The interview process was very imformational, especially becoming a new teacher, I could use all the help and "ticks" that I can gather. I interviewed a litereacy coach who also teaches kindergarden. These are some of the questions I asked with her responses:
- Do you have a co-teaching realtionship with the students' full time classroom teacher or is more of a just what the student needs?
She said that depending on the student depends on what she does. She does have students where they need more one-on-one instruction and she often will find out what they are working on reading and writing and go about it that way and other times she says she will sit in classroom and do her coaching in the classroom itself, she says it makes the student feel a little more comfortable and she can see how he/she is as a student in the classroom versus one-on-one.
- How do you link language learning with the reading writing aspect of education?
She simply said it all depends on the child. Some kids you dive right into reading and writing, while others it might take longer to be able to link them all together. She said the most important thing about teaching langauge learners is to not overwhelm them. She said that if they feel overwhelm the student tends to close up and not perform as they should, they get scared.
After this interview I definitely learned, and compared it to my philosophy of teaching, that every child can learn, jsut at different paces.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Friday, June 22, 2012
Entry 10: Homework
1. What will constitute meaningful homework?
Meaningful homework is a tough question... You hear parent talk about the lack of homework or that there is too much homework... So where is the happy medium? Meaningful homework to me would be homework that will benefit or prepare the student for future lessons, for example, I would have students read for at least 20 minutes a day because reading is one of the most important things you can ask a child to do at home. The second would be math homework, to review what they learned in the lesson, and to give them a glimpse of what the next lesson will be. I would also do vocabulary/spelling homework on a nightly basis, the only way for a child to grow in reading and writing would be learning vocabulary. Those are the major areas I see myself giving homework that will have meaning to the students.
2. What are your intended homework objectives for your students?
My objectives for homework for my students would be to get the parents involved in what their child is learning at home. It may not always happen but I feel that if a student can learn outside of the classroom and ask for help or learn together as a family the better off the student will be in the future.
3. How will you provide specific feedback?
Feedback will all depend on the student. Some students will "get it" by simply writing a note on their homework, some students will need verbal explanation, while others will need to you "spell it out" or physically show them what is expected or what to do, especially ELL learners who are still struggling with the translation, these students will need verbal and physical translation/feedback.
4. How will you incorporate technology?
I feel that technology is very important! I feel that if you can get students to look up an article to read and print it out that would count for their 20 minutes of reading a night and it teaches them to research something they want to read about and navigate online. I would use my technology websites, especially National Geographic for Kids, so that they can learn about the world around them. I could even have them type up a summary or a comparison to their life as a meaningful homework assignment every now and again, that way they are still navigating the web, but they are also practicing their typing and writing skills.
Meaningful homework is a tough question... You hear parent talk about the lack of homework or that there is too much homework... So where is the happy medium? Meaningful homework to me would be homework that will benefit or prepare the student for future lessons, for example, I would have students read for at least 20 minutes a day because reading is one of the most important things you can ask a child to do at home. The second would be math homework, to review what they learned in the lesson, and to give them a glimpse of what the next lesson will be. I would also do vocabulary/spelling homework on a nightly basis, the only way for a child to grow in reading and writing would be learning vocabulary. Those are the major areas I see myself giving homework that will have meaning to the students.
2. What are your intended homework objectives for your students?
My objectives for homework for my students would be to get the parents involved in what their child is learning at home. It may not always happen but I feel that if a student can learn outside of the classroom and ask for help or learn together as a family the better off the student will be in the future.
3. How will you provide specific feedback?
Feedback will all depend on the student. Some students will "get it" by simply writing a note on their homework, some students will need verbal explanation, while others will need to you "spell it out" or physically show them what is expected or what to do, especially ELL learners who are still struggling with the translation, these students will need verbal and physical translation/feedback.
4. How will you incorporate technology?
I feel that technology is very important! I feel that if you can get students to look up an article to read and print it out that would count for their 20 minutes of reading a night and it teaches them to research something they want to read about and navigate online. I would use my technology websites, especially National Geographic for Kids, so that they can learn about the world around them. I could even have them type up a summary or a comparison to their life as a meaningful homework assignment every now and again, that way they are still navigating the web, but they are also practicing their typing and writing skills.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Entry 9: Graphic Organizers
For my graphic organizers I took some that would be geared for grades 2 - 5
depending on the level of student, SPED, ELL/ESL, and so on.
