Taking a look, a broad look.

To be honest, I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to approach this article. Mainly because “being political” is not something I’ve ever been inclined to be, or do, persay. This is not to say that I am not interested in knowing about political issues, etc., just to say that I’ve always been a left-brained concrete kind of girl, appreciating the practice much more than preach.

In general, having encountered an education system (based on NCLB principles) which seems to do a lot of theory talking, I’ve been looking forward to the day when I can literally do all the things that we have learned about this past year and a half. I am looking forward to when I can see for myself how district, state, and national standards effect my classroom; how scripted curriculums meet the needs of my students; and how I am able to collaborate with other teachers to create an integrated classroom. Perhaps once I have had these first-hand experiences, I will better recognize the significance of an educator’s role in policy. And perhaps I too will become involved at the political level.

All this being said, I have truly enjoyed my student teaching placement this year for this main reason: (the no. 3 key aspect of Literacy Policy listed in the Edmondson article) Who is likely to benefit?. Being in my classroom this semester and having some experiences with individual students, small groups, and whole class, I have developed more compassion for the needs of my students. I have gotten to know some of them very well and have been able to track their progress throughout the semester. Therefore, I have found myself thinking of them during PLC and Literacy Training meetings.

For example, during a PLC meeting when discussing the books to be included in Guided Reading , I immediately think of student A and student B who have no interest in these mandated books and will therefore most likely not develop the skills introduced through them. Or during a Literacy Training meeting when discussing the increased amount of time mandated for Writing, I immediately think of student C who has trouble focusing on Writing for more than a short amount of time and will likely become disengaged.

Needless to say, even with my limited time in the classroom, I have been able to observe the effects (negative and positive) of national/state/district policy on my students. This, I think, has been a lesson learned in preparation for next year.

Motivation + Confidence = Better Readers.

“Children are redefining what it means to be literate in the twenty-first century.”

To me, this sentence by Mrs. Amy Seely Flint captures the whole thing.  The idea that it’s our students, our children, that are defining what it means to literate, and not us, is just great.  I think all to often we have the preconceived notions of what it means to be “successful” or “accomplished” or “smart” or even “literate.”  Traditionally, if a student can read multiple books, non-fiction and fiction, retell the story, and give perfect classroom answers about these stories, they are considered literate.  However, this is not so much the case any more, at least not in the “twenty-first century.” 

Students these days are computer geniouses, texting maniacs, instanst messaging left and right, and googling everything they can think of.  So are we still going to define “literate” as reading and writing only within the context of the traditional classrooms standards?  I would hope not.

Now that I have said that, I understand that our current society does not necessarily provide success for students who are unable to read or write in this so-called traditional sense, and therefore, students who are considered as such should be provided with the appropriate reading and writing instruction to get to a negotiable level.  In this previous post of mine, I described the Hill RAP (Reading Achievement Program) which my school uses for rote literacy improvement.  The program was developed and provided by the Durham Public Schools system and uses many skill and drill activities to help students rapidly improve their grammar and code-breaking skills.  While I would hope to steer away from this sort of literacy activity in my own classroom, this type of individualized program has proved effective for students (3, 4, and 5 grades) that are far behind in reading and writing skills.

Additionally, I thought that “partner reading program” suggested by the Flint text is wonderful.  I can remember doing this as a young 5th grader myself and have seen is done in my own Student Teaching placement. 

“The struggling older reader now has a purpose for reading easy books.  Before reading the book to the younger reader, the struggling reader should practice … [enabling] the struggling reader to wrok on fluency in an authentic manner.”

To me, this is truly an authentic activity.  The struggling older reader has a purpose for reading, an audience to read to, and (most likely) a better reading skill set than the younger reader they are reading to – obviously helping to boost the older reader confidence while building interest for both students.  I mean, what young elementary school doesn’t look up to an older 5th grader? I know I did.

One last thing – I love that this chapter mentioned extrinsically motivated readers and the example of Pizza Hut’s Book It program.  While I was a fairly motivated student in elementary school, there was nothing like getting FREE PIZZA from PIZZA HUT.   What a dream.

Literate Lives – Developing Readers and Writers.

Interestingly enough, many of the skills and idea which were listed in this chapter of the Flint text reminded me of my Case Study student – while there are many things he can do while reading and writing, many of the things listed in this passage are emergent or inconsistent in his repitoire of reading and writing skills. 

