• Increase students’ access to informational text.
• Increase the time students spend working with informational text in instructional activities.
• Explicitly teach comprehension strategies.
• Create opportunities for students to use informational text for authentic purposes.

Article Review #2

Reading Rockets - How Spelling Supports Reading by Louisa Moats (2006)

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/8845?theme=print

The article explains how learning to spell and learning to read rely on similar key knowledge.  Poor spellers are unlikely to be fluent readers.  Poor spelling skills may also translate to poor writng .  Poor spellers may stick to only words they know or expend so much time and effort trying to spell the words they want to use that they lose track of what they want to say. 

And spell check is not the answer!  Writers must be able to spell fairly well for spell check to even begin to be a helpful tool.  The article states that spell checkers "catch just 30 to 80 percent of misspellings overall(partly because they misserrors like here vs. hear), and that spell checkers identified the target word from students with learning disabilities only 53 percent of the time."  The article doesn't state the grade level of these students. I hear, "...but  I used spell check!" all the time.  Working in middle school I can honestly say that there is little emphasis placed on spelling.  Most teachers grade on content and deduct minimal points for spelling errors, if they deduct anything at all. I agree with the author of this article that even in the upper grades spelling skills can be embedded in word study activities with vocabulary, root words, prefixes, suffixes, etc.  Most of the modern english language is based on Old English or Anglo-Saxon.  The five principles of English spelling outlined in the article do make sense and would be of use to teachers.  I like that the article includes strategies for use through the seventh grade.  Just pointing out to a struggling speller that "The spelling of a given sound can vary according to its position within a word" is a good strategy.  Show the student some ou sounds and where they are in words such as out, ouch, couch and then show them the owblend in cow...there are other variations of that sound... the stategies are valuable.  The article also recommends 15-20 minutes daily or 30 minutes 3 times a week be spent on spelling.  With the current emphasis on improving reading and math scores it may be difficult to allocate that much time for spelling unless it is embedded in the reading or social studies content.

So, solid spelling skills can undoubtedly enhance reading and writing skills.  It sounds like a no-brainer. It makes sense, so why isn't more time devoted to spelling?  If state and federal assessment tests suddenly added a spelling section one could bet that there would be a renewed interest in teaching spelling at all grade levels.

STUDENT SIX

Observation #1

Observation of a preschool class consisting of 3-4 year olds.

The theme for the week was beautiful colors in nature. The teacher started off the day talking to the children about their favorite color. Later in the day, she read them a book about the different colors in nature. After reading the book, she instructed them to think about where they will see their favorite color in nature and write and/or draw about it in their journals.

My Observations:

1. The children went to the tables where their journals were and opened them to a fresh page.

I could tell that this had become a routine activity for them and they knew what to do.

2. The colors of markers on the table were limited. Blue, Red, Yellow, Brown, Green. Many of the girls said that their favorite color was pink or purple.

They were initially looking for different colors but most of them seemed flexible to use the ones that were there. I did feel that the focus was lost for a few of them when they didn’t have the right colors.

3. Some of the children scribbled an others made dots all over the page.

I noticed that a few children were making random letters (prealphabetic writing). The majority of the class appeared to be in the wordlike scribbling phase. There were 2 girls who just made dots all over the page. One of the girls making dots is the youngest child in the class. My thought was that she either didn’t understand the assignment or didn’t have the concept of putting words into print (concepts of print).

4. Some of the children drew pictures that were unrelated to nature.

That was ok. They were still asked to explain what they drew and were able to do so.

5. When asked about their drawings, the ones who drew pictures knew exactly what they drew. Some added prealphabetic writing or word-like scribbles on the page and some did not.

The ones who drew dots and messy scribbles without a picture didn’t have much to say about their drawings.

6. All of the children stayed in their seats working for a reasonable amount of time.

They are clearing learning the basics of how to act in a classroom setting.

6. When asked about their drawings, the ones who drew pictures knew exactly what it was. Some used wordlike scribbling to explain it on their page.

7. The ones who drew dots and messy scribbles didn’t have much to say about their drawings.

Article Review #1

Fluency Instruction

www.nifi.gov/partnershipforreading/publications/reading_first1fluency.html

I read the article Fluency Instruction, which is part of the publication titled Put Reading First, The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read. Fluency is the ability to read quickly and efficiently while at the same time comprehending what is being read. Fluency allows the reader to recognize words automatically. It allows the reader to concentrate on the subject matter instead of trying to decode words. According to this article, the key to developing fluency in reading is to practice reading as much as possible. A big difference between good readers and poor readers is the amount of time they spend reading. Children should be encouraged to read as much as possible both in school and at home.

