Prominent Theorist Paper

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qfwQ6ydg_Jo-bIX6NAqTwfz8t6cv4yHlardK3XTsowk/edit

Module 4: Activity 2

Which NRP topic area(s) or “missing pillar(s)” that Allington describes do you find to be most vital for children’s literacy success? Why? 

      I feel like the majority of these topic areas and "missing pillars" are important to children's literacy success, however there are a few that stick out to me as the "most vital". I feel as though the comprehension topic area is important because to me it also encompasses fluency. Being able to understand, comprehend and absorb different forms of text leads to fluency because it enables the student to be able to read and become familiar with various words. Fluency stems from the recognition of words and their meanings. However, giving student's "access to interesting texts and choice" and "matching kids with appropriate texts" also encourage and support comprehension. The more a child is interested in the text they are reading the more likely they will be to continue reading and therefore gain more word knowledge. Students need to understand that reading not does need to be always related to their school word; reading is something that can be fun and relaxing. Reading should not be something that is seen as a chore. There are so many different forms of literature that students can discover that could potentially spark their interest and it is important that we give them access to them. It is also vital that we match students with appropriately leveled texts because if the child does not understand what they are reading, then they are not truly "reading". The text needs to be on the student's instructional level so that they are still able to understand the content within the passage, but they are still getting access to unfamiliar words. If the student understands and is familiar with the majority of words then they will be able to tap into their previous content knowledge and use other reading strategies to determine the meaning of the unknown words.  

Module 4: Activity 1

      Let me start off by saying that was a very moving video. This video reminded my so much of my "struggling" readers that I came across in my student teaching. I could not imagine not being able to read for such a large chunk of my life. It was obvious that this was something he was truly passionate about learning and was therefore pushing himself throughout the experience.

      While watching Robin during his reading sessions, I noticed that he was practicing reading and writing short simple sentences. He would read what he thought he saw, but when something did not seem to make sense he would reread the sentence to determine what the unfamiliar word was within the sentence. For example, when he was reading in one of the books he was saying "gave" instead of "give", but soon realized that the sentence was not in the past tense so he reevaluated the word. Robin also read all different types of literature: bumper stickers, comic strips, newspapers, books and advertisements. Using various forms of literature allowed Robin to put pictures with his words, especially those coming from stores or his surroundings. As Robin started to progress, he realized that he could recognize certain "chunks" of words which would help him determine the rest of the word. For example, when he got his first e-mail account he was trying to read the word "congratulations". He recognized the word "rat" and "con", but from there he was able to use his worldly knowledge to see that the word was "congratulations". Even though he probably did not fully read the word letter for letter, he was able to see the word written out and mentally take note of the pattern within the word. Robin also said that he recognized chucks like "est" and "and", so these also aided him when he was reading unfamiliar words.

Module 4: Instructional Challenge

Marcus is a student who very frequently miscues by substituting words that start with the same letter or first few letters of the word in the text, but his substitutions often are not syntactically or semantically acceptable (they neither sound right grammatically nor make sense). What possible teaching strategies would you suggest to help Marcus?

      What Marcus needs is to work with a peer or teacher in order to help him "catch" these miscues. Allow him to participate in guided reading experiences, where he will be able to follow along with the text as the text is being read out loud for the class to hear. As either a class or small group, have the students, including Marcus, predict what the text is going to be about using the title and pictures throughout the book. Throughout the guided reading it would also help Marcus if you were to stop frequently to ask questions about the text, so that he will understand that the text is supposed to make sense. Marcus could also be apart of listening and reading along with tape-recorded books because he will have the same experiences with the text and its meaning. It will also be important that while Marcus is following along, that his teacher be pointing to each word being read so that Marcus "can begin to make connections between the spoken words and the written words" (Weaver, 2002, p.245). Along with guided reading, it would be helpful if Marcus participated in guided writing so that he can focus on the letter sounds and patterns found throughout words. 

      While working one-on-one with Marcus, the teacher could tape him reading a specific text, and then allow him to listen to it as he follows along in the text. With Retrospective Miscue Analysis,  he can see where he has messed up, and understand that what he said did not make sense within the passage.  Throughout the reflection process, it is important to allow Marcus to pick out his miscues, particularly the ones that change the meaning of the sentence. This will also allow for discussion between Marcus and the teacher as he begins to explain why specific spots were an issue and then together talk about different strategies that may be effective. Along with retrospective miscue analysis,  the teacher can use a "think-aloud" strategy where the student is able to read aloud while verbally talking through the student's reading strategies. "This procedure in effect placed the highest emphasis on meaning and the lowest on whether the miscue looked and/or sounded like the word in the text" (Weaver, 2002, p.226). There are also four questions that Marcus could answer either by himself, with a teacher or with a group that will assist him in truly understanding his miscue: "1. Does what the read said mean the same as what is in the book? (semantic similarity) 2. Does what the reader said still sound like language? (syntactic similarity) 3. Does what the reader said look like what is in the book? (graphic similarity) 4. Does what the read said sound like what is in the book? (phonic similarity)" (Weaver, 2002, p.226). 

