Chapter 12 of Literate Lives and “Behind Test Scores: What Struggling Readers Really Need”

Reflection on Chapter 12 of Literate Lives and “Behind Test Scores: What Struggling Readers Really Need”

                Both the chapter and the article solidified one thing for me: as teachers who teach a class of 25 different students, we must teach to the individual students and not to the class as a whole.  While it is impossible to create a curriculum for each student, it is very possible to modify the curriculum to fit the needs of each student.  These two readings both emphasized the fact that all students are different, specifically struggling readers and writers.  Many teachers group struggling readers and writers into one category, the “low” readers and writers, and don’t differentiate beyond that.  However, a teacher must understand where each student struggles (as well as succeeds).  As the article points out, there are six different types of struggling readers and writers…and each need different skills reinforced.  Therefore, it is not fair to these students to group them and teach them all the same way.  In my classroom, I do see this grouping going on.  Because it is mainly an AIG classroom, we have very few “low” students.  However, we do have a few and they need extra help.  My teacher rarely modifies anything for them, but when she does, it is all the same.  Whether they are especially slow readers, have trouble decoding words, or cannot write complete sentences, they all receive the same modifications.  I hadn’t really thought much of this until I read this chapter and article.  This is something that I will have to work on in the spring.  I’m not quite sure how to modify for so many different needs, but I know it needs to be done and can be done.  I’ll guess I’ll just try different things until I figure out what works!

                There were several teaching strategies in Chapter 12 that I really enjoyed reading about.  First was the after-recess reading group in Ms. Elrod’s 4^th grade classroom.  After recess, she writes a list of names on the board to read/work with her for 15 minutes.  The group is mixed with readers of all levels.  While they are with her they read easy, fun books so that the lower readers can become more confident in their reading.  She makes sure that the lower readers are a part of the group more often than the higher readers.  I think this is a great way to boost the students’ confidence in reading, in a nonthreatening setting.  I would love to try this is my classroom.  Another thing that I really liked was the flow chart of comprehension-monitoring behavior.  I think it is a great way for students to monitor their own reading.  However, like anything in the classroom, I do think this would take a lot of explaining and modeling how to use before it is implemented.  I also think it could be cut down a bit, depending on the grade level.  I just really like the idea of students being able to take control of their learning, and I think this is one way to do that.  Another thing that I liked in this chapter was the buddy reading partnerships during Independent Reading time.  I often see students in my 4^th graders sitting around during IR time, looking out the window or playing with pens in their desk.  I’m not sure exactly the reason for this, but it very well may be because some of them do not enjoy reading or struggle with it.  The buddy partnerships allow students to read together, ensuring that everyone is reading and learning from each other.  By pairing up students of different reading abilities, the higher ability student can act as a model for the lower ability student.  I think this is a great way to get everyone reading during IR time.  All three of these teaching strategies are things I plan on trying with my students this spring.  They seem like simple, yet beneficial ways of learning for the students.

Science-Haw River Visit #3 Reflection

Haw River with 4^th Graders

                Working with the 4^th graders at Haw River last Monday was a great experience.  The students seemed to really enjoy the experiment.  What amazed me with this particular group was how much prior knowledge the students had.  Even those students who didn’t know much about parachutes had ideas, based on prior knowledge, about what would make the parachutes fall more slowly and why.  This was what stood out to me as being so different from the second and third graders.  It seemed as though the younger students made predictions based on their own ideas, rather than prior knowledge.  The 4^th graders, on the other hand, always had a reason why they were predicting something.  It was because of something they had seen, done, read about, or been taught.  It was wonderful to see this! 

                The experiment itself went really well.  We decided to start the lesson a bit differently than we had with the third graders.  Instead of simply showing the students pictures of parachutes and discussing them, we had the students draw a picture of what they thought parachutes looked like.  We also had them write a sentence or two beneath their pictures describing why parachutes are useful.  This was a great way to start the lesson because it got them thinking about what they had seen, heard, or experienced before.  It also stretched their thinking because the answer was not right in front of them…they had to think about it.  Throughout the rest of the lesson, the students loved making predictions and participating in the execution of the experiment.  They worked very well as a team, compromising and sharing ideas.  This really impressed me. 

