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Readerly Exploration #5

Tompkins Chapter 9

Takeaway:

Teachers can help students gain confidence using text factors to support comprehension. They are able to make deeper connections to the text through this.  

Nugget:

The section about poetry I found interesting because that wouldn’t have been the first form of writing that I thought about. There are so many text factors used throughout this genre!

For this readerly exploration, I made a t-chart of my struggles and successes that I had while comprehending the reading. In one of the past readerly explorations, I made some goals, so I tried to follow through with them. In the past as I said before I always struggle and I still struggle with comprehension, so I found this activity super helpful. I liked being able to consciously remind myself to stay engaged in the text. I tried to focus on questioning and connecting to the text the entire time. I did still struggle and ended up having to reread and I zoned out a few times. Overall, I feel this exploration really benefitted me. Although doing this may have taken longer, I actually consciously thought about the text rather than buzzing through it. When I read from now on I think I am going to continue to try and find strategies that help me stay engaged when I read.  

[hanpalm]

Readerly Exploration #4

Tompkins Chapter 8

Takeaway:

It is important for students to become confident with their reading skills. To accomplish this, it is important that we as teachers are aware of a variety of comprehension strategies.

Nugget:

As a student and even today I struggle with comprehension, so it was nice to see that they had the comprehension chart included. This will be a helpful tool to use with future students.

For this readerly exploration I chose to talk to a friend in another major. The fried that I talked to is named Mackenzie, she is a music and worship major. She doesn’t have any knowledge about literacy comprehension. I really enjoyed talking to her about it because she was very interested in learning about this topic. She is engaged and looking forward to having kids. I informed her the importance of these strategies and she wanted to dig deeper with me so that she can use these strategies in the future as well. She found it interesting all that goes into the reading comprehension strategies, for example predicting. She said that when she thought about reading with a child it was just read the book and then on to the next one. She now knows she should be questioning the child so they can learn to comprehend. This exploration helped to deepen my understanding of the text because my friend was asking questions that allowed me to think about the text. Some of the questions she asked me were about thinks that I would have just breezed through. It’s almost like she was using a form of questioning strategy on me without even knowing it!

[hanpalm]

Readerly exploration #3

Tompkins chapter 1, “Becoming an Effective Literacy Teacher”

Take Away:

Especially as a first-year teacher there are going to be a lot of things that we need to keep in mind. Some of these includescaffolding, learning types/differentiation, the classroom community, CCSS, organization and more. Just a side note, my mentor teacher (who graduated from Messiah) told me that her first year of teaching was one of the hardest things that she has done. There is just so much that goes into it that you wouldn’t expect.

Nugget:

After our talk in class about basal readers, I found it interesting that the text talked about it especially since it was about an organization for instruction. They mentioned many issues that can be brought up with them, which is also what we kind of mentioned in class, so it is interesting why they are still used.

For this readerly exploration, I chose to write down two or three goals to do for the next reading assignment. I feel that one of my biggest problems when I read is zoning out. I cannot stay engaged, I will be reading the words on the page and thinking of something else. I try and tell myself to stay engaged but that doesn’t really help. With this in mind, I think one of my goals can be to maybe read a page and then reflect about what I just read to help my mind stay engaged. Another goal that may help my mind to stay engaged is just to question. Some of these questions may just be general and go unanswered and some I may find as I keep reading. The struggles I have with focusing while I read also contribute to why I am so bad on standardized tests because 1 they are timed and 2 you have to really pay close attention to the passages. I obviously cannot so I would have to go back and reread so much that I would waste time. I feel like this helped to deepen my exploration because I was able to reflect on my weaknesses. In order to grow I feel it is important to recognize your weaknesses and along with that to help you grow you need to make goals which is what I did.

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Readerly Exploration #2

Tompkins, “Literacy for the 21st Century: A Balanced Approach” Chapter 2 + 6

Chapter 2-

Takeaway:

The Reading and Writing Process Stages are very important. The reading stages are prereading, reading, responding, exploring and applying. The writing stages are prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.