Module 4: Reading Reflection

    As I was reading through the chapters, I feel as though I at least recognized the term used for some of the aspects of the comprehensive literacy program. The one that I feel as though I have the most experience with are the literature groups. During my student teaching, my host teacher had decided that she was going to try this technique and group the students by their reading ability. There were three groups and each group would be reading a different leveled-reader book and would complete different tasks throughout their reading calendar. Each group had something called an Independent Reading Contract which had various activities that could be done with any book that would further the student's understanding of the plot or specific characters.  For example, one of the activities had to do with creating a shopping list for one of the characters if they were to go to the store. This activity made the students think about the characters likes, dislikes, and general personality. Along with the Independent Reading Contract, the students within the groups would also have different jobs they were required to complete such as "bridge builder", "discussion director", "word watcher", "passage picker", and "artful artist". These jobs were a wonderful tool to get the students looking deeper in to the text, and then allowing them to discuss their jobs with their group members in their weekly meetings. However, there was only one group that read along with the teacher during a small group meetings, and that was the "lower" reading group. All of the other groups followed their weekly calendar where they read independently and then would come together to discuss and complete their tasks. If I had had more say in the literature circle make-up, I would have wanted all of the groups to have a chance to meet with the teacher in order to see where each child stood in the reading and to clear up any misunderstandings.

      Within my classroom, there were plenty of guided reading and sustained reading opportunities, however I wish that there had been more opportunities for shared reading. It is very important that as teachers we model good reading with different read-alouds. Children of all ages can grow in their reading and word knowledge through listening to a teacher read fluently and proficiently. Therefore, this is something that I will implement more within my classroom because I want to make read-alouds a daily things that the children will come to look forward to.

        Writing (such as write-aloud, shared writing, guided writing and sustained writing) was almost non-existent in my classroom because it was not something that our school put a lot of emphasis on. The children went to a writing class throughout the specials rotation along with P.E., music, art, and technology. I do not feel as though I am experienced enough with writing as I should be going in to my first year of teaching, so this chapter began to enlighten me on activities that would help my students in their literacy experiences. In order for students to become proficient readers, the students also need to have a lot of focus on writing, so in my new classroom writing is going to become a priority. Especially because it is something that can be integrated into ever subject. Students will become involved with group and individual writing experiences as they will be working hand-in-hand with the various reading experiences I plan on implementing within my classroom.

Module 3: Activity 2

     I have heard negatives and positives of teaching students phonemic awareness through the use of nonsense words. However, one of my teachers last year was very against using nonsense words because she thought it was a waste of the students' time and I feel like I agree with her reasoning. If our end goal is to teach children to read fluently and to perceive the text, then we do not need to be asking students to pronounce nonsense words if they are not words the student is going to actually need to know. In order for our students to gain the comprehension skills they need it is necessary that we expose them to actual words and their meanings as much as possible. I understand why people use nonsense words, and its so that the student can get the hang of specific phonics rules, however, why can't we expose them to the phonics rules with actual English words?  In "Reading Process & Practice", Weaver talks a lot about the importance of focusing on comprehension instead of perfect reading especially when he states, "the time spent on learning phonics terms would be better spend reading, which, among other benefits, would give children the opportunity to read more and more words by analogy with the parts of words they already know, to come to recognize many of these words automatically after several exposures, and to internalize more and more of the frequently occurring letter-sound patterns in our language" (2002, p.103).

Module 3: Mock Memo from a Reading Specialist

             Erica may be reading at an accelerated fluency rate, but she is unable to comprehend the information she should be absorbing. This most nearly means that her reading career has been strictly focused on the pronunciation of words and not necessarily discovering the meaning behind the words and sentences. “But the students also need help themselves in understanding the nature of proficient reading, effective reading strategies and good miscues, and the fact that they need not the word-perfect readers in order to be good readers. They need to understand that the purpose of reading is to construct meaning and gain understanding from what they read” (Weaver, 2002, p. 216). She has been able recognize the visual cues, but is lacking in the semantic knowledge needed to understand the meaning in passages. If Erica is reading at a rate of 177 words correct per minute, then it is evident that she can “process unfamiliar words by analogy with familiar letter patterns, and to do so in syllables and/or smaller units like onsets and rimes” (Weaver, 2002, p.99).

            Therefore, with Erica, we do not need to be focusing on word identification, but word meaning. Something that would be helpful for her would be to implement a “Think-Aloud Strategy” which is a “procedure [that] can be used with students who have difficulty comprehending texts and typically do not realize that the purpose of reading is to understand” (Weaver, 2002, p.226). With this strategy, she will be able to see more meaning in the text through read-alouds because she will become actively involved with the context of the story or passage. As Weaver (2002, p.215-216) suggests, we need to “revalue” Erica’s reading strategies by helping her focus on the meaning within the context rather than putting the emphasis on reading the words perfectly as they are written.

            Even though the other students may not be reading at the approximate rate as Erica does not mean that they are “struggling readers”, it simply means that they read a little slower in order to gain the knowledge they need from the text. It is vital that we put more emphasis on comprehension rather than on the speed at which our students read. “Fluency must not replace a focus on meaning as the goal of reading” (Weaver, 2002, p.215).

References

Weaver, C. (2002). Reading process and practice. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Educational Books.