                As a whole, I think the lesson with the 4^th graders went very well.  They were interested, engaged, and seemed to fully grasp the concepts.  Of the grades we have worked with, I think this experiment worked best with the 4^th graders because they were able to bring so much prior knowledge to it.  It helped them stay interested as well as understand the content at a higher level.  I would love to do this experiment with my 4^th graders this spring!

Literacy-Chapter 8 of Literate Lives

Chapter 8 Reflection

                Chapter 8 of Literate Lives talks about the 4 Resource Model in the intermediate and upper elementary grades.  This was helpful for me because I had been wondering what this type of literacy learning would look like in my 4^th grade classroom.  This chapter gave me several good ideas and tips for the classroom.  For example, I loved the idea of using ‘word hunts’ to improve code breaking strategies.  As the text points out, code breaking is less decoding and more understanding word patterns in the upper elementary grades.  Word hunts are a way to further the knowledge that children gain when doing word sorts by word patterns.  After doing a word sort (or studying word patterns), students return to texts they are reading to find words that also fit the pattern.  I think this is great because it not only reinforces the word pattern but also encourages students to take a closer look at the texts they are reading.  It’s a simple activity, but one that seems very beneficial to the students. 

                Chapter 8 also talks a lot about fluency.  Fluency according to the text, is a topic that has been put in the forefront of classrooms since NCLB.  In my classroom I see my teacher constantly doing fluency checks with the students to monitor their improvement.  The issue that I have with focusing on fluency so much is that it often encourages students to speed through what they are reading, without comprehending it.  I see this all the time in my classroom.  Students know that they will move up reading levels if they can read quickly, so they read just to read and not to comprehend.  While I do think that reading at a relatively quick pace is important, I wish more of a focus was placed on comprehension and less on speed reading.  When I asked my case study student what made a good reader he said, “Someone who reads well….reads fast.”  I asked him if he thought understanding the text made a difference, and he said, “Not really…maybe I guess.” 

                Another topic this chapter covered was how students determine if a book they are reading is too difficult or just right.  The text suggested that the students ask the following three questions, “Do I understand what this book is about?”, “Do I feel like a strong reader”, and “Can I read this book without stumbling over words?”  I like this because I think it is so important that students are able to find books that they are comfortable reading without the assistance of an adult.  In my classroom, the students use the 5 finger rule.  They start by putting up 5 fingers and begin reading the first page.  For every word that they stumble over, they put down one finger.  At the end of the first or second page (depending on the amount of text on the pages) the students look at how many fingers they have left up.  If they have one or no fingers up, the book is too difficult for them.  If they have two or three fingers up, the book is at their instructional level so is one they could read with a teacher or partner.  If they have four or five fingers up, the book is just right for them.  While this little rule is not perfect, is does help the students pick a book that they are comfortable reading.  Whether it is a rule like this or asking the questions the book offers, teaching the students a way to find a book they are comfortable reading is important.  We want them to enjoy what they are reading, not be frustrated by it!

Literacy-Chapter 11 of Literate Lives

Chapter 11 Reflection

Chapter 11 discusses various different topics including using inquiry-based learning in the literacy classroom and the importance of bringing nonfiction texts into the classroom.  Inquiry-based learning is something that we have been discussing in detail in both our math and science classrooms.  The inquiry-based curriculum for literacy centers on the idea that students guide the learning.  The students ask questions that form the foundation for the topic the class studies.  Even with everything that we have read about inquiry-based learning, I still have a hard time understanding how it works.  I like the idea of students studying information that they are interested in and bringing multiple disciplines and ways of learning into a unit.  However, I would like to see this implemented in a classroom to understand how it works.  Regarding literacy, I’m wondering where in an inquiry-based curriculum you would spend time studying grammar.  Also, would you have several inquiry units going at one time, for example in literacy, science, and math?  Or would you integrate literacy, science, and math into one big inquiry unit?  I would really love to see how it all fits into a daily schedule.

