February 13th Extra Credit 401

Bissex: Patterns of Development

This article talks about patterns saw through the development of a student's writing. The patterns are processes of differentiation and decentration. Differentiation is essentially something that is big is taken and broken down into smaller parts. "Decentration is Piaget's term for this movement outward from the young child's egocentric view of the world. Decentration involves being able to take another person's point of new, which increases about age seven" states Bissex (page 198). The article talks about Paul and when he started writing, he used letters in form like to get a message across. These letters didn't represent any words or sounds. Paul went through a lot of obstacles and when he was five years old, he was absorbed in naming, naming the world around him in parts. He expressed his interest in different ways like informational reading. All in all, differentiation and decentration go together, hand in hand.

Bissex: Watching Young Writers

When children say their first words, parents are thrilled. It is known that without making constant corrections, kids will become accurate in the words that they use that may be different when they first start saying them. For example, "wawa" which we can also infers that it means water. The generating principle states, "that letters recur in variable patterns--so that with knowledge of only a few letter shapes a child can produce strings of print that resemble conventional writing."(page 103) Children learn so much about print even before they enter first grade. As teachers, their job is to find out what the children already know so that they can plan instruction around that. Children use things around them to help them process their spelling system. Children learn about writing and how text is read from left to right as well. Children learn about writing in more ways than one. As an end note, teachers teach what by knowing what the children know and what they are able to grow on.

Dyson: Pine Cone Wars

Writing can be a lot of hard work for the young children. Teachers, have to adapt to their students and accommodate them to have a productive play time that connects with school and their own cultures. Dyson states, "Play is a child's work, as the saying goes; that is, it is a prime mode through which children explore, organize, and stretch their understandings about the world." (page 306) When children play and when children work, they have a relationship. With play being an important part of a child's life, teachers tend not to be the center of attention in the school life. As the article talks about the pine cone wars, they also connect it with writing time wars. This talks about the anticipation of what was going to happen or what the child was going to do. When the children plan and enact, it demonstrates, "...the centrality of imagination and play to unofficial worlds." To end, the article stated that unofficial and official expectations are brought into play. This lets the children explore with each other in different settings.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVRYSC8YyYA I feel like differentiation needs to be explained more and I feel like this youtube video does a good job at explaining it and giving tips about it.




Veronica, Lauren, and Brittany

April 10th Extra Credit 401

Routman chapter 7

In this chapter, it talks about how you need to focus on teaching the writing part instead of focusing on the test part. The writing as a whole needs to happen first and then after that, you can go back and talk with the student about their individual needs. One of Regie Routman’s comparisons to this writing is like giving a child a puzzle to complete without looking at the picture. Through this, it allows the student to write everything down and then go back and tear things apart. Routman basically says to let the students write first before organizing. After they get all of their thoughts down on paper, they can then organize. Students tend to write more in something they’re interested in and when they’re given a choice in what they write, it might be more beneficial to them and the teacher. It is also stated that as teachers, we need to explain the importance of the tasks we make our students do. What we teach needs to be important and it can show the students that it is important to their lives. Just like anything else, when we are interested in doing something, we put more time and effort into it. In Routman’s list of what good writers do, they use descriptive words and make the beginning and the ending exciting and memorable. After writing a great piece of work, the next step is editing. Routman says that you should teach the editing process after the students learn how to write good work. To have them edit later allows them to write what they want and it won’t discourage them as they write. Lastly, as a shock, Routman says that you should limit how much the students use the thesaurus and dictionary. When these tools are used in the writing process, it slows things down and interrupts the writing, according to Regie.

Routman chapter 9

When students write, it is important to have conferences. When the teacher conferences with the students, it can be about many different things; positive or negative, about writing or about other things pertaining to writing. Routman suggests that one-one one scheduled conferences can be made with students who really need help or who are absolutely ready for it.  Regie’s suggestions are as follows, “Do everything good writers do, make it your best, reread several times for clarity/organization, follow directions, and complete all requirements.” When writing, having a conference about editing should be the last step. The students need to do their writing, work on it to their best ability, and then when they’re done, have it edited. When edited right away, it might take away from the flow of the student’s writing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9zwCVMT-wE This video ties into the chapter about teacher conferences. I really like this video because it allows us to see a conference in action and see what the teacher is doing and what the student is doing. We get both sides of this writing conference.  

Veronica, Lauren, and Brittany

401 Reading Response 6

This week we read chapters 8 and 9 of Fletcher and Portalupi's book "Writing Workshop". It was about different skills that students already know and how to teach new ones. There were writers' workshops for three days a week to focus on practicing new skills and keep exercising those. It was also about teaching the editing process which involves "1. Create a routine that gives students the responsibility to be their own first editors. 2. Teach them how to implement this routine. 3. Diagnose student needs based on their edited work. 4. In an editing conference, selectively teach one or two skills that students are ready to learn." (pg. 92). I really think that these rules will be great to use in my classroom because they really hit all the points that editing should cover. Once students are taught the editing routine, it is important to diagnose student needs and to conference with students and to teach skills. One-on-one teaching will help to focus on teaching a skill and generate it into the next workshop. It's also crucial to use assessment to inform teaching by holding a clear understanding of goals and to document observations of students in action. Students will also want to know what grade they will be getting, so be sure to have students self-evaluate so that they get more out of their paper than just a letter grade. Overall grading should take into consideration the quality of composition, the correctness of conventions, the use of a variety of composing and revising strategies and participation in the writer's workshop. Ask students to reflect on everything once they are finished and take into account how to improve on the workshop from their feedback.