There are two major approaches to teaching fluency; repeated, monitored oral reading and independent silent reading. According to the article, “students who read and reread passages orally as they receive guidance and/or feedback become better readers”. Repeated oral reading improves fluency, speed, accuracy, word recognition, and comprehension. The best procedure for practicing oral reading is for an adult read the passage first to model fluent reading. Next the child will read the passage out loud a number of times until a certain level of fluency is reached. Typically reading it 4 times is enough for most students. The repeated readings are not necessarily done all in the same day. There are several methods that can be used to practice repeated oral reading so as to provide a variety of practice. A few methods include student-adult reading, choral reading, tape-assisted reading, partner reading and readers theatre. In monitored oral reading, the reader is provided guidance from an adult. The adult can model fluent reading, provide help and feedback as the child reads and assess the child’s progress throughout. With independent silent reading, the child must take some responsibility for his/her own learning. A struggling reader might decide not to read during silent reading time because he/she finds reading to be too difficult. Other children may pick books that are too difficult for them which will cause frustration with reading.

Children should be exposed to a variety of reading materials and encouraged to read often both to an adult and silently. I feel that monitored oral reading is very important to the development of fluency. It forces the reader to develop automaticity in reading, recognize the meaning of punctuation, begin to read with expression, and aids in comprehension. However, I also feel that silent reading is important. Silent reading allows children additional practice and helps to develop an enjoyment in reading. I have noticed that reading a passage silently first enables a reader to read the same passage out loud more fluently. As we become fluent readers, we do the majority of our reading silently. This should also be a skill that we are teaching children as they begin to read.

Article Review #2

Collaborative Strategic Reading

www.readingrockets.org/article/103

Collaborative Strategic Reading teaches students strategies for enhancing reading comprehension, memory of what is being read and vocabulary while giving them experience working cooperatively in groups. CSR’s 4 strategies are preview, click and clunk, get the gist and wrap up. The teacher models each strategy first and then the children begin to work in small groups when they understand the process. CSR was first designed to be used with expository text. However, it can be expanded to work with narratives as well. The strategies enable students to approach reading in stages and continuously assess their understanding. Textbooks contain a lot of information, which can make comprehension and retention difficult. It’s easy to read a whole page and realize that your mind was thinking about something else during that time. It’s important to be aware of when and where the break down occurs.

The first stage in Collaborative Strategic Reading is preview. During this stage, the student takes a few minutes to look over the headings, bold words, tables, graphs and pictures in the section to be read. While previewing, the reader will make predictions regarding the content of the reading and think about any background knowledge he/she has on the subject. The purpose of previewing the section is to create interest in the subject and motivate the reader to want to read. The second stage is called click and clunk. Click and clunk comes into play during the reading process. Click refers to the subject matter that makes sense. As the student reads, if things make sense and he/she understands it then it ‘clicks’. However, when a difficult or unfamiliar section is encountered, it is a clunk. The clunk is the area where a break down in understanding occurrs. This can be due to complicated concepts or just a hard word. Clicking and clunking teaches students to pay attention to what they are reading and to be aware of where and why a clunk occurred. Students are taught strategies to figure out the clunk on their own. This article gave a few examples such as reread the sentence without the word, reread the sentences before and after the clunk, look for prefixes and suffixes in the word, break the word apart and look for smaller known words. The final step would be to discuss the clunk with a peer or the teacher if help is still needed. Get the gist is the third stage and this is where the reader identifies the main idea of the reading. The student will attempt to communicate the main idea in as few words as possible. Finally, wrap up will occur after the reading has been done. During this final stage, students will reflect on the key ideas of the reading and form questions about the main points. According to this article, students should be taught to ask questions beginning with who, what, when, where, why and how. The goal of wrap up is to reinforce the main points, which should help students to remember what they read.

Once this process is understood, the next step is for the students to break up into small groups and discuss the reading. Each child has an assigned job within the group. The article gives examples of the following job titles: leader, clunk expert, announcer, encourager, reporter and timekeeper. Cue cards can give the students some guidance as to what their job responsibilities are. Over time, students will learn the responsibilities of each job and feel more comfortable acting in each role. Each time groups are formed; the students will have a different job. This experience in each role creates a feeling of equality within the classroom. The final responsibility of the group is to report their findings to the rest of the class. Depending on the assignment, groups could have similar findings or they could each be reporting on a different aspect of the assignment. This strategy has shown positive outcomes in a variety of settings.

