What GOOD readers do when they read

Oftentimes, my CT has me work with a specific student in order to help her develop her comprehension strategies, and fluency; however, this past Monday, my CT was at a conference and the substitute asked me to take over a literacy group in the back corner. Relatively speaking, the students I was working with were about average in their reading abilities. Since I was unsure of where the group was, in relation to reading their stories and completing assignments, I decided to go with the flow, and just talk to the students about their book, how they were doing, how they liked the story, etc.

Once the group, five students, were seated and attentive, I posed the following question…”What makes a student a ‘good reader’? First of all, fourth graders have strong opinions about their reading and the reading of their peers. They are well aware of who is struggling and who is over achieving. Second of all, their opinions are very worthwhile to hear and understand, and I felt strongly that having them voice their thoughts and opinions, in relation to this topic, could shed a lot of light on their thinking, and why they think a certain way. I also wanted to convey an implicit message; that is, “How you think, and feel, is important to me, and I want you to take ownership in your learning.”

The insights they provided me with, were VERY enlightening, and I want to share them with you. I think you’ll be surprised at how intuitive, thoughtful, and right on, their thinking is!

• “Good readers know why they are reading something and they don’t just read to read, they have reasons behind it.”

• “A lot of good readers will look through the book first, before they read the whole thing, and then they’ll read all of it…they look for pictures.”

• “Good readers talk to their teacher and to their friends about the book they are reading. Sometimes, they will guess what the book is about before they even read it.”

• “Sometimes, if a reader is really good, they stop and write notes about what they are reading…like, if they don’t know a word they will stop and look it up, or if they don’t get something they’ll ask questions.”

• “Good readers can read really fast, they can a whole book in, like, a day!”

• “Well, if you’re a good reader, then you can read like you talk.”

As you can see…my students had a lot to share! I wasn’t sure where this question would lead us, but it turns out, we were able to continue this discussion for a good fifteen minutes. If you look closely at their comments, you’ll see that they’re right! Everything they mentioned is one aspect of what it takes to be a good reader. I was very impressed and proud of the thoughtfulness and metacognitive thinking my students displayed. Hopefully, their ability to understand what it takes to be a successful reader will help them in their own journey towards higher reading levels.

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!

Writing: Past, Present, and Future

“Practice, practice, practice writing. Writing is a craft that requires acquired skills. You learn by doing, by making mistakes and then seeing where you went wrong.” - Jeffrey A. Carver

I thought this Jeffrey Carver quote was a fitting way to begin this post. Some may find this a surprising concept, and some may disagree entirely, but writing is a complex process. It is difficult, time-consuming, and requires an abundant amount of practice. I am 23…almost 24, and no matter how many papers I’ve been assigned, I still dread the moment when I have to sit down, and write a paper; whether its 1 page or 15! If adults feel this way…imagine how intimidating it must feel for children?

When I look back at my writing experiences while growing up, the fact that I’m an English major continues to surprise me! Writing never came naturally to me. I was continuously reprimanded for my prose; “You write how you speak, it’s too informal!” or, “Your spelling and grammar are horrible! You need to re-write this!” and so on. It wasn’t until the end of my freshman semester, that I developed the ability to adapt my writing style to fit the required writing “mode”. What boggles my mind is this: “Why did it take so long? How come I didn’t develop this ability in ELEMENTARY school?”

I think children need to be introduced to the variances in writing at an early age. Had I been privileged enough to learn and understand the different categories that comprise WRITING while in elementary school, I believe I would have been better prepared, in later grades, to meet my teachers’ lofty expectations. Personally, I’m going to make sure my future students are, at the very least, aware of the different writing categories; such as:

• Narrative: Describing an experience, event (or sequence of events) in the form of a story.

• Expository: Providing information (for instance: giving directions.)

• Persuasive: Giving an opinion and trying to influence the reader's way of thinking.

Hopefully, I can create a nurturing environment that supports children during the writing process; through explicit instruction, one-on-one guidance, modeling, scaffolding, and finally…practice, practice, practice!

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.

Word Posters, Word Maps, Word Sorts, Word Chains....word, words, words....

I just finished reading Chapter 7: “Expanding Student’s Knowledge of Words”, from Gail E. Tompkins’ book Literacy for the 21^st Century: A Balanced Approach, fifth edition. I really enjoyed reading this chapter. I know you’ll all think I’m a huge dork for saying this (I already know I am), but I LOVE vocabulary. I have a vivid memory of my fifth grade class and how excited my teacher was about getting us to use new words, making vocabulary into games as opposed to tests, and giving us a word a day to use in our writing. I think that year impacted me in a very positive manner. I am an English major; therefore, I think I’ve been writing about a paper a week for the past 5 years…crazy. But, it has really deepened my appreciation for words, and I am permanently connected to my thesaurus! Lol, I even had my boyfriend buy me a new one for Valentine’s Day! Lame, I know…But, I really do believe that my ability to use and understand vocabulary has positively impacted my reading abilities, and my passion for reading and writing. I really want my future students to feel this excitement as well!

