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!