Noteblog 9.... due 3/30/09

New Literacy Project:

• Jenn and I are doing our New Literacy Project based on Media Literacy.

• We have had many Idea’s to incorporate this; first making a website, then including digital stories, as well as other visuals such as photographs.

• I have had experience creating a web page, so I feel confident that our project will work out fine

• Other ideas I have thought to include in our project was:
o Information about what media literacy meant and how it can be used
o Hyperlinks to other important resources
o Do’s and Do not’s of using the website
o Make the website inviting to the students as well as interesting, something that will draw them in…

• One other thought for the website, would be a link to a classroom blog, that includes students input and work, as well as progress and experiences on special outings.

• We have not yet decided on the details, just working on our ideas as of yet

noteblog-fluency due 3-16

I feel that bookclub is a great way to teach fluency. Students could read aloud using diferent voices for each character. This way they would have to be paying attention to who is talking and what that person might sound like. In order to do this, a student would have to be somewhat fluent, especially to make it sound like natural conversation. I also feel that developing vocabulary would help students become more fluent readers. working in groups would allow students to discuss what they feel a word means and how to pronounce it if it is a word they never saw before. Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry would most likely be taught to older students who have a large vocabulary where most words are sight words. However, they are also at an advantage when it comes to large words they have never seen before because they are better able to look at phonemes and morphemes. In other words, according to Tompkins, they can look at the individual sounds and or parts of the word and be able to come up with what the word sounds like. By working in groups, they would be able to work together on this in order to arrive at the true sound of the word and then develop its meaning. This way, when the students come up to the word later on in the book, or when reading something else, they will know how to say it and what it means and will not have to stop to sound it out or look up its meaning, thus making them more fluent readers.

noteblog-basal readers

I really like the basal reading program. I am a very structured person and for me, as the teacher, I can see how this would benefit me. The basal reading program provides this structure by following the guidelines for the state curriculum and giving management plans and assignments all for you. The lesson plans are pretty much taken care of. Plus, I like how the readers do not just use excerpts and unauthentic language that is easier for the students to read. Giving the students the true texts means that they will probably encounter a word or a concept that they do not understand and will have to explore further to find what the word or concept means. this will only make their understanding and comprehension of the text stronger. Also, with basal readers, books of other grade levels can be obtained so students reading at above or below grade level can have text at their reading level. However, the basal reader also allows for the same text to be taught to all levels with differentiated instruction so that all students are reading the same text equally. Again, I really like the basal reader and I feel that it would greatly benefit a language arts curriculum.

noteblog-vocab

A lesson on the novel Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, would be best directed towards sixth grade students. By this age, most students are very fluent readers where most words are sight words to the reader. However, some words may be new words for students in sixth grade. This may include very large words or perhaps, words having to do with the time period and segregation of the pre Civil Rights era. As the teacher, I would pre-read the book and pick out these words. I would put the words on the wall and as a mini lesson, I would have the students get into groups and each group will choose a word from the wall. The group would have to define it and use it in a sentence in a way unrelated to the story. Then they would have to tell how the word is related to and used in the story. This will give the students an understanding of words that they were not familiar with before which will increase their sight word repertoire and make them more fluent readers as they will not have to struggle with these words when they come up in the story or in future pieces that the students read.

Tomkins claims that there are five characteristics for effective instruction when it comes to learning new vocabulary. The first is "connections to background knowledge." By having the students use the word in a way that is unrelated to the story, they will have to use prior knowledge and think of a way that the word works relating to another aspect in their life. "Repetition" is the second. I would have the students use the word in many ways, defining it, using it in a way unrelated to the story, then explaining how it is related to the story. The third is "higher level word knowledge." The lesson is based around words that the students were unfamiliar with before and by using the words in several contexts, they are developing a knowledge and understanding of the word. The fourth is "strategy learning." Once the students learn that they can learn new words through these strategies, they will be able to use the strategies to learn new words on their own in the future. Finally, the last is "meaningful use." Through the three activities in the mini lesson, the students will develop an understanding for the word and be able to use it meaningfully in other contexts.

