Using Your Knowledge

While reading the article I saw something I really liked. When the students in Mrs. Fry's class were reading aloud they couldn't figure out the work "grunted." They could sound out grunt but couldn't figure out the rest of the word. I like how she asked them what sound "ed" made. When they tried putting the sounds together they got words like "grundable," but once they figured out that it was grunt and not grund they figured out the word. I just really liked how she handled that scenario and I could see myself doing something like that in my classroom.


Whether you are a teacher or a coach I think a lot of what you're doing has to do with patience. You have to be patient with children especially when they are learning new words and trying to read. In the scenario above Mrs. Fry was being patient with the student and trying to get the student to use the knowledge she already had to figure out what the word was.



Things to Ponder:

1. Do you think coaching and teaching are similar?



Syllables and Sounds

Letting Go of "Letter of the Week" gives a really good definition of what literacy is. I love how they defined it as not only reading in a "school-styled" way, but its also reading things like shampoo bottles, microwaves, and soup cans. It's also about being able to read symbols and these are all things that we discussed in our last class.


Children are not illiterate when they come to kindergarten because they know what a lot of those symbols mean as well as, how to see literacy in every day things like coins and videotapes. I liked in the article when she gathered her kindergarteners together and asked who could read and no one raised their hand, but when she pulled out a McDonalds bag and asked what it was they all knew no matter what language they spoke.


I like the idea of an alphabet made up of pictures of the students. If I made one I would have every student hold the letter that their first name started with. I believe this would help the children learn the sounds of the letters better. I also liked the idea of the game Teacher, May We? I think that is a really good way to help the children learn about the syllables in words, and it is also a fun activity that would keep them engaged.

Thoughts to ponder:

1. How will you teach your students about syllables?

2. What activities will you use to help them sound out, read, and write new words?

Read Read Read

As a teacher, when you are trying to teach your students to read you must first think about their family cultures and backgrounds. Families do all different things with their children before school starts. Some families may value reading and literacy much more than other families. So when it comes to teaching children how to read things could get a little complicated.

 

One way to not only help children read, but to keep them engaged is to have books in your classroom that they enjoy. Having books that children find interesting will keep them engaged and wondering how they could read the book.

 

I also liked how the Jones family used household items to try and teach the children to read. They would use things like catalogs and magazines. I think that anything a family does to prepare their children for school is a good thing. Also, if a family is spending time doing this that means they are not spending time watching tv or using other forms of technology which is good in my book.

 

“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.”
― Groucho Marx

Thoughts to ponder:

1. How will you keep your students engaged in reading?

2. Will you discuss with parents their child's reading at home?

The Six T's

In chapters one and two of Classrooms That Work and the article, What I've Learned About Effective Reading Instruction there is an underlying theme. This theme is that we need good and effective teachers. Effective teachers matter much more than any program. Another theme is that children need to spend more time on reading and writing throughout the school day.

In the article, What I've Learned About Effective Reading the author talks about the six T's. These six T's are:

1. Time

2. Texts

3. Teaching

4.Talk

5. Tasks

6. Testing

Time is listed because the teachers that were observed had a very well balanced ratio of reading and writing to "stuff." These teachers had the children reading or writing for as much as half of the school day. When I was in elementary school I do not remember reading or writing for that long. We had many other activities that took place besides reading and writing.

The texts section talks about if children are going to be reading during that much of their day, they need good books that they can read. The children need books that they can actually read, but books that aren't too easy. They also need a lot of choices. Children need books that will keep them engaged in what they are reading. I've read plenty of books to children at work and some start to doze off because they are uninterested.

Part of being good at teaching is being able to plan reading times and choose the right books. A good teacher doesn't just throw the book at the child and tell them to read it. A good teacher gives instruction and demonstrates what the child should be doing. I personally think it is more effective if you show a child what to do, and don't just tell them.

Talking in classrooms should be encouraged. There should be talk between students and teacher as well as student and student. The article talks about the talk being purposeful. We don't want children  just chit chatting, but talking about ideas and helping one another out, asking questions, this is the kind of talk that should be happening in all classrooms. Not silence.

Longer tasks is what needs to be happening in classrooms. Teachers should not be trying to fill the day with lots of short tasks. Longer tasks helps the children to stay engaged in what they are doing versus a task that is 15 minutes. By the time they are finally engaged in something it is time to move on. Instead of reading part of a book and finishing it the next day, the whole book should be read, even if it is a long book that takes up a lot of time.

The last T is testing. The teachers in this article did something that I really liked, instead of grading the students off of achievement they gave them their grades based off of effort and improvement as well. I personally really like that idea. Some children may not completely understand the work, but if you can tell that they are trying to understand, and putting in the effort to learn they shouldn't fail.

I believe the these six T's are good things to follow. I think that if some teachers followed these they could have a successful classroom full of children who enjoyed being there.