April 11, 2012

     The videos we watched for this week in E339 were three different examples of inquiry based projects that teachers have done with their students. In the one on healthy bodies, the video explains that the teacher is very interested in yoga and she brings that excitement in the classroom to help teach about healthy bodies. I think that children can tell if you as a teacher are personally invested in something and it will show in your teaching style. Inquiry based projects are really useful projects to gets students minds thinking and questioning. They become excited about their topic and more engaged with their learning.

Genre's

Photography in the Classroom? 

Genre #1: I AM Poem

I AM

I am a father and husband living during the Great Depression.

I wonder if our country will ever get out of this state.

I hear that things will be turning around soon, but

I see no change.

I am unemployed.

I pretend that I am not hungry.

I feel constant sorrow.

I am touched by the innocence of my children who seem happy even in this state.

I worry that I cannot provide for them.

I cry when I feel like I am letting them down.

I am desperate.

I understand that everyone else is, too but I still feel sorry for myself sometimes.

I say that we will be okay

I dream about a day when I can spend foolishly and spoil my children with unnecessary things

I try to do everything I can to make money.

I hope that one day my children will be given the opportunities that I did not get.

I am a father and husband during the Great Depression.

    Using photography can inspire all kinds of writing. I've always struggled with poetry, but when I looked off of the photography I tried to imagine what it was like living in the Great Depression. Doing these types of activities yourself would be great in the classroom to model for the children. Photograph would be great to get the kids to imagine what it is like in a different point of view. You can show pictures from different parts of the world, today, even. Anything that can be done to give children in the classroom opportunities to experience different points of view will be beneficial.

Genre #2: Sample Response Journal 

Journal Entry #1.

          For the first journal, the teacher had all the children sitting at their desks. Then, the teacher passed out their own personal journals and had them write about whatever they wanted on their own. Derek became bored easily and didn't know what to write about.

Journal Entry #2.
       During the second journal activity, the teacher passed out photos to each child. She explained that they could use the photo in their writing if they didn't know what to write about. When Derek was doing this, he did use the photo. In his writing he explained what was in the picture.

Journal #3
     Before doing this writing activity, the teacher had a mini-lesson with the students. She gathered them around and showed them a picture she picked out. Then she started stating observations she saw in the picture. There was also a few people in her picture. She asked the students "What do you think the relationship between these people are? What could they be doing in this picture?"The students started naming different possibilities. Then the teacher and students created a shared writing example on the dry erase board. The students went to their desks and did this on their own with their own pictures the teacher had given them.

   I choose to do this genre because it is from the point of view of the student. In the beginning, he clearly hates to write and has no idea what to write about. Once he was given photo's, he had something to write about and it helped him. Photography can be very beneficial to a struggling student who needs a starting point or an image to go off of in their heads.

 

Genre #3: Debate 

here's a link to the video.

     This video is between a principal and a teacher. The teacher uses photography in her classroom and believes that it is a great tool for teaching English. The principal believes that photography is great-in the art room. As I was meeting with my sister and brother, who helped me with the film, I had a script for them to read. As we were discussing the topic, more and more ideas started to get drawn up as we were feeding off each others ideas. I don't think they even looked at the script twice. I was impressed when Garret made a point about how photography can be limiting if the students have to write about what's in the picture. I had never thought about opposing view point. Doing a drama with students will really get them to think outside the box. They will generate new ideas and collaborate with each other.

Genre # 4: Newsletter from a teacher to parents

      I chose to do this genre because it is from a teachers point of view, who is communication to the parent of children in their classroom. I think some parents may be critical if they hear that their child is taking pictures in English class but if the teacher is communicating with them and give them examples of things they do in class, then it will put the parents minds at ease. In this new letter home, the teacher explains a new activity that she did with her first grade class where they went to the park to find examples of literacy.

Genre #5: Prezi 

Photography on Prezi

http://prezi.com/ns_oqkjhma9a/photography/

     
     I chose this style of genre because I wanted something that I could share more information. I wanted to make a genre that addressed the literacy crisis in English classrooms. In this presentation, I explained a few examples of exercises teachers could do with their students using photography. Doing the presentation really had me think back about my paper and what were the most important points in it. Having kids create their own presentation on a subject will really have them thinking about what are the important or interesting facts they want to talk about. 

Toys in a Classroom?

     I'll admit, when I first read the title of this text, I was confused. I had an image of children running around screaming with their action figures, out of control. Then, I started to read about how useful "toys" can be in the classroom. Children clearly enjoy playing with them, so they will immediately be engaged in whatever activity they are playing with their toys. Incorporating toys in the classroom will add a familiarity that will help them feel comfortable. There is an ever widening gap between the classroom and home that gives students a big disadvantage. Allowing students to bring their toys, and actually using them with the lessons will help bridge that gap and provides them with "important linguistic and cultural resources".
     When children engage in play with their toys, it is easy for teachers to see into the way the students minds work. It also provides opportunities for students to put themselves in different shoes or points of view, which is useful. Their toys also give students an immediate topic to write about or a story to tell. This concept reminded me about our class in E340 when talking about photography. The photographs were good starting points for students who struggle with things to write about, much like toys can be.
  