Noteblog 8.... Due 3-23-08

This lesson is set up to be done over a long period of time. The students will have their own copy of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry as well as their own Journals for the book. The students will read along with the teacher, each session that students will read-along with the teacher, one chapter.
After each chapter the students will individually pick one or two vocabulary words that they are unfamiliar with a make their own word map. Each word map will have the following:
What does it describe?
What is it like?
What are some examples?
Shown in figure 6-10 on page 212, in Tompkins students will be able to illustrate their new vocabulary word, as well as be able to understand new vocabulary in their own words.



Students will use “context clues” as well as other resources in the room (Dictionaries, Technology, classmates help). Students can also seek help from classmates. Students need to complete at least one word map for each chapter.
Students will then keep their own word maps in their journals for Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Students will share their word maps after each session with a partner. At the end of every week the students will share with the class as a whole. At the end of the book students will turn in their collection of word maps as their assessment.

Noteblog 7......3-16-09

When reading Tompkins: Chapter 5, Developing Fluent Readers and Writers, I realized there are many different ways to assess students in fluency and word identification. In Tompkins, they explain how fluency fits into a balanced literacy program. Tompkins explains that there are ten different components that help with learning and developing fluency and word identification. The following Components include:
1. Reading
2. Phonics and Others skills
3. Strategies
4. Vocabulary
5. Comprehension
6. Literature
7. Content-Area Study
8. Oral Language
9. Writing
10. Spelling
After reading this chapter, and observing my fifth grade classroom, I have realized that not all students should be assessed the same. All students work best in their own way. For example, some students like to take tests, others like to write essays, and like me some students prefer to do projects as an assessment. We all excel in different ways, because our minds all think in different ways.

Assessments should have variety throughout students as well as grades. For example, teachers are most likely not going to assess kindergarten students the same as fifth grade students. Finding time to do assessments was also a concern for me. Do you assess students all together or individually? And if you assess students individually, how do you assess in a way that is time efficient? Assessing also goes along with time and classroom management. One thing as a teacher you should take time to think about.

Noteblog 8-- Due 3/23

This vocabulary lesson is not meant to be a one-day lesson. The lesson is designed for use during the entire novel. I have found that if students have prolonged lessons with interaction of the material they typically retain the information better. The objective of the lesson is that students will learn a variety of vocabulary words that they did not previously know through exploration. Each student will have their own, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry notebook.
As the students read the book they will keep a record of vocabulary words that they do not know. They will write the vocabulary word and what they think it means based on the “context clues” of the sentence. The students will have prior knowledge of context clues. After reading the assigned chapter the students will sit with their predetermined discussion groups to discuss the vocabulary. Each student will share their group of words they are uncertain about and the group will discuss and come up with a definition.
After the groups have finished their discussions, the group reporter for that particular week will present to the class the words they were unsure of and the definitions they came up with. The class will either agree or disagree with the definitions. Each group will present their vocabulary words and definitions. Each student will be responsible for writing down each groups’ words and definitions. Some of the vocabulary words will be used as either their spelling words for the week or the bonus words of the week depending on the number of vocabulary words.
The students will be exposed to the vocabulary words numerous times and in a variety of ways. By using differentiated instruction, it will more easily address all student learners.

Noteblog 7-- Due 3/16

This week, I chose to read the article, "Proof, Practice and Promise: Comprehension Strategy Instruction in the Primary Grades" written by Katherine A. Dougherty Stahl. The focus of the article was on grades k-2. Comprehension strategies are very important for the success of the students. Stahl wrote, "children who actively engage in particular cognitive strategies are likely to understand and recall more of what they read." This is one thing that everyone has heard more than once and I definitely agree with it. Two weeks ago Andrea and I gave our presentation on Comprehension and one of the handouts listed multiple strategies that good comprehensers use. Most, if not all of these strategies are discussed in this article.

There were many things that I read about in this article that being done in the classroom I am in. One of the major concepts the article focused on that is done in my classroom is guided retelling and questioning. In my classroom the students read a story aloud and then we have a classroom discussion about it. The CT facilitates the conversation thus, it keeps the discussion on track. These discussions help the students pick out important information. Also, the students can share their thoughts and opinions in the discussion.

One thing that the article pointed out was an extention that can be used with "low achievers." The extention is called "five fingers." Each finger represents a key idea: charaters, setting, problem, plot and resolution. These steps will help the students to better form their ideas and answer questions in a more complete manner.