For example, I would definitely agree that my student would say that a characteristic of a good reader is to “read fast.”  Mainly, because many of the times which I have asked him to read aloud to me, he has sped through the text, not taking time to pay attention to syntax and/or meaning and definitely not taking time to make self-corrections in his oral performance of the text.  As well, I would argue that even though he can read fast (and often times reads with expression and good flow), I am uncertain as to whether his comprehension of the text matches his seeming fluency. 

Addtionaly, when talking about repeated readings, this is defnitely a strategy that could work wonders for my Case Study student.  He loves this one particular series of books called the “Bone” series, written by Jeff Smith – and I am absolutely certain that he has read many of them more than once.  While I would be concerned that he is only able to read these texts because he has read them before and they don’t challenge him, I would not argue that re-reading these texts most likely does help him to develop fluency and comprehension within this particular series.

As well, the strategies for developing meaning making skills while reading is definitely something which my student could benefit from:  accessing literal meanings from the text, drawing inferences/conclusions, making links to prior knowlegde, interpreting texts, and constructing figurative meanings in the text.  My student has not yet discerned how to make inferences and is not generally to make connections between a text and his own life (even when prompted).

Additionally, from what I can tell, retelling could be a great avenue from understanding for my Case Study student – while he loves to retell stories from his own life (about vacations, trips, books, family, etc), I believe developing his skill of retelling stories could be beneficial for him learning to understand passages as a whole as well as reflecting and drawing conclusions afterwards.  On this train of thought, I also think this would be a great way for my student to understand the Critical model of literacy development – learning to understand that all authors write with a purpose, with a particular bias in mind.  (It seems most students, sadly even through high school, do not make this connection.)

In general, as suggested by the Flint text (pg 246), I think my student would develop his understanding of literacy if he was able to have good conversations about literacy and thinking – he would be able to understand his own perceptions and develop his literacy thinking around those and around others perceptions (because, as we have discovered, literacy is socially and culturally situated).

Great chapter – very practical ideas.

 

Learning to Read, or Reading to Learn?

First of all, I think that non-fiction texts are extremely wonderful.  Secondly, I think that they are    way    too    sparse    in the classroom. 

When conducting my own “Classroom Library” evaluation (in my 4th grade classroom), I realized that a large majority of the books in my CTs collection were fiction.  Lots of good fiction, but fiction nonetheless.  A to Z mystery series, Junie B. Jones, Geronimo Stilton, etc etc.  The closest I could find to being a “collection” of non-fiction texts is our box full of Magic School Bus books.  Needless to say,  I consider this a problem, especially after the discussion in the Flint text about the “fourth grade slump” – students have successfully learned to read but are not recieving new, challenging, exploratory texts which engage and motivate them to refine their readings skills.

Speaking of reading skills, I was about to take up a fight (with the Flint text specifically) when they stated “It is not the objective of inquiry to teach specific reading or writing skills.”  Isn’t this the point?  To use inquiry based lessons on a specific content area to help refine students reading and writing skills, to teach them how to read and write, and to teach them why they are reading and writing?  However, the text went on to say “Inquiry-based learning use reading and writing as tools for learning, not objects of learning.”  Ok, this I can accept.  If the content is the focus of the lesson, students will have to be guided to use their knowledge of how and why to read and write, and subsequently improve their reading and writing skills because they are trying to learn more.

Another excellent concept which I will ideally implement into my own classroom is pairing nonfiction and fiction together.  In this lesson (found on learnnc.org), the objective is for students to learn about wolves, and about endangered species.  The reading skill, however, is for students to engage in fiction and non-fiction texts, figuring out whether the author of each of these texts is portraying a positive or negative perspective on wolves.  The students are reading books, all of which are about wolves, but all of which are a mixed bag of fiction and non-fiction.  This way, the students are making the connection that they can learn new information about a topic in both fiction and non-fiction texts.  What a great concept.

Overall, students should be allowed more exposure to non-fiction texts in the classroom.  While they may need to be taught specific skills on how to read non-fiction, this type of text is influential for their participation in the literacy world in the future.

Emergent Readers and Writers.

To think that at some point in our lives, these letters which I now type in my blog were foreign and uncomprehensible to us is baffling to me.  At what point did I decide that “o” had a meaning in which I would open my mouth, verbalize “oooh” and make some sort of connection to the word “open.”  And at which point did I decide that the “o” which I could visualize and use to make the word “open” had a more specific definition, meaning to move something in a way which it is available or welcoming, etc etc …

At some point, I gained the confidence to understand that by practicing sounds and creating “sentences” (even if only ”
I ranned outside”), that I too could make meaning through verbal cues.  I understand that I was able to refine my own language abilities and develop a mature skill in talking and communicating with others based on the English language and American (southern) cultural dialogue contexts.