When I finished reading this chapter, I came away with a few main ideas. I feel that instilling a sense of excitement and fun into a vocabulary lesson is an essential element of a successful language arts curriculum. If students are able to see the joy in learning new vocabulary and using new and exciting words, then they may be motivated to push the extra mile, and perform the work that is necessary in developing a larger vocabulary.

I also came away from this reading with a heightened enthusiasm for…wait for it…READING! Yes, I am incredibly enthusiastic and READY to incorporate NUMEROUS opportunities for students to read throughout the entire school day. Whether it’s through the use of read-alouds, or independent reading, my future students will be AVID readers. One particular reading opportunity I really like is: Sustained Silent Reading (SSR). In this format, students are able to choose a book they are interested in and excited about reading. They aren’t being forced to read a textbook, or something boring. This is highly motivating! I remember my time spent silent reading in elementary school; I loved it. I will definitely make sure to have comfortable cushions, chairs, couches, and what not in a cozy literacy corner in my future classroom!

Reading is incredibly important in order for students to learn new words and enhance their reading abilities. Tompkins stated, explicitly, “the amount of time students spend reading independently is the best predictor of vocabulary growth between second and fifth grades” (p. 226). That being said, if we’re going to have our students go off on their own to read independently, then it is our jobs as teachers to provide the class with tools necessary to help them understand and learn the words they are reading.

There are a lot of strategies throughout this entire chapter that detail ways teachers can model and scaffold strategies for students to utilize when they come across an unfamiliar word. A few of these are as follows:

• Context clues
• Analyze word parts
• Check a dictionary
• Look at the illustrations
• Use logic
• Look at the root words/affixes

These strategies are ALL helpful and the more students have under their belt the better prepared they will be when presented with unfamiliar vocabulary.

Finally, I just want to say that it is important, as teachers, to push our students. We have to give them those tier 2 and tier 3 words. They can handle it.

Facilitating Comprehension

After reading Chapter Nine, “Facilitating Students’ Comprehension: Text Factors”, of Gail E. Tompkins book - Literacy for the 21^st Century: A Balanced Approach, 5^th Edition, I’m realizing that one of the MOST important factors of facilitating comprehension with students is simply getting them to engage with the text on a personal level. What I mean is that students need to understand what they are reading…they need to understand what kind of book they are reading (Genre), is it fiction or non-fiction/informational, what kind of audience is the book geared towards, and they need to understand the patterns that present themselves in these texts. When a student has an understanding of these basic text factors, then they are able to develop a deeper connection with what they are reading. Rather than focus on information t hat isn’t important (such as trying to sound out words, stumbling over syntax, etc.) students can focus their attention to the plot, characters, and the conflict/resolution. By taking out the guess-work in their reading activities, we (the teachers) can enhance the level of understanding our students achieve. On page 311 of our textbook, Tompkins states an important finding…“Researchers have documented that when teachers teach students about text factors, their comprehension increases” (Tompkins, p. 311).

Another important point I’d like to make is this…as I said before, by providing our students the opportunity to develop a connection with what they are reading and what they are DOING (as in the subsequent activity) we can instill a sense of meaningful learning within our students. In the first section of this chapter, I read about Mr. Abrams and his fourth grade classroom. One aspect of his story that stuck out to me was when he discussed how he AND his students developed a rubric (TOGETHER) to assess the books they made. I thought that was a really beneficial activity. It creates an environment of collaboration that can really motivate students…and when students are motivated to work hard, they will engage and comprehend on a deeper level.

I’m currently in a fourth grade classroom and I am constantly seeing my Cooperating Teacher (CT) discuss comprehension strategies with this class. It may not be explicit; for instance, he does not say: “When you are trying to comprehend what you are reading, you should notice the text factors”. Rather, he asks questions during shared reading to get students thinking… “What is the author trying to do? How did that make you feel? What do you think is about to happen? What genre is this? Why?”

Not only does my CT guide student thinking to enhance comprehension, but he also does a really good job of incorporating reading/writing and think-alouds into nearly every subject he teaches throughout the day. While I do give him props for that, I do think that he could incorporate a more collaborative feel to his classroom. If students felt that they had more of a hand in their day to day lessons then I think they would work harder and therefore, engage with the material.

I think this was a GREAT chapter to read. The information given is something that I think I will continue to look back on.

