I have learned a lot about my buddy, A. over the past few weeks. On the examiner word lists, A. scored in the independent and instructional range up through high school. She is often reading books that above her grade level, such as Little House on the Prairie or Harry Potter. While she is very fluent and scored above the 75th percentile on the 4th grade fluency test, we found that she is lacking in comprehension. A. seems to have a desire to quickly read through a book. She reads often and usually chooses series which she tries to finish as quickly as possible. Because of this, her comprehension suffers. When questioning A. about the Amelia Earhart passage, we found that she missed the explicit questions, indicative that she was rushing through the reading and not thinking about what she read. She needed to look back in order to even find the information that we were questioning her about. We found the same results on her retelling of a passage of Harry Potter that she read aloud to us; she left out important information.
Our plan for the next class session is to have A. read the other 4th grade passage and ask her to slow down. That is also the goal for the lesson that we will create for her: to have her read slower and stop to think about what she is reading. Currently, when she picks up a book after stopping for a period of a few hours she has to reread a page or so to refresh her memory as to what is going on. We are hoping to get a better idea of what level of book to choose for her for the lesson, as we suspect she may either be reading at a level that is too high for her, or it may just be that she needs to take higher level books at a slower pace.
Curious Gertie: My journey as an elementary school teacher
Showing posts with label Literacy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Literacy. Show all posts
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Literacy Project One: Reflection
I have really enjoyed working with A thus far and being able to reflect on her capabilities as a writer. A is a student who loves to write, and is very proficient at it. Although the writing that I reviewed for this project was a prompted piece, A has explained in conversation that she really enjoys writing. At this time she is working on a scary story for her friend who is moving away. Knowing this new information makes me realize that the lesson we chose for her is especially appropriate, as this is the main activity of the lesson.
There was a question in my blog responses asking if I feel that spelling or juicy words are more important to focus on. At this point in her writing, I believe that the better selection of adjectives, nouns, and verbs would most improve her writing; the spelling would be done in the editing phase before her writing was published. A is a very proficient reader, reads daily, and sets personal reading goals. Through this reading of high level books, such as Harry Potter and Little House on the Prairie, A's writing skills will continue to improve as she sees examples of descriptive writing.
For my lesson plan, I would add a step of shared demonstration from Routman's Optimal Learning Model.
IV. Instructional Strategies
1. Teacher will explain the purpose and meaning of descriptive vocabulary including the utilization of the five senses.
2. Teacher will show a list of ordinary words and ask students to provide synonyms to make these words more descriptive. Chart of these words will be created.3. Have student brainstorm ten each of: sights, sounds, objects, emotions, and creepy names that could be associated with a scary Halloween situation. Teacher will encourage the use of concrete words and descriptive adjectives. Student will write the words on index cards and sort into appropriate piles (i.e. emotions, adjectives, etc.)
4. Give the story prompt of: One dark, stormy night I walked down the street and saw... (or she can create her own).
5. Student needs to use 20 words from the index cards in her story and can only use the common words of said, yelled, scared, and spooky once.
I look forward to further working with A and watching her writing continue to improve.
There was a question in my blog responses asking if I feel that spelling or juicy words are more important to focus on. At this point in her writing, I believe that the better selection of adjectives, nouns, and verbs would most improve her writing; the spelling would be done in the editing phase before her writing was published. A is a very proficient reader, reads daily, and sets personal reading goals. Through this reading of high level books, such as Harry Potter and Little House on the Prairie, A's writing skills will continue to improve as she sees examples of descriptive writing.
For my lesson plan, I would add a step of shared demonstration from Routman's Optimal Learning Model.
IV. Instructional Strategies
1. Teacher will explain the purpose and meaning of descriptive vocabulary including the utilization of the five senses.
2. Teacher will show a list of ordinary words and ask students to provide synonyms to make these words more descriptive. Chart of these words will be created.3. Have student brainstorm ten each of: sights, sounds, objects, emotions, and creepy names that could be associated with a scary Halloween situation. Teacher will encourage the use of concrete words and descriptive adjectives. Student will write the words on index cards and sort into appropriate piles (i.e. emotions, adjectives, etc.)
4. Give the story prompt of: One dark, stormy night I walked down the street and saw... (or she can create her own).
5. Student needs to use 20 words from the index cards in her story and can only use the common words of said, yelled, scared, and spooky once.
