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