Nugget:

The more that you read the better of a writer you will become, and the more that you write the better you will comprehend reading. Reading and writing go hand in hand.  

Chapter 6-

Takeaway:

Automaticity, speed, and prosody are all things that teachers may work with students on as they work to become fluent readers. Teachers can work with students in many ways, one way is to use assessments to gage and track progress.

Nugget:

I haven’t seen a syllabication chart, there are many rules that were helpful for me to see. I found this to be very interesting and helpful for my future classroom.

I got my mom’s perspective on chapter 2 of the assigned reading. My mom is a paraprofessional with the elementary school that I went to, she has no college degree, yet from being in the school she had an interesting perspective. She said she never would have guessed that there are that many stages of reading or writing. When she thinks of reading it would have been prereading, reading, and reflecting. Which it generally is, but it is also so much more. I was able to explain this to her and open up a whole new perspective that she is now able to take into the classroom. She said that she really like the applying stage, she never realized that that would be considered part of the reading process. She liked that it was part of the reading process and said that she was able to understand why all of them fit together. We both agreed that we did all of these stages without even realizing it. This helped me deepen my experience because I got to have a meaningful conversation with my mom about something we would have never talked about otherwise. It is not often that I get to talk with her about things I am working on in school.  

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Readerly Exploration #1

Readings: Tompkins Chapter 3, “Assessing Literacy Development” and Chapter 11, “Differentiating for Success”

Takeaway: It is important for teachers to use assessments to track the progress of students. It is important for not only to see the students’ progress, but also to know if the teacher should adjust their instruction.

Nugget: I found it interesting when the article highlighted how teachers feel about testing. Some will do whatever it takes to get students test scores higher since it looks better for them and their district.

Takeaway: It is important for teachers to be aware of the levels of students within the class in order to differentiate between them. This will ensure success of all students in the classroom.

Nugget: When teachers just teach to one level of students, they will not benefit majority of the students. There will be kids that are bored and potentially act out and then there will be kids that are so out of it and have no idea what is going on.

           For this readerly exploration I chose to draw a character sketch of someone you know that represents the reading and share it with them. First, I read the reading and pulled out the big ideas and what I found interesting. While I was reading, I thought of a friend, his name is Christian, that really likes school and tests. He also is a very good test taker, and while reading about testing I thought about him. He would have been one of the higher readers in the class and gotten bored in school if the material was too easy. He said that he remembered enjoying the activities leading up to PSSA’s because he always did well in the games and activities they did. This readerly exploration helped me dig deeper into the content. I not only read more carefully, but I also was able to personally connect to the reading. I was able to understand what it was like for a reader that was above level because Christian was able to give me insight. Along with that, I was able to compare my experience as a lower student and the experience of a higher student to deeper connect with the text.

[hanpalm]

Readerly Exploration #7 11/20/2019

Pennington (2018), “Should we teach reading comprehension strategies?” and Miller (2013), Chapter 6, “In January and February

Big takeaway: There are some things that are hard for teachers to teach and one of those things is the process of reading. The result of the process is reading comprehension, and it should be taught through the text not as separate instruction.

Nugget: We need to model and teach good reader startegies so students are able to practice. The read-think-pair-share is a good strategy used to practice reading comprehension.

Big Takeaway: Miller suggests ways to enrich students text experiences and think through reading. She suggests book clubs and questioning strategies.

Nugget: Miller uses book clubs as a strategy for students to actively engage in a text. No matter the age, students will be able to do this as long as they can read which will help them in future grades.

Readerly Exploration: I found the bookclub idea that Debbie Miller brought up to be a very compelling idea. I loved how she brought her real life experiences of book clubs into the classroom. I agree that if students are able to communicate in social settings than they should be able to communitcate about education. Emily found the asking questions portion to be compelling, because it is crucial for students to learn how to ask “good” questions. As a child she asked a lot of questions, and some were very obviously not good questions. Teachers would give her a degrading look, and usually not answer her questions. Emily expressed that she will ensure that her future students have the experience and knowledge to ask good questions, but she will also except and answer all questions from her students. This discussion helped us to deepen our understanding of the importance of allowing our students explore what they are reading.