All that being said, the practices of emerging readers and writers, while elementary, have profound meaning and allow teachers to develop a better sense of how students are perceiving language – socially, culturally, and cognitively.  Futher, I was specifically interested in the images and theories behind “inventive spelling” in our texts – the ideas that students are taking hold of the prior knowledge about letters, creating what they percieve to be “writing”, and eventually producing an outcome which is suggestive of a written text.  For example in the below picture, it seems the child has attempted to write “I ate barbecue. It was delicious.”  This type of inventive spelling (early phonemic) is more developed, showing the childs mastery of certain phonemic sounds and their specific relations to letters, letters to words, and words to full sentences.

An influential quote for me from the Flint text stated, “These [inventive] spellings provide a window into children’s growing comprehension of written language’s organizational principles.”  The reference to “organizational principles” clues me into thinking about how student’s organize language in their minds – what they use language for, how they think about language, in what ways they have been exposed to language … and then, how all of these things affect their own performance of language. 

In additional to thinking about all of these concepts of print/text/etc, I was interested to see the 21st century addition of “concepts of screen.”  For young learners who are being introduced to computer technology at increasingly young ages, it seems a vital concept for teachers to consider in the classroom.  For a few of the students in my own classroom, their morning work is consistently computer-based:  allowing them to read interactive books online, answer questions, and play games based on skills and comprehension.  This sort of individualized activity allows them to be engaged while having authentic literacy experiences.

“All of the Above” and other Assesments.

In reality, I realize that assessments are a necessary part of education – and in life, really.  To say that someone should have the opportunity without being formally assessed on their performance or actions is somewhat ignorant, as everyone, at some time or another, must be held accountable.  In the workplace: employees are reviewed; in sports: athletes are timed/scored; in school: students are tested.  So while we recgonize and accept the necessity for assessments, we don’t necessarily have to accept the types of testing which have in recent years (in the American Education System) become “the norm.”  High stakes, norm-referenced, decontextualized, standardized tests – which do more to water-down curriculum, simplify content application, and stress teachers/students/administrators/parents out more than actually necessary.  In light of all this, I would encourage teachers and future teachers alike to consider formative, portfolio-based assessments on a regular basis. 

To begin with, Formative Assessment allows students to understand exactly what they are learning.  On so many summative assessments, students are being tested on content which they would have potentially covered lessons, days, even weeks ago, causing a disconnect between what they actually learned and how they are expected to apply that knowledge on this specified test.  On the other hand, formative assessments allows students to make a more comfortable, direct connection between the knowledge they are attaining and the situations in which they are capable of applying that newly attained knowledge.

Additionally, Portfolio-based Assessments are all-around a great way to run a classroom.  Setting up an easily managed portfolio filing system creates an effective way  for students, teachers, and parents to track students progress over an extended period of time.  The Flint text commented that a portfolio contructs a portrait of sorts “that a teacher and student can learn from long after the isolated moment of assessment.”  I think this type of assessment allows all students to show their potential and their growth because it steers away from focusing on one single assignment or graded activity, but instead takes a more holistic point of view.  This way, students are able to make corrections, change their thinking and approaches, and gain confidence in their own experiences.  As well, this is a great way to gain information for parent-teacher conferences, IEP meetings, etc. 

All this being said, I do realize the importance of norm-referenced and summative assessments at some specified times.  I realize that students, teachers, and administrators need to be held accountable for their performance in the classroom, and that sometimes the only way to measure that is through these types of standardized testing.  While it is likely not to give an accurate read of what students are learning and how much they are growing, it is able to give a general picture of what areas need more focus, etc.

“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.”

As I had never officially read this book myself, I decided that creating my Interactive Read-Aloud lesson around it would be a great chance to get in on the fun.  After picture walking (with extremely interesting and intricate illustrations), predictions, reading-aloud, questioning, reflecting, etc etc, we came to our Interactive Writing Activity.

My idea for this Interactive Writing was to focus on Author’s Style – helping students to recognize what the author’s style was, and then being able to emulate it themselves.  In order to create an authentic writing experience for them, we thought of another object (animals) which could potentially become “weather” from the sky.  The following is what insued:

We took quotes from the original story and changed them to make them fit our purpose of “weather by animals.”  They did a great job of creating parallel sentence structures and phrases from the original text.

