I think comprehension is one of the most difficult aspects of literature. Some students struggle with comprehension because they cannot read the words to put the information together. While some students struggle with comprehension because they just do not understand what is going on in the text. I had a student in my sixth grade class last year that was reading at grade level, but was at a first grade level when it came to comprehension. According to the Applegate article this student would have been considered a left fielder because she gave answers that are unpredictable and had no connections to the text. I was surprised at how many different types of profiles there were for comprehension. I think it is so important to start comprehension young, which relates to the Gregory and Cahill article. I like the way this article described schema as the stuff you already have in your head, like your personal experiences. My kindergarten class uses their personal experiences to relate to the different books that they read. When my teacher reads a book she asks questions that relates to their lives. I have seen my teacher ask if the students have ever had an experience like the one talked about in the book and then she chooses five or six students to share their experiences. Another strategy that my teacher uses that I find beneficial is asking “I Wonder” questions to get students thinking about the book. My teacher sometimes says I wonder what is going to happen next? She then asks several students what they think is going to happen. I think this is beneficial because the students have to think about what is going to happen so they have to understand what has already happened in the book to have an opinion on what is going to happen next. I think comprehension is very important for students to understand and it is pivotal to start this process young so they can grow in their comprehension as they get older.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Readings for March 21
The article that stood out most to me and that I found the most interesting was the Gregory and Cahill article. I think it is very common to underestimate the ability of such young children and it is important to understand that children as young as Kindergarten are able to learn and practice comprehension strategies they will use for the rest of their lives. As this article explained, this classroom of Kindergarteners was able to distinguish whether their comments in discussions were connections to the story, descriptions of their visualizations (mind movies), or questions. In particular I loved the “Velcro Theory”. This is a great way to approach the idea of schemas. I also found it exciting to see children as young as Kindergarten knowing and using the term schemas. The Velcro Theory says that a “new piece of information is easier to remember if we can stick it onto something that’s already in our heads”. This is a great way to think about schemas and it makes sense (and will also make sense to young students). I also really liked the idea of having students close their eyes and then draw what they imagine and then compare it to the illustrations in the story. This is a great way to get students engaged in the text without requiring them to do a lot of writing (which is good because they are so young), but is just as beneficial in my opinion. This article also did a good job of breaking down the idea of inferring. By simply saying, “was the question answered in the text or did you have to use your brain?” it makes this concept seem less complicated. I think by simplifying even the most complex concepts, you can address these types of things with very young children.
In addition, I also like reading about the different Comprehension Profiles in the Applegate & Quinn article. This article talked about the need for higher-level questions that get students to really think rather than recall text details. This is pretty much exactly what we have been hearing in this class in every article we have read so far. Nonetheless, I found the profiles interesting and I enjoyed being able to place some of my students that I have been working with during my small group literacy lesson into some of these categories. There is one student in particular that falls into the Fuzzy Thinkers and/or Minimalists profile(s). She always seems to have something to say however she always makes vague statements and provides no elaboration on her answers no matter how much I try to probe her with further questions. I find it interesting that type of student can be found anywhere. I agree completely with the need to identify the profile of each of your students so that you are able to “provide instruction they need for effective, rewarding, and engaged reading” (Applegate & Quinn). You are not able to effectively approach the instruction of a student until you understand their habits of reading and thinking.