Reading and Writing Instruction

       After reading chapter 8 and 9 Sound Systems by Anna Lyon and Paula Moore, I was given many examples of kindergarten and first grade instruction. Kindergarten teacher Ms. Chandler uses the children's names, which they are all familiar with, to introduce letters. She uses different activities to teach the same lesson. One day the students might practice their own names. Another day the students may be writing down the rules of the classroom- which gives them more practice with writing and involves them in classroom procedure.  Another day they might practice writing their site words down on a dry erase marker. These are different activities that help her teach the same lesson. Repetition is important in the classroom.
      In Ms. Lacy's first grade classroom, her students are capable of having more independence. They take their own attendance each morning by writing their own names on a blank piece of paper. Early readers use their preexisting knowledge of site words to help them self-monitor. Students in Ms. Lacy's class are encouraged to talk throughout reading so they can connect with the text. Ms. Lacy and Ms. Chandler both understand that each student learns a different way. Teaching the same lesson many different varieties will  help all the students gain more experience with writing and spelling instruction.

How Important is Inferring?

      I had always known that inferring was an important strategy for readers to learn, but it wasn't until reading Chapter 9 of Catching Readers Before They Fall did I realize how important it is. In my future classroom, I want kids to think beyond the text and get interested in books. Inferring is a big part of this. It is connected to many other strategies, too, like predicting and connecting to background knowledge.
      The definition of inferring might be be hard for young students to understand, but that doesnt mean they can't do it! The concept of inferring will be easy for them! The example in the book is to read "the children put their mittens and scarves and went out in the snow to play." After you read this line, ask the students what season it is. They'll know it's winter even though the text never explicitly said it. Finding the right examples to introduce kids is important. It is a good idea to teach the concept with small examples like this, and modeling demonstrations rather than teach them the definition first.

Struggling Readers

After reading chapters 10 and 11 of Catching Readers Before They Fall, I noticed a comparison between the way teachers used to work with struggling readers and what they should do now. Before the tendency was to "bounce all over, trying to do too much all at once" (190). I understand this feeling. When you are working with someone who needs help with a lot of things, you get overwhelmed with everything they need to learn and it would be easy to throw too many things at them at once by accident. This will more than likely just frustrate them and there is no way they'll be able to master them all. What is encouraged now from teachers who are working with struggling readers is to "write down a few specific goals"(190). That way the student can stay focused on one thing at a time before moving on. This will hopefully prevent the reader from becoming too frustrated. After working with my case study student at Fairview I looked at a list of standards for 1st graders. I marked everything I thought my student could use help with. After looking at this whole list, I picked out two things to focus on. 

Comprehension

Comprehension should be the main goal of every teacher in the english classroom. A student should be "reading to learn." This will help them enjoy the books that they are reading and help them branch out and read for fun outside of the classroom. There are many strategies that help children increase their comprehension. In chapter 8 of Catching Readers Before They Fall, the authors go into detail about questioning and visualizing. In each lesson, the teacher uses big books so every student can read the text. The teacher also first models the strategy being used. Another crucial step in teaching students comprehension is to provide them with authentic opportunities where they can practice the strategies. 

Different Type of Grouping?

So far in my Education career, reading levels have been a question of mine. How to assess children? How to determine what books they can read on their own, and which books fit into their "zone of proximal development," or books that they can read with some help? After reading Glasswell and Ford's article Leveled Books, some of these issues are talked about. Too much emphasis is put on assessing reading level and too little is put on what the students actually need. In one of the examples I read, a teacher has a group of three students who are all reading below grade level. They are put in the same reading group and instructed the same. After doing a miscue analysis, which is explained in detail in chapter 6 of Kidwatching, the teacher notices something. One of the students struggle in decoding, one struggles with comprehension, and one student struggles with predicting. Should these students be put in the same group? I believe that it would be more beneficial for the students is they are grouped according to what specific instruction they are struggling with. If Stacey, John, and Mike all struggle with comprehension, but they are reading at different levels they will still benefit from a mini lesson on comprehension even though they are reading different books from one another. If instruction is aimed at building up strategies that they need assistance with, regardless of their reading level, each students needs are met. 