I look forward to further working with A and watching her writing continue to improve.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Literacy Project One: Analysis & Lesson Plan
I. Analysis
1. Meaning
In her piece, The Chatty Dog, A is writing about her dog, Boomer in a fictional setting where Boomer is able to talk. As this was a prompted piece, I would like to see more examples of her unprompted writing to look for meaning.
2. Six Traits
a. Ideas and Content
5A The topic is narrow & manageable: A's topic is one day in the life of her dog who could talk, plus the following morning when his voice was gone.
5B Relevant, telling details: “He was singing his favorite tune, ‘Who Let the Dogs Out?’”
5C Accurate details: the dog screamed, sang, and laughed
5D Writing from knowledge or experience: included her dog’s personality: “He stupidly yelled, ‘Feed me!’”
3E Reader is left with questions: How was the dog able to talk? Why was it just for one day?
5F Insight: the only thing that changed was that the dog talked, he continued to do his regular activities such as eat and go outside.
b. Organization
5A Inviting introduction & satisfying conclusion: “I blinded my eyes…” “I would never forget…”
5B Thoughtful transitions: “within seconds”, “after”, “when”, “once”.
5C Sequencing is logical & effective: the story takes place through the progression of a day.
3D Pacing is fairly well controlled: A needs to elaborate and provide more details for each activity.
3E Title is uninspired/inaccurate: the title is My Dog is Chatty, but the dog actually speaks relatively little in the story.
5F Matches purpose & audience: paragraphs are split by page.
c. Voice
5A Selection of relevant details: writing paints a clear picture: “Instead of going to do his business, he started singing and rolling in the fluffy white snow. He had a horrible singing voice!” A does a good job at using the right amount of details. As Routman states in Writing Essentials, "Voice is in the details--but details that show the real person and the story behind the words, not just details for the sake of adding more words, transitions, or sentence variety" (Routman, 2005).
5B Arrangement of ideas: ideas are sequential and all related to the topic
3C Writer occasionally reveals personal details: the author needs to talk more about her emotions.
3E Writing does not reflect a unique perspective: A needs to add more emotions, discussing how she and Boomer feel in this story.
d. Word Choice
5A Words are specific & accurate: “He loudly screamed. It sounded like a horror movie scream.”
3B Familiar words and phrases: multiple use of the word “jumped.”
5C Natural, effective, appropriate language: “When he stopped jumping, he ran around the house in circles.”
3D Passive nouns and everyday verbs: “got used to”, “jumped”, “yelled”, “mad”.
5E Language enhances meaning: “He zoomed past me…”
3F Language looks like first thing that popped into her mind: needs to use a thesaurus to correct passive nouns and everyday verbs (see 3D).
e. Sentence Fluency
5A Sentences underscore and enhance meaning: “Then, right in my face, right there, right then he stupidly yelled, “Feed me!”
5B Sentences vary in length and structure
5C Purposeful & variety sentence beginnings: “On”, “Once”, “Then”, “That”, “Now”.
5D Creative & appropriate transitions: “within seconds”, “once”, “when”.
3E Parts are stiff & awkward: “The next morning, he didn’t talk, he just barked. Since he was talking I knew what he wanted.”
f. Conventions
3A Spelling is usually correct: needs to fix “grabbed”, “tired”, “business”, “stopped”.
3B End punctuation usually correct: needs to indent when characters are speaking
5C Capitalization: she capitalizes proper nouns and the beginning of a sentence.
5D Grammar is correct: “Instead of doing his business,…”
5E Paragraphing: ideas are split by paragraph and page.
3F Moderate editing needed.
3. Ownership
A has professed to love writing, but at this time we are needing more information to determine her preferences for topic and genre. When discussing this piece with her, we discovered that it was based on a prompt, but that she also enjoyed writing it and was proud of her piece.
4. Spelling Development
In regards to spelling, A is at a very high level. When given the Elementary Spelling Inventory 1, the only word missed was opposition (opizition). When my partner and I gave her the Examiner Word Lists, she scored 100% on the third, fifth, and sixth grade tests; 95% on the fourth and upper middle school test; and a 75% on the high school level test. While she scored very well on these tests, she did make errors in her written piece. It will be important for A to focus on correcting these spelling errors before publishing, because as Routman states, "having a spelling consciousness means valuing correct spelling as a courtesy to the reader" (Routman, 2005). She had trouble with the doubling of consonants when adding an –ed (stopped, hopping, grabbed). She also made a few mistakes that make me wonder if she was just rushing during the writing or editing process, such as spelling the word “slowly” two different ways.
