Veronica's Week 11 Post

On page 235 of our course pack, I found great information that explained a Critical Literacy. It states that critical literacies "involve people using language to exercise power, to enhance everyday life in schools and communities, and to question practices of privilege and injustice". Within the two pages of our course pack, there are numerous examples that teachers can authentically use a critical literacy within their lessons. As I read the pages, I first thought of my class lesson on discussion. For my lesson, I read the book tittled The Story of Ruby Bridges (picture book), I also used the book Through My Eyes (autobiography) to add a real-life event connection from the picture book to the autobiography. During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, Ruby Bridges was among one of the first African American students in Louisiana to attend a desegregated school. For our discussion, students were able to make text to self connections about challenges and difficulties they have experienced in their lives as did Ruby Bridges. During the school year, students in my field placement are learning 10 characteristic traits. For my lesson, students wrote a letter to Ruby Bridges about a time they had perseverance like her.

I think many grade levels can benefit from having centers used in their classrooms. This can be done not only for Literacy but for other subjects such as Math as the article suggested, and for Science and Social Studies as well. It is important to make center activities hands-on to provide students with opportunities for meaningful active involvment and not busy work. Activities should meet the needs and abilities of students within the classroom. To have centers, it must take a significant amount of planning from teachers and also maintain classroom norms for students to stay on task.

Jami's Week 11 Post

“Critical literacy is an active, reflective manner of reading texts in order to better understand power, inequality, and injustice in human relationships. For the purposes of critical literacy, text is defined as a “vehicle through which individuals communicate with one another using the codes and conventions of society”. Accordingly, songs, novels, conversations, pictures, movies, etc. are all considered texts.” 1 I think this would be a great way to teach students different tasks. It seems that children learn better through song or through pictures or movies. For example the ABC’s-is a song, the Magic School Bus series, which is shown in almost every elementary school. When students have conversations with each other about what they have learned they seem to grasp the concept much better, having talked about it with someone else. Students respond well to these types of “texts” and I have seen proof of this in my placement.

According to the Literacy for the 21st Century book, Basal Reading Programs are comprehensive core reading programs. They are scientifically-based reading programs. The Reading First legislation demands that reading programs in Kindergarten through 3rd grade are based on scientifically-based reading research. In my field placement the program that my students use I believe is Reading First. I have read through some of the books that they use and they seem to cover a wide variety of content and really touch on different aspects of fluency such as: phonemic awareness instruction, systematic explicit phonics instruction, fluency instruction, vocabulary instruction, and text comprehension instruction. When I taught my lesson I used the teachers guide to find a story for the students. In that guide there was a great deal of instruction and ideas that teachers could use based on fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, etc.. I thought this was great because it allows for the teacher to gain ideas from the book as well as use her own. It really guides you as a teacher which would be wonderful for first year teachers just getting the feel for this stuff. The basal reading programs have many different components and are very expensive. They are sold directly to school districts and the schools use them as they please. I think it is important that all districts use the same reading program so all of the students are on the same level. Once they get to middle school they will all be together and will all be expected to know the same information.

(1) Robinson, E., & Robinson, S. (2003). What does it mean? Discourse, Text, Culture: An Introduction. Sydney: McGraw-Hill Book Company, p. 3.

Jamis Week 10 Post

Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry-Mini Vocabulary Lesson

After presenting these vocabulary words to students, have them make a chart like the one shown below. Ask them to list each word in the first column. Then students should think about their familiarity with each word and make a check in the appropriatecolumn. If they can define the word, they should write the definition in the next column. Once the charts are completed, invite those who can define a word to do so for the rest of the class. Challenge these volunteers to use the words in sentences. Then direct students who did not previously check the second column to write the word's meaning in that column. After reviewing all the words, encourage students to go back and circle in red any words that they are still not sure of.

meticulously
penchant
verandah
morosely
dubious
obnoxious
raucous
fallow
careened
exasperation
despondently
chignon
acrid
ashen
malevolently
knell
amenities
subdued
emaciated
shroud
proprietor
disposition
temerity
snidely
concession
monotonous
reprimand
plantation
noncommittal
maverick
crescendo
boycott
languidly
flaunting
chiffonier
insolently
reverberated
adamantly
resiliency
feigned
lethargically
imperiously

Mini Vocab Lesson

Hi again :)

Story: The Ugly Garden by Grace Lin

Vocabulary Words: Garden, blooming, prickly, muscles, aroma, scent, trade

Using main vocabulary from the story (see above), I will have students look up these words using a dictionary. Once students record the definitions on a sheet of paper; they will use the words in sentences so I can make sure they understand the meanings. We will then read the story together and stop at the vocabulary words. When I stop, I will call on a student to share what the meaning is. Once we finish the story, we will talk about the vocabulary words in the context.