In Assessment by Ray, one main key component that stood out was the fact that it is made clear that we want children to do things on their own.Seeing a child do it when asked to is one thing, but having them do it on their own without being asked is another. It is stated that we think about assessment in four ways. The following are, "Looking closely at individual pieces of writing, watching and listening as children are engaged in the process, asking children to be articulate, and looking across the work of a single child over time...These are simply the kinds of things we're thinking about as we're continuously assessing what's happening with children and their writing." As we look at our student's writing, the main question we have is what does this masterpiece show us the student knows? A list is made to show what the student knows. Also, when we watch and listen to a student write, it lets us in on some much more information and it helps us understand their process. As teachers, we are to ask the students to tell us about what they're working on. This we ask to maybe help us understand a little bit more about what the student is creating and to see if they have new possibilities. When asked to "tell me" about the writing, it also asks the questions of why and how. After awhile, the students just articulate the answers to the teachers. Our assessment directs our teaching, it helps in what to teach, it makes the teaching more richer, and it provides data. A lot of the assessment also helps with the parents and it shows the parents a lot more than what they're familiar with. All in all, assessment is key, because it allows teachers to keep track about how they teach. Tying in with this is Regie Routman's Writing Essentials Chapter 10, making assessment count. Routman states that assessments should be able to increase the quality of a student's writing. However, it doesn't. One key point that Routman makes is that having excellent teaching skills is the only test prep that is the best for the students to receive. According to Routman, assessment should happen every day. It takes practice before the students can be really critiqued. When they are being critiqued, just giving them a score for their writing isnt enough. Each student needs his or her own feedback so that they can learn from it. For teachers, a main goal for them would be to get their students to be able to do their own self assessments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P7hOPJ1Pb4 This video ties great into the topic of assessment, because it gives another side to the assessment of the students. It talks about the misunderstandings that are associated with child assessment. We read mainly what assessment was for, but this adds more to understanding assessment in a different way.

401 Extra Credit Post 3/20

The first article is by Linda E. Martin and Shirley Thacker and is called "Teaching The Writing Process in Primary Grades". Thackerville was created as a writing program in a first grade classroom. Thackerville has soft music in the background, a rug area, and a rocking chair to share stories. There are word walls and children's stories. I really like this idea because it separates reading and writing time and shows how enjoyable it can be for the classroom. "My first goal was to create a classroom environment that invited children to write." (pg. 31). Thackerville does exactly that. There also should be an established routine for young students, such as family time, and writing time. Mini-lessons help to develop specific needs and are only 10 minutes long to keep everyone's attention. It also models proper writing skills. Young authors should develop topics, plans, edit their writing, and reflect during conferencing. It is important to be patient with the students, to create a flexible writing environment, and connect writing and reading together. The next article was called "Writing Workshop and Children Acquiring English as a Non-Native Language" by Katharine Davies Samway. There was a sixth grade class that was English/Spanish bilingual. Ms. Ramirez, the teacher, reads some poems and made copies so that students can build up their poetry anthology. During her writing workshop time, she briefly meets with the children who understand and speak little English to evaluate their work and help them with new teaching and learning strategies. At the end of writing time, the class comes together to talk and reflect on what they have learned that day. The classroom shares several characteristics such as "write on a regular basis for extended, predictable periods of time, responsible for selecting own topics, confer with each other and with adults about their writing goals, processes, products, problems and accomplishments, write for many audiences, read a great deal and have many opportunities to talk about reading and writing" (pg. 89) and so on. These traits all keep the classroom on task and focused during writer's workshop. Writing should be a meaning-making process and be active and personal. It should also be a recursive process, meaning that it is not just a simple, linear process. As a developmental process it needs to have a variety of quality and quantity. As a process for children acquiring English it should just be aware that they are still emerging readers and writers and it is only harder that has not yet been mastered. Classroom set up for writer's workshop should be both solitary and social so the room needs to be set up to accommodate both functions. An editing center will also help out to refine mechanics and writing. An illustrating center can contain a variety of art materials and a publishing center will contain papers of different textures and qualities as well as writing utensils. The teacher will be a fellow writer and a mentor. Mini-lessons throughout the days will help to refine certain specific skills. Writing conferencing will help encourage writers to continue to write. Finally, assessing should be done so that the teacher can talk about the child to parents, teachers, and administration. The last reading was in the book "Writing Workshop" by Ralph Fletcher and Joann Portalupi. Chapters 3 and 4 both focused on writer's workshop. Short term goals should be "getting students to love writing time, establish a safe environment so that kids can take risks to their writing, and set up a workable management system to handle the flow of papers, folders, and so forth." (pg. 22). Student choice is also important because it drives the writer's workshop to success. Negative comments do not create a safe environment, so stick to specific praise, let primary children draw, read aloud from "from-the-heart" pieces of writing, use writer's notebook, and write with the students. A finished box is a place to put their work in a box without interrupting any possible conferencing with other students. Once it comes time to launch the writer's workshop, allow children to tell stories. "Storytelling takes advantage of this oral fluency." (pg. 36). It allows them to get comfortable with their own voice. Minilessons will help to set up the workshop. The teacher should also write with their students and confer with students as they go. Sharing sessions is also important because it will give them a real audience for their work and feedback should be positive and celebratory. Some possible rules can be: "use quiet voices, please don't interrupt, everybody writes." (pg. 44) Example of writer's workshop: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPRM2ZXyrS0