In addition, I also like reading about the different Comprehension Profiles in the Applegate & Quinn article. This article talked about the need for higher-level questions that get students to really think rather than recall text details. This is pretty much exactly what we have been hearing in this class in every article we have read so far. Nonetheless, I found the profiles interesting and I enjoyed being able to place some of my students that I have been working with during my small group literacy lesson into some of these categories. There is one student in particular that falls into the Fuzzy Thinkers and/or Minimalists profile(s). She always seems to have something to say however she always makes vague statements and provides no elaboration on her answers no matter how much I try to probe her with further questions. I find it interesting that type of student can be found anywhere. I agree completely with the need to identify the profile of each of your students so that you are able to “provide instruction they need for effective, rewarding, and engaged reading” (Applegate & Quinn). You are not able to effectively approach the instruction of a student until you understand their habits of reading and thinking.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Week 8 readings
Gregory Article:
Wow. Here it is, living proof, that we can have discussions with any grade level. This article actually shocked me. Kindergarters participating in book discussions, raising their hands with signs of what they're about to say and using words like "schema." How cool? But I think Gregory sums it's up best when she says, "By necessity, comprehension instruction looks different with young children. It is more active and much more visible (i.e., through the use of hand signals)." We've always been told in our TE classes, "This can be done in any grade level with the proper adjustments." Now we can see that this is actually true. So far this year what I've learned is that kids are capable of so much more than we give them credit for. I mean, I was amazed to see the 3rd and 4th graders in my placement making "text to self" or "text to text" connections. I thought it was awesome that my CT would have her students foreshadow what would happen next in a story or have the students close their eyes and visualize what was happening. I believe she's even used the word "inner movie." And if I was amazed that 4th graders could do this...one can imagine my shock that kindergartners can. I really enjoyed this article. Sort of inspiring!
Applegate Article:
It was pretty interesting to see the different ways students can answer comprehensive questions. In my placement, I believe that I see most often Liberalist and minimalists. The article had mentioned that minimalists can be quite frustrating to deal with because we know that those students have something to say but they're too afraid to say it. I just experienced this yesterday in my placement. There is a difficult student who is sort of a smart ass (I have no other word for it...so I'm sorry). He's always trying to challenge teachers and I think it's because he thinks he's always right. However, as soon as he's ask a question he's not sure of, he hesitates and becomes silent. He was trying to come up with answers to prompts given after reading a short story and he was a having a lot of difficulty. When I tried to help, he kept responding with "I don't know..." It's tough not to just give up and walk away at that point but I kept going. With help from me, he finally came up with an idea but was still reluctant to write it down. I walked away and watched him struggle with the idea and after about 10 minutes, wrote it down. It was sort of a "mission accomplished" moment for me.
Tompkins Chap 2
The first half of this chapter focuses on the strategies for reading. In Stage 4: Exploring, it says, "Students go back into the text to examine it more analytically. This state is more teacher directed than the others; it reflects the teacher-centered theory," (48). The first suggestion it makes is for the students to reread the selection. I find this to be such an important strategy to help with not only analytical skills but also comprehension and fluency. However, it seems to be the biggest drag for the kids. My CT often has her students reread material two or three times over again. The students are always complaining, "I've already read this!!" But i can tell the discussion is so much more rich when they've read through it two or more times. They know the story like the back of their hand which makes it easier to recall and make connections the second time around. My CT always tells me if the students complain that they've already read it then I should say, "Good. Then we should be able to breeze through it and you will be able to add much to our discussion."
Tompkins Chap 8
"...comprehension depends on three prerequisites: having adequate background knowledge about the topic and the genre, being familiar with most words in the text, and being able to read it fluently. When one of these requirements is lacking, students are unlikely to comprehend what they're reading," (pg 259). I think this quote pretty much sums up what this chapter is about. If we want our students to improve their comprehension we need to help them make connections by using their background knowledge (text to self, text to world and text to text), we must expose them to as much vocabulary as we can and we also need to help them practice reading in order to improve their fluency. "Students need to spend lots of time reading authentic texts independently and talking about their reading with classmates and teachers. Having students read interesting books written at their reading level is the best way for them to apply comprehension strategies. As they read and discuss their reading, students are practicing what they're learning about comprehension," (pg. 271)
Wow. Here it is, living proof, that we can have discussions with any grade level. This article actually shocked me. Kindergarters participating in book discussions, raising their hands with signs of what they're about to say and using words like "schema." How cool? But I think Gregory sums it's up best when she says, "By necessity, comprehension instruction looks different with young children. It is more active and much more visible (i.e., through the use of hand signals)." We've always been told in our TE classes, "This can be done in any grade level with the proper adjustments." Now we can see that this is actually true. So far this year what I've learned is that kids are capable of so much more than we give them credit for. I mean, I was amazed to see the 3rd and 4th graders in my placement making "text to self" or "text to text" connections. I thought it was awesome that my CT would have her students foreshadow what would happen next in a story or have the students close their eyes and visualize what was happening. I believe she's even used the word "inner movie." And if I was amazed that 4th graders could do this...one can imagine my shock that kindergartners can. I really enjoyed this article. Sort of inspiring!