Veronica's comment: I think its so great you are using dictionary with young learners, second graders! It allows for a teaching opportunity for students to learn "how to" use the dictionary, alphabetical order or one word may have many definitions and students must decide which definition fits the context of the book they are reading. In addition to having students write their own sentences, they can also draw a picture representing the definition of the word. This will further extend their understanding of each word they are learning about. I like how you plan to stop at each vocabulary word and discuss its meaning in the book.

Veronica's Week 10 Post

Topic: Content Related Vocabulary Words
Grade: Second grade
Time: 45 minutes to 1 hour

Introduce the topic: Book- The Valentine Bears by Eve Bunting will be read the day before Valentine's Day. Before story is read, students will be asked to look at the cover and predict using context clues from the picture to tell what the story will be about.

Share Examples: Students and I will make a text to self connection that as bears need to hibernate and get their rest during the whole winter season. Humans need their daily rest of 6-8 hours of sleep everyday.

Provide Information: I can also provided additional information to students about bears and hibernating through informational text. There will also be information text at their reading level so the students can read on their own as well. Together, we will explain and determine the meaning of each words that pertain to bears and their environments.

Guided Practice: At centers, students will be able to use word sorts within the vocabulary presented. They can determine which word fits in the group based on their meaning. Students will also have a cut and paste of matching, this page will also include space to write a few words that describe the picture.

Assess Learning: Learning assessment will be done in students' writing journal. During the last day of the week or when the mini lesson on bears is over, students will have a morning journal message to write their Kindergarten reading buddy, everything they know about Bears. Students will be informed to include the vocabulary they learned. I will be assessing whether or not students used the vocabulary correctly and if they understood the definitions.

Jami's Comment:
First of all I love the idea of the bears and how you associated it with Valentines Day. Very cute! I really think that this is something that students really enjoy and from what I have witnessed they pay more attention when reading books that deal with a holiday or some event taking place. I did a lesson not too long ago that dealt with text to self connections. They seemed to do pretty well with this. It is very important for students to be able to see text to self connections. I also think when they see something in a character that has to do with themselves they comprehend the book much better. I think word sorts are a good idea when working with young children. This helps with vocabulary in your case, but also comprehension. If students are cutting and pasting words or phrases they have to have some sense in what they are doing. For comprehension the students could cut out words or themes from the book and place them in the correct order. This way students are being forced to think about the book and sequencing in a fun way. I also like the idea of having the Kindergarten reading buddies. I think it is very important for children to be able to talk through what they have learned. They may be able to write it out-or put words or phrases in order, but do they really understand it? By having them explain it to someone else it forces them to think about it and express what they have learned. This is great for both the Kindergartner and Second grader. I think this also forms a type of friendship between the two. Cute idea, I really like it!! :)

Veronica's Week 9 Post

Reading fluency can be taught in Book Club in various ways by allowing students to pick their favorite passages, quotes or paragraphs from the book they are reading and practice rereading it 3-5 times. This can improve students' reading speed, decrease the number of errors they make, allows for students to chunk words into meaningful phrases and read with more expression (175). It is also interesting to learn that researchers have found that through repeated reading, students will deepen their comprehension of the book they reread; in this case the book used in Book Club. In my field placement, the second grade students have kindergarten reading buddies which they will read to every Friday afternoon. They often choose books they have read before in their guided reading groups; this allows for an additional opportunity for students to practice words they are learning during their Language Arts instruction. Through guided reading, teachers can assess students' word identification and fluency or by asking them to think aloud and explain how they used decoding to spell a particular word.

In this chapter (Chap. 5- Literacy for the 21st Century), I also found very interesting that word walls are used not only in primary grades but in upper grades as well. This chapter states, second grade teachers often begin the year with the easier half of the high frequency words already on the word wall and they add 50 to 75 more words during the school year (158). Teachers in upper grades can create word walls of common words students need to learn as well as words that students often misspell or confuse with other words.