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Readerly Exploration #6 11/13/2019

Rasinski (2012), “Why Reading Fluency Should Be Hot!” and Applegate, Applegate & Modla (2011), “She’s My Best Reader; She Just Can’t Comprehend’: Studying the Relationship Between Fluency and Comprehension”

Big take-away: In order for students to undertand a text, it is important that the instruction is based off of fluency, not speed reading. Often student will focus on who is done first, the educator needs to ensure that students are developing fluency skills despite the students goal.

Nugget: When teachers focus on the speed of students reading they stray from their goal compromising their students academics. The author suggests a comprehensive approach to fluency instruction that is part of the core reading program.

Big take-away: There are some students that seem to be great readers, but in reality, they don’t understand the text. This is because some teachers may focus on reading fluency and not reading comprehension.

Nugget: This article reveals that there is a large number of students considered “fluent readers”, yet they lack comprehension. They suggest it is because teachers only evaluate speed, accuracy, and prosody.

Experience: In this readerly exploration I was reading the articles and I thought about my friend Jenna. She struggled with reading when she grew up and has ADHD. She had told me before that in order for her to comprehend things she reads she may have to read it over and over in her head really slowly. When she is in class though and is asked to read out loud, she tends to  read really fast because she is nervous. After she reads really fast she couldn’t tell you much about what she had just read out loud. She is a fluent reader but lacks comprehension. Now that she is in college, she has gotten better but still struggles with it. After reading these articles, I talked with her and explained that maybe in the past her teachers didn’t do a good job with teaching her how to comprehend. I told her that if she continues to practice reading it will continue to get better. From this experience of struggling to read in school it has made her hate reading as a result, so she told me that she stays away from the library. Reading these articles and connecting it to a friend helped me have more compassion for those kids who struggle with reading. It deepened my understanting of what it means to teach children how to read. Just because they are reading well doesn’t mean they are comprehending.

Multimedia documentation:

Character sketch

[hanpalm]

Readerly Exploration #5 11/6

Silverman “Vocabulary Practices in Prekindergarten and Kindergarten Classrooms”, and Williams”Word Study Instruction in the K–2 Classroom”.

Big Idea:

If teacher properly implement vocabulary instruction using methods such as analyzing words semantically, word studies and implementing vocabulary rich texts, supports children’s learning.

Nugget:

A method that positively impacted vocabulary learning is acting out the words. In the study students did this during read-aloud time and it helped them remember the words and understand the text better.

Big idea:

Word studies are great ways to teach vocabulary and spelling to students. This allows students to move past strictly memorizing the spelling of words and use their knowledge of the English language to actually know the word.

Nugget:

A tip for teaching word studies is to steer away from large group instruction and gear it towards small differentiated groups. This allows the teacher to meet each students’ instructional needs. This can be broken down into guided reading groups or individual lessons for each level.

Experience:  

For this article, I decided to choose once source in the citations, track it down, and read it. I looked through the references in “Vocabulary Practices in Prekindergarten and Kindergarten Classrooms”, as I was reading through them I noticed a section of all children’s books. I noticed on about art and as being a big advocate for integrating art into the classroom I loved this book. The more educators are able to get students excited about art the better. As I was reading the vocabulary practices article, I understood why it is important to implement it into guided reading and read aloud times. It is because during these instructional times, students are exposed to vocabulary that is above their level. Allowing them to explore using methods that are active and artistic allow students to better comprehend and remember the words. This readerly exploration allowed me to deepen my mastery because I learned so many new strategies that I can put in my teaching toolbox. I really liked the word studies, I liked how it allowed students to fully understand the word not just memorize it. I also found the instructional tips that were throughout the article to be very helpful as well.

Multimedia documentation:

Choose once source in the citations, track it down, and read it.

dePaola, T. (1989). The art lesson. New York: The Putnam and Grosset Group.

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Readerly Exploration #4

Bissex, “Watching Young Writers” and Manyak “Phonemes in Use: Multiple activities for a Critical Process.”