1. Meaning
In her piece, The Chatty Dog, A is writing about her dog, Boomer in a fictional setting where Boomer is able to talk. As this was a prompted piece, I would like to see more examples of her unprompted writing to look for meaning.
2. Six Traits
a. Ideas and Content
5A The topic is narrow & manageable: A's topic is one day in the life of her dog who could talk, plus the following morning when his voice was gone.
5B Relevant, telling details: “He was singing his favorite tune, ‘Who Let the Dogs Out?’”
5C Accurate details: the dog screamed, sang, and laughed
5D Writing from knowledge or experience: included her dog’s personality: “He stupidly yelled, ‘Feed me!’”
3E Reader is left with questions: How was the dog able to talk? Why was it just for one day?
5F Insight: the only thing that changed was that the dog talked, he continued to do his regular activities such as eat and go outside.
b. Organization
5A Inviting introduction & satisfying conclusion: “I blinded my eyes…” “I would never forget…”
5B Thoughtful transitions: “within seconds”, “after”, “when”, “once”.
5C Sequencing is logical & effective: the story takes place through the progression of a day.
3D Pacing is fairly well controlled: A needs to elaborate and provide more details for each activity.
3E Title is uninspired/inaccurate: the title is My Dog is Chatty, but the dog actually speaks relatively little in the story.
5F Matches purpose & audience: paragraphs are split by page.
c. Voice
5A Selection of relevant details: writing paints a clear picture: “Instead of going to do his business, he started singing and rolling in the fluffy white snow. He had a horrible singing voice!” A does a good job at using the right amount of details. As Routman states in Writing Essentials, "Voice is in the details--but details that show the real person and the story behind the words, not just details for the sake of adding more words, transitions, or sentence variety" (Routman, 2005).
5B Arrangement of ideas: ideas are sequential and all related to the topic
3C Writer occasionally reveals personal details: the author needs to talk more about her emotions.
3E Writing does not reflect a unique perspective: A needs to add more emotions, discussing how she and Boomer feel in this story.
d. Word Choice
5A Words are specific & accurate: “He loudly screamed. It sounded like a horror movie scream.”
3B Familiar words and phrases: multiple use of the word “jumped.”
5C Natural, effective, appropriate language: “When he stopped jumping, he ran around the house in circles.”
3D Passive nouns and everyday verbs: “got used to”, “jumped”, “yelled”, “mad”.
5E Language enhances meaning: “He zoomed past me…”
3F Language looks like first thing that popped into her mind: needs to use a thesaurus to correct passive nouns and everyday verbs (see 3D).
e. Sentence Fluency
5A Sentences underscore and enhance meaning: “Then, right in my face, right there, right then he stupidly yelled, “Feed me!”
5B Sentences vary in length and structure
5C Purposeful & variety sentence beginnings: “On”, “Once”, “Then”, “That”, “Now”.
5D Creative & appropriate transitions: “within seconds”, “once”, “when”.
3E Parts are stiff & awkward: “The next morning, he didn’t talk, he just barked. Since he was talking I knew what he wanted.”
f. Conventions
3A Spelling is usually correct: needs to fix “grabbed”, “tired”, “business”, “stopped”.
3B End punctuation usually correct: needs to indent when characters are speaking
5C Capitalization: she capitalizes proper nouns and the beginning of a sentence.
5D Grammar is correct: “Instead of doing his business,…”
5E Paragraphing: ideas are split by paragraph and page.
3F Moderate editing needed.
3. Ownership
A has professed to love writing, but at this time we are needing more information to determine her preferences for topic and genre. When discussing this piece with her, we discovered that it was based on a prompt, but that she also enjoyed writing it and was proud of her piece.