For the chapter book graphic organizer, I thought it was important to find a graphic organizer that touched on all parts of the book. "Building blocks" if you will, and this graphic organizer is just that, I feel that students should build on their information as they read. They might not understand the plot until chapter 3 or 4 but they are looking for it, and as they find it they add it to their graphic organizer.
The second graphic organizer for non-fiction was "The Big Idea." In
nonfiction there can be several big ideas depending on the story. SO I chose a
graphic organizer that revolved around a star and for every point on the star,
the students are to fill out a main idea they found in the story.
For the poetry graphic organizer (this is probably geared more towards 4th or 5th grade) I used a sort-of checklist sort of organizer. The student must provide examples of the differnt types of poetry that are found in the poem, as well as find out the main idea of the poem as well as determine the tone of the poem.
For the chapter book graphic organizer, I thought it was important to find a graphic organizer that touched on all parts of the book. "Building blocks" if you will, and this graphic organizer is just that, I feel that students should build on their information as they read. They might not understand the plot until chapter 3 or 4 but they are looking for it, and as they find it they add it to their graphic organizer.
For the poetry graphic organizer (this is probably geared more towards 4th or 5th grade) I used a sort-of checklist sort of organizer. The student must provide examples of the differnt types of poetry that are found in the poem, as well as find out the main idea of the poem as well as determine the tone of the poem.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Entry 8: Sheltered Lesson
I really enjoyed watching the sheltered lesson, I was a little confused as to what a sheltered lesson was until I watched it. After I watched it I had a much better understanding of the term "sheltering instruction" as it is talked about in the text. (I had a hard time getting the videos to play as well.)
Pre-Reading
-- Objectives were clarified and understood.
-- Went over the strategies they already knew.
-- The teacher checked for prior knowledge
-- Vocabulary was defined
-- She had the students review the directions with her while she read them aloud (for the visual learner)
-- Words that were or could be hard for ELL students to understand were pointer out explicitly
-- Had the students "visualize" ("I wonder..?)
Reading
-- Students did a picture walk
-- Teacher made a connection to the story then had the students make a connection
-- Students are participating and not just sitting there "zoning" out because they do not understand what it going on or what is being said
-- Teacher gave adequate time for the students to process, eliminate other thoughts and answer
-- Repetition, repetition, repetition
-- Students "define" the story and relate it to the "birthday song" they use in their own culture
-- Uses visual aids - overhead projector
Post-Reading
-- Teacher reviewed what strategies they used during their reading
-- Vocabulary was re-defined
-- Summarizing
-- "Post-it" board for all the students questions and thoughts (very interesting and it seemed beneficial)
I looked at this lesson as a way to incorporate "sheltered instruction" in a every day lesson, not matter the subject. I am really glad I was exposed to this type of teaching instruction.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Entry 7:
Student 1: Spanish
This student was very interesting to observe. She was definitely an ELL student, but when she spoke English you would not know she spoke any other language. The reason for this was that she learned to speak English by speaking with her Aunt, English speaker only with whom she lives with due to family troubles. She how ever does not know how to read or write Enlgish very well. So when I was observing her read an AIMSweb assessment it was very interesting. She knew a majority of the words but only got them by understanding what the sentence was saying. Her visual ques were that of commas and periods, she did not understand what a question mark or exclamation mark were. All in all I think she did pretty well given her circumstances and just learning to read English.
Student 2: Spanish
This student came to the school mid-way through the year due to his father being in the military and getting stationed here. He spoke very little English and could read even less. He did not get very much practice at home so he was not gaining or retaining anything he was learning. I also observed an AIMSweb assessment and his visual cues and syntax clues were present, but not utilized as much as they should be. He also would say words with inflections that were not necessary.
I think for furture teaching for both of these students would be to send them home with cassette tapes of reading materials so they can read in English and follow along, then have them start reading along with the tape. I also think that these student should be paired up with a fellow student to help them and encourage them to keep working on their English.
This student was very interesting to observe. She was definitely an ELL student, but when she spoke English you would not know she spoke any other language. The reason for this was that she learned to speak English by speaking with her Aunt, English speaker only with whom she lives with due to family troubles. She how ever does not know how to read or write Enlgish very well. So when I was observing her read an AIMSweb assessment it was very interesting. She knew a majority of the words but only got them by understanding what the sentence was saying. Her visual ques were that of commas and periods, she did not understand what a question mark or exclamation mark were. All in all I think she did pretty well given her circumstances and just learning to read English.