Applegate Article:
It was pretty interesting to see the different ways students can answer comprehensive questions. In my placement, I believe that I see most often Liberalist and minimalists. The article had mentioned that minimalists can be quite frustrating to deal with because we know that those students have something to say but they're too afraid to say it. I just experienced this yesterday in my placement. There is a difficult student who is sort of a smart ass (I have no other word for it...so I'm sorry). He's always trying to challenge teachers and I think it's because he thinks he's always right. However, as soon as he's ask a question he's not sure of, he hesitates and becomes silent. He was trying to come up with answers to prompts given after reading a short story and he was a having a lot of difficulty. When I tried to help, he kept responding with "I don't know..." It's tough not to just give up and walk away at that point but I kept going. With help from me, he finally came up with an idea but was still reluctant to write it down. I walked away and watched him struggle with the idea and after about 10 minutes, wrote it down. It was sort of a "mission accomplished" moment for me.
Tompkins Chap 2
The first half of this chapter focuses on the strategies for reading. In Stage 4: Exploring, it says, "Students go back into the text to examine it more analytically. This state is more teacher directed than the others; it reflects the teacher-centered theory," (48). The first suggestion it makes is for the students to reread the selection. I find this to be such an important strategy to help with not only analytical skills but also comprehension and fluency. However, it seems to be the biggest drag for the kids. My CT often has her students reread material two or three times over again. The students are always complaining, "I've already read this!!" But i can tell the discussion is so much more rich when they've read through it two or more times. They know the story like the back of their hand which makes it easier to recall and make connections the second time around. My CT always tells me if the students complain that they've already read it then I should say, "Good. Then we should be able to breeze through it and you will be able to add much to our discussion."
Tompkins Chap 8
"...comprehension depends on three prerequisites: having adequate background knowledge about the topic and the genre, being familiar with most words in the text, and being able to read it fluently. When one of these requirements is lacking, students are unlikely to comprehend what they're reading," (pg 259). I think this quote pretty much sums up what this chapter is about. If we want our students to improve their comprehension we need to help them make connections by using their background knowledge (text to self, text to world and text to text), we must expose them to as much vocabulary as we can and we also need to help them practice reading in order to improve their fluency. "Students need to spend lots of time reading authentic texts independently and talking about their reading with classmates and teachers. Having students read interesting books written at their reading level is the best way for them to apply comprehension strategies. As they read and discuss their reading, students are practicing what they're learning about comprehension," (pg. 271)
Sunday, March 13, 2011
3/14 readings
The Raphael and Salna were very similar; they both were about the importance of book talks in a classroom. I liked how in the Salna article there were a variety of books used to discuss a topic or theme. The students read all of the books from the topic/theme and then took turns having the leading role in discussions. Through these discussions students were able to share their ideas and opinions and reflect on the different topics they were reading about. As someone else mentioned, the student were learning without realizing. Not only does this allow the students to learn about a topic/theme it also teaches them about discussion etiquette. They learned to wait their turn and how to give appropriate answers and how to start a discussion.
