One Hen

I taught my literacy lesson the week after spring break. That being said, please forgive my short memory and inability to give a full and detailed summary/description of what occurred. Rather than present a full synopsis of my lesson (which would be quite boring, long, and dull, I’m sure) I’m going to briefly explain the general lesson layout, and then I will provide you with some insightful comments on the exciting, funny, surprising, and/or disconcerting outcomes of the day.

My literacy lesson was taught to a fourth grade class, and it was comprised of a read-aloud, a large class discussion (occurring before, during, and after the reading), small group discussions, and a written activity. The story book I read was entitled One Hen and it was an exceptionally well-written TRUE story about an African boy who encountered many obstacles, worked hard, became educated, persevered, and despite his many struggles, became the most successful poultry farmer in all of West Africa (and in the process helped his family, community, and entire country). The written activity required the students to reflect on the story, and engage in high-level thinking. I had the students write a letter to the main character of the story (Kojo), and explain what they will/would do to help their community.

First and foremost, I’d like to say that I was blown-away by how enthusiastic and engaged my students were throughout my two day lesson. My lesson began on Friday afternoon and I completed the lesson on that subsequent Monday afternoon. The students could not wait! As soon as they saw me on Monday morning, I was bombarded with questions; “Are you finishing the story today Ms. Forstat?” and “I can’t wait to hear what happens to Kojo, Ms. Forstat!” etc. It was very endearing. Not only that, but during the discussions, every single student participated; before, during, and after the read-aloud. Normally, I have two or three students who sit back and let his/her classmates take the burden of the work…not this time! I didn’t even have to call on students; they were happily voicing their thoughts and opinions.

That being said, I was surprised as to how difficult it is to facilitate a classroom discussion; as opposed to a “recitation”. In my lesson reflection that I turned in to Judy, I went into more detail as to how much I struggled in terms of taking that step back and allowing the students to take the metaphorical steering wheel. Honestly, I’ve tended to judge teachers rather harshly for their, supposedly, lazy approach to class discussions. I was arrogant enough to believe that they (teachers) were just too “stuck in their ways” to develop a more student-led teaching approach. Well, I’d like to take this time to apologize to those teachers whom I have discourteously judged. A student-led discussion is a difficult strategy to promote and I no longer believe that it can come naturally; this will definitely be something that takes some focus, and sincere thought.

Finally, I’d like to end this post with a comment relating to my students’ innate ability to empathize with human beings who may appear (on the surface) to be different from them. Before I began my lesson, I was worried that the class wouldn’t grasp the underlying themes of my lesson. I was anxious to see how my fourth graders would handle such issues as: global citizenship, poverty and poverty alleviation, perseverance, community, and helping those less fortunate. I NEVER should have doubted their ability. The thoughts and feelings my students shared were insightful, sincere, and extremely empathetic. The fact that these fourth graders are able to understand the importance of kindness, empathy, and global citizenship, when so many adults lack these insightful characteristics, is, truly, inspiring.

By the way, in case you are interested...this website...has wonderful activities, lessons, games, and information about the book One Hen, and about the country of Ghana. Make sure your speakers are on because beautiful African music plays in the background!

Bridging the Gap

Chapter 21: “Scaffolding Vocabulary Learning - Ideas for Equity in Urban Settings”, from the text: Teaching All the Children: Strategies for Developing Literacy in an Urban Setting (written Judith A. Scott, and edited by Diane Lapp) was taken from my course-pack. I am so glad this article/chapter was assigned reading. I just finished reading and responding to the chapter concerning vocabulary form Gail E. Tompkins’ textbook and I have to say, I’m very disappointed in Gail. I’m not sure why she felt it was okay to leave out such pertinent information; that children whom are “economically or culturally outside of the mainstream…are being underserved, underfunded” (p. 471-472) and left out to dry, in terms of vocabulary learning.

It’s such a strange (yet being a teacher… familiar feeling) to go from feeling so excited about teaching one moment, to being completely deflated and saddened the next. There’s such a huge job ahead of us. As I said before, it is SO important to provide our students with as many opportunities as possible to read in school. After reading this article, I am reminded that there are students who may come to my classroom, and the reading they do with me could be the only experiences they have with books, with reading, and with writing ever. It breaks my heart. And I’m ashamed that this isn’t a constant thought in my head. I just can’t imagine a life like that. I can be as empathetic as possible for my students, but no matter how aware and educated I am, I will never have some of the experiences that they are having.

