lacampbell2-blog

[lacampbell2-blog]

readerly exploration

Submission #7:

October 23rd to October 27th

· The title(s):

Mesmer (2019), introduction

Mesmer (2019), chapter 1 “know the code, teachers reference on how English works”

· A “big” take-away statement:

Article one: the use of an adaptable approach to phonics instruction allows for young learners to grow in their letter and word identification

Article two: the parts of a word and what makes up that word such as a diagraph, vowel sounds, phonemes, and graphemes are foundation for learning concrete letter skills in literacy

· A “nugget”: the use of adaptable phonics instruction in the classroom can enhance letter and word understanding.

· summary: From some of my earliest memories in elementary school I remember my teachers playing to me of singing to me the alphabet song. At the time I just thought it was a fun song but as I grew older, I realized that there are foundational letter lessons in the song and this will lead to a greater identification of word formation. The development of identifying letter skills is an essential component of reading and writing for children. By recognizing letters, children are able to connect them with their sounds, which is essential for word understanding and formation. As young learners become more familiar with the word parts and break them down into familiar words, students will begin reading at greater rates and understanding more of what they are reading or have read. By recognizing word parts, young students will increase their vocabulary. 

In order to succeed in learning to read, children need to be familiar with letter names and shapes. Children's ability to remember written words and to treat words as sequences of letters is strongly correlated with knowing letter names. As educators we can make learning letters and in turn words fun and engaging through songs such as the alphabet song that shows connections in letter identification skills and word understanding as a foundation of literacy skills in young learners.

· Multimedia documentation: the alphabet song, a song to teach young learners letter identification.

[lacampbell2-blog]

readerly exploration

Submission #6:

October 2nd – October 6th

· The title(s):

Fischer, et. al (2020), chapter 4 collaborative reading and writing: learning in the company of peers

Fischer , et. al (2020), chapter 5, small group reading instruction: targeted support

· A “big” take-away statement:

Article one: a balance in whole group instruction and small group instruction allows for an effective teaching strategy.

Article two: small group instruction allows for the teacher to deliver the curriculum at a targeted scaffold level.

· A “nugget”: small group instruction mixed with whole group instruction allows for the teacher to meet targeted skill levels of each student through the use of scaffolding instructional content.

· Summary: Using a combination of both whole group instruction and small group instruction is a key aspect of reaching the needs of all students in the classroom.

 It is easier for teachers to provide one-on-one attention to students in small groups, to observe their learning in action, and to provide constructive feedback to them. In addition to using personalized feedback during class instruction and homework, students improve their performance as a result. Typically small group instruction is most effective in the younger grades as students are still developing essential skills in the foundation of their literacy skills. In conjunction with scaffolding teachers are able to target the skill sets of all learners. Through scaffolding, students bridge the gap between what they know and what they need to learn, develop new skills, and break down unfamiliar skills into smaller, more manageable components. For literacy small group instruction differs depending on phase of reading development.

Character sketch:  

· Multimedia documentation: scaffolding techniques used in the classroom.

[lacampbell2-blog]

readerly exploration

Submission #5:

· The due date of the assigned course reading(s)

December 4th-8th

· The title(s) of the assigned course reading(s)

Hanford (2018) “hard words: why aren’t kids being taught to read?”

Wills Lloyd (2021) “Smoke signals in reading education: what is with the spate of articles about changes in reading education”

· A “big” take-away:

Article one: There are low performance skills in literacy. Research shows that children who don’t learn to read by third grade are at a major reading disadvantage.

Article two: Reading is fundamental to the foundation of early literacy skills. We see opposing viewpoints in this phenomenon. Early reading materials and curriculum vary.  

· A “nugget”: early reading and literacy skills are foundational to increasing academic performances of young learners.

· A paragraph:

As an educator it is important to not only follow curriculum guidelines but to also follow the needs for enhancing the mastery of fundamental skills in literacy for young learners. The building blocks of reading are the foundational skills. The goal is to help students comprehend what they read. As a result, students will be better able to comprehend texts if they develop proficiency with print concepts, phonological and phonemic awareness, and phonics skills. Through setting the foundation to these base literacy skills educators are setting up students to life long academic achievement. It is show that lows with low reading and literacy skills are more likely to drop out of school. As an educator I will make it a point to meet the needs of all students in my classroom and to set a foundation early for literacy skills. Reading skills are used across all content areas and if they are not mastered at a young age it will leave the student at a deficit.

· Multimedia: children practicing early literacy skills

[lacampbell2-blog]

readerly exploration

Submission #4:

September 25th-29th

· Titles:

Fischer, et. al. (2020) chapter 1, “defining balance, finding balance”

Fischer, et. al. (2020) chapter 7, “independent reading: practicing, applying, and extending learning

· A “big” take-away statement

Article one: The balanced literacy approach allows for flexible grouping and regrouping, and a direct instructional approach.  Educators using this strategy often add emphasis on phonics instructions throughout the cycle for learning.

Article two: The importance of independent reading and a classroom library have a correlation to the shifting of educator led instruction and student involvement in the classroom. Student choice allows for an increased sense of independence in the classroom.