4. Spelling Development
In regards to spelling, A is at a very high level. When given the Elementary Spelling Inventory 1, the only word missed was opposition (opizition). When my partner and I gave her the Examiner Word Lists, she scored 100% on the third, fifth, and sixth grade tests; 95% on the fourth and upper middle school test; and a 75% on the high school level test. While she scored very well on these tests, she did make errors in her written piece. It will be important for A to focus on correcting these spelling errors before publishing, because as Routman states, "having a spelling consciousness means valuing correct spelling as a courtesy to the reader" (Routman, 2005). She had trouble with the doubling of consonants when adding an –ed (stopped, hopping, grabbed). She also made a few mistakes that make me wonder if she was just rushing during the writing or editing process, such as spelling the word “slowly” two different ways.
II. Lesson Plan
I. Objectives
To utilize descriptive language and emotion in her writing
II. Standards
3.2.2 Uses language appropriate for a specific audience and purpose. Uses precise words (e.g., vivid verbs —screeched, hovered, absorbed; specific nouns — granite, longhouse, cedar).
1.1.1 Applies more than one strategy for generating ideas and planning writing.
III. Materials
Notecards
Pencil
Thesarus
IV. Instructional Strategies
1. Teacher will explain the purpose and meaning of descriptive vocabulary including the utilization of the five senses.
2. Have student brainstorm ten each of: sights, sounds, objects, emotions, and creepy names that could be associated with a scary Halloween situation. Teacher will encourage the use of concrete words and descriptive adjectives. Student will write the words on index cards and sort into appropriate piles (i.e. emotions, adjectives, etc.)
3. Give the story prompt of: One dark, stormy night I walked down the street and saw... (or she can create her own).
4. Student needs to use 20 words from the index cards in her story and can only use the common words of said, yelled, scared, and spooky once.
V. Assessment: At the end of the activity she will write a story using one of the prompts from the brainstorm. She can use the words: said, yelled, scared, and spooky only once in her story. She will have to use 20 words from the word bank (juicy words) to portray emotions and add descriptive language.
To utilize descriptive language and emotion in her writing
II. Standards
3.2.2 Uses language appropriate for a specific audience and purpose. Uses precise words (e.g., vivid verbs —screeched, hovered, absorbed; specific nouns — granite, longhouse, cedar).
1.1.1 Applies more than one strategy for generating ideas and planning writing.
III. Materials
Notecards
Pencil
Thesarus
IV. Instructional Strategies
1. Teacher will explain the purpose and meaning of descriptive vocabulary including the utilization of the five senses.
2. Have student brainstorm ten each of: sights, sounds, objects, emotions, and creepy names that could be associated with a scary Halloween situation. Teacher will encourage the use of concrete words and descriptive adjectives. Student will write the words on index cards and sort into appropriate piles (i.e. emotions, adjectives, etc.)
3. Give the story prompt of: One dark, stormy night I walked down the street and saw... (or she can create her own).
4. Student needs to use 20 words from the index cards in her story and can only use the common words of said, yelled, scared, and spooky once.
V. Assessment: At the end of the activity she will write a story using one of the prompts from the brainstorm. She can use the words: said, yelled, scared, and spooky only once in her story. She will have to use 20 words from the word bank (juicy words) to portray emotions and add descriptive language.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Critics--who needs 'em?
Love, love love, the quote on page 142 of Lamott: "A critic is someone who comes onto the battlefield after the battle is over and shoots the wounded." Not many people love criticism, and if we're not careful, we can crush the spirit of the kids we teach. Who wants to be told that they are a bad writer? When reading anyone's work, especially kids, we need to be sure to emphasize the positive aspects, and choose our comments for improvement carefully.
Upon receiving criticism from a friend, Lamott writes, "My first thought is, 'Well, I'm, sorry, but I can't be friends with you anymore, because you have too many problems. And you have a bad personality. And a bad character.' Sometimes I can't get words to come out of my mouth because I am so disappointed, as if they had said that Sam [her son] is ugly and boring and spoiled and I should let him go. If we are barraging a child with criticism, they will no longer want to write. They will put up a wall, tune us out, and the trust that they previously gave us would be lost.
Routman also discusses criticism in her chapter about conferences. She emphasizes that we should "always focus first on what the wrtier has done well. Beginning with celebration affirms the writer and makes it more likely that she will be open to suggestions... Whatever you say to the child, be sure it encourages her to continue writing" (Routman, 2005). In my dyad classroom, we spend a lot of time moving through the room doing just this. We make sure that we compliment the student on what they are doing well, such as writing more than they did last time. Our teacher emphasizes that she doesn't want just the children who had errors in their writing to receive helpful suggestions. She wants them all to receive information on what they can do to improve their writing, so they know that no one is perfect and that everyone can improve their writing.