The Sinking of The Titanic

The Sinking of the Titanic by: Matt Doeden 

       This graphic comic book begins by introducing the giant ocean liner Titanic and her journey across the ocean. The novel introduces the captain of the ship and the widespread opinion that the Titanic was a powerful unsinkable ship. Then, the Titanic hit an iceberg and the ship went into a frenzy.  The Titanic sent out a distress call. Even though there was a ship 10 miles away, they did not hear the radio call and ignored the flares thinking it was just fireworks. Meanwhile, the passengers of the Titanic were filing into lifeboats. There was only enough room for 1,200 people, but the Titanic had 2,200 people. The ship who came to the Titanic's rescue arrived 2 hours after if had already sank. More than 1,500 people died in the waters of the North Atlantic. 
        This book is wonderful for upper elementary students. Because its a comic book, there is a lot of activity on each page. Upper elementary as opposed to lower grades will be more likely to follow the story line without getting confused. This book is about a real story. After reading this book, the class could research newspaper articles at the time of the wreck or make their own fliers or mock tickets for the Titanic as a writing activity. The book will inspire more questions about this event that could lead to research based projects for the students. The students can talk about the tragedy and speculate about things that could've been done to prevent the disaster. 

'Sound' it Out Dilemma

      Like many of you, I grew up with the instruction from my parents (and teachers, for that matter) to sound out a word if I was stumped. After the past few weeks, I've realized how completely inaccurate this theory is. In most examples, if you sounded out every letter in every word, the sound you make with your mouth would be nothing like the way its supposed to sound. (dolphin becomes da-oh-l-pah-hah-ei-na) In Catching Readers Before They Fall, authors Pat Johnson and Katie Keirer explain a much more reasonable- and effective- combination of strategies students use to to solve words on page 53.

• Meaning: "Does it make sense?"
• Structure: "Does it sound right?"
• Visual: "Does it look right?"
• phonics

     When students apply all three of these strategies, they are much more successful. Some students excel in one area, but are lacking in another. Catching Readers Before They Fall has strategies for teachers to help improve the areas that need improvement. When students struggle with meaning, they may "substitute words that that may have some of the right letters as compared to the right words, but doesn't make much sense in the sentence"(55). For example, if the sentence was 'Tom likes to eat bananas' The student may read "Tom likes to eat balloons." Which looks kind of like bananas, but doesn't make sense at all. A different student may rely too heavily on meaning and need help using visual clues. They may use "pictures and what they know about the topic to predict what the text might say"( 55).  For example, if the text still read 'Tom likes to eat bananas,' They may read, "Tom likes to eat pizza," Which looks nothing like bananas, but makes sense with the sentence. The tricky thing as a teacher will be understanding that every student thinks in different ways and will need support in different ways.

How To Get Your Children To Write

    After reading Every Mark on the Page; Educating Family and Community Members about Young Children's Writing I gained a better insight on how children start writing and what steps they take. An interesting point that the article made was that although parents know how to start their kids with the basic skills to reading, they are at a loss when it comes to writing. Even though they are trying their bests, many of their attempts will actually discourage writing.  

      Most parents focus on the grammar and spelling errors instead of the content. After a discussion in E340 last week, it was clear that most people make these comments because they are easier and safer. If they dont see themselves as good writers is it much easier to comment on these things.

  
     As a teacher, communicating with the parents is an important job. At the beginning of the school year it is important to make expectations clear and lay out how the parents can support their children for the best results. Open houses, newsletters, writing workshops, and parent conferences were a few ideas the article mentioned.

    

Literacy Dig Interpretation

Literacy is everywhere in the community! Children can learn about literacy through all sorts of different activities that they do. In The Donut House article that we read, by Davidson & Powell, they wrote about different projects students have done. These projects kept the students engaged because they were fun for the kids. They would learn about something new and exciting (in one example, how to create a small business and make donuts). The teacher would incorporate lessons on reading and writing centered on the theme of their project. The students really enjoyed the activities.

            Some teachers believe that only educational literacy “counts” and students should be at their desk with paper and a pencil. I disagree. Anytime you can get a student to read and write, and actually be exited doing it, I think is important. My group chose Jiffy Treat for the location of our Community Dig. As I went and visited the shop, I noticed how many examples of literacy there are. All of the ice cream had labels, and there were signs on the walls. As I watcher customers interact with each other, they all spoke very casually towards each other. It was a relaxing environment. When children were there, the main thing on everyone’s mind was what to order. I noticed many kids were looking at the ice cream colors instead of the actual words on the tubs. Parents would often assist them and order for them. This project could be an opportunity to get children to read and interact with the people who work behind the counters. 

What Makes Great Teachers

          In the reading, there are many examples of teachers engaging their students with exciting projects instead of the traditional classroom that can bore the students. This brief youtube clip I found, is about some traits excellent teachers have and some clips in their classrooms. In it I noticed one teacher making sure her teaching style was getting through to the kids, and if it wasn't she adapted her lesson and tried new ways to make connections with the students. Check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bIQ4-3XSxU&feature=related