Big Idea:

Children do not just learn through watching other humans and imitating them, they overgeneralize rules that they have seen through their reasoning. Though this does happen within children’s learning, they are not stagnant, they are constantly making corrections to their errors growing towards fluency.

Nugget:

Since children start learning about language before they enter a grade, they may all be at different developmental levels. With this in mind educators need to assess the levels that the students are at, so they know where to start.

Big idea:

It is important that teachers understand how to teach phonics effectively to students. Phonics allows students to blend sounds in words which allows them to develop their language. If teachers do not properly develop phonemic awareness the students will fall behind since they will not be able to properly form words.

Nugget:

Word mapping is a good way to use a visual representation to encourage learning. This method breaks down words which in turn helps students learn how to spell and sound out.

Experience:

For this readerly exploration I first decided what multimedia I wanted to do, and for this one I decided to find words that I didn’t know and then find the definition. Both of these articles use academic vocab, yet we learned so much in class that I knew majority of the words, yet there were a few that left me unsure. While I was reading these articles, I thought of our unit plans that we have been working on. I thought how if I would want to support organization, the word map would be a great thing to do. It is a chart that enhances students learning by breaking down words visually. I really liked the second article because it provided a lot of examples that would promote phonetic awareness that we could incorporate into future plans. There are a lot of visuals provided and being a visual learner I love to find new ones to use for my students. This readerly exploration really made me process ways that I can actually apply the articles to my real teaching. I also really enjoyed finding the definitions for the words because not only did it help me understand some things in the articles, but it also broadened my vocabulary.

Multimedia documentation:

Erasure- an act or instance of erasing.

Devise- to contrive, plan, or elaborate; invent from existing principles or ideas: to devise a method.

Recur- to occur again, as an event, experience, etc.

Directionality- of, relating to, or indicating direction in space.

Commingle- to mix or mingle together; combine.

Dictionary.com 

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Readerly Exploration #3

10/18/19

*You okayed this to be late because the article couldn’t be accessed with the link.*

Sipe “Talking back and talking over: young children’s expressive engagement during read aloud story books”

Big takeaway:

Children respond to the stories they hear in various ways to seek understanding which is through expressive engagement (Dramatizing, talking back, critiquing/controlling, inserting, and talking over).

Nugget:

The category talking back is initiated by children when they are being engaged in the story, teachers are able to encourage it though through modeling and accepting the responses they give rather than disregard the student as calling out.

Experience:

I read this article while I was cuddled up in bed and was able to really think about it. While I was reading it, I found the “nugget”, this stood out to me because typically when a student yells out it can be distracting. In this text though, the author shows how a teacher is able to encourage the behavior and turn these responses positive. I think this reading was overall easy and understandable. I like how it was set up and flowed from explaining what expressive engagement is, then helping the reader understand what it is, then how a teacher can encourage the behavior. I found that section to be especially helpful, it helped deepen my mastery of course content. It helped me relate it to my field work and how I can use it in the future to know what is acceptable during reading time and what is not. I know now how to encourage some behaviors and discourage some others. It guided me to understand how to maintain control of the classroom all while encouraging active participation. It also provided an understanding of why this is important to know for the classroom environment. There is a power for children to make their own stories and its important that we encourage this.

Multimedia documentation:

For my multimedia documentation I chose to talk to a family member and got their perspective on an excerpt of the text. My mom is a paraprofessional and she was assigned to one kid for a few years. This kid tended to be very disruptive in class, and when I read some sections of the text to her, she realized that some of his behaviors could have been controlled and geared positively. If either her or the teacher was able to do that then she maybe could have better helped him.

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Readerly Exploration #2  10/16/19

Holdaway (1982), “Shared Book Experience: Teaching Reading Using Favorite Books”

Big Take-Away:

A complex process in infancy is spoken language, yet it can be simply and naturally broken down into processes that enable the child to learn the mastery of literacy skills, such as reading a favorite book to evoke interest.

Nugget:

A feature of literature that is often neglected is “role playing” this is where the child independently picks up a book and begins to try and interpret it. This is essential in the child’s learning as it allows the students to explore with books and develop their literacy through images and connect that to the words on the page.