Hope everyone had a refreshing break! =)

Different Perspectives in Language Arts

After reading Tompkins, chapter 8, on Facilitating students' Comprehension, I found many different strategies and structures that could be used to help students in Language Arts. On page 274, of Tompkins book they talk about and explain the Five Expository Text Structures. I really liked the chart shown on figure 8.8, they give the pattern name, a description of the given pattern, how they organize the concept, and a sample. This is a really thorough way of having students work. I believe by using these structures that it will help students with their work and understanding in their work. In my classroom I have seen students work on such things like a comparison as a class, but I have not yet seen the students use one of the five text structure. i would love to see the students use more of these patterns in the classroom. Maybe I can find a way to incorporate one of the five structures into my lesson plan.

The only time I saw the student work on anything similar to the five structures was, when the students were put into groups and had to sort information about the different colonies into a Venn diagram. Though I thought this was a great activity, only some students were working on the diagram, while others just did not care or had no idea what they were suppose to do. In this case the structure will not help in the end. How could she incorporate this method to be affective?

Noteblog ELL

I feel that book club is a great way to teach comprehension. Book club allows students to read a book by themselves then discuss it in their group or "book club." Students may also get chances to write about different parts of the story that stood out to them in their reading log, like we are doing with our book club. If a student is confused about a part in the story, he or she can ask someone in the group to clear up the confusion. Also, by discussing the story, each student will be able to hear each other student's point of view and thoughts on the story. A student may gain a new idea or look at the story in a way that he or she did not think about before. Through this way of thinking about the book, students are learning to look at the meaning of the words on the page. In other words, they are learning to comprehend the book.

The Tompkins chapter gives other strategies for teaching comprehension. These include focusing on the structure of the text, the genre of the text, and the content and vocabulary of the text. When a text a structures and organized in a way that makes sense and allows for all ideas to be present, then students will have an easier time comprehending what the words are trying to say. Also, by giving the students different genres to look at, they will have the chance to view different types of structures in writing and will be able to read different texts that convey different meanings. For instance, they will learn that a fantasy is make believe while non fiction is informational. Knowing this, will help them better comprehend text. The final point, content and vocabulary, is based on the students' prior background knowledge. If a student is familiar with the content and the vocabulary in the text, they will have a better idea of what the words mean and will be able to put the text together and build an overall meaning from it.

I really liked the examples in the Gibbons chapter that allowed the reader to see what it would be like to read if you didn't understand the context of what you were reading. For example, the procedure paragraph on page 80. I was able to read the words, but was not sure of what they were saying. This is how it would be for an ELL student. I also likes the ideas that the chapter gives for teaching ELL students and all students comprehension. I will remember some of these steps when I teach my lesson at placement. There are no ELL students in my class, but there are struggling readers who may benefit from some of the strategies.

Blog Six...Due 2-23-09

Looking back at the readings for this week i really felt connected to the Profiles in comprehension by Applegate. Though I knew there were different types of learners, I had never thought of the students having different profiles for comprehending information intake. Applegate suggests that students learn and comprehend differently based on the way teachers pose questions. I thought this was interesting, that my way in words can make or brake a student’s train of thought. Looking over the eight different profiles, I can categorize my focal students as well as most of my whole fifth grade classroom. My first focal student would be profiled under a “Fuzzy Thinker”. She is frequently confused when confronted with a question that requires thinking. Most of the time she can come up with an answer that is in the text, but she has a hard time paying attention. So like most of the class I would also classify her as a “Literalist”. Most of the students believe that their answers need to come from the text. As for my second focal student I feel that he is somewhat of a “Quiz Contestant”, always searching for answers from the memory bank and disconnect with the text and use background information already learned.
After reflecting profiles with my classroom and the students that I focus on the most, I looked back at my learning and tried to classify my learning profile. I think that looking at such profiles can help teachers in the way they pose questions and the way teachers may teach or even set up their lesson plans. These are great things to look at when setting up lesson plans, especially looking at students with disabilities. I feel that I still learn a little bit of information everyday that will always help benefit my way of teaching and the way I take things into perspective.

Noteblog comprehension

I found the readings for this week very helpful especially towards writing my language arts lesson plan. I found chapter 2 in the Tompkins book most helpful. I really liked the examples of minilessons given at the beginning of the chapter. My favorite was the