 Nonfiction texts are so important for children because they introduce them to real-life events, situations, objects, and people.  However, they are too often left out of the classroom.  I am fortunate to be in a classroom where there are several book baskets devoted to different types of nonfiction texts.  When I visit other classrooms, however, I rarely see nonfiction texts in the reading area.  When I do see nonfiction texts, they are usually Magic Schoolbus books.  While these books are wonderful, they should not be the only nonfiction texts children read.  My 4^th graders love reading nonfiction texts because they love learning about new things.  They are constantly picking up the National Geographic magazines, Eyewitness books, and books on animals from our reading area.  When we read nonfiction texts in our guided reading time, the students love reading them.  They have tons of questions and love researching more about the topic after reading the book.  The nonfiction topics not only get the students interested in reading, but also introduce new information to them that they can then look further into if they choose to.  They also mix literacy with science, social studies, and math in an interesting, engaging way.  I think they are incredibly valuable in the classroom and should be used just as often as fiction books.

Science Technology Resource

http://megsparkie.edu.glogster.com/michelle-1/

Above is the link for a glogster poster that I created on North Carolina’s Endangered Animals.  Glogster would be a great site for both teachers and students to use in the classroom.  Teachers could create a glogster that shows key information from a unit, that acts like a study guide, or that poses questions for students to think about.  Students could create a glogster in place of a poster, brochure, or as a cluminating assessment.  Glogster is simple and fun to use, and is a great resource for teachers and students.

Literacy Reflection-Chapters 6 and 7 of Literate Lives

 Chapter 6 of Literate Lives discusses emergent literacy, what it is, and how to promote it in the classroom.  Much of this chapter was a review from last year’s literacy courses.  However, what I found to be very useful were the “Invitation for the Classroom” sections, several of which I would love to try in my classroom.  The first “Invitation for the Classroom” section that I really like is the one titled “A Hunting We Will Go”.  This talks about using a song with a basic rhyming pattern to teach rhyming.  It has the students identify rhyming words in the song, and then create their own lines following the same pattern to add to the song.  I think this is a great way to introduce rhyming to young children.  Another “Invitation for the Classroom” section that I like is the “Monthly Memory Poster”.  Monthly Memory Posters are expressions of children’s language and literacy development.  They can include samples of their writings and drawings, favorite poems, pictures of special guests, photographs of classroom experiences, etc.  I love this idea because it allows students to see how they have grown as a reader and writer over the course of the year.  I think it is important for students because they will be more encouraged to continue to word hard if they can concretely see how their hard work has paid off so far.  This is a great idea!  The last “Invitation for the Classroom” idea that I really like is the “Creating a D-LEA” suggestion.  D-LEA refers to the digital language experience approach, where students and teachers use digital pictures and writing software to compose digital language experience stories.  The “Invitation for the Classroom” section on this topic gives step-by-step instructions on how to use this in the classroom.  I like it because it allows students to take complete ownership of their stories, from beginning to end.  It also brings technology into the classroom in an engaging, useful way.  This is something I would love to try in my future classroom.

I really enjoyed reading Chapter 7 of Literate Lives because it gave very useful information on how young readers learn to read and write.  I had never heard of Luke and Freebody’s four reading practices before, but I think they are very helpful to consider when planning for a literacy lesson.  They stress the importance of teaching code breaking strategies, teaching the students how to be participants in the text, teaching students how to be good users of text, and encouraging students to think critically about the text. Regularly incorporating all four of these text interactions into literacy helps students to become more adept readers, writers, and thinkers.  Thinking back to my literacy classes in elementary school, I think more emphasis was placed on the code breaking and text using, than on text participant and critical practices.  It is important that when we begin teaching, we remember the importance of all four types of interaction, and don’t focus too heavily on one.  I will try to incorporate each of the four in my literacy lessons. 

 This chapter also talked about the benefits of reading and writing workshops.  Through these workshops students have the opportunity to hear and interact with text, learn new ways to understand text, practice incorporating new skills into their reading and writing, converse with their teacher about their reading and writing, and take ownership in their reading and writing.  These workshops are well-rounded, and provide opportunities for all types of students to learn.  Having read about literacy workshops in both this text and our Growing Readers text, I look forward to using them in my classroom next year!

Educ 516-Differentiation Resource

 http://www.help4teachers.com/articles.htm

 I found a fantastic site filled with all sorts of information on differentiation!  It includes 5 great (and short!) articles on what differentiation is, what its benefits are, how to implement it in your classroom, rules of thumb to avoid making common mistakes, and how to grade student-centered assignments.  This websites lays out exactly how to start using differentiation in your classroom.  It suggests starting with small, 2 or 3 day units, using the “daily method”.  This allows you to begin your lesson with whole class instruction.  That way every student is getting the same instruction.  After the lesson, students are then given an option of assignments to complete.  When starting out, the author recommends giving the students just 2 or 3 assignment choices.  It is also important to assign due dates for the first several units.  Students are not accustomed to having flexible deadlines, nor are they used to having more freedom in their assignments, so starting off with this “daily method” helps ease them into the new style of learning. 