401 Extra Credit Post 1/30

The first article was by Daniel K. Thompson called "Early Childhood Literacy Education, Wakefulness, and the Arts" and was mainly about linking together early childhood literacy and instruction in the arts. Those in early literacy education have experience a change in understanding how children learn to read and write. "We have come to know that fostering literacy growth means to build on the formidable understandings children have acquired about language before they enter our schools rather than to master in a prescribed sequence andy at a time proscribed by mental age." (pg. 186). This means that we need to work on building what children already know and understand before packing on a ton of knowledge that they may not follow. Children also should be exposed to good literature instead of readings that are way too intellectually above them. They also should connect to authentic arts activities to deepen their understanding. There is an emphasis on hitting test scores and that may not reflect what teachers are capable of teaching to their students. Through poetry, students can go through certain steps such as competency and recognition of their learning as they process through greater knowledge. The arts is our means of expression and can reflect another form of knowledge and language. The next article was called "Contextual Worlds of Child Art: Experiencing Multiple Literacies Through Images" by Marni Binder. It examined multiple literacies in children's drawings. I think that there are so many benefits to using multiple literacies and she touches on some of these points. "This is especially useful in diverse classrooms where the linguistic and cultural resources of students may be in tension with approaches to literacy learning that are linear and one-size-fits-all, which often hinder children whose native language is not English." (pg. 367). Using drawings can keep children of all cultures involved in the classroom. Visual arts can also broaden the understanding of written text. A holistic approach attends to the whole child's aspects of physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and spiritual domains. A sociocultural perspective is understanding the norms of the learning community and the teacher's expectations. Multiple literacies theory will respond to diversity and technology, as well as connecting children to themselves, others, and the world. Children's artistic compositions can be self-directed, or based off as a response to poetry and picture books read in the classroom. The final article was called "And What Happens Next? Telling Stories Through Drawing" by Wilson. It talked about spontaneous story drawings and how even the early scribbles can be seen as a pretext to linguistic development. Children can better understand the world and create situations that are suited to their wants and needs. They can show in their drawings what they are trying to convey when words are not yet available to them. "In a careful analysis of the various kinds of meanings illustrated in the drawings of this six-year-old girl, we found that she dealt with nine separate meaning considerations such as time and size relationships, development, and location." (pg. 113). This goes to show how drawings really do represent such a bigger meaning and picture than may not be realized at first. It also evokes imagination, such as the example of Philip who was able to create superpowers and mold his superhero however he wanted to. He could also improve his narration skills by explaining the superhero story as he went. Story drawings are just as important as visual/graphic vocabulary, and they will be able to tell the tale of the story just as well as a narrative. This is a link to a video of a child drawing a picture and explaining what she is drawing as she draws to show how imagination and narratives come into play: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rkekgslt0Ew

Reading Response 6

One article that I went back to and read was the Guidelines for Reading Aloud by Fox. I first want to start off with something that stuck out to me while reading this. She states, "If anything could be more important than the first line of the story, it's the last line." It just ties everything in together and gives that "ah-ha" moment completing the story. I also like how she talked about being expressive when reading. I know that when I read, I just read the words. In the article, she states that instead of just reading the words, pay attention to them. If a line in the book says "whisper", you wouldn't want to yell, you would want to whisper. She also points out that we need to be aware of what we are doing as well as the students. Our body position, our eyes, the student's reaction, our facial expressions, and our voice. These characteristics are all important when reading aloud and making it more entertaining. Something that I got from reading between the lines is that we learn by doing. When we hear someone else read, we tend to read that way as well and pick up on the things they do. After listening to her read Koala Lou, I couldn't get her voice out of my head. The way she used her voice to go up and down and how expressive she was. It was something that stuck with me and if I ever read that book aloud, I will copy the way she did it. "Expressive reading is reading that is remembered."

I'm glad I went back and read this article, because it gave me some insight on what to do when reading. It's more than just reading the words off the page, it's about being a part of the book and expressing that.

Lauren Foreman LLED 400 Reading Response 6

One of the articles that I did not have time to fully read and comprehend was Susi Long's "Passionless Text and Phonics First: Through a Child's Eyes". It was all about the journey of how Kelli, an eight year old, had to move from Ohio to Iceland. This is a huge culture shock, and will be a different type of schooling that Kelli is used to. Kelli's mother tracked her progress through transcripts, field notes, audio tapes, friends and family. Within the first month, Kelli was using Icelandic during informal interactions with peers. However, she did not attempt to use the Icelandic language in the formal school setting. Kelli refused to use this language because she was determined to withhold it until she felt she was ready and could properly speak the language. Her inability to read placed her in the category that five and six year olds are normally placed in, which was frustrating for Kelli because the content of this basal text was simple and targeted for five year olds and not eight year olds who can handle a greater content. Kelli wanted to be viewed as competent by her teachers and peers, and she really put in the effort to learn Icelandic. However, she was discouraged and embarrassed by the low level reading she was placed in, and claimed she was reading "baby books". This in turn caused Kelli to dislike reading. This did not lead to Kelli actually understanding any of this material. "Kelli had to rely predominantly on one cue system, graphophonemics, which was not enough to support meaning-making." (pg. 424). She was bored, embarrassed, and confused. I am so glad that I reread this article. I found it so interesting that her teachers wanted her to start off with such simple text meant for such young readers, which while it makes sense for her to learn the structure of Icelandic, it did not help her excel. She was so embarrassed by her work, and I felt bad for her and can understand her struggle. Learning a new language is never easy, and I think that if I were her teacher, I would try to find books that she normally enjoys reading in English translated into Icelandic, so she already understands the content and she can use her prior knowledge to connect the Icelandic language together. I would also use peer groups and tutors so that she can get a grasp of using Icelandic in normal slang conversation as well as making peer connections and friends that could help her along this literary journey. I would not want to bore Kelli and I would want to inspire her to keep learning the language, and using simple worksheets will not do the trick.

