Chapter 5 - How to best crack the code

I enjoyed reading chapter 5, and I found it full of useful information and resources.  I took the time to check out some of the online resources and found some to be more useful than others.  The gamegoo one will be good for literacy centers.  I also will be copying and using some of information from the figures and information boxes in the chapter.  Specifically the resources for using Elkonian boxes (fig. 5.2, p. 152), the list of 37 rimes (fig. 5.3, p. 159) and the example of a word focus wall on p. 144.  This is turning out to be a useful text with resources and information that I can directly apply to my first grade teaching.

I fully agree with the integrated approach to teaching reading and writing.  The book provides lots of examples of literacy activities for young readers.  The examples are ones that appeal to young learners.  One that I like is using word sorts to teach spelling (p. 173).  These sorts are provided in Words Their Way, a text I used for another class.  It is also on this course's list of recommended reading.  Once I have finished all of my beginning reading assessments, I am looking forward to using these word and picture sorts with my students during guided reading time.

As I was searching the JHU education library database, I came across an interesting article in The American Prospect by Lisa Guernsey that addressed the debate over direct instruction versus child-directed instruction. Here's the link:

http://proquest.umi.com.proxy1.library.jhu.edu/pqdweb?did=2066286781&Fmt=3&clientId=5241&RQT=309&VName=PQD

 

This article talks about the current practice in some low performing, inner city schools of using more teacher-directed instruction to teach phonemic awareness.  The author of the article suggests that some of these direct instruction programs take away from children learning in more self-directed ways.  Vygotsky's social learning theory is mentioned when the author talks about letting children play make believe.  Studies have suggested that children who get opportunities to play in this manner are more successful when it comes to reading because: 

 

"make-believe play may foster other foundational skills, too, like symbolic understanding. By pretending to punch numbers on a cash register, for example, a child is symbolizing what a cashier does. This ability to comprehend and manipulate symbols is a skill that should serve her well, since letters symbolize sounds, and words symbolize objects or actions or ideas. Several recent books Children's Play: The Roots of Reading; Play=Learning·, and A Mandate for Playful Learning in Preschool- make that case."

 

I love the idea of allowing children to "play" at learning.  In teaching reading, the text gives numerous ideas for songs, and word "games" that students can "play" to enhance phonemic awareness, phonics and spelling.  The Guernsey article reinforces my belief that learning should be fun, and that students can learn a lot from each other.  I see my role in the classroom as the teacher that provides varied literacy activities that my students find engaging and enjoyable.  If I can make learning like play, then my students get to see learning as fun, and I get to see them enhance their skills to crack the alphabetic code. 

 

Sources:

 

Bear, D.R., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., Johnson, F. (2004).  Words their way:  Word study for    

     phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction.  Columbus, OH: Pearson.

 

Tompkins, G.E. (2010).  Literacy for the 21st century:  A balanced approach (5th ed.).  Boston, MA:

     Pearson.

 

 

 

Blog posting for Ch. 3 & 4 - teaching to a wide variety of students

I enjoyed reading the "spotlight on . . . " sections of chapter four.  I was impressed by Ms. McCloskey and how she provides reading and writing activities for all of her first grade students.  From the text, it seems she has a wide range of learners in her classroom, including many English Language Learners (ELLs).

In my first grade classroom I have six students out of 21 in my reading class who are ELLs.  They are classified as Level 2 ESOL students in Montgomery County.  They vary in ethnicity.  Two are Latino; two are Vietnamese; one is Brazilian and one is Asian Pacific.  They have all progressed well since kindergarten, but I am dealing with their varying learning needs and the needs of my reading class as a whole.  I have four other students who speak another language at home, but are not classified as ESOL students.  It is a challenge to provide my students with activities that they can complete independently during literacy center time, so that I can meet with small groups during guided reading.  Starting writer's workshop time has been frustrating for me because of the varying levels in my class.  I like the strategy mentioned on p. 121 with the student named Caroline.  Ms. McCloskey gave her a ring for cards.  Caroline chooses new words to add to her ring, and Ms. McCloskey writes them on the cards.  Then, Caroline can use the ring any time for her reading and writing.  I thought about one of my students as I read this; I want to start using a card ring with him immediately!

