October 28th Blog Post: Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension has been and will forever be a very important resource in creating good readers and writers. In Laura Pardo's article What every teacher needs to know about comprehension, I like her shared definition of "comprehension as the process in which readers conduct meaning by interacting with text through a combination of prior knowledge and previous experience, information in the text, and the stance the reader takes in relationship to the text" (Pardo1). Do you think of it differently? It's hard to really understand and take note that reading comprehension really is based on partially what the student already knows, and how they react to the reading and relate it to what they know. It's so important that readers are exposed to all different kinds of words and practices to increase their reading comprehension when it comes to learning new things. I think reading comprehension does not only help the reader to practice, but it is one of the main resources a teacher has to know where the reader stands in his level of reading. Reading comprehension is what everything is based upon. It helps the teacher to know how the child is doing in everything the student needs to be a successful reader: phonic awareness, word decoding and recognition, and fluency. I strongly agree with Pardo stating that the teacher has a lot to do with the students success as well. Without these elements of reading, students would not be able to COMPREHEND reading. It's up to the teacher to give the students the vital skills and give the students opportunities to relate what they are reading to prior knowledge. As teachers we have to be their lifeline and motivation to want to learn and think, asking question like "Have we heard anything like this before?" or "What do you think you would do in this characters situation?" or "You guys know a lot about this what do you think.....?" Teachers have to motivate by reading what the children want. They have to be interested and willing to engage to really learn. We have to make reading comprehension exercises fun and knowledgeable. What are some other ways we could motivate our readers?

Everything read seems to come from something else. I remember doing tasks as a student and I always enjoyed doing reading comprehension activities, because I thought they were easy. Attention and knowledge of words and circumstances are very important in reading comprehension. Like Pardo, I think teacher read aloud are important when first beginning to do reading comprehension. It not only helps the student to pay attention and listen to the text, but it helps them have the chance to really think about the text. It's important for us as teachers to keep their attention as well, asking questions as we read, such as "What are some of the
major details that a character is doing?" or "What do you think is going to happen?"or the questions we have all grown up hearing, "Who?", "What?", "When?", "Where?", "How?" This will not only engage the students, but will give them practice on what to look for and what the main details that should be notice while they read.

As students make connections between the reading and themselves, they are able to understand and somewhat make inferences of what could potentially happen in the reading. The fact that they know what is going on through their word recognition and prior knowledge, they are able to relate to what they read and log it into memory. This will help them understand the text, relate it to the world, and over all comprehend the reading.

Here is a great site that has wonderful comprehension strategies and activities for students!
http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/literacy/comprehension_strategies.html

Pictures/ activity ideas:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Reading-Comprehension-Making-Connections-178217
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/I-Need-My-Monster-WritingReading-Comprehension-280630
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Reading-Comprehension-Strategies-Questions-778044

October 21st Blog Post: Fluency

Fluency is a very important aspect in reading and literacy. There is not just one definition of fluency, but many ideas and examples for fluency. The articles this week really broke down what fluency is and how it is tested amongst students in a classroom. Fluency sounds like it can be a very simple concept, 

but in reality there is a lot that goes along with fluency. Through out our articles that we read it seemed that four dimensions were agreed on when it comes to fluency: accuracy, rate, and prosody. In reading Deeney's article it was very clear to me what he was saying and how important it is to assess. However, some of his testing ideas to me seemed kind of intimidating to some children. Like the one minute test, which only really tests accuracy and rate rather than a deeper view of fluency anyways. I think the one minute test may seem scary to some students. I know when I was in school whenever I was timed for anything I always got way to nervous and it kept me from really being able to concentrate and do good work. I, myself, am a slow reader. What do you think is more important rate or comprehension? I try to read for comprehension rather than just get a gist of what I am reading. I feel that is important to assess fluency, because it is important, but students are active learners. I believe it is not only important to assess, but to practice to increase fluency as well. So, the students don't only have to rely on themselves to get to a fluent state but really understand and learn through activities so they'll be ready for their one minute tests and really succeed and move on with their peers. Do you like one minute fluency tests? I do understand rate is a part of fluency, but I also believe helping children understand words and learning to read is more important. I agree with Deeney when he states that the one minute test also doesn't really allow us to understand why the student lacks in reading at a more fast rate. It doesn't help the teacher to know why the student may be dysfluent. To maybe assist to help the one minute assessment less frightening maybe the teacher could repeatedly practice or do it on occasion without the child knowing. When they are reading something they have read before or when they are doing activities. I agree, just as we have studied before, that rereading interesting texts that students enjoys will help with fluency as well as getting parents and caregivers involved. Practice really does make perfect.

Link with this fluency freebie observation form:

http://www.teachersnotebook.com/product/Jbengel/fluency-observation-form

Some other fluency activities for the classroom: 

http://littleliteracylearners.blogspot.com/2012/10/fluency-with-letters-and-sounds_29.html

http://walshteachers.d92.org/mgarlanger/site/Fluency_activities.html

October 7, 2013: Making Words

I found the article this week so interesting and valuable. It's amazing to realize how Making Words lessons don't only help students with spelling, but with reading and writing as well. It truly is a novel idea when you think about it. The article put it in perspective for me. When students participate in the activities discussed they not only expand their vocabulary, but they learn the patterns and sounds of the letters and grasp each concept of each sound that results in the creation of more words. I actually remember having worksheets that included finding words in other words. I remember always feeling so accomplished when I finally found out the "big" word with all the letters. And come to think of it after you learn the patterns of many letters and their sounds that's really when you start to grasp the concept of writing and reading words. Lessons that include Making Words can also be used through all grades and levels of schooling. The size of a student's vocabulary, in my perspective, truly helps them succeed. If you have a grasp on many words or are even able to recognize a lot of words I believe that it truly helps in a student's future with testing and when writing papers in any grade level. Don't you agree? I personally like all the word ideas that are given in this article, I can't wait to see how they work in my classroom. What Making Word Lessons did you think would be best to use in your classroom?

Making Word lessons can also help to introduce lessons in other subjects. Like in this example they were about to learn about Penguins in their Science lesson, so the teacher started it out by teaching the students how to spell the word, then they eventually learned all about the penguin and how it lived. By the students knowing how to break down each word into smaller words, it will help with memorization in how to sound out and spell that word they are learning about, and will help with learning other words, big or small. 

Here are some websites with other Making Words Lesson ideas and ways to get the templates that I gave examples of:

http://fun-in-first.blogspot.com/2011/01/penguins.html

http://www.teachingblogaddict.com/2013/09/freebie-friday.html

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Making-Words-Work-Mat-Word-Family-Sorting-Chart-112737

Pictures:
https://picasaweb.google.com/113984399396097313755/ChartsGraphsClassroomPictures?gsessionid=pDPOykK4gV5S50Mgw9Q-Dg#5130262634146834274
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Making-Words-Work-Mat-Word-Family-Sorting-Chart-112737