Jami's Week 9 Post

In Tompkin’s article on Developing Fluent Reader’s there is a great deal of discussion about word walls. I especially liked the idea of making a word wall that revolves around a topic that the students are working on. This way when they write about that specific topic they can refer to the wall for words to use and how to spell them. Most teachers use word walls that have high frequency words for the younger grades and most teachers add more words per week. In my placement I have noticed that my CT has a word wall which is in alphabetic order. She had this word wall posted at the beginning of the year and I don’t think she has added to it thus far. Teaching word recognition is very important. There are different ways in doing this a teacher can: introduce the words in context, have children clap and chant the words, have children practice reading and writing the words and finally have them read and write the words. When assessing student’s word identification and fluency it is important to look for accuracy, reading speed, and prosody. I have noticed that my students in field are very accurate in their reading. Their reading speed is something that needs work as well as their prosody. They do not read very fast and they just “read”. They do not really read with any emphasis, use expression or include punctuation while reading. It just seems as if they are reading one giant sentence. It is important for students to practice their reading-having daily opportunities to do so. In order to increase their reading speed the students need to practice reading aloud at their level. They should practice 3-5 times with the same book. While teaching prosody a teacher should show students how to chunk parts of sentences and read with real expression. This all just takes practice.

One mini-lesson that could be taught with our book club book would involve having centers in which the students can discuss the book with their classmates and/or do small activities involving both fluency and the book Roll Of Thunder Hear My Cry.

Topic: Roll of Thunder Centers
Grade: 5th
Time: 60 minutes

Introduce the topic:
Students go to one of the 4 centers. They are as follows: Retelling Center (the students talk to each other and retell what they have read thus far in the book), Word Sort Center (Students-on their own- pick out words from what they have read so far that they do not know the meaning of and define them), Writing Center (the students are given a prompt and they are to write about it, this prompt will be on some issue of the book), and with each letter of the title of the book ROLLOFTHUNDER, the students choose a word beginning with each letter and write one sentence (that makes sense) with that one word they chose for each letter.

Share Examples:
After centers are complete students will share with each other what they came up with in their centers. This way they practice reading aloud as well as public speaking.

Provide Information:
In the first center I can explain to the children why it is important to recall events of a story which involves having good reading comprehension. In the word sort center I can show students that there are words in the book in which they may not know and also how to look them up. In the writing center I can demonstrate for the students what they need to write and how they need to write it. I can write up an example paragraph for them to get an idea of what I expect. With the last center I can also demonstrate for them how to do it. This helps students with fluency and word recognition and sentence formation. For example R= Remember to do your chores.
O= Once you have your coat on, please go to the car.
L= Leave your shoes at the door.
L= Learn a new language tomorrow.

Guided Practice:
Each child will share their work with the class. With this I will point out what they did really well so others are able to see and demonstrate the same thing. I will be showing them and guiding them through the centers and how to do each one.

Assess Learning:
After each child shares their work I will collect them and re-evaluate everything. I will have folders that each child is assigned to and this is where they will keep their work until I collect it. This is how I will assess their learning and make sure they are staying on task and doing the right amount of work.

Veronica's Comment: I am so glad you mentioned "word walls". I have only seen this used in my first grade field placement for TE 301. Since I was in the classroom during literacy centers, I was able to see the students develop writing and reading comprehension skills. There were many times that the students would ask how a word was spelled, therefore, I am not so certain they were aware of their word wall or why it was there. It would be so beneficial if your CT added WORDS to the word wall in the classroom, its an ongoing process to have students recognize these high frequency words. Everything that you mentioned above is a great way to clarify high frequency words that are easily confused as well as it gives students more practice with them.
To help your second grade students become fluent readers they can have more practice with a reading of their choice, this way they are very familiar with the text and are able to distinguish difference in the tone. Have you seen opportunities where students read along with their teacher? This also helps promote reading fluency.

Jamis Week 8 Post

In the beginning of Tompkins, Facilitating Students’ Comprehension: Text Factors there were different ways described in which students begin learning and different comprehension strategies. I have noticed that KWL charts work well. This is a great way for you to figure out what your students know and what they don’t know. It then discusses having student write in their learning logs. I also think this a great because it lets students reflect back on what they had just done, without having to talk in front of the class. In placement my students have a writing journal, but they just use it in their free time. I think it would be useful for students to use their journals to write questions and analyze their work. I also think that writing groups would be very useful to have in the classroom. These writing groups are used for proof reading of others work and revising. This is helpful for students because it lets them catch others mistakes while having to recognize what the mistakes are.

There was also another section describing stories consisting of a beginning, middle, and end. In placement my students are currently working on stories and how to write them. We have a writing specialist who comes in and works with the children. She said that it is never good to have the students (when they are first learning to write stories) do the entire thing. You should start out with the beginning and have them work on that, and that only. The entire week you should have students writing beginning of stories describing to them how to do it, what kinds of words need to be used (nouns, verbs, etc.), and have them draw a picture of the beginning part of the story. This lady brought in different colored paper with nouns and verb; nouns were purple and verbs were green. When the students used either a noun or a verb they used the corresponding colored pen. These lists had a selection of words for students to use so they don’t spend the entire time writing trying to think of words. This was a great idea because there are so many times where I find the students just sitting and trying to think of a specific word, or how to spell it. With the sheets they know both and can’t waste time. The following week you work on middles of stories and then the week after that the end. Once students have all of the beginning, middle, and ends complete; they can form their own story with all of the components. I have to get more information on this technique because it is new to our school, but I thought it was great.