Paragraph:

To first engage in this article, I read the title and then I read the conclusion. I did this to get an overall sense of what it was going to be about and to find any big ideas that I should be looking for throughout to expand on. I then went through and read the headings and after that read the article through. I learned recently in inclusion practices a way that I can effectively skim an article and so I decided to use that method before I read it all the way through. This connected well to some things that we have learned in class thus far. For example, the developing stages of literacy and recently guided reading. In the stages we learned how young students go through a stage where they try to become independent readers and shift into interpreting the pictures and some of the text. This article deepens this understand by explaining the importance of this stage with evidence of a study that they created. Along with this in a video we watched on guided reading groups, the teacher went through the book on a “picture walk. This is where the students were able to figure out what was going to happen in the story before they read it to connect the pictures and the words. Which also connected to this article and deepened my understanding of literacy.  

Multimedia Documentation: 

(choose and excerpt from assigned course readings and get their insights on it.)

I shared it with my friend Christian who is and accounting major. He was intrigued with the study that they did where it showed what the text said and how a child interpreted it at a certain age. He was surprised how well a 2 year old did interpreting the text when they were nat able to actually “read”. 

[hanpalm]

Readerly Exploration #1 (9/20)

Reading with a Crayon: Pre-conventional Marginalia as Reader Response in Early Childhood

Big takeaway:Often times, when young children scribble in story books they play with, it is viewed as “graffiti”, yet this article argues that the child is cognitively drawing and trying to understand the pictures.

Nugget:In the study the marks Hannah makes in the book show her interpretations of the narrative even though she cannot read. You can see her engagement in the story when she began babbling during her longest sustained drawing period.

Chapter 1: “Guiding Principles”

Big Takeaway: Teachers need to give students more responsibility and space to work despite the chaos this way students are able to learn and grow at a faster rate.

Nugget:In the chapter, the author describes her gradual release of responsibility to her student, she explains the importance of working after teaching because “learning is a consequence of thinking”.

           For this Readerly exploration, I began by finding the articles that I needed to read. After that I started with the “Reading with a Crayon: Pre-conventional Marginalia as Reader Response in Early Childhood” article because it was online, and I did not have my book with me at the time. I read it and created the big takeaway and nugget  for that article. Then a little later I got my book and read the first chapter of it and created the big takeaway and nugget for that article. I’m finding myself enjoying reading the more I do it. Now that I am only taking education classes the readings are all ones that I find interesting, I enjoy making connections between them and the past classes that I have taken. These readings helped me Deeper understand some of the course content we are learning now. I really liked the strategies that the book talked about on how to effectively teach literacy. We have learned about literacy interventions in class and we are eventually going to be applying that in our placements. These strategies of teaching literacy brought up in the book are some that I would like to apply to my plans. I like the catch and release method mentioned. There is a mini lesson and then a big chunk of time after that where students are able to read, talk with others, and apply the information. Then they share with the group so everyone can benefit which ultimately reaches the learning target and then the process is repeated.

Multimedia Documentation:

(Based on your successes and struggles reading this text, write down two or three goals for yourself as a reader for your next assignment.)

Goals:

1: Avoid skimming sections when I lose focus and my mind begins to wander.

2: Identify key terms and take notes on them/explain in my own words to better comprehend the reading.

3:Go back in the text and reread parts that may not have sunk in well the first time.

[hanpalm]

Instructional Design- Simulation Journal #1

Part I.

One thing that stood out to me is how the districts philosophy of “we just care about our students and test scores do not matter” was almost contradicted by the principal. She made a reference to the way that she will be grading us and the scores of our students, and then after that would say but don't stress we are here for the students.

Part II. 

This guides some of the answer to the question of what truly is most important. Yes the students are very important, but sometimes in order to just keep your job you need to consider test scores and the integrity of your students. There are things a teacher needs to sacrifice in order to succeed and become “Teacher of the Year”. This will not only increase funding and the number of students, but also help with securing your job and payment.