Brittany Gladish LLED 400 Reading Response 6

This semester there were a couple articles that I did not get around to reading but was interested in when we talked about them in class.  One article that I went back and read was "Guidelines for Reading Aloud" by Fox. This article stuck out to me to read because reading aloud is very important in a elementary classroom.  I remember being read to all the time.  My teacher would read books that were too advanced for us to read on our own so we would be able to listen and understand without having to struggle on the difficult words.  Fox stated, “Though it’s true that there’s no exact right way to do it, reading aloud is in fact an art form in which the eyes and voice play important parts.” (41) This quote is very important and explains a lot.  Those books that my teacher would read would not have been as exciting if it was not for how my teacher read the book.  When listening to someone read the reader must be expressive as to keep the students attention but to also express the book in a way the author wants.  As children get older and do not have pictures in front of them they must learn to be expressive and use their imagination.  By having the teacher read aloud expressive is a good example for kids to learn how they should be reading stories.  Reading aloud is an art form as the reader acts out scenes or adds noises in.  They are making the words come to life.  I really enjoyed this article because it explained so well how important reading aloud can be.  This is something I plan on doing a lot in my classroom.  I will not only have myself read aloud but also have students work together to read aloud a book and act out scenes.  I am glad I got a chance to go back and read this article.

401 Reading Response 5

In chapters 6 and 7 of Writing Workshop Fletcher and Parotalupi the writing cycle and adding literature in a writing workshop.  The writing cycle relates to reflecting genuinely as possible on what the writers go through as they write.  Teacher need to not teach the child the writing process but rather guide them into discovering their own way to write and discovering their own process.  Writing workshop can guide children into the process.  Children will learn the difference between drafting and editing by creating a rough draft and revising it later in the process.  After they finish revising then they will proofread.  The difference between revising and proofreading is that proofreading is looking for mistakes where revising is making any writing changes they feel just.  After this is all completed the writing can be published.   Literature in the writing workshop is important.  "Reading aloud builds community. It helps glue the relationships between teacher and students" (p. 75).  Reading literature is important int he classroom because it allows the entire class to share common experiences.  Reading as a class also allows the teacher to gain insight on their students and what they are thinking and what they understand about the text.  Independent reading can also tell a lot about a student.  There are different types of readers whether they are a book hopper or they like to read the same book over and over again.   Reading can fulfill writing workshop.  A key aspect of literature that is helpful during writing workshop is that is can be used to teach lessons about structure and writing.  Teachers can use books to teach new ways of writing and teach basic skills necessary.  Having children read gives them a chance to understand the new concept being taught.  Writing is a very important part of a child's development by allowing them to create their own process and supporting them by adding in other medias like literature teachers will be able to guide their students to succes in writing workshop.


-Chapter 8
When talking about writer's workshop, we fail to realize that it's everything put together to create a master piece of writing. You don't have to go through the process of brainstorming, outlining, rough draft, edit, and final draft. As teachers, we are to guide the students and slowly give the students more and more responsibility. We are to praise the students for their writings, answer questions, edit writing, teach new material, and meet with the students so that we can give them a little push forward in their writing. Writing is supposed to be set in your schedule for 45 minutes a day for four days, according to Regie Routman. For a good setup in picking a writing topic, I think back to our visit at Park Forest. The teacher had a chart of different topics for the students to pick from. This way, it gives the students the option to pick a topic that they want to write about or pick a topic that will inspire them to write. At some point in our lives, we have all made a web or an outline, but it is said that making those tend to make students more confused. There are other ways to explore a topic that they want to write about. Talking out loud, taking some notes, thinking to themselves, and maybe even drawing pictures. A key point from Routman is to include writing in every subject rather than just writing. 

-Chapter 5
Shared writing is when the teacher groups together with the students to write something together. This allows every student to participate and it allows them to gain in writing. Having the whole class (or smaller groups) paired with the teacher allows some room for guidance and explanation. The teacher still has the power in what goes on, but the students are able to be free. Shared writing also really benefits with having English Language Learners. This allows the ELL's to take all the information in and maybe even have the opportunity to talk aloud. ELL's can also add in their culture and everyone else can learn something new from the ELL's background; something they never knew about before. There are so many strategies that are used to help students in shared writing. Shared writing allows the students to expand their thinking and help each other out. All in all, shared writing can only be beneficial, because everyone is a part of it and everyone is contributing in one way or another.  