Student 2: Spanish
This student came to the school mid-way through the year due to his father being in the military and getting stationed here. He spoke very little English and could read even less. He did not get very much practice at home so he was not gaining or retaining anything he was learning. I also observed an AIMSweb assessment and his visual cues and syntax clues were present, but not utilized as much as they should be. He also would say words with inflections that were not necessary.
I think for furture teaching for both of these students would be to send them home with cassette tapes of reading materials so they can read in English and follow along, then have them start reading along with the tape. I also think that these student should be paired up with a fellow student to help them and encourage them to keep working on their English.
Entry 6: Learning v. Acquisition
The students:
L: Look up words in the dictionary to write definitions
A: Make a Venn diagram to compare two stories
L: Practice sounding out words
L: Read in round-robin fashion
L: Correct peers when they make a mistake during reading
L: Identify words on a big book page that start with the same
sound
L: Group cards with classmates’ names by a criterion such as
first or last letter
L&A: Write rhyming poetry and then discuss different
spellings for the same sound L: Ask the teacher how to spell any word they don’t
know
A: Read a language experience story they have created with
the teacher
L & A: work in pairs to arrange words from a familiar
chant into sentences
L: Divide words into syllables
L: On a worksheet, draw a line from each word to the picture
that starts with the same sound
A: Make alphabet books on different topics
The teacher:
L: Pre-teaches vocabulary
A: Does a shared reading with a big book
L & A: Makes sure that students read only books that fit
their level
L: Has students segment words into phonemes
L & A: Writes words the students dictate for a story and
has students help with the spelling of difficult words
L: Asks students to look around the room and find words
starting with a certain letter
L: Uses decodable texts
A: Sets aside time for SSR each day
L&A: Teaches Latin and Greek roots
A: Has students meet in literature circles
L: Conducts phonics drills
A: Chooses predictable texts
A: Teaches students different comprehension strategies
A: Does a picture walk of a new book
When I look at Learning versus Acquistions I think about the "learning" meaning "hands-on" while acquisition means more of acquiring over time.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Entry 5: Children's Books
I looked at and reviewed the children's books Fox in Sox by Dr. Seuss and Disney's Aladin by the Little Golden Books series. I chose these books because I think that both play important parts in a child's learning to read and how it can affect comprehension due to cultural aspects.
Aladin
Fox in Sox
How I would introduce this to an ELL reader would be to ask questions (kind of like and KWL but not to that extent) to find out their prior knowledge of what they might now. I would then read the story to the student/students and ask questions as they go along, pointing out harder words and having them repeat the words. I would also have the students underline words they might not know or know how to say. I would then, with a dictionary, have the students look up the words so that they could see the word, how to pronounce it, and what it means. I would should the different elelments to rhyming, but introducing songs, reading other rhyming schemes and have the students understand the different schemes.
Aladin
- Student might not have ever heard of Aladin, due to age, and if Disney was present in the child's life prior
- Student might have trouble pernouncing some of the worlds as they are not common in English, especially when English is the second language
- Student might follow a long more by the pictures and understand the story more so than by the words
- There might be too many words on each of the pages for the ELL student/s and they might get discouraged or intimidated
Fox in Sox
- Student might not understand rhyming schemes
- Student might not be aware of phonemes and the phonetic sounds that a letter might make, i.e. /x/ in "fox"
- Pictures might confuse a student
- Rhyming might confuse the student on comprehension, but could help them understand how to pernounce words
How I would introduce this to an ELL reader would be to ask questions (kind of like and KWL but not to that extent) to find out their prior knowledge of what they might now. I would then read the story to the student/students and ask questions as they go along, pointing out harder words and having them repeat the words. I would also have the students underline words they might not know or know how to say. I would then, with a dictionary, have the students look up the words so that they could see the word, how to pronounce it, and what it means. I would should the different elelments to rhyming, but introducing songs, reading other rhyming schemes and have the students understand the different schemes.
Entry 4 Unfamiliar Text
This entry definitely had me thinking... I could not find a book that i was unfamiliar with unless it was a new book I wanted to read, but the language I understood so that did not work out so well. The story that comes to my mind that I always had a hard time with the language, or how it was writen was "Romeo and Juliet." I would always get confused by the language in that play. So some strategies I came up with for that was:
- Contex clues in the sentence to figure out what the sentence is trying to convey
- Re-read the sentence
- Look in a doctionary to determine defintions
- Ask for help
- Close your eyes and envision yourself in the scene you are reading, and imagine what you would say if you were the character
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Entry 3: Relationship between oral language and the reading process
The relationship between oral language and the reading process I believe goes hand in hand. To an extent, you cant have one if you don't have the other. There are always the cases where someone can learn to read but not to speak orally or visa versa. But I feel the oral language guides someone in the reading process. People learn how to speak first, before they start writing, which means that oral language is the "key" to learning to read.