After doing some searching with the JHU education library online, I found an interesting article about helping ELLs become better readers by using a "narrow reading" approach.  This approach focuses on a single subject or author and uses easy to understand texts to enrich but not overwhelm ELLs. http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/jumpstart.jhtml?recid=0bc05f7a67b1790eb09556d0224b245f4c0f8887f432db2cd7b897caa8d57161346a8bddb6595daa&fmt=H
Hadaway, N. L. A Narrow Bridge to Academic Reading [Part of a special issue entitled Supporting English language learners]. Educational Leadership v. 66 no. 7 (April 2009) p. 38-41

This article offers alot of ideas for instruction.  It stresses how academic vocabulary can be frustrating for ELLs.  I found this particularly interesting because I always hear about how ELLs born in the U.S. know "slang English" but have difficulty understanding the academic language teachers use at school (i.e. alliteration, inquiry, data, analyze, traits).  For this reason, I've always been led to believe that it's important to always use academic vocabulary with ELLs - to expose them and have them "learn" the terms.  Perhaps I need to be careful not to overwhelm my ELLs with too much academic vocabulary.

Sources:

Tompkins, Gail (2010).  Literacy for the 21st Century A Balanced Approach.  Boston, MA:
     Allyn & Bacon.

Blog posting for Ch. 1 & 2 - Is learning automatic?

I found this first posting to be intimidating.  Please accept my apologies now for the rambling!  I have been thinking all week about what to post.  Chapter one was more interesting to me than chapter two.  I think child development and the psychology of it is very interesting.  I like to learn about how kids learn.  I'm such a teacher geek!

Anyway, a conversation I had with a colleague this week stuck with me, and I thought it might be appropriate to blog about.  My colleague is beginning her adventure as a full-time first grade teacher after teaching reading exclusively for many years.  She and I were commiserating over how overwhelming our jobs can be, and she mentioned something a veteran teacher friend had said to her.  It was something along the lines of, "well, children this age are going to learn no matter what, so don't worry so much about how you teach . . . "

I walked away and really started thinking . . .  The JHU program has always stressed child development, and how important it is to understand educational psychology in order to teach effectively.  The text in chapter one mentions the current development theories in terms of what effective teachers do.  I really relate to the scaffolding idea on p. 21.  I'm constantly doing that right now with my first graders.  From the text Educational Psychology (Woolfolk, 2010), I read about Vygotsky's sociocultural theory with interest.  Now I'm more aware of my students' proximal zone of development, and try to push them to it in my classroom.  In fact, I've always felt responsible for my students learning and accomplishments.  It can be overwhelming, but I look at it as an incredible opportunity to impact on the lives of my students.  So, I was surprised by the comment from my colleague's friend.

I went searching on the JHU database for some articles on child development and reading.  I could have spent hours reading abstracts and journal articles.  I found a few interesting things on development.  One article talked about Marie Clay and the development of her Reading Recovery Program that is now used in Montgomery County Public Schools to help economically disadvantaged, low-performing students (Clark, 1992).  The article confirmed what I have learned - that children will learn, but that some children use counterproductive ways to learn.  In the case of learning to read, some children acquire ineffective strategies for learning letter sounds and decoding words.  Marie Clay believes in eary intervention with these students to replace their counterproductive strategies with successful ones.  So, ultimately, the teacher is integral in helping students learn to read and write.

 For some teachers, it may be easy to become complacent when teaching children - treating them all the same, using only the teachinig strategies that we, the teachers want to use - I hope I'll always have the desire to use the strategies that work best for my particular students.  They are like "sponges" and I want to make sure they sponge-up the best ways for them to learn to read and write.

Sources

     Clark, Margaret M. "Sensitive observation and the development of literacy." Educational Psychology 12.3/4 (1992): 215. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 10 Sept. 2010.

     Tompkins, Gail E.(2010).  Literacy for the 21st Century A Balanced Approach (5th ed.). Boston, MA:Allyn & Bacon.

     Woolfolk, Anita (2010).  Educational Psychology (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:Pearson Education.

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