My CT uses book talks in the majority of her lessons. She is always using a book as a way to introduce and close a lesson. She is usually the one who does the reading but the students are given the opportunity to raise their hand at any time in order to ask a question or to point out something they noticed that they found interesting. The students then discuss the book as a class and are asked to relate it to their own experience with a lesson or out of class experience.
I think this opportunity to use books with discussion is important. It gives students an opportunity to share their opinions and gives them the opportunity to lead an in class discussion which can lead to increased confidence. These discussions are a great assessment of the students’ progress and a way to see areas where they may need growth.
Readings for 3/14
The Salna article really stuck out to me in a way that I could relate to a lot of examples that were presented in it. I thought it was interesting that the fishbowl technique was mentioned because that was something that I had seen in my spanish class in high school. I know it was somewhat different than the technique that was talked about in the article, but I felt I could connect to this article because I had done this activity in a class. I just remember when I participated in the fishbowl activity in my class, I did not feel as engaged in the activity because I was more worried about trying to add a comment to the discussion instead of it being a thought-worthy comment. I still think it would be beneficial to use in a regular classroom though because the students would not be worried about using another language, like I was, but would be able to focus on the content we were talking about. The other activity that I could relate to was the use of the browsing box. My CT uses this in her classroom right now and it seems to be very effective. She selects books for the students that are at their level and would be interesting to them, along with being in relation to things that are being talked about in the classroom. I saw this same activity and technique used in the Salna article and it seemed to be as effective as the way my CT executes it. The book club was another technique that I could somewhat relate to. I remember being a part of a book club in elementary school, however mine was setup a little differently than this one. We were all assigned a large book that had many different stories in it and would stay in from lunch/recess a few days out of the month and read in our groups and do follow up activities/questions. I had actually forgotten about that experience until I read this article, but it made me reflect on how useful that technique was in my learning experience and would be something that I would want to incorporate in to my own classroom. The last thing about this article that I really related to was how Kyle acted in the classroom and his attitude about literature. I have a student who is very similar to Kyle in my CT's classroom, so seeing some of the progress and techniques used on him helped me think of things I can do with my CT's student to help him become more involved in literacy lessons. I like the way that Book Club Plus shows the graph of the units that are covered so it is easier to understand and see how this technique plays out. I also really liked how the Book Club in general is set up so students are supported no matter what level they are at and what focus they are stronger in. After reading both of these book club articles, I think I will definitely try to incorporate this in to my classroom to benefit all of my students.
Immediately when starting the Tompkins chapter, I was reminded of "word work" that I see in my placement every week. There is a special teacher who comes in to work with the class on vowels, such as the ones in the example in chapter 5. She is really good with teaching the students through many different techniques that keep them all engaged. The latest example I have seen her use is having the students represent certain teams for each "e" sound/ending. She will make the students coaches and have them be responsible for their team for that week. She also uses flash cards that have words written on them with different "e" sounds and endings and works with the class as a whole, yet individually calls on each student to volunteer answers so she can see that everyone is learning. She also likes to pair words with the vowel sounds she is working on as well. One time she had the students pretend they were eating an apple to represent the "a" sound. I think techniques like this are very beneficial for the students because it helps them remember what they are learning in a fun way and it seems to really stick with them.
Spring Break Readings
I really enjoyed the rich examples and mini-lessons that Tompkins Chapter 5 shared with us in the reading. When discussing Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, and Spelling they provided everyday examples and activities that you can use with students that are effective and efficient. One that stuck out to me was singing ole McDonald (p. 150). When I think of that song I only think of it as a nursery rhyme but in the chapter they show how it can be used as a tool for identifying beginning middle and end in words. They also give other great classroom activities such as online games you can use and mini lessons that involve sorting objects based on phonics concepts and then making a poster. Not only do they give us activities to use but this chapter helped me to see where students develop from. Being in a 5th grade classroom there are still many words that students spell wrong our use the wrong letter because of the sound and most of the time I just correct it and tell them the right way to spell it because I do not have a full understanding of how they have developed this understandings of what they do and do not know. Being well informed of what they develop in early grades is something I am really working on and I believe this chapter does a great job in helping me with that understanding.