Upon receiving criticism from a friend, Lamott writes, "My first thought is, 'Well, I'm, sorry, but I can't be friends with you anymore, because you have too many problems. And you have a bad personality. And a bad character.' Sometimes I can't get words to come out of my mouth because I am so disappointed, as if they had said that Sam [her son] is ugly and boring and spoiled and I should let him go. If we are barraging a child with criticism, they will no longer want to write. They will put up a wall, tune us out, and the trust that they previously gave us would be lost.
Routman also discusses criticism in her chapter about conferences. She emphasizes that we should "always focus first on what the wrtier has done well. Beginning with celebration affirms the writer and makes it more likely that she will be open to suggestions... Whatever you say to the child, be sure it encourages her to continue writing" (Routman, 2005). In my dyad classroom, we spend a lot of time moving through the room doing just this. We make sure that we compliment the student on what they are doing well, such as writing more than they did last time. Our teacher emphasizes that she doesn't want just the children who had errors in their writing to receive helpful suggestions. She wants them all to receive information on what they can do to improve their writing, so they know that no one is perfect and that everyone can improve their writing.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Stop and smell the roses
This week's reading by Lamott was not only pertinent to writing, but to life in general. Her chapter, "Looking Around" really resonated with me. I like her philosophy, "I think this is how we are supposed to be in the world--present and in awe" (pg. 100). Lamott continues on to quote a poem by Rumi, which made me think of another poem that I found in high school that has stuck with me:
God, The Artist
God, when you thought of a pine tree,
How did you think of a star?
How did you dream of the Milky Way
To guide us from afar.
How did you think of a clean brown pool
Where flecks of shadows are?
God, when you thought of a cobweb,
How did you think of dew?
How did you know a spider's house
Had shingles bright and new?
How did you know the human folk
Would love them like they do?
God, when you patterned a bird song,
Flung on a silver string,
How did you know the ecstasy
That crystal call would bring?
How did you think of a bubbling throat
And a darling speckled wing?
God, when you chiseled a raindrop,
How did you think of a stem,
Bearing a lovely satin leaf
To hold the tiny gem?
How did you know a million drops
Would deck the morning's hem?
Why did you mate the moonlit night
With the honeysuckle vines?
How did you know Madeira bloom
Distilled ecstatic wines?
How did you weave the velvet disk
Where tangled perfumes are?
God, when you thought of a pine tree,
How did you think of a star?
How did you think of a star?
How did you dream of the Milky Way
To guide us from afar.
How did you think of a clean brown pool
Where flecks of shadows are?
God, when you thought of a cobweb,
How did you think of dew?
How did you know a spider's house
Had shingles bright and new?
How did you know the human folk
Would love them like they do?
God, when you patterned a bird song,
Flung on a silver string,
How did you know the ecstasy
That crystal call would bring?
How did you think of a bubbling throat
And a darling speckled wing?
God, when you chiseled a raindrop,
How did you think of a stem,
Bearing a lovely satin leaf
To hold the tiny gem?
How did you know a million drops
Would deck the morning's hem?
Why did you mate the moonlit night
With the honeysuckle vines?
How did you know Madeira bloom
Distilled ecstatic wines?
How did you weave the velvet disk
Where tangled perfumes are?
God, when you thought of a pine tree,
How did you think of a star?
--Angela Morgan
You don't have to be a believer in God to appreciate this poem and its outlook on life. This poem to me is about appreciating the world around us, and being present in the moment.
Lamott ties this chapter with writing by linking it to perspective and detail in our writing. I have seen that this is something kids struggle with in their writing. Many times their finished writing lacks the details that could make the story come alive and be relatable to the reader. As a teacher I think that it is important that we encourage them to first write about things that they know. If they are an "expert" on the subject they will be able to add the little details that brings the story to life. I wouldn't stress that these details needed to be included in the first rough draft. Instead, I would have the kids edit their papers to add in these details. If the children can visualize a picture in their head and focus closely on all of the details the reader will better be able to visualize it themselves.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Routman--Wow!
