Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Blog #17 - Selecting and implementing reading materials

Some schools let the task of selecting reading materials up to the students themselves. Other schools may choose to base the reading materials geared toward the information on the standardized tests. In my opinion, the students would benefit better if they got to choose what they read.  No one can learn by being forced to read about topics that don't interest them. Sadly though the school can not please every student so some of the reading material is a bit dry and un-inspiring. It will take a lot of time and program tweaking to get the material just right. Teachers are constantly changing curriculum from year to year based on what works for their students and the way they like to teach best.
Teachers implement the materials in small groups of children. They make sure there are enough copies of the books so the children do not have to share while taking turns reading and responding to the story.


For my artifact I found an article about implementing a guided reading program.
The article was written by Linda Diamond. It is a CORE briefing paper. It describes in detail the four categories of learners and their performance levels. The article even tells about how time is a major factor of how schools choose programs for reading/literacy. As a teacher it is my hopes and personal goal to get everyone reading at a similar level. But since everyone reads at different levels, maybe I should start off with a smaller goal of just getting everyone to have a love for reading.

https://education.ucf.edu/mirc/Research/CORE%20-%20Implementing%20and%20Sustaining%20an%20Effective%20Reading%20Program.pdf

Monday, March 10, 2014

Blog # 14 Interacting with the text

I believe it is important for children to interact with the text so they become familiar with it. This also teaches them how to become a better speller and reader.  When we teach kids to first read and write we spend a huge chunk of time teaching them the basics of beginning, middle and ending  sounds. When children hear a story read to them they imagine the story in their minds, but when they interact with the story and write parts of the story they are comprehending, checking for spelling mistakes, listening for syllables, and so much more. This is also where they get the idea to tell their own stories with clear beginning, middle and endings. My favorite part of story telling is when the book truly comes alive for the kids and they take parts of the story to re-enact. Teachers can use words from the story with magnets along with pictures from the story. Once I read The Mitten and the kids and I put on a play for the parents.

As my artifact, I am including a project that teachers can do with the students. The Mitten is a fun winter book that the kids will enjoy roll playing with because they get a chance to switch animals and hide under a Mitten which is just a large sheet on the floor.

Blog # 11 Word Identification

A balanced approach to word identification is important because if we take only a skills approach and forget about the meaning the book has or when we don't tie in our personal experiences with the books we read, why are we reading them? We all read textbooks because we have to, kids read books they enjoy.  I have seen teachers give kids books that they had to read. The kids liked the books for the most part, but a certain few did not enjoy what they were reading. For these students, reading was not fun. Teachers have changed the way they think about choosing books for the students. Kids are now allowed to choose a book that interests them. The kids are then tested by computer or written test to see how much of the book they comprehended. Book reading should never be forced because it is something that we can enjoy for a life time. Books can take us to places that we may never get to see.

I have found that when you have a balanced approach to word identification you can figure out most any word and it's meaning. Take for instance the word "hen". When you read the Little Red Hen book the kids might not know that a female chicken is a hen. They look at the short vowel e in the middle of the word and say hen. Then the kids will look at the pictures of the animals in the story and figure out the animal that they are not familiar with (hen) must be the chicken on the page because no where did it say "The Little Red Chicken".

My artifact is an article from Science Daily explaining how the early word recognition is key to life long reading skills. The earlier a child begins to see and hear stories being read to him/her the better off their chances are to ease into reading and love to read. Even babies can mouth books and look at the colorful pictures within the binding.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090506093952.htm

I am including some books that focus on short vowel and long vowel sounds and early reading fluency.

Easy reader books are fun to read and promote a sense of accomplishment to an early reader.