I find this strategy to be impressive. Each stage is well thought out and I like the casual names (click and clunk, get the gist). Kids will remember that forever. Textbook reading can be hard to follow. It’s even worse if the subject isn’t interesting. It’s important to have a consistent approach to reading to assure comprehension and retention. Just reading it through once without reflecting on the reading is not enough. I think that cooperative learning groups work well in school. When kids of different abilities are put into groups to work together, it can help to boost the self-esteem of struggling learners. The different jobs make it so that each child’s role is unique and important.

Reference:

Klinger, J. & Vaughan, S. (1998). Retrieved October 20, 2007 from www.readingrockets.org/article/103.

Observation #2

Observation of a multiage first and second grade class.

The teacher was teaching a lesson on writing “small moment stories”. She began by giving examples of what a small moment is. She then modeled the process by telling a story about when she went to the pet store to purchase a fish. She separated the parts of the story into beginning, middle and end. Then she added additional details and asked the children which part of the story they belonged in (beginning, middle or end). She then allowed the kids to add details to her story and determine where they belonged. When the children seemed to have a good grasp on the concept of parts of a story, she asked them to individually write their own small moment stories.

Observations:

1. The teacher conducted the lesson with some explanation, modeling and group discussion.

2. When the students showed understanding of what was being taught, she asked them to demonstrate their understanding by writing their own small moment story.

3. Her directions were to pick a small moment and write about it. The details of the story were to be broken into beginning, middle and end. In order to allow students to focus on the writing aspect of the story, she asked them to make quick picture sketches for each page.

4. Some of the children got right to work writing their stories.

A few of the children started drawing elaborate pictures for their stories first.

3 children just sat and stared at their blank book.

5. The teacher moved around the room checking in with each child. She worked with the students staring at their blank papers first. She helped them to select topics for their writing. I heard her ask them questions about what they liked to do, if they had done anything fun lately, if they had played with any friends, or if they had any pets.

6. She asked those who were drawing elaborate pictures to tell her what was happening in their pictures. Explaining it helped the children to get the words for their writing.

7. When students finished their stories, they were anxious to read them to the teacher. She was very complimentary of all of their writing. She asked probing questions to encourage them to think a little deeper about their small moment. The students added the additional details and edited their stories.

8. Finally, she encouraged those who had finished editing to share their stories with a buddy.

Analysis:

I feel that the teacher did a great job with this lesson. She started with some explanation, then modeled the process and opened it up for group discussion. The students were engaged in the lesson and seemed to walk away with good comprehension of the basic story structure. Many of them were excited to begin their own stories. As the children worked, the teacher moved from student to student. She supplied help, support and encouragement to each student. As I stated before, they were all anxious to share their stories with her when they were complete. The students were enjoying both learning and writing. It was very nice to see!

Observation #3

Observation of a Grade 1 and 2 Guided Reading Group

The group consisted of 3 first graders and 2 second graders. They were reading the book Horrible Harry and the Purple People by Suzy Kline.

Observations:

1. The students had read the previous day with a parent volunteer. The teacher asked them what had happened the day before since she hadn’t been with them to hear it.

2. Each student spoke about something that had happened the previous day. They all showed strong comprehension of what they were reading.

3. The students took turns reading the book out loud. Each child read approximately a half of a page at one time.

4. There was some vocabulary, which was a bit difficult, and the teacher stopped when necessary to discuss the meaning of those words. Some of the words they discussed were nonsense (ex: “everyone needs a little nonsense once in a while) and hogwash (ex: that’s hogwash). The kids thought the words were funny.

5. When a student came across a word he/she couldn’t read in their section, the other students would raise their hand if they knew the word. The teacher would call on a student to help with that word.

6. The students read the book very fluently and they all seemed comfortable reading out loud.

Analysis:

I must say that I was impressed with their ability to read this book. The teacher told me that she picked the book for them because she was sure that they could read it with a little vocabulary help. The proved that they could. The teacher did a good job with the vocabulary by first letting them try to figure out what it meant. She then gave them the meaning and examples. The students seemed to enjoy the book and they did a great job of taking turns and helping each other out. They were very receptive to help from their friends and they were eager to help their friends as well. Another thing I noticed is that the teacher didn’t call on the students to read in the same order. She indicated after that she does this on purpose to force them to stay with the book. That way they don’t think they can take a 5-minute nap after their turn to read is up.