This link provides another view point of reading and writing together.  They give example syllabus and even how to help teach reading and writing together. http://www.hws.edu/academics/ctl/writes_reading.aspx

This link talks about how they prepare for shared writing. It is really interesting to see how they do it compared to some others.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Vcrd4LXpB8

LLED 400 Reading Response 5

In the article Bringing Children and Literature Together in the Elementary Classroom, Smith discusses the areas of her classroom.  Students can split into different areas doing different activities and feel confident and serious when doing their independent work.  She first helps the children learn these methods and techniques to be able to be independent in the beginning of the year.  One part that I like is that when she is guiding them into her reading areas they come back together and discuss any problems they had and want to fix.  It is good to fix all problems in the beginning of the year so no student suffers later on.  Since her strategy is very independent some children who do not like reading will find this difficult.  Smith states, "children who have a hard time keeping their mind on what they read often benefit from sketching interesting or important ideas as they read." (p.3).  This is a great idea to give the child a break so they do not have to read constantly but are responding to the reading.  As students grow throughout the year Smith added more complex books to get more complex responses and to have the students thinking more.  She also will add in literature discussion groups which allows her to see how well students are doing.  After reading this article I really enjoyed the way she worked the kids into reading. I like how she thought about those that would have difficulty and already had a strategy to help them.  Her progression of activities and reading styles makes a lot of sense and seems to be the best way to help guide children into independent reading and thinking.  I also liked the creative names she used for certain reading times.  This is an article I will refer back to when I am creating my own classroom.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd5xLpGRvVo This is a song I found on YouTube that is a transitional activity to bring the students to the carpet. I really liked the idea of "Rug Reading" in this article, so I think this song could apply to bringing the students over and to prepare them for that activity.

LLED 401 Feb 27 Reading Response Extra Credit

Release the Dragon: the role of popular culture in children’s stories by Urbach and Eckhoff discusses how pop culture can be used in the classroom as a tool.  Imagination that comes with those that connect to popular culture can show their cognitive ability when it comes to literacy.  If a teacher uses popular culture as a tool it can unlock a child's thinking and have them connect on a deeper level.  Most teachers use pop culture as a motivator rather than a way to enhance the classroom.  "Rather than banning the use of popular culture, perhaps the class could discuss the elements of popular culture that enhance their stories and the elements that make oral stories more confusing."(p.33) Using pop culture in a classroom can interest all children and can have everyone relate to that one story.  If a child is having trouble learning using something they understand will help.  Pop culture is a way to connect to many different children of many different backgrounds by not using it in the classroom the teacher is possibly stopping a child from learning.  I agree that pop culture should be used in the classroom.  With how much technology is used by children it is only best to use what interest them to further their education.

The Plan: Building on Children's Interests by Seitz explains how building on a child's interest makes for the best curriculum.  "In emergent, or negotiated, curriculum, the child's interest becomes the key focus and the various motivations for learning." (p. 36) By listening to what a child is interest are a teacher can use that to their advantage.  Fist a teacher must find that spark in a child once they have found a possible lead of what a child likes they then have to have conversation and come up witha  writing plan.  Once this is done the teacher has to make many possibilities and opportunities available.  An interest can be very broad and by allowing the curriculum go many different ways a teacher can zero in on exactly what about that topic interest them.  When the curriculum and topic is found the teacher can guide the student through the process by asking more questions and helping the student when need be.  By allowing the student to take charge and do something that they like the curriculum will feel more meaningful to them.

A students drawings and interest can lead to literacy learning.  Although a child is not writing they are telling a story through their drawings.  In Rankers, "There's Fire Magic, Electric Magic, Ice Magic" we are able to learn about what drawings and interest can uncover.  Ranker had to become open minded to his students form of text although there was no writing Ranker was able to see that there was literacy involved.  "Learning new genres and narrative form is an ongoing part of learning about the world of narrative and need to not be thought of as a new phenomenon." (p. 32)  Although a narrative might seem like an old literacy element it is constantly changing as is media genre will continue to change.  A teacher must continue to grow and learn from the changes and adapt.  The tough part for a teacher is finding how to evaluate these different genres as once and how do you put a value on them when they are different.  Although I feel this will be hard I agree that children should not be trapped to one type of literacy and by letting them express themselves the teacher will get the best results.

This video shows how an example of an emergent curriculum that builds on children's interest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNFYFSa0720

LLED 401 Jan 16 Reading Response Extra Credit

The article Being in the World explains that children's learning experiences are facilitated if we recognize the way in which knowledge can be constituted and promoted.  Most teachers treat this as a external sign and Gestalt of learning proposes a new way.  Gestalt of learning feels that this should be made available to children as a tool that can help them when need be.  This will help with participation in practice and help them reach a purposeful goal.  This learning style also wants to emphasize the background of the child.  The way the child acts are key to the performance they give.  "The learners intentional structure direct his/her participation, interest, volitions, targets and predisposition's towards any learning experience" (285).   This learning style needs to act around the child and not force them to be something they are not.  The teacher needs to enhance the child as a way of learning.

Building a Literacy Community by Britsch and Meier discusses the role of literacy and social practice in a classroom.  Recently literacy as creeped its way into pre-k classrooms.  Because of this Britsch and Meier have done a study of an urban and rural classroom.  After their research they found three key items.  They found the importance of literacy ownership from both the children and the teacher, the notion of literacy as an inclusive process, and the role of thinking processes in the children's evolving literacy involvement.  These three aspects are key to a successful classroom.  From these findings come implications in the classroom.  One recommendation they had was to make for writing and drawing materials and to have them accessible at all times.  When it comes to reading a child might respond by drawing or writing rather than speaking.  "Is readiness based on a numeral score or is it viewed as a social meaning?" (p. 214) This is something else that all of us teachers must consider.  When looking at development of young children they will not all be at the same score but rather we need to look at how are they socially prepared.  If the child has the right social skills but maybe is not the strongest reader they will eventually get there because a social environment will help them.

