Assignment #12

Reflect on learning throughout semester:

      This class helped me understand the full importance of teaching students not only to read and write, but their importance in the said art.  Read alouds,  writing workshop, and daily 5 are not things teachers place in their schedule to take up time, but to give students some of the most important tools they will need to succeed.  As a future teacher, I hope to be able to incorporate all these wonderful teaching strategies into my daily planning.  I also hope to change other people's views on teaching Comm Arts to children.

Reading Assignment #11

For this reflection, I read About the Authors by Katie Ray

      This whole chapter gave a snap shot of how a Writing Workshop can be accomplished successfully.  For the workshop to work, students need to know that they can write, no matter what's on the paper.  Do not let students feel uncomfortable because they can only draw pictures, this is still a form of writing.  I can use this in my future classroom because students need to know that writing is important and anyone can do it.

Reading Assignment #10

For this reflection I read Dorn Ch. 4: Guided Reading.

      This chapter was all about the guided reading groups. One strong point made in this chapter was that these reading groups need to be flexible; if a child is left in the same group all year, nothing will be accomplished.  Another point made through out this chapter was the necessity to make sure the students have CAP and other basics of reading before placed into guided reading groups.  The one thing I want to take away from this lesson is that guided reading groups are possible for the regular teacher to do.  I also want to remember that even though a child reads on one level now, that does not mean he will need to be in the same group 4 weeks from now.

Bingham Elementary School Field Trip

       My first impression of Bingham Elementary was how small the school seemed to be; but after I stepped in, I could feel the hominess to it.  When the teacher started the Daily 5 and Guided Reading, you could tell the students had been doing this for a while now. There was definitely a routine.  It was interesting to actually see things I have learned in class put into action.  I hope to one day have a classroom that is as rich in literature as this classroom seemed to be.

Reading Response #9

For this response, I was required to read Harvey & Goudvis Ch. 1 "Reading is Thinking"

This chapter was all about teaching children to comprehend what they read.  Although as teachers, we have a lot on our plates, if we teach students to comprehend what they read, then teaching will become an easier task.  I think this teaching strategy could be used for any class subject.  If a child is comprehending what he is learning, then our jobs will be 100 times easier.

Conference Day 2011

On Conference Day I attended the session called Redemption from the World of Human Trafficking.  This session was taught by Rev. Mike Bartel who currently resides in Las Vegas.  I was really excited to hear from Mike because my family are really good friends with his.  I have been babysat his kids before. 
The Bartel's minstry is focused around getting girls away from slavery.  Everytime I hear the statistics for missing children and how many become sex slaves, my heart falls. How can a country that offers freedom, not help these kids out?  I'm so glad for people like the Bartel's who can give their lives to changing the lives of others. 

Reading Assignment #8

For this reading assignment I was required to read the reading on Angel called "Phonemic Awareness". I did not meet with a group and did the reading myself.

This reading was all about the importance of phonemic awareness and how to teach it.  I really enjoyed this reading because instead of just listing statistics, it actually had teaching strategies through it.  Phonemic awareness is important to students because it helps with speech and reading.  As a teacher, I will have to make a conscious effort to teach phonemic awareness and not jump straight towards reading.  Even though sounding letters out might seem like a small accomplishment, students need it for successful reading.

Reading Assignment #7

For this assignment, I was required to read "Missouri Early Learning Standards for Literacy"

Things I want to remember:

• Children learn through Symbolic Development, Speaking/ Expressive Language, Listening/ Receptive Language, Reading, and Writing.
• Have atleast 7-10 books per child in different genres.

      This article spoke of how there are many different steps to learning how to read.  The most left out step is the Symbolic Development step.  Children need to learn how to use their imagination before they can use it to read and write.  Each step must be fed and encouraged by the teachers and adults in the child's life.

Reading Assignment #6

#6A: Read the files on RTI

RTI (Response To Intervention) is very important when it comes to teaching students literacy.  Without RTI, students would not receive the required reading help, until after they had been diagnosed with a disability.  RTI gives schools the ability to help students that do not have a disability get the help they deserve.  This will affect my teaching because I will have to watch for students who are struggling in reading and need RTI, but do not need special education classes.

#6B: Read files on NCLB

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is a governement funded program to reach 100% literacy in reading and math by 2014.  NCLB can be a positive thing because it forces our teachers to believe students can achieve.  NCLB could be a negative program because it might push students harder than they can work.  I will need to be aware of this while teaching because if my school is part of NCLB, I will have to work harder with my students in reading and math.

Reading Assignment #5

For this assignment, I read "How One elementary School Uses Date to Help Raise Students' Reading Achievement" by kouider Mokhtari, Jennifer Thoma, and Pratricia Edwards

This article spoke of how to raise reading achievement from very low to high percentages.  The teachers and administrators all got together as a group to change the percentages.  This was done through hours of hard work.  I learned that reading percentages can increase, if hard work is done by the whole school.

Reading Assignment #4

Ch. 2 of Gunning spoke of how to teach exceptional students how to read.  This can deal with RTI, NCLB, and diversity.  The first steps of invention start is universal screening.  The help needed can range from tutoring to special education class time.

Reference:
Gunning, T. G. (2010). Creating literacy instruction for all students (7th ed.). Needham Heights: Allyn And Bacon. 

Reading Assignment #3

For this assignment I was required to read the Elementary LEA article titled " Something old is new again: Revisiting language experience".

I really enjoyed reading this article.  Instead of being filled with boring scientific statistics, it was very intriguing.  I loved Roberta Dorr's lesson example for teaching reading.  She taught that every Language Experience Approach (LEA) has to bring in the student's cultural schemas.  I believe that cultural schemas should help fuel any lesson plan because it will help to engage the students.

Reading Assignment #2

For this assignment, I was supposed to read the chapter that was posted online.

This chapter spoke of different floor plans used to teach.  These included the Traditional Apprenticeship and the Cognitive Apprenticeship.  Both of these plans have the same format.  The format includes  modeling, coaching, scaffolding, and fading.  These steps help students learn, not only the material, but how to perform the assignments by themselves.  I believe these steps will become very helpful when teaching.

Reading Opportunities

• Prior Knowledge
• Indentifying similarities and diffferences
• I learned.../I felt...

Reflection. Ch. 1

This week's assignment was to read Ch. 1 of Creating Literacy Instructionm for All Students by Thomas G. Gunning and reflect on the chapter by using pervious knowledge.  The chapter speaks of literacy and how to teach students in a multitude of different ways.  I already knew that many children learned through a different means, but never knew there were so many different types of reading theories.  According to the text, the three main teaching approaches are called Bottom-Uppers, Top-Downers, and Interactionists.  I personally, tend to be more of a Bottom-upper.  I believe that children should start with their alphabet before starting to read.  I already knew that was what I believed, but now I have a name to go with my teaching theory.  Another thing I learned was that there are many different ways to teach students to become literate and not every teacher will use the same exact form.