Veronica's comment: I am glad that this chapter started with the class using a KWL chart and later followed up explaining what it was and how it is beneficial in the classroom. I was not aware what a KWL chart was until someone mentioned it in our Social Studies methods class. As these are used in classrooms, it would be great to make a big KWL chart and display it in the hallway. This way, parents and visitors can see what the students are studying and what information they have found. Frequent writing promotes fluent writers, so essentially your CT wants her students to use this journal as an opportunity for unassisted practice of writing.
What a great opportunity your class is experiencing to have someone come in and help them with story writing. I know that young learners have the tendency to want to tell stories but at times they have no correlation to what the teacher is discussing, or these stories seem to have no end. Your second graders are now able to see the steps they must take to develop a story that has details and a plot. I wonder if the students are having trouble piecing together the information? Do they start one story at the beginning and change it to another one at mid story?

Veronica's Week 8 Post

Comprehension is a thinking process that involves a series of behaviors that occur over time (Tompkins, 223). For students, the comprehension process begins as they preread or preview the text to activate their prior knowledge and continues to develop as they read the text, respond to reading logs during book club as well as explore new ideas or feelings from the text. Students may also apply their readings from Book Club and make “connections to their own background knowledge-including knowledge of the world, cultural knowledge, and knowledge of the generic structure” (Gibbons, 81).

Comprehension is taught in Book Club through the 8 comprehension strategies that teachers use to guide their students’ reading. The 8 comprehension strategies are: Predicting, Connecting, Visualizing, Questioning, Identifying the Big Ideas, Summarizing, Monitoring and Evaluating (Tompkins, Figure 7-2, 229). As I read chapter 7 in Literacy for the 21st Century: A Balanced Approach, I felt that many of the Reading Log squares in our course packet directly correlated to the comprehension strategies stated in this textbook. For example, Questioning; “activates background knowledge and students make predictions before reading, to engage with the text and clarify confusions during reading and to evaluate and reflect on the text and the characters’ experiences after reading”, can be used as a “Questions For My Group” Reading Log, “Sometimes there are things in the story that I wonder about. I can write questions to ask my group so they can help me to understand the story better. Sometimes I might write questions to ask my group members how they feel about the story or a certain part of the story” (course pack, 94)

As I finished this chapter, I enjoyed reading that teachers can create an expectation of comprehension when students are involved in authentic reading and writing activities every day, my field placement students write in their journals every day on various topics. I read them poetry book of my own and they enjoyed this very much, this can be seen as “have students read and write in a variety of genres”, though they may need additional practice in creating their poems. Another strategy, teachers can create an expectation of comprehension is by “providing students access to well-stocked classroom libraries”. I can not wait for summer to come so I can start buying tons of books at garage sales, though book orders or borrow them from the public library.

Jami's Comment:
I was JUST thinking the same exact thing today. I too can not wait for summer so I am able to go to garage sales and buy children's books. For some reason children's books really excite me, and I find at times I would rather spend my money on children's books than anything else. Last summer I went to garage sales and got some really good deals on tons of books. I just heard last week, that children's books are growing the most in regards to book sales and book stores are constantly expanding their children's sections because the books are in such high demand. I was very excited to hear this, because it tells me that children are becoming more and more involved in reading and parents and teachers both are beginning to incorporate books into children's everyday lives! Anyways, I also found the information about the book clubs interesting-but that is probably because that is what we are currently working on in class. But I do think that they are a great way for children to reflect on the chapters that they have read and I think it will keep children engaged in the reading. If they were told to read a book-and in 2 weeks they would have to write a report on it, I can almost garentee that half (if not more) of the children would read the book at the last minute and do a poor job on their reports-not really getting anything from it. Book clubs make it so children have to keep up with the book and are able to talk with their peers about what they are reading. It is even fun for us to read a couple chapters and then discuss it, especially if there was something in the book that made youreally happy or really angry; such as chapter 5 in Roll of Thunder. In field I have noticed that the children read with my CT but don't do much of a "book club" style of reading/writing. Now, I am only in a second grade classroom so they would have to read a book that is on their level and have writing prompts that are also on their level.