Vivian Gussin Paley wrote an article called HER Classics: On Listening to What Children Say.  This article discusses her experience in the classroom when leading discussion with children.  When having a guest teacher in her classroom she realized that her way of talking with children needed to change.  When talking with children about a topic it is important to link them together to form one long chain.  By holding on to one child's thought until another child speaks allows for this chain reaction to occur.  To have a chain occur the teacher needs to ask an open ended question that will allow all children to have no right or wrong answer.  The hardest part of this idea is to let go of what you think is the right answer and to encourage children to participate.  The author found herself having to record her discussion to find out what was interesting to kids and what they reacted moer to because at times they would have great discussion while others they would not.  She found in her recordings that the students on their own were making natural connections in their own play.  "We are, all of us, actors trying to find the meaning of the scenes in which we find ourselves." (p.162) By acting together and by allowing each other to bounce ideas off each other allows them to connect more.  Paley discovered this through her trial and error and ups and downs.  She may have struggled but over time she found a way to have a valuable and beneficial discussion and learning experience with children.

This link shows children acting out different poems and readings.  This allows children to reflect on what they are learning but also allows children to be who they are and feel comfortable in the classroom.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3b7-A-E_p8

400 Reading Response 4

The reading "Miscue Analysis for Classroom Teachers: Some History and Some Procedures" by Yetta M. Goodman was about studying miscues made by readers of all ages and by bilingual and ESL readers. Miscue means unexpected responses and is usually caused by what the reader knows about language and the world. Research of this study shows that all readers make miscues and there is a single underlying reading process. Miscue analysis requires that the written material must have a beginning, middle, and end. It should be new material, but language and content should be familiar. Miscue analysis shows how readers monitor the semantic cue system, or meaning. The reading "Taking Another Look at (Listen to) Shari" by Alan D. Flurkey is about a student who was in the Learning Disabilities resource "pull-out" program. Using miscue analysis enabled the researcher to see that Shari wasn't doing anything wrong, but using her own language to do what made the most sense to her. This should allow us to change our perspective and realize that "severe" readers aren't actually severely disabled and they are just uncertain about reading, goals, and what teachers find acceptable in their reading performance. The reading "I Do Teach and The Kids Do Learn!" by Wendy J. Hood was about reading with young children from kindergarten to third grade. They are able to correctly handle a book by holding it the right side, and starting from the first page. Older readers were observed using miscue analysis which shows how students emphasize different strategies to varying degrees. Reading strategy groups can also be developed through grouping by similar strengths. The groups have different focuses, such as meaning making.

LLED 401 Reading Response 4

In chpater 1 and 2 of Fletcher and Portalupi we learned the importance and the thought that goes into writing workshops.  A workshop should be a time where children can be creative.  The reason children love cooking or wood shop is because it is a workshop that they are able to create on their own and do the activity more than just talk about it. "Writing workshop is a generative time of day, with kids actively involved in creating their own texts.  This is important.  Most kids experience schools as a seriers of tasks, dittos, assignments, test-things that are administered to them.  Writing workshop turns the tables and puts the kids in charge." (pg. 2). This quote explains the whole idea behind the authors beliefs.  I agree with this statement.  Most teachers and students get stuck in the motions of assign work, grade work, give homework, and then test.  By adding in a writing workshop or any kind of workshop it allows a time to be creative where the unknown could occur.   A writing workshop has a lot of elements that need to be considered when deciding the lesson.  One aspect is time.  The teacher needs to consider how much time children are being allowed to work alone and creatively rather than just on a teacher assigned assignment.  When thinking about writing the teacher needs to think about the space as well.  They need to figure out the desk arrangement that allow children to be creative along with having supplies for children to easily acce


In chapter 1 and 2 of Routman's Writing Essentials it states that teachers focus on everything that goes into writing instead of just letting the students write and have fun with their writing. When it comes to standards and testing, we as teachers can't solely focus on that. We need to focus more on the different elements that go into writing. In the reading, there are some good points that Routman emphasis on. For example, she talks about how the teachers can do different things to help their students become better writers. The main point that stood out in chapter 2 was all about stories. Dealing with stories helps students with both listening and writing. Stories teach a lot more than what we would think they would. Something else that was mentioned that I would have never thought about was modeling writing in front of the class, because it allows the students to observe someone else writing. A key point that stood out was that children who write at home tend to write better, because they are writing in their spare time and it is for their own enjoyment. When given a writing assignment that students can relate to and that is personal to them, it is easier for them because it is not necessarily a job, it is a fun assignment. Writing can be fun, if presented the right way.

I feel as though this video does a good job at describing what a day is like in their writing workshop and it gives good insight on what they do. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPRM2ZXyrS0
I also feel like this quote from a seventh grader says a lot about them. "I didn't mean to write four and a half pages, but I couldn't stop..." I think that says a lot about the teacher and the student. The teacher has done their job in wanting their students to go above and beyond and the student shows that they wanted to go above and beyond and exceed their teachers expectations.  

Brittany Gladish Updated Class Expectations

I would like to be able to know how to be able to plan an entire year worth of lesson plans.  Doing two weeks was not overwhelming but I am nervous for what will occur when I have do an entire year.  Another thing that I would like to learn more about is how to work with a struggling kid.  I want to know the tips to help them read better and what I can do as a teacher to bring them up to the same level as the rest of the class.  What are some ways also that we get every child interested during group reading.  I really enjoy hearing the stories of experiences that others have been through as teachers to get an idea of what I would do in that situation.