Article Review #3

Article: Writing and Elementary Learners

Author: Sue Leather, Freelance Trainer and Writer

Website: www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/write/elem_write.shtml

In the article Writing and Elementary Learners, Sue Leather stresses the need to motivate young students to write. It’s necessary to make the assignment fun and purposeful in order for kids to want to do it. Many teachers have kids write summaries of something they read. This type of assignment doesn’t seem very purposeful or exciting.

The author asks, “What was the last thing you wrote?” She discusses how adults write a lot of emails or letters to friends. When we do that, we have a purpose and enthusiasm about what we are writing. In order to give kids that enthusiasm, it’s necessary to be a bit creative with writing assignments.

Motivation, challenge and follow-up are three characteristics of a good writing activity. Motivation can be achieved by a fun and engaging context. Having students make a list of things that parents never say would be a fun topic. In terms of challenge, don’t make children write a lot; this will discourage them. Ask students to work in pairs to write a letter to someone regarding something bad that is happening in their town. Put a time limit on the assignment. Find a way for the writing to be responded to. For example, if the students write a letter to a person, try to have the person write back. The article gives an example of writing to the principle about how to improve the school. If the principle writes back to the class, it will help the assignment seem purposeful.

This article has some great ideas for writing assignments. I agree that a lot of the writing that is done in school is monotonous. If children are bored with the assignment, they might feel that they are bored with writing. Writing can be fun if it is taught and experienced in a fun way!

Article Review #4

Article: Revision in the Writing Process

Author: Fran Lehr

Website: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/270

The article Revision in the Writing Process discusses how children view revision. Children view revision in two ways. First they feel that they did something wrong and second they go through and correct spelling, grammar and punctuation. According to Fran Lehr, students need to be taught that revision is rewriting to make the writing better. Revision is not correcting because it’s wrong.

Teachers can help students revise by asking questions. Questions will encourage students to think deeper and add more details. In addition, teachers should ask students about the positive sections of their writing. Get students to think about the most important parts and why they are so significant to the writing. Finally, the author suggests publishing students writing to encourage revision. When writing is going to be displayed, students will feel a sense of pride in a well done piece. It will encourage students to do their best work. Allow ample class time to allow students to revise.

I think it’s important to stress revision during the whole writing process. If students are continuously revising as they write, it won’t seem like such an unpleasant task in the end. The author has some really good points about teaching kids what revision is. If students feel that revision is the result of an error, then they will view revision as a negative process.

Observation #4

Observation of a preschool class

3 and 4 year olds

The current theme is self. The teacher began by reviewing last weeks lesson about how people are the same. She then began to discuss how people are different. She gave examples of differences and stressed how differences make people unique. She invited students to share something that they are really good at. She gave some examples of things that she isn’t very good at and invited the other adults to share as well. Some of the students said that they are not good at reading. She told them that they are learning to read and that some day it is something they will be really good at.

The read aloud was the book I Like Me by Nancy Carlson. It was a cute book and the main character gave examples of what she liked about herself. The character began by saying that she was her own best friend. It was at the appropriate age level and was great at stressing the topic of liking who you are. After reading, the teacher stressed how the main character was happy with who she was. Next, she asked questions such as “who has brown hair and is happy about having brown hair.” All the students raised their hands when the description pertained to them.

This lesson was concluded with the student’s journaling about their favorite thing about themselves. The teacher gave the example “ Neil said that his leg was his favorite thing so he could draw his leg.” All of the students got right to work. It was obvious that they journal daily because they were familiar with what to do. I noticed that most students were drawing the same thing they shared earlier in the class. The teacher and assistant teacher conferenced with each child regarding his or her journal entry. They encouraged the children to write the date on the page and any words they could sound out.

The teacher did a good job with this lesson. I liked the way that she stressed the importance of being happy with the person you are. That’s an extremely important thing and the earlier that is taught, the better. She began by reviewing the lesson from the previous week and then asked students to share things about themselves. She modeled an appropriate way to respond before calling on any students. The story she picked for the read aloud was a great choice and it fit well with the journal assignment. The kids were given clear instructions and quickly started working. The teachers concluded by speaking with each child about their journal. It was a good observation