Developing Comprehension

I never realized that reading comprehension is a process that has to be taught and especially modeled by teachers.  We want students to automatically use comprehension strategies while reading. But this isn't an automatic process, it has to be taught. Teachers gradually transfer the responsibility of thinking onto students. Eventually students are able to comprehend readings on their own as their teacher watches. This gradual process can take a week or a year. I especially liked the sequence provided by the book. I found a video that represents most of the steps in the sequence. 

1. I do, you watch
2. I do, you help
3. You do, I help
4. You do, I watch

Rick's Reading Workshop: Mini-Lesson

This is a great video showing a 5th grade teacher modeling thinking aloud during a focus lesson http://www.pinterest.com/pin/59813501274339560/

What steps did the video represent?
How would you model these steps?
What activities can you do while modeling these steps? 

Reading Fluency

Growing evidence shows that reading fluency greatly influences a student's reading success. One-minute fluency measures can get quick results and are valid and reliable. This type of assessment sounds great, but I believe quick assessments can be too stressful for some students thus affecting performance. We should be less concerned about assessments and start thinking about incorporating more fluency exercises throughout the school day. This is important because students need practice in order to improve.  Practice is the only method that is beneficial to both high and low achieving students. I found that Pinterest is a great site for ideas. The number of fluency activities alone are overwhelming. I have included some of my personal favorites below: 

Sight Words Candyland

Website

            
                    

        Cookie Thief Game                                        Sight Word Bingo    

Questions:
Would you use one-minute assessments in your classroom?
How would you incorporate fluency exercises throughout the school day?
How would you differentiate exercises for student's varying needs?

Making Words

Cunningham and Cunningham made it clear that invented spelling is essential.  I've seen 1st graders do this and I always wondered why teachers were not concerned with the spelling. It finally makes sense! If children are freely choosing to write to express themselves then why should we stop them?  The Making Words activity that the authors provided seemed very challenging to me.  Teachers would need to dedicate a lot of time to plan the activity and come up with all the possible words. Personally, I found it challenging to come up with words with only a handful of letters.  The activity is challenging but I can see how students could enjoy it.  The internal rewards from working so hard can be very encouraging to young children. This article made me wonder about strategies that other teachers use to teach this material. Below is a video where a teacher turns a spelling lesson into a game:
http://www.youtube.com/watch/?v=qh0Sb2SC_38

Questions to Consider: Can you come up with another activity that is just as effective?

Teaching Phonics and Spelling Patterns

I appreciated how English language learners were mentioned in chapter 5 of Classrooms That Work. Being a Spanish speaker myself, I could relate to what the book said about difficulty with vowels. I clearly remember being confused about Is and Es because of the sounds. I would have to stop and think before writing or saying my answers. This could have really affected my performance if teachers were not patient with me. I was fortunate enough to have teachers who did not give up on me. With their help, I was able to catch up with peers in no time. I liked that this was mentioned in the book because it reminds teachers that all students have diverse learning needs and teachers must be prepared to work with them.


How would you adjust activities to help English language learners?
What helps ELLs best? Individualized attention or peer tutoring?

Culture of Literacy

Every family sees and values literacy differently. Through Amy Johnson's article, I learned that literacy affects several aspects of one's life. We might not realize we are carrying this influence around but we take this everywhere we go. I learned that I use literacy throughout my everyday life just like the Jones family.

Interactional: Writing letters or sending postcards is a wonderful example of interactional literacy. Even though this is not practiced as often, I would personally prefer receiving a letter in the mail instead of a text message.

Instrumental: Just like the Jones family, I use magazines to share new ideas with family members. I share workouts, recipes, and craft ideas with my sister all the time. I have a hard time remembering anything if its not in print, thats why I like having magazines with me wherever I go.

News-Related: Gathering information from a newspaper is a great way to know what is happening in the community. Sometimes information can be found in a newspaper but not in the news on television. It is also a great way of keeping information that is important to you for years to come.

Educational: I would not be in college without books. It would be difficult to remember large amounts of information without reading. I find it hard to imagine going long periods of time without reading something.

Classrooms That Work: Chapter 1 and 2

These readings reminded me how difficult it is to manage classrooms.  Teachers have to work hard to maintain a flowing classroom.  We know that students are more likely to retain information if they are constantly engaged. This unfortunately is a difficult task to accomplish since students are so diverse and have varying learning needs. It is difficult to accommodate when curriculums are so strict and allow little to no room for change.  It seems like teachers know what needs to be done but do not have the necessary support.  Many teachers have to use their own money in order to provide additional resources. Change will not happen if students are not receiving the appropriate resources.
I appreciate that research has been done on classrooms that are successful. We have to learn from the best if we want to succeed. These teachers run great classrooms but they seem like the people that always go beyond what is expected. They manage time carefully and are great planners. They let students have some say as long as they show responsibility. I believe these methods work because students feel respected and show their respect back. Teachers get to know their students and adapt instruction based on them. This shows how much these teachers truly care and think of students even outside the classroom. I believe anyone can run a successful classroom as long as they really care for students.