I was very impressed with Regie Routman's Writing Essentials. The school that my main placement is in does not have a set writing curriculum, but I can see that many great teachers that I've observed there are using principles that Routman discusses.
For example, I observed a lesson taught by Mrs. T. about writing. She puts a lot of emphasis on the telling of the story out loud or to yourself before you actually begin writing. This is something that Routman discusses on page 37. Mrs. T. also follows the next guideline of shared demonstration where she thinks aloud as she writes. Mrs. T. demonstrated the writing of a memory about riding bikes when she was a kid. As Mrs. T. wrote, she was constantly thinking, revising, and editing as she went. Routman writes how important it is to let students see you as a teacher struggle. "One of the most powerful ways for students to grow as writers is to watch you write--to observe you plan, think, compose, revise, and edit right in front of them, pretty much off the cuff" (Routman, 45).
Another concept that Routman discusses that resonated with me was to keep your audience in mind. When kids write, they often forget about the reader. When I ask a child to tell me about something they did over the weekend, I get a lot of detail and emotion. If that same child writes about the event, often they write a very dry recount of what they did and don't keep the reader in mind.
I look forward to reading more of Routman and learning ways to help each student become a confident writer.
For example, I observed a lesson taught by Mrs. T. about writing. She puts a lot of emphasis on the telling of the story out loud or to yourself before you actually begin writing. This is something that Routman discusses on page 37. Mrs. T. also follows the next guideline of shared demonstration where she thinks aloud as she writes. Mrs. T. demonstrated the writing of a memory about riding bikes when she was a kid. As Mrs. T. wrote, she was constantly thinking, revising, and editing as she went. Routman writes how important it is to let students see you as a teacher struggle. "One of the most powerful ways for students to grow as writers is to watch you write--to observe you plan, think, compose, revise, and edit right in front of them, pretty much off the cuff" (Routman, 45).
Another concept that Routman discusses that resonated with me was to keep your audience in mind. When kids write, they often forget about the reader. When I ask a child to tell me about something they did over the weekend, I get a lot of detail and emotion. If that same child writes about the event, often they write a very dry recount of what they did and don't keep the reader in mind.
I look forward to reading more of Routman and learning ways to help each student become a confident writer.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Practical Application
This week's readings from Word Identification Strategies were helpful to me in a practical sense. The knowledge that I gained will be useful in the kindergarten class we are visiting during class time, the ELL students in my main placement who are struggling with reading, and with my own daughter, who is in kindergarten this year.
As I was reading these chapters, I was also helping my kindergartener with her homework and a song she was trying to write on paper. She just learned the song "Five Little Pumpkins" today. On the top of the paper she wrote her name, which is the first word she learned to spell. Underneath was a drawing of five different pumpkins which were labeled with their number. Following that was a line of oooooooooo. When I asked her what this represented, she said it was the sound of the wind in the song saying "ooh ooh." Finally was her drawing of a hand to signify that they clap when they sing "out goes the light."
After reading these chapters, I have a better appreciation of her as a writer and reader. From what I read thus far, I would say that she is prealphabetic with some traits of partial alphabetic.
For the most part when she writes she either uses scribbles to simulate cursive or she randomly strings letters together, which is part of the prealphabetic stage. She does show a few dimensions of the partial alphabetic stage such as finding letters in words and using one consonant to represent a word.
I also read a story with her called When Tiny Was Tiny, and I explained to her that the way I knew what to read was that the words tell me what to say. She was able to read some small words with two phoenemes, such as /is/ and /he/. We also stretched out words together so she could read them. Currently we play a lot of games with letter sounds and letter recognition, and I'm excited to use the examples from chapter two in the future.
In activity 2.4 it has rhyming and beginning sound sorts. On the last week I was in my main placement (3rd grade), we did word work aka, spelling. The beginner group is made up mainly of ELL students, and they were using this activity to sort their spelling words. I found that it was essential to do step 3, which is "have children name each picture." Each child can interpret a picture differently, and if they don't know what the picture is supposed to represent, they are unable to sort the word correctly.
Finally, I just want to say that how we learn to read is amazing to me! The English language is a hard one to be proficient in, especially when many words don't follow the rules for how each phoneme should sound. This book has illustrated for me how to teach kindergarteners and 1st graders step by step to help them build a reading foundation, where in the past it seemed daunting and overwhelming.
