this a simple activity, but it is also rather short and it is recommended that it be done for no longer than fifteen minutes. Children will make between 12 and 15 words and will begin with two words until they gradually advance to larger words. An example is the word spider. By using a "pocket chart" with the letters: e, p, i, s, d, r are presented to each child. The teacher may start out with the word "Ed" then go to "Red". Many students would then change the uppercase E to lowercase and the teacher can ask them why they did that.

Making words is something that I wish my teachers would have focused on more when I was in elementary school. Yes, my teachers spent time teaching us spelling words and things of that sort; but we never spent much time with "pocket charts" in the class. I think that it would have been so beneficial to me, and I think it will definitely benefit the students in my future classroom.

Did your teachers focus a lot on word making when you were younger?
Do you think you will use making words in your classroom?

I stumbled upon this blog while browsing Pinterest over the weekend. It is written by a first grade teacher, DeAnne and she posts some great things about teaching her class and dealing with certain aspects of the classroom as well as the curriculum. She also posts tons of free class handouts! I highly encourage you to go take a look!
http://firstgradeandfabulous.blogspot.com/2013/07/patience-faith-trust.html

September 30th Blog Post

Thinking back to my early years in pre-school and elementary school, I can remember my parents

and teachers reminding me to "sound it out". In this article it states that one of the main ways children learn how to read and develop their reading system is through powerful interactions with their teachers. A way that many successful teachers teach their students to read is through "coaching". Coaching word recognition is when a teacher creates cues to prompt the reader to think on the edge of their knowledge while they attempt to familiarize themselves with unfamiliar words.

In the case study that was conducted, it said that teachers can give students two types of cues: general and focused. General cues prompt thought while focused cues prompt the child to a specific action. I really like the support the students are given through the cues because I feel like the saying :sounds it out" can cause great anxiety for some students. I though it was great when the teacher asked students to use the pictures to help them touch certain letters and say aloud the sounds. One suggestion that I enjoyed was involving other children. For example, while a child may be trying to sound out a work they are unfamiliar with, the teacher can ask the class as a whole what they think that the word may be.

What helped you as a young child trying to learn words that were unfamiliar to you?
How do you plan to use "coaching" in your future classroom?

The link below is to an awesome site that I found on Pinterest. It is entitled "Raising a Reader" and it gives some wonderful examples on how to help children learn to read, and how to help children love to read. I encourage you all to go take a look!
http://www.motherhoodonadime.com/kids/raising-a-reader-seven-tips-to-help-your-child-learn-to-read/

September 23rd Post

This reading has been my favorite thus far. It was so helpful and it introduced me to new, fun ways towant to read and they would want to write if teachers provide strong development of children's literacy in an exciting, attention grabbing way.

encourage young children as writers as well as writers. If schools nationwide took these tactics into consideration, I believe that young students' reading and writing development would look much different, in a better way, than it does today. Students would

I enjoyed reading about the different strategies explaining how to boost children's confidence and curiosity with reading. It was so fascinating how much it helped students to learn to read when they were taught to reference back to the words that they are already familiar with. The idea of putting students' pictures and name by the corresponding letters of the alphabet was FABULOUS! I will definitely be using this idea in my future classroom.

Below is a cute YouTube video. It is fun, upbeat, reading rap for young children. I think it would be a great idea to play it for your class before you go into a lesson about the alphabet or before a reading activity. After they watch it they will be ready and motivated to learn. Go take a look!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi-nn1uVN1Y

September 16th Blog Post

The way in which your literacy foundation is created can predict so much about your future in

literacy. Through these two readings I was fascinated with what all creates your literacy foundation. In the "Jones Family Culture of Literacy", it was really neat how they incorporated literacy in all that they did. From financial aspects to religious aspects, the most important role of literacy in each of there was cherished and made aware to each family member. When reading this article I began to think of students that I someday may have in my classroom that would not be so fortunate to have this strong literacy foundation from home. I hope that I can help each student form a strong passion for literacy even if they are not being taught the importance of it at home. In what ways did you home environment influence you literacy foundation?

The link posted below is an awesome site that I found while browsing Pinterest. It is entitled "How to Create a Reader" and it has a lost of helpful things that can help children become better readers. These ideas are so fun. There are some things on here that I have never thought of...but they are seriously some of the BEST ideas! I highly encourage you all to take a look at it.

http://itsallkidsplay.ca/how-to-create-a-reader/

September 9th Blog Post

Through this weeks reading I have gained a better understanding of what is truly important when it comes to reading. When I think back to my elementary school days, I can remember sitting on my own colored "carpet square" while my teacher read aloud to the class. Studies mentioned in this weeks reading pointed out some interesting (and definitely helpful for future reference) things that make a classroom successful. The recurring action of teachers reading aloud to their students was seen in each effective classroom. The teacher's reading had a large affect of the students. I can remember the way my teachers used to read to me and the way that they talked and held the book so that we could see the pictures. They knew how to be effective with their reading just as these teachers from the reading. You have to know how to spark the children's interests and how to keep them engaged while you are reading, which can sometimes be tough especially if you are working with younger students. Various forms of literature are necessary if these effective, successful classrooms. Whether that be newspaper articles, magazines, picture books, chapter books, or series...the variety helps to keep students interested and engaged. They are getting to see an assortment of literature, therefore they are not getting bored. The question I want to end with this week is how do you assure that each of you students is benefiting from taking time to read aloud to your class? Every student doesn't listen the same, or get involved to the same extent, so I just wonder how to make sure that each and every one of the students are getting something out of this certain activity.

Below is a video that I found very interesting. I enjoy how this teacher is letting the students interact with one another using "thinking partners" so that everyone is engaged and so that everyone is on the same page with the particular book that she is reading to them. I highly suggest you watch this. It is very helpful, and great for future reference. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYoeVkf3s7E&list=PL8D0AACAAD5AFF839