I took a spin an looked at what I talked about previously and thought in the eyes of an ELL student. In the case of an ELL student, the reading process is key to the oral language part. The students learn to read the English language first before they can actually speak it.
I took a spin an looked at what I talked about previously and thought in the eyes of an ELL student. In the case of an ELL student, the reading process is key to the oral language part. The students learn to read the English language first before they can actually speak it.
Entry 2: Reflection on writing
Writing instruction that I have received has been a lot. It seems like I have liked to write my whole life. The very first type of writing that was encouraged was "free" writing, my mom always told me to just write, write about my pets, write about how my day was, write a story, write about my feelings, if I was sad, mad, happy, etc. I should just write about and let it all go out.
When I was older, I received several forms of writing instruction. So I guess I can really pin point the specific type of writing as I did. But from my writing instruction I have really liked to write, whether it is expository, poetry, research papers, anything, I really have objection to writing.
When I was older, I received several forms of writing instruction. So I guess I can really pin point the specific type of writing as I did. But from my writing instruction I have really liked to write, whether it is expository, poetry, research papers, anything, I really have objection to writing.
Entry 1: Philosophy on teaching literacy
Entry 1: Philosophies on teaching literacy
When I spoke with the fourth grade teacher I work with about her thoughts on teaching literacy to the students and her philosophy for teaching literacy she looked at me, and said, "ya know, I have never been asked that so I have never really thought about it much, other than what can I DO for EACH of my students to help improve their literacy."
After talking for a while about her different approaches, she finally said her philosophy would be "what ever it takes to help my kids 'get it' is what I will do." She told me about the ways she teaches her reading lessons: 1) by her reading the story then having the students read the story and discussing as they go along; 2) She reads the story once, over two days (1/2 one day, 1/2 the next) then have the CD read the story to them. She said both ways work, but she likes reading the story then play the CD and have the students read along, she said it build fluency and it helps the struggling readers feel confident to read out loud with their classmates instead of "by themselves" outloud when the class reads. She then introduces the vocabulary words on the very first day of the reading lesson, then goes over the vocab words as they read them in the story, and she has them define it in the story and then has the students define it in the world around them.
She said that she has learned to look in to what EACH child needs, she said sometimes she can't help them individually but will never give up on them and constantly finds things that "might" be able to help the student. For example she had one student who had very poor fluency and just didn't like to read, she tried many different things with him, until one day she let him check out a book from her personal library (one that she felt was too advanced for him), "BONES", she said he never put that book down. So she found more books like that for him and when they did mid-year scantron testing, his reading level had improved the most in the entire class!
I completely agree with her philosophy in that I would do anything I could to help improve a students literacy skills, math skills, or even musical skills!
When I spoke with the fourth grade teacher I work with about her thoughts on teaching literacy to the students and her philosophy for teaching literacy she looked at me, and said, "ya know, I have never been asked that so I have never really thought about it much, other than what can I DO for EACH of my students to help improve their literacy."
After talking for a while about her different approaches, she finally said her philosophy would be "what ever it takes to help my kids 'get it' is what I will do." She told me about the ways she teaches her reading lessons: 1) by her reading the story then having the students read the story and discussing as they go along; 2) She reads the story once, over two days (1/2 one day, 1/2 the next) then have the CD read the story to them. She said both ways work, but she likes reading the story then play the CD and have the students read along, she said it build fluency and it helps the struggling readers feel confident to read out loud with their classmates instead of "by themselves" outloud when the class reads. She then introduces the vocabulary words on the very first day of the reading lesson, then goes over the vocab words as they read them in the story, and she has them define it in the story and then has the students define it in the world around them.
She said that she has learned to look in to what EACH child needs, she said sometimes she can't help them individually but will never give up on them and constantly finds things that "might" be able to help the student. For example she had one student who had very poor fluency and just didn't like to read, she tried many different things with him, until one day she let him check out a book from her personal library (one that she felt was too advanced for him), "BONES", she said he never put that book down. So she found more books like that for him and when they did mid-year scantron testing, his reading level had improved the most in the entire class!
I completely agree with her philosophy in that I would do anything I could to help improve a students literacy skills, math skills, or even musical skills!
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