Course Expectations

Being halfway through the semester, I feel as though we have covered a lot (more than I expected to). I really liked how we are getting the opportunity to go into a classroom and apply the things we have learned. Everything is all coming together now.

Some things I hope to touch base on before the semester ends are running records, testing, English Language Learners, and the different types of reading programs available. I know some details about those particular things, but I would like to go more in depth to feel more prepared.

Course Expectations - Part 2

I really like how this course has progressed over the semester so far and I have been learning a lot and really understanding what we've been doing. Some things I would like to review more would be the best ways to motivate individual children who refuse to read, because one of the readings this week talked about passionless text. Also, I think that assessment and how we should group children (reading level or random) that would work best in the classroom.

Reading With Meaning - 400

The book "Reading with Meaning" by Debbie Miller was really interesting and raised some great points. It started off by talking about how important it is to establish framework for reading, and to use different reading strategies that are individualized for each student. Everyone learns differently, so it is important to work on their own needs. Also, it discussed gradually releasing responsibility, meaning that the teacher eventually lets the student do work on their own. There are four stages in this: teacher modeling, guided practice, independent practice, and application of strategy. Creating a classroom that is a solid culture and climate for thinking is also crucial. "It's essential that we work first to build genuine relationships, establish mutual trust, and create working literate environments." (pg. 17). We need to establish trust in our students to make the learning environment a comfortable one, and to assume responsibility for teaching, learning, and thinking of our students. Singing songs can also be a great way for students to learn. Reading aloud should be alike a songbook, and it can engage the students and really build a community in the classroom. It is important to choose the most important reading behaviors for beginning readers to practice on, because if the wrong literary strategy is chosen then the student can b overwhelmed or not understand the material in the correct way. We as teachers also need to confer with students about what they like or dislike about their reading selection or any other reading issues they may have, and children should be reflective on the books and ideas, as well as the world and their place in it. Schema is prior knowledge, and this can help in the selection of books for children. Teachers must select a variety of books and content to suit every child's individual needs and interests. We should be choosy about what the children select to read independently, so that they are choosing proper material for both their literary and educational needs, as well as their own interests. We should also introduce the idea of side by side teaching of decoding and comprehension of charts, and then add new information and learning to this chart throughout the year. That way, students have a tangible way to see their process and get a grasp at everything they have learned over the course of the school year. Example: http://www.teacherweb.com/CA/WildwoodElementaryThousandOaks/MsBraid/h2.aspx This is an elementary school teacher's webpage that is inviting and welcoming for parents to view. It includes homework, class schedule, link for pictures (although none are uploaded yet) and many more links. I like this idea, because it shows how much the teacher cares about her classroom and how she wants the parents to be involved. I definitely want to do something like this for my classroom!

LLED 400 reading response 2

In the article Actively Engaging with Stories Through Drama, we follow young readers as they use drama as a way to engage more in their reading.  Each student had a different background when it came to reading and when using drama they all improved their reading skills with acting.  Drama can be a great tool to use in the classroom.  One student was new to the school and had moved around a lot.  Drama allowed him to warm up to the new environment quicker.  Drama is a way for everyone in the classroom to be open minded and to have the freedom to express themselves as they want.  Drama can also help a reader look deeper into a story as they act out the emotion.  "Tommy used the craft of drama as a way of entering into the stories deeply to explore meaning, often in playful ways, or of extending the drama to include other creative endeavors." Tommy was one of the children that was watched during the this theory of reading.  Tommy was able to comprehend the story better by acting out and then reflecting on the situation.  This is something that I will use in my classroom to help those children that can not imagine the story when reading.  By using drama all children are able to connect to the reading.

In the article "Shared Book Experience: Teaching Reading Using Favorite Books" by Don Holdaway, it focused on how important it is to pick books that children enjoy. If they like the topic the book is on, then they will be much more focused and engaged and ready to interpret the information and connect it to lessons that were learned in class. "Our studies indicated that under suitable m motivation and in a favorable learning environment children would mater literacy skills in a way very similar to that in which they master over developmental tasks, especially those of spoken language." (pg. 294). This means how important it is that children feel the book is going to motivate them, and it can really help in several other developmental milestones even greater than reading such as spoken language or writing. They can do different activities such as role playing, props, hot seat, and songs to help recall and remember information, as well as to really connect with the text and absorb all the reading they just heard.
Going along with Adomat's article, this video ties in very nicely to the article. It talks about how students take on a character and then they take still pictures. It was very interesting to watch and it definitely showed how drama fits in the classroom. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nlxw9qflKxk This picture is a picture of Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham. A book that almost every child knows and loves. Teaching this book would be an easier task since most kids love this book and are familiar with it. It is something they could repeat over and over again and even recite it without looking at the book. http://www.seussville.com/books/book_detail.php?isbn=9780394800165

Reading Response 2 - 401

The article "Young Children's Literacy-Related Play" by Saracho and Spodek was about how most young children have already acquired the skills to learn how to read before encountering in formal, official reading instruction. "At the early literacy levels, young children are able to accomplish numerous transactions in dealing with text by using their knowledge of language, literature, and the world." (pg. 708). An emergent literacy prospective deals with the idea of including literacy-like behaviors such as pretend reading as a legitimate source introducing children to literacy knowledge and practices. There are also many connections between play and literacy. "During play, young children are introduced to literacy concepts and skills that require them to accept different points of view." (pg. 711). Ecological theory is about the environmental effect that children have in their growth and development. It allows children to describe, organize, and clarify their consequences as seen in their own environment. "Play helps young children learn about their intellectual, social, symbols, and language world." (pg. 715). Play helps promote literacy development, so it is crucial that children get a strong dose of play throughout their days. There was a longitudinal study, and the results proved that children with high levels of play with literacy materials in preschool were able to read signs and had greater pretend verbalizations.