In the Salan reading I also loved the book club activity that she introduced as one that she does in her first/second grade classroom. The idea of balanced literacy is one I completely believe in and find it disappointing that it is something not done in every school. Going back to the book club, this activity is something that I have seen done in the 5th grade classrooms I have been in but never thought about in the early years of literacy development. After reading this article however I totally see how book club is a form of balanced literacy. Students are reading, comprehending writing and so much more. These were all amazing sources of understanding literacy. Then to build off of that article I read the Raphael article on book clubs as well. I enjoyed this one as a support to showing how activities in book clubs such as writers’ workshops and book discussions can be such an important and strong support for literacy.
With all the readings this week I really related it to my everyday experiences with teaching. Book club is something that I was completely convinced of throughout the readings on the importance that it has in children’s literacy development throughout all grades. I believe this will help me to see book club in a different view as we do in this upcoming week in TE 402 class. My fifth grade classroom participates as well in a book club but I have yet to witness the processes such as workshops and discussions that go with it. After reading the articles I am very interested in seeing how it develops for the students and how they respond and interact to these activities and the book in their development of literacy.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Spring Break Reading
A common factor that I'm seeing in all the readings is that in order to improve literacy, we need to speak. It's not enough just to read and write...we need to be discussing and being verbal.
In Tompkins Chapter 5 it says, "Teachers nurture children's phonemic awareness through the language-rich environments they create in the classroom. As they sing songs, chant rhymes, read aloud word-play books, and play games, children have many opportunities to orally match, isolate, blend and substitute sounds and to segment words into sounds," (pg. 147). What this tells me is that phonemic awareness shows the students that speaking and reading go hand in hand. Phonemic awareness means that children who are "phonemically aware understand that spoken words are made up of sounds, and they can segment and blend sounds in spoken words." Phonemic awareness has to happen before phonics so children can learn to convert letters into sounds. Again, there's the hand in hand correlation with speaking and reading.
In Gibbons Chapter two, it says when a teacher uses IRE type of discussions, "...there is little opportunity for the learner's language to be stretched, for students to focus on how they are saying something, or for giving them practice in using the language for themselves," (pg. 17). I think I may have referred to this quote before but I think it's such an important point. We can't expect our ELLs to improve in their literary discussions (or any form of communication for that matter) if we just depend on IRE types of discussions, our ELL students will most likely remain stagnant as far as verbal communication goes.
Chapter 3 says that students were seen to go through 4 stages when learning science: 1. Doing and experiment, 2. Introducing key vocabulary, 3. Teacher-guided reporting and 4. Journal Writing. Stage 3 states again how important discussion can be to facilitate learning and writing ability. It says, "...the overall aim of the teacher-guided reporting was to extend children's linguistic resources and focus on aspects of the specific discourse of science. As the teacher expressed it to the child, 'Now we're trying to talk like scientists.' She also anticipated that the reporting stage would create a context for students to "rehearse" language structures that were closer to written discourse--that is, that were closer to the written end of the mode continuum," (pg. 45). To reiterate, this stage basically says that in order for students to get ideas on what to write about, they need to discuss it first. Through different types of discussions, and using vocabulary and language that scientists use, they are more likely to write scientific papers or journal entries. I believe that having discussions where the students can pretend like their real scientists is extremely beneficial for the students because it makes it fun and interesting! And because they're having fun with the discussion, they'll have more to write about.
The Salna and Raphael articles go hand in hand. They both emphasis how important discussions are to have in book clubs. Holding discussions after reading a story helps not only with comprehension but also getting along in a group (Salna, 47). The Raphael article calls this "community share." Either way, this is what we've been emphasizing in 402 this entire semester: the benefits of book discussion. What I love about book discussions is that it doesn't even seem like you're learning; you're just having a conversation. And through that conversation, the student is getting more of an in depth look of the story. Salna says, "My observations of their discussions showed me that they comprehended what they had read... I was pleased to see that so many of them could figure out a theme from their reading. I think this showed higher-level thinking."