· A “nugget”: independence in the classroom is a key aspect of balanced literacy

· A paragraph:

During the time that these chapters were written a worldwide pandemic was in full effect. While this caused for a halt in classroom teaching it didn’t mean that literacy stop in its whole. Students were able to draw on previous classroom literacy skills to engage in a wide range of texts outside of the classroom. In the chapters we see the topic of balanced literacy come up more than one, in simple terms balanced literacy is a strategy used by educators to ensure that students are getting literacy rich skills independently and teacher led. One of the greatest skills of growing in literacy skills at the individual pace of a student is the use of setting aside classroom time to allow students independent reading time in the classroom. This allows for students to engage with literacy at their own pace while reading in a topic/genre of their interests. Through the use of balanced literacy skills, educators are handing over some authority to student decision making in the classroom. This shifting of authority will in turn increase student engagement and eagerness for literacy. Studies correlated that the volume of reading that students were doing with the students’ scores on annual standardized reading tests.

· Multimedia: independent reading time in the classroom, allowing student choice to occur

[lacampbell2-blog]

readerly exploration

Submission #3:

September 18th-22nd, 2023

· Titles:

Wessel-Powell, Kargin & Wohlwend (2016), “enriching and assessing young childrens multimodal storytelling”

Leong & Bodrova (2018) “why children need play”

Scolastic (2018) “building language and literacy through play”

(experts from the article)

· A “big” take-away statement:

Article one: Studies have shown that we see an increase in young children’s literacy skills through the use of storytelling. There is a performance checklist for educators to follow when making the connection between literacy skills and the movement involved in storytelling.

Article two: Cognitive psychologists such as Piaget and Vygotsky have made connections between the effects play has on both the social and cognitive development of a child. This connection occurs and is enhanced through dramatic play.

Article three: Young children learn through the use of imaginary play both inside the classroom and outside. This increases a young child’s language development and aids the increase of literacy skills.

· A “nugget”: play increases a young learners literacy skills

social and cognitive development linked to literacy skills

the increase of literacy skills

· Summary: Throughout reading this selection of articles there is evidence-based research done on the relationships play has in literacy development. Cognitive theorist Piaget, and social theorist Vygotsky are highlighted as having great connection to the correlation of play and literacy development. Through learning more about the experts on these topics I was able to increase my understanding and comprehension of the theorists involvement in the research done on this literacy connection. Through hands-on interactions with the environment, Piagetian classrooms allow children to discover themselves. Through the use of this teaching model in the classroom students can discover themselves through play and in turn increase literacy skills. In Vygotsky's view, play fosters intellectual development by providing children with the opportunity to replicate culturally shaped activities in the real world. It is through play that children learn new sounds and lay the foundation for literacy. It is through play that children learn new sounds and lay the foundation for literacy. Their imagination is exercised through storytelling and exploring new vocabulary on their own or with friends. It gives children a chance to practice both their new skills and learn more about them. When children learn the structure and meaning of new words, they can connect oral and textual modes of communication.

children engaging in play

[lacampbell2-blog]

readerly exploration

Submission #2:

September 4th, 2023 to September 8th, 2023

·  Title:

Fischer (2017), “reading with a crayon: pre-conventional marginalia as reader response in early childhood”

·  “big” take-away:

We are able to find children’s curiosity and drawling’s all around you. Annotations are the foundation of a children’s literacy skills in an early childhood education. Analysis of reader marginalia is shown in a pre-conventional manor.

· A “nugget”:

We see the early wonder with young children’s response to literature through a child’s early book use.

(unfamiliar term)

As a was listening and or reading this article one key term stook out to me as an unfamiliar term. This term is marginalia. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary marginalia is defined as notes or embellishments as seen in a book. Following the clarification of this definition I was able to gain a richer perspective on this article and the early signs of book annotations in children. Once clarifications are given to an article, I am able to view the article through a much narrower lens. Curiosity is a foundational aspect of learning an it is highly encouraged in younger grades in their academic success. We learn through out curiosity. Reading comprehension skills such as marginalia and annotation are powerful. When students annotate while reading, they identify patterns, ask questions, visualize key points, and break down complex texts; as a result, they learn to focus and think critically. It's about reading, capturing, and then acting upon information. In order to review what you've recorded, you can return to these markups. I think that we should encourage this in young learners rather than deterring away from the natural wonders of young children.

· Multimedia documentation: the idea of marginalia shown in a book.

[lacampbell2-blog]

readerly exploration

Submission #1:

August 28th, 2023 to September 1st, 2023

· Title(s)

Cambourne (1995), “Toward an Educationally relevant theory of literacy learning”

Britsch & Meier (1999), “building a literacy community:  the role of literacy and social practices in early childhood programs”

· take-away statement for each reading:

As a younger teacher Cambourne saw that there was a great correlation between the findings in the connection between literacy difficulties in the classroom and the opportunity outside of the classroom to increase the literacy development outside of the classroom

Disability lens

Second article: looking at the use of phonics development in the preschool setting through the use of consistent progress monitoring on literacy skills.

· “nugget”: Scaffolding instruction in the classroom to increase literacy skills is a critical component to the increase of literacy skills both inside of the classroom and out

Progress monitoring data shows that an emphasis on phonics has been shown to improve literacy skills in the classroom at an early age

As a special education major, I see the correlation between progress monitoring in the classroom and how this can aid in the increase of academic skills for students with the needed supports being implemented in the classroom. This implementation in the classroom has also been linked to an increase success of academic skills such as literacy outside of the classroom setting. Viewing both articles from a disability perspective gave me the opportunity to better comprehend the importance of the messages being taught in both of the articles. We see that literacy skills are an important aspect of the curriculum being taught to our students at a young age, even the earliest starting in a preschool classroom.  Data is the driving force behind the importance of early literacy skills and the implementation of these skills in the classroom. Once we build a baseline and or foundation of literacy skills students are given the opportunity to blossom academically in all areas including literacy skills.

· Multimedia documentation :  looking at the forms that are used to display progress monitoring in the classroom.