But, hopefully, because I am aware, and because I CARE, I believe that I can serve a thoroughly beneficial role in their lives. They (i.e., minority students, students from economically disadvantaged areas, students whose families are on welfare, etc.) need REPETITION, in regards to vocabulary usage; they need to be held to expectations that require them to push themselves. They have a huge gap to cross. According to the reading…“By grade seven, they were more than 2 years behind the norms [in regards to economically disadvantaged students defining literary words]” (p. 459). Since these children are not receiving the help, support, and advocacy from home, they need their teachers to do that.

These children need to understand the important of words and they need to realize that they are capable of developing a vocabulary that enables them to succeed academically. Words are tools for success and every single child should have access to those tools.

Helping EVERY Child

Helping children with learning disabilities is an essential aspect of every classroom. According to the article “How Can I Help Children with Learning Disabilities” written by Joanne F. Carlisle, there are certain steps a teacher can take when developing a classroom that accommodates ALL students. It is very important that teachers realize that teaching to students with learning disabilities is not a rare occurrence. “About 5% of school-age children are identified as having specific learning disabilities (LD). This means that in a class of 20 children, one child is likely to have a learning disability”. What this means is that we, teachers, need to be aware of the steps to take that will allow children with LDs to not only succeed, but thrive. That is our goal for our students, so why would we be comfortable settling with merely having students with LDs to “get by”. That just doesn’t seem fair to me.

As I said before, there are specific steps a teacher can take to ensure that children with learning disabilities have roper educational care. These steps are characterized by “effective communication and collaborative problem solving.” The first step a teacher should take is to identify whether or not a child has special needs and monitor that child. Teachers need to collaborate with others to prepare a proper educational environment for that child. Communication between educators, the student, and, especially, the parents is VERY important. Regular evaluations are also essential. This ensures that, if any changes occur, the student will continue to succeed. Another step that is important in fostering a caring, safe, and educational environment for a child with learning disabilities is to help that child develop a positive attitude towards themselves and their education. We need to have high expectations for these students; they can live up to them! They just need to be given the chance.

In order to successful complete these steps, teachers should be aware of the ways that they can successfully foster literacy development in their classrooms. Classroom lessons that integrate direct and indirect literacy instruction, with the incorporation of a variety of reading and writing activities that occur throughout the entire day is a very important first step. But, first and foremost, teachers need to create a classroom environment that fosters acceptance. This kind of environment will enable students will work collaboratively and respectfully with one another, and in turn, they will succeed.

Recognizing Diversity

The ability to look at your students and see everyone for who they are…the color of their skin, the language they speak, their families, their likes, dislikes, their hopes, fears…that is what separates an average teacher from an extraordinary teacher.

When we discussed the readings in class this past Tuesday, we spent time referencing two specific articles from our course pack. Those articles were entitled “Culturally Relevant Teaching” and “Seeing Color, Seeing Culture”. These two texts highlighted the importance of recognizing the huge range of knowledge and backgrounds and understandings that children bring to their classroom. In order to create meaningful and relevant lessons for your students it’s important that you see these differences. In the article “Seeing Color, Seeing Culture”, there is an excerpt that states, “I don’t really see color, I just see children” (p. 31). This idea does children a disservice. You can’t ignore a child’s background when the walk into the classroom. They bring their experiences with them everywhere they go, and by ignoring them, we are basically telling them that they don’t matter, when to them…it’s all that does.

As teachers, I believe that part of our job is to empower our students. In order to do that, we have to acknowledge who they are, and get them to know who they are.

There are multiple ways to do this, as our reading displayed. One teacher made a point to take her students on a class camping trip when the school year began, thus allowing her students to let their guards down, and be themselves, allowing her to get to know them. I would like to create projects and assignments that break down my students boundaries. I would love to have my students create digital stories about themselves that they could then present to the class. This would show me visually and orally how they view themselves. I would love to have art projects where the students could be free to creatively present a look into their lives. They could create posters, drawings, bring in a CD they made with their favorite music. They could cook something that they love to eat or that represents their culture, such as Mexican food, Italian food, absolutely anything.

There is an activity I did when I was in middle school. My teacher called it the “Name Game”. Basically, we were responsible for writing a page on our name. Who named us? Why that name? Where did our name come from? Do we like our name? Why, or why not? What are your nicknames? Etc. This was a really cool activity. I remember discussing my name and my Jewish heritage was brought up, as well as my relationship with my grandmother. You can learn a lot about a child from their name. I would love to put this activity to work in my classroom. I would add another aspect that would allow the class to present something of their own. Like a show and tell activity. They could bring in people, things, anything they wanted.

There are so many activities that would be awesome to implement in a classroom when the school year begins that would allow the students to open up with one another and begin to establish a safe, comfortable learning environment.

When I was thinking about this topic, I wanted to incorporate some sort of video or image to help support my ideas. I searched "Diversity" on YouTube, and this was the video that came up. I LOVED it. Please, listen and enjoy! lol