Needless to say, having read the book outloud with these kids and having a great time with the Interactive Writing Acitivity, I’m pretty pumped to go see the movie “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” in theatres now.

Literate Lives and Growing Readers: Bottoms Up?

Both reading selections from Literate Lives and Growing Readers this week were influential to my own ideas about not only Reading, but also the teaching of reading.  I feel the two different selections complimented eachother – as in I think you can’t have one without the other – although,  I will begin with Growing Readers.

The ideas suggested through the Growing Readers text this week were essential, dare say, crucial to a well-run classroom.  Not only am I thinking of a well-managed classroom, but a classroom where children are truly making meaning out of their experiences – academically, personally, socially, etc etc.  These aren’t just good tactics for teaching reading, these are good tactics for teaching in LIFE – I mean, knitting, skateboarding, basketball, painting, cooking, what have you – these are strategies that will bring people together and create the most authentic of circumstances.  Here are two of my favorite quotes:

 “We model all day long as we teach, but perhaps the most important thing we can model is how to learn.”

 “The respect in our classrooms must run between the teacher and students as well as among the students themselves.”

To me, these two quotes really get to the basis of what we as teachers should be trying to create within our classroom communities.  If we can a) teach our students how to perceive the world around them, taking in new knowledge in every situation and b) relate to others around them and support one another in their learning then we as teachers can create well-rounded students and future citizens of the world.

Now, taking that as a basis for our classrooms, the teaching models displayed in Literate Lives were equally inspiring.  As a social justice enthusiast myself, I would ideally aspire to have the “Learning to read means critically examining the text” Model down by my second year of teacher (as Ms. Pauline Fuller apparently did).  Being able to develop our students into readers that truly are able to take in a text critically, reflect, and make their own judgments (while challenging) would seem extremely rewarding.  My own fourth graders are discussing author’s purpose right now – what is the author’s purpose, or intention, behind this text:  to persuade, entertain, make judgment, express and idea, etc etc.  Sometimes this seems a lofty idea for such young minds, but beginning in the early grades, creating students with a critical eye not only develops them into better readers as far as comprehension but also as far as social awareness.

 However, disclaimer –  I understand that in certain circumstances (as in lower grades) students need to be taught using the first three models initially:  learning skills and strategies for decoding and comprehending text.

“Thank you, thank you very much.”

The Shared Writing/Interactive Writing time at Haw River was a great experience for me. After picture walking and reading through “Flower Garden” with my two 2nd grade companions, we imagined what it would be like for the mother in the story to write her daughter a “Thank You” letter for the beautiful flowers she was given.

Subsequently, we were able to create the following letter:

While the idea of “sharing the pen” was a little confusing, the flow of the letter turned out fairly well. More than a learning experience for my students, I was extremely grateful for the learning experience I was given – feeling much more confident in conducting an Interactive Writing activity now …

Literate Lives: Fillin’ Up that Virtual Backpack.

One of the more significant themes that I found this text to emphasize was the appropriate contextualization of language in the classroom.  A question included that really brought this to life for me was this:

“Are students involved in activities that develop their self-esteem
and provide them with opportunities to succeed?” (Flint, p. 71)

 To me, this question encompasses our purpose in providing relevant and appropriate educational experiences for all students – all cultures, all languages.  Whether we are providing labels, creating differentiated lessons, allowing resource times, etc – at the end of the day, this question directs us back to our purpose of teaching diverse classrooms of students.  Are we teaching with an attitude that provides support and celebrates success with students?  Are we viewing the school experience as a place for students to express themselves and rise to their fullest potential?  Or are we only providing them with survival tactics to get through the year.

A couple of the ideas in this particular text are great activities which err on the side of success for diverse students and ELLs.  For example, the idea of literature discussions (p. 70) allows students to talk with one another and correct each other in an immersed setting without judgment.  This seems as though it would provide a more informal setting in which students wouldn’t be weighed down by the pressure of performance or grades. 

As well, the interactive journals (p. 68) seem like a great way for students to reflect on the readings and content of the classroom, making relevant connections to their own lives and experiences.  This is a great way to provide a home-school connection in which students can share their own cultures and language use as well as to inform teachers about their development.  

In the end, making language use in the classroom accessible should be our main concern.  If students and teachers are able to communicate effectively, the developmental process should a) go somewhat more smoothly and b) provide more meaningful experiences for each student and their families/communities.  Ultimately, language is a resource, and helping our students to build up their “virtual school bag” with skills and knowledge about language is a sure-fire way to provide them with opportunities to succeed.