The article "Sociodramatic Play and Literacy" by Owacki is about how children play in different circumstances and how they develop/gain knowledge from playing in these circumstances. Something that stood out to me and that was very important was about play, Owacki states, "As children play, they think, question, discuss, reflect, problem solve, challenge, and put their minds together." (pg. 160) Another main part of the article talked about that during play, teachers should maybe ask critical questions, encourage critical dialogue, and break stereotypes. This is if we as teachers have concerns about how the children are playing. Another thing to do is incorporate play into teaching. Having centers that pertain to the children's experiences is a good way, have some models of written languages (maps, traffic signs, etc.), and have reading/writing materials available for the children when playing. A good part of this article gave examples and ideas of literacy-enhriched play centers. As they play in these centers, they will gain more and more knowledge about the center. Teachers can also focus in on one thing in particular at these certain centers. Play is key in children's learning. It is their way to expand on their knowledge about the world they live in. According to Johnson and Christie, " Theory and research link play with a host of developmental virtues, including imagination, creativity, problem-solving, social competence, emotional well-being, and literacy development." (pg. 182) As one student stated that his teacher brought sunshine to their class everyday, because of how play was in the classroom. Play is more important than what most people realize.

In the Language and Social Development Block Play, the story gives a look into a theory of play and learning.  When working with young children play has been found to be a natural way of teaching children.  Children that are multilingual or english language learners need an approach to learning that is not invasive and allows them to express themselves while learning.  "The goal of project approach is to foster young children's thinking, self-awareness, senses, emotions, community membership, and aesthetic experiences."(Pate 13).  Teachers in one school studied their children and put them into four categories based on their social skills.  They then arranged their classroom to fit the needs of each group.  The goal was to help build them through learning during play and to have them expand past their group.  The teachers found that by using play children can learn to develop social skills and language by interacting and listening from others.  Children were able to learn while expressing themselves and learning at their own rate.  I have seen this method used in the classroom before and I feel that this is a successful way to accomplish many different skills that are necessary for a child to learn.  Children learn best from their peers so by playing with others they were able to learn new languages and improve on those that they already know.  




This is a link explaining why play is so important. Everyone always says that play is important, but how? This video does a good job of explaining play.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5JyA0m2TvE

Reading Response 1 - 400

The reading "Toward an Educationally Relevant Theory of Literacy Learning: Twenty Years of Inquiry" by Cambourne was about the different theories of learning and the best ways to successfully learn. It also went through the eight different conditions of learning, and what each of them mean. Applying the different conditions, such as responsibility or engagement is also important to know how to do, and this led to the "Principles of Engagement". For example, "Learners are more likely to engage deeply with demonstrations if they believe that learning whiter is being demonstrated has some potential value, purpose, and use for them." (pg. 55). I agree with this, because if the learner does not feel like they are being taught anything that will benefit them in their lives, then chances are that they will not care much to learn it. In the updated reading "Is an Educationally Relevant Theory of Literacy Learning Possible? 25 Years of INquiry Suggests It Is" also by Cambourne, it goes into what the characteristics of an educationally relevant theory, and origins of this theory. Teachers realized the importance of engagement in their classroom, and then reassessed the "Principles of Engagement." "Learners are more likely to engage with demonstrations provided by someone they like, respect, admire, trust, and would like to emulate." (pg. 61). This goes to show what an important job being a teacher is, and how crucial it is for us to work hard to make our classroom a place for our students to want to come to everyday ready to learn. The reading also touched on the "Oral-and-Written-Language-Are-Significantly-Different-From-Each-Other" Critique, which is saying that reading and writing can be as natural as learning to talk.

In Patrick Shannon’s “Reading Instruction and Social Class” article, the main topics that stuck out to me and that were bolded in this article were: social class and ability grouping, teacher expectations and social class, and social class and teachers’ unequal treatment of reading groups. I thought this article was very interesting in what it was saying. The main point was about students, their education, and their social class and how it all ties in together. The expectations teachers had for their students was not necessarily fair, because the teachers based it off of the students social class standing. The students are even treated differently when it comes to their reading groups. The students in the lower reading groups are interrupted more and are given harder books to read in which the article stated that they will at least misread one out of every ten words. Where as the students in the higher groups are given easier reading materials, because they are basically “above everyone else”. The lower reading group seemed to work harder and continue practicing at their reading and it still did nothing. It all goes back to their social class. Shannon states, “Wilkins (1976) argued that these expectations are actually unconscious manifestations of a general societal philosophy which states that citizens are personally responsible for their position in society – that lower class people posses intellectual and character flaws which account for their lack of previous success and inhibit their prospects for the future – and that middle – and upper-class people are successful because they are resourceful and industrious.” All in all, change needs to happen in reading discussion and reading groups; teachers need to start this change and design their own lesson plans without social class being involved.  

The animation that is connected to the articles shows a study of how teachers have an effect on their students.  Studies have shown that teachers who care and show they care are getting better results from their students in academic achievement.  http://coe.unomaha.edu/moec/briefs/EDAD9550larson.pdf