 I also loved reading the article on the common mistakes to avoid when implementing differentiation for the first time.  These mistakes include staying at your desk and having the students come to you for assistance, trying to tackle a lengthy unit, trying to implement too much student-centered learning time (and not include enough whole class instruction), and trying to offer too many assignment choices.  These are all things that I could easily see myself doing with my first attempt at a differentiated unit.  It is so helpful to know of them ahead of time and know strategies for avoiding them. 

 The article on how to assess student-centered assignments was very helpful.  It suggested using rubrics to grade student work.  It also recommended using a common rubric form for the basic ‘types’ of assignments (such as poster, book work, reports, videos, labs, etc).  This makes it simpler when grading assignments, as well as when creating them.  The author also included seven different rubrics that she uses in her classroom.  These are very useful as they give examples of what a rubric for a differentiated task should look like. 

 I have really enjoyed learning about differentiation in our education courses because it is such an important concept.  However, prior to reading these articles, I had a difficult time seeing differentiation used in ways other than centers.  I plan on using centers and stations, as described by Tomlinson, as often as I can.  I love the idea of having learning stations to reinforce a single topic, and having centers to incorporate different content areas and learning styles.  However, I know that I will not be able to do this all of the time because of curriculum and time restraints, nor will it be most beneficial to do this all the time.  Instead, I will need to do a good deal of direct instruction.  The “daily method” suggested by this author is a great way to incorporate differentiated assignments into whole class instruction.  I am so grateful to have found these articles.  They were all very useful, as they provide practical, concise information on differentiation.  I highly recommend reading them!

Literacy Reflection on Chapter 9 in Literate Lives and Chapter 3 in Growing Readers

Chapter 9 of Literate Lives discusses different types of assessments used in today’s schools.  While I believe that there should be a balance between the number of standardized, traditional assessments and informal, authentic assessments, there does not seem to be.  Because of NCLB and the focus on district scores, there is a huge focus on standardized tests.  Students are constantly taking benchmark tests that are made up entirely of multiple choice questions.  They are tested on material that is not made by their teacher, but instead by the curriculum directors for the district.  Thus, the material is often not worded or presented in a way that they were taught.  My students recently took their first benchmarks for math, reading, and science.  While most of them did quite well, they all complained of the questions.  They wanted more thought-provoking questions, like those my teacher asked in class.  Instead, they were stuck with the traditional ‘best answer’ questions.  As the text points out, these assessments are high stakes assessments that matter more to the district officials and heads of schools, than to the students themselves.  It is so sad to me that students are required to take so many of these throughout the school year.  My 4^th graders will have taken over 12 benchmark/EOGs by the end of the school year.  Luckily, my teacher uses more authentic assessments in the classroom.  For reading, she does many running records and informal reading assessments.  For math, she uses group work and independent work to assess her own teaching.  For science and social studies, she uses experiments and projects to asses the students’ learning of the material.  Her hope is that she can create some sort of balance between the standardized tests that the students are required to take every quarter, and the informal, authentic assessments she gives in class. 

Chapter 3 of Growing Readers was a very useful chapter because the author explained, step by step, how she plans for her reading units of study.  I really like the idea of creating units of study in reading, because it makes the material more manageable.  It also gives a flow to reading time, which is important for the students.  When planning for her units of study, the author uses backward planning which we have discussed in class.  I really like the idea of backward planning because it forces you to think about the big picture:  what are the students going to learn in the end.  I think when teachers plan without the big picture and essential questions in mind they tend to go off track and end up teaching a unit that contains so much information, that the key information is difficult to pick out.  I also love that the author encourages grade level collaboration.  In my current teaching placement, the 4^th grade teachers are not incredibly fond of planning together.  In fact, they were told last week by the literacy coach that they are now required to plan together for literacy, and several teachers were quite upset.  They feel that they do better when planning on their own and like it because it takes less time.  However, I think it is worth it to take a little extra time to plan if it means that you get the input of four or five teachers rather than just one.  Even if you are an amazing teacher, there is inevitably going to be something that you don’t think about that another teacher will.  Brainstorming lesson ideas together is simply a smart idea.  I hope to be lucky enough to teach in a school where the teachers are encouraged to, and enjoy, collaborating with planning. 