As I was reading these chapters, I was also helping my kindergartener with her homework and a song she was trying to write on paper. She just learned the song "Five Little Pumpkins" today. On the top of the paper she wrote her name, which is the first word she learned to spell. Underneath was a drawing of five different pumpkins which were labeled with their number. Following that was a line of oooooooooo. When I asked her what this represented, she said it was the sound of the wind in the song saying "ooh ooh." Finally was her drawing of a hand to signify that they clap when they sing "out goes the light."
After reading these chapters, I have a better appreciation of her as a writer and reader. From what I read thus far, I would say that she is prealphabetic with some traits of partial alphabetic.
For the most part when she writes she either uses scribbles to simulate cursive or she randomly strings letters together, which is part of the prealphabetic stage. She does show a few dimensions of the partial alphabetic stage such as finding letters in words and using one consonant to represent a word.
I also read a story with her called When Tiny Was Tiny, and I explained to her that the way I knew what to read was that the words tell me what to say. She was able to read some small words with two phoenemes, such as /is/ and /he/. We also stretched out words together so she could read them. Currently we play a lot of games with letter sounds and letter recognition, and I'm excited to use the examples from chapter two in the future.
In activity 2.4 it has rhyming and beginning sound sorts. On the last week I was in my main placement (3rd grade), we did word work aka, spelling. The beginner group is made up mainly of ELL students, and they were using this activity to sort their spelling words. I found that it was essential to do step 3, which is "have children name each picture." Each child can interpret a picture differently, and if they don't know what the picture is supposed to represent, they are unable to sort the word correctly.
Finally, I just want to say that how we learn to read is amazing to me! The English language is a hard one to be proficient in, especially when many words don't follow the rules for how each phoneme should sound. This book has illustrated for me how to teach kindergarteners and 1st graders step by step to help them build a reading foundation, where in the past it seemed daunting and overwhelming.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Emergent Literacy
I really enjoyed Teale & Sulzby's article Emergent Literacy: New Perspectives. Their findings that learning to read and write start when children are very young is something that I have seen in my own life. I have two daughters and I'm watching them learn and progress through the different stages of reading and writing. One of my daughters is nine, so she is at a point in her learning career where she is reading and comprehending long chapter books and writing her own stories.
My other daughter is five and just started Kindergarten this year. She is currently learning all of her letters, sounds, and how to correctly write them. She also likes to create her own books, and since she has been a viewer of books since she was born, she knows the general layout of a book. When creating her books she staples pages together on the left side, like the binding of a traditional book. As she is not a fluent writer of conventional words, most of her stories are pages of illustrations accompanied by squiggly lines to represent writing. Although they may just look like scribbles, in her mind they are representing the words of the story. Her favorite choice time activity at school is the Writing Center. The Writing Center is not a place where she has to practice forming letters and being corrected, but is instead a place where she can explore the world of writing on her own terms and enjoy herself.
In my classroom I want to create a space where reading and writing is enjoyable for each student. I plan to do this by giving the kids choices for what they want to read and write about. I want them to read genres that they are interested in and try out others that they find that they like. When writing, I want them to use their own experiences to provide a basis for a story or that will give them a jumping off point to create a fictional story.
My other daughter is five and just started Kindergarten this year. She is currently learning all of her letters, sounds, and how to correctly write them. She also likes to create her own books, and since she has been a viewer of books since she was born, she knows the general layout of a book. When creating her books she staples pages together on the left side, like the binding of a traditional book. As she is not a fluent writer of conventional words, most of her stories are pages of illustrations accompanied by squiggly lines to represent writing. Although they may just look like scribbles, in her mind they are representing the words of the story. Her favorite choice time activity at school is the Writing Center. The Writing Center is not a place where she has to practice forming letters and being corrected, but is instead a place where she can explore the world of writing on her own terms and enjoy herself.
In my classroom I want to create a space where reading and writing is enjoyable for each student. I plan to do this by giving the kids choices for what they want to read and write about. I want them to read genres that they are interested in and try out others that they find that they like. When writing, I want them to use their own experiences to provide a basis for a story or that will give them a jumping off point to create a fictional story.
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