Week 5

Coaching Word Recognition

I really like the Using Words You Know lesson in Chapter 5. You start out with four words that the students are familiar with and you place them on a chart. From there, you explain that words that rhyme usually have the same spelling pattern. Each student comes up to the chart and adds a new word under a preexisting word that rhymes. After a long list of 10 or 12 words has been added under each original word, you explain to students that rhyming is a great tool to help them spell since words that rhyme are often spelled alike. This I thought, was a good activity to get all students involved and to show them that they know more words than they think, and also that those words are related in some way. This section of the chapter helped me to brush up on my rhyming skills. 


 

some of the best books to teach rhyming and language in a fun way

I also liked the Nifty-Thrify-Fifty Words. The English language is "morphologically complex" meaning that for every one word you know, you can figure out how to spell, decode, or build meanings for at least six or seven more words. Words in the English language can be chunked and from those chunks, one can interpret meaning. For example, the word discover...dis usually changes the meaning of the word to the opposite, cover means to hide, so when you dis-cover, you un-hide. That makes sense right?

Week 4

Emergent Literacy 

Phonemic Awareness & Phonics

The articles that we read for this week made some great points and suggestions regarding literacy in children and how to go about getting them excited about reading and writing. The first article that I read titled, Learning to Read and Write: Developmentally Appropriate Practices made a great point about today's definition of proficiency literacy. It stated that before, much communication was over the phone or in person. Now, everything seems to be electronic thus, communication through writing is an essential skill for children to develop. 

The second article, Letting Go of the Letter of the Week made yet another great point. Children enter school with all different levels of exposure to literacy. To give kids the confidence to start reading in class, the article suggested taking pictures of each child and placing that picture below the letter that matches the first letter in their name. This makes these letters more familiar to the children and they can refer back to their friend's names and the sounds the letters in their names make as references to sounding out other words. Michael starts with "M" and so does monkey. Also, sometimes children are hesitant to write because they feel that what they produce is "chicken scratch"; they believe don't know how to write because their handwriting does not resemble their parents or other adults around them. One idea to build their confidence is showing examples of different handwriting, some messy and some neat. Explain that everyone has their own way of writing and communicating.

The last article that I read, Supporting Phonemic Awareness, emphasized bringing fun and play into the classroom. Story telling, words games, rhymes, and riddles are all ways of incorporating phonological awareness into the classroom in stimulating. Games that were suggested include Down by the Bay and Going on a Word Hunt. Classic nursery rhymes are also great tools to use with children in Kindergarten and 1st grade.

CHECK OUT THE LINK:

 nursery rhymes to promote phonological awareness

all images were taken off Google

Week 3

Definition of Reading

The article we read about the Jones' focused on the role that literacy played within their community and their family. A metaphor was created between their literacy history and what is contained in Kiki's "backpack" as she headed to school each day. I thought it interesting that "literacy" included reading the newspaper, verses from the Bible, and even things like creating budgets and applying for loans and also how that all connects to Kiki's exposure to literature through the environment that surrounds her. I think the main idea to take from this article is to understand that each child in my future classes is going to come from a different background with different experiences and exposures to literature. It is important as teachers, to get an idea of the environment in which their students were raised and live currently so as to better teach them and relate to them. Making learning relate to each student is a great tool to get them interested and invested in their education. As a teacher, I am not going to have a group of homogeneous kids that are all the same; some families will love to read and share that love with their children and other families might not read at all. That is why it is important to determine what individual children carry in their "backpack" to school. This will help guide the way I introduce literature in my classroom. 

Chapter 3 from Classrooms that Work pointed out a universal aspect of children's literacy history: labels. Cereal boxes, fast food restaurants, clothing, and toys all have labels or ads that children are most likely exposed to before entering school. An activity can be made out of these labels; the children may feel that they do not have much experience with reading, but I could use these everyday labels as example of collections of words that they can recognize and can identify easily. These labels and ads are part of what each child carries in their "backpack" when they enter school.

Images were taken off Google.

Week 1 & 2

 Creating Classrooms That Work & Enthusiastic, Independent Readers

 I would have to say that so far this semester, all of the readings that I have been assigned for class have been excited. Especially the first two chapters of Classrooms That Work, written by Cunningham and Allington. The first chapter focuses on what separates the most effective teachers' classrooms from the less affective teachers' classroom. Some of the major characteristics I thought were important included:

• creating classrooms that have caring and positive environments, where discipline issues are taken care of quickly and quietly
• making sure there is a high level of student engagement
• teachers should have high, but realistic expectations of their kids and monitor their progress regularly
• skills are taught explicitly and related to reading and writing
• self regulation is modeled and expected 
• reading was a constant throughout the day and books are everywhere 

 

“Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.”

― Maya Angelo

The second chapter talked about getting children motivated to start reading and to continue reading more than just in the classroom. Reading aloud is highly encouraged. After finishing this chapter I will make it a point to share interesting things I have read with my kids weekly and also make sure to have such an enthusiastic attitude about reading. Scheduling individual meetings with a few kids during quiet reading time each day is such a great idea. I see one-on-one individual attention as a way to not only make sure every child is growing and progressing in their reading, but also a way to just connect with each child on an individual level. Being "real" and having strong relationships with students is so beneficial and essential.