 

Haw River Visit #2-Parachute Lesson with 3rd Graders

Haw River Visit #2-Third Grade Students

            At our first visit to Haw River in September, my group and I did not have a great experience with our 2^nd graders and the Bubble experiment.  We did not feel as though the students got a good understanding of the concepts, nor did we feel very confident in our execution of the experiment.  As a result, I was a bit hesitant going in to Haw River last Monday.  However, I was very pleasantly surprised!

            The Parachute activity that we did with the 3^rd graders was quite a success.  We began by introducing parachutes-what are they, what are they used for, etc.  We showed them pictures of different kinds of parachutes which really helped them in their understanding of how they worked.  We then told them that they were going to get to create their own parachutes, with the goal of them dropping as slowly as possible.  We put them in groups of 3 and they worked on their parachutes for quite some time.  I was amazed at how well they thought through how they should design the parachute in order for it to fall slowly.  When they were finished, one person from each group dropped the parachutes.  We provided them with a chart to record their data, which they loved doing!  The only issue we came upon was that they did not know what ‘taking the average’ or ‘the mean/average’ was.  When we realized this, we decided to have them look at the data for each fall and compare it to the others.  This worked well, given the circumstances.  Then we talked with them about their results.  One student suggested that we change the shape of the parachute to make it fall more slowly.  So, we had each group pick a shape to use for their new parachute.  One chose a circle and the other a square.  They then completed the second trial just as the first.  After the second trial was completed, they had so many great ideas as to what was happening.  One student had the idea that it wasn’t the shape that caused the parachute to fall slowly or quickly, but how big or small the parachute was.  Several of the students suggested making the parachute bigger in order to make it fall more slowly.  They said that making it bigger would provide more space under the parachute for the air to push it up.  I was so surprised, and yet very pleased, with this idea!  We then introduced the concept of surface area, and they got it almost right away.  Laura then suggested that we continue the experiment as a whole group, by creating a really big parachute.  We placed two square plastic bags together, increasing the surface area, and carried out the experiment just as we had the others.  The students again had great observations and ideas, and realized that it was indeed the surface area that affected the rate at which the parachute fell.  They knew that when the surface area was greater, more air could go under the parachute to push it up. 

I was so impressed that the students arrived at these conclusions from their own exploration, rather than us telling it to them.  I learned from this experiment not to underestimate children’s abilities.  Based on the Bubble experiment, I would never have suggested doing an experiment this difficult with 3^rd graders at the same school.  However, this group of students was fully capable to successfully completely the experiment, and they thoroughly enjoyed it.  I look forward to doing the experiment with 4^th graders in a few weeks!

ELL-Support in my 4th Grade Placement

ELL Reflection #2-ELL support in my 4^th Grade Teaching Placement

I have three ELLs in my 4^th grade this year.  They are considered an “ESL cluster”.  While they are ELLs, they are quite proficient in English and have few problems with the spoken language.  However, their issues lie in their writing.  Unfortunately, they do not get any support that I have seen from their teacher.  Part of this is because there is little to no writing done in the classroom.  I do think that several strategies would benefit these students.  For example, they need assistance in building basic sentences.  None of them know to capitalize the first letter of the sentence or to punctuate the end.  They also do not understand how to use verbs and nouns.  I think the teacher should be spending their guided reading time (they are all in the same group) focusing on their writing since this is where they need the most help.  Perhaps they could be reading mentor texts to help with their writing, rather than leveled readers that do little for them.  Until they become more proficient in their writing, I think they should be allowed to write 3 sentence paragraphs instead of 5, and use simpler sentences.  As it is, they are required to write 5-7 sentence paragraphs, and none of their sentences make any sense.  It is clear they do not know the basics that are needed to form sentences and this makes them very frustrated.  I also think they could benefit from peer editing as well as dialogue journals (back and forth with the teacher).  Finally, I think their teacher needs to spend one-on-one time with them periodically throughout the week to touch base on their writing and reinforce basic skills.  I would love to know more strategies to help with writing, because they could definitely use them!