In my placement, my CT knows that discussions are important in comprehending stories. However, what she does is weird to me. She has the kids discussing while she's reading the story. She stops at almost every sentence it seems like. Last week, she wanted to show us that her students knew how to have a discussion and it took her 30 minutes just to get through three pages. Are the kids even hearing what the story is about? It's just a weird concept to me to have a discussion while reading. There's so much going on. If it were me, I'd read first and have the kids soak it all in before they can talk about what they thought.
In Tompkins Chapter 5 it says, "Teachers nurture children's phonemic awareness through the language-rich environments they create in the classroom. As they sing songs, chant rhymes, read aloud word-play books, and play games, children have many opportunities to orally match, isolate, blend and substitute sounds and to segment words into sounds," (pg. 147). What this tells me is that phonemic awareness shows the students that speaking and reading go hand in hand. Phonemic awareness means that children who are "phonemically aware understand that spoken words are made up of sounds, and they can segment and blend sounds in spoken words." Phonemic awareness has to happen before phonics so children can learn to convert letters into sounds. Again, there's the hand in hand correlation with speaking and reading.
In Gibbons Chapter two, it says when a teacher uses IRE type of discussions, "...there is little opportunity for the learner's language to be stretched, for students to focus on how they are saying something, or for giving them practice in using the language for themselves," (pg. 17). I think I may have referred to this quote before but I think it's such an important point. We can't expect our ELLs to improve in their literary discussions (or any form of communication for that matter) if we just depend on IRE types of discussions, our ELL students will most likely remain stagnant as far as verbal communication goes.
Chapter 3 says that students were seen to go through 4 stages when learning science: 1. Doing and experiment, 2. Introducing key vocabulary, 3. Teacher-guided reporting and 4. Journal Writing. Stage 3 states again how important discussion can be to facilitate learning and writing ability. It says, "...the overall aim of the teacher-guided reporting was to extend children's linguistic resources and focus on aspects of the specific discourse of science. As the teacher expressed it to the child, 'Now we're trying to talk like scientists.' She also anticipated that the reporting stage would create a context for students to "rehearse" language structures that were closer to written discourse--that is, that were closer to the written end of the mode continuum," (pg. 45). To reiterate, this stage basically says that in order for students to get ideas on what to write about, they need to discuss it first. Through different types of discussions, and using vocabulary and language that scientists use, they are more likely to write scientific papers or journal entries. I believe that having discussions where the students can pretend like their real scientists is extremely beneficial for the students because it makes it fun and interesting! And because they're having fun with the discussion, they'll have more to write about.
The Salna and Raphael articles go hand in hand. They both emphasis how important discussions are to have in book clubs. Holding discussions after reading a story helps not only with comprehension but also getting along in a group (Salna, 47). The Raphael article calls this "community share." Either way, this is what we've been emphasizing in 402 this entire semester: the benefits of book discussion. What I love about book discussions is that it doesn't even seem like you're learning; you're just having a conversation. And through that conversation, the student is getting more of an in depth look of the story. Salna says, "My observations of their discussions showed me that they comprehended what they had read... I was pleased to see that so many of them could figure out a theme from their reading. I think this showed higher-level thinking."
In my placement, my CT knows that discussions are important in comprehending stories. However, what she does is weird to me. She has the kids discussing while she's reading the story. She stops at almost every sentence it seems like. Last week, she wanted to show us that her students knew how to have a discussion and it took her 30 minutes just to get through three pages. Are the kids even hearing what the story is about? It's just a weird concept to me to have a discussion while reading. There's so much going on. If it were me, I'd read first and have the kids soak it all in before they can talk about what they thought.
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