Goin' Clubbin'

I love that we are spending time discussing the benefits of incorporating Book Clubs into the language arts curriculum in an elementary school classroom. One question I have, that hasn’t been introduced yet in class, is: at what age should students be introduced to the idea of Book Clubs? I believe any student, as young as 5, could benefit from the concepts that coincide with Book Clubs; however, do the benefits outweigh the difficulties that would present themselves when trying to get children that young to understand and participate in such discussions? Should Book Clubs be limited to students in upper elementary? I’m in a fourth grade class, and I really wish my CT would’ve incorporated these activities with his students. The class is divided into reading groups and he meets with each group where they have discussion, etc. but I feel like the students are missing out. They lack opportunities to interact with each other, and learn the correct way to socially interact through the medium of a book discussion.

I can’t wait to introduce this idea to my future classroom. However, I think that the way we have been discussing this topic and exploring this topic in class has created a slightly “off” perception as to how easy/difficult it is. With all the ideas being thrown into the mix about having “reading roles”, writing prompts, student run discussions, etc., I feel like it’s easy to misconstrue exactly how much work this will be. It appears, on the surface, to be a very smooth running, classroom led, activity; but, I think that the only reason it appears this way, is due to the large amount of work the teacher has put into it. We’re not getting a look at the work that goes into this process at the start of the year. I would like to spend some time, as a class, discussing ways to introduce the idea of peer led discussions, correct ways to socially interact through book discussions, and how to respond to writing/reading prompts. Students don’t walk in on the first day of school, already capable of participating in an authentic Book Club discussion, it has to be taught; and I would love to spend time talking about THAT aspect in our TE class.

But as I was saying, a Book Club sounds like a wonderful tool to utilize in a language arts curriculum. I think that book clubs would GREATLY benefit student’s abilities to comprehend, as well as help each child develop the strategies necessary to aid in the comprehension process. Comprehension is fundamental to criticizing, questioning, analyzing, and responding to literature. A Book Club can teach students ways to read a story that will help them comprehend and therefore be better participants in class. As we said in class, Book Clubs and comprehension go hand-in-hand, and I think that teachers should take the time and energy to put a Book Club into place in their classrooms. There are SO many resources on the web to help in this process…take a look at a few here:

Planet Book Club

Great Schools

eHow

"I am not a speed reader...I am a speed understander" - Isaac Asimov

Why is reading comprehension important?? Because it is! Although strong reading skills can help students succeed in language arts and reading class, it is really, only, the beginning. Students have to use reading skills in every single subject they study and in every aspect of life. For example, students need to comprehend challenging science textbooks, work problems, directions, text in an application, as well as the newspaper, websites, etc. It is important, as teachers, that we intervene and address the issues that students encounter in relation to reading comprehension. Those who struggle in elementary school may fall so far behind that they will have limited opportunities as an adult. I don’t want that to be the story of my students.

Currently, I’m spending a lot of time working on reading comprehension with one of my fourth graders. She spends a lot of time in the reading resource room and she struggles with vocabulary and using an “expressive” voice as she reads. All of these issues are negatively affecting her ability to comprehend what she is reading. Often, she will have to read, out loud, a story two or more times in order to tell me what it is about. After talking with my CT about this, we decided that in order to help her comprehension, first, we need to address her fluency. If she can pay less attention to the words, sentences, etc. we hope that she will be able to pay more attention to the content. I think that being able to read expressively without and “choppiness” will be extremely beneficial in the long run. When you can read a story with expression, then you have to understand what is going on. For instance, if you read in a monotone then you miss the exciting, sad, or scary parts of a story; but if you pay attention to those aspects and your voice reflects that, then you will have a much better chance at developing your comprehension.

I like to use the process of “predicting” to help students will comprehension too. I feel that it really forces students to pay attention to what they are reading, seeing, hearing, etc. About half-way through a story, I will stop the student and ask them “What do you think is about to happen? Why?” this forces the students to think about what they’ve read and apply it. They also have to explain themselves and their thought process which is a really high-level metacognitive skill that can promote comprehension too.

According to the National Reading Panel (NRP) “comprehension is an active process that requires an intentional and thoughtful interaction between the reader and the text”. That being said, it is important that we ask students questions during and after reading that forces them to think about what they read and apply it. This interaction between themselves and the text will be greatly beneficial.

A New Year!

Hello to all of you out there in "Blogger Land"! It is officially a new decade and I know I am not alone in my attempt to stay true to those pesky New Year's resolutions. Good luck to you all in your endeavors, I know I need it!

As the year of 2010 commences...my blog will be acquiring a slightly different look. Let's say...new and improved, if you will. Rather than focus on methods of integrating technology into my future teaching practices, this blog will now serve as an online forum (with an emphasis on open communication and collaboration) for a group of my peers. The three of us...Brooke, Heather, and myself...are currently enrolled in a teacher prep. course, TE 402, at Michigan State University! This course is split into two distinct sections and those sections are: Math and Literacy.

This blog will now serve to aid the four of us in our journey towards discovery in the field of language arts/literacy.

I hope you all enjoy the new feel. Please feel free to continue to comment where you deem appropriate. I am sure we will appreciate any and all comments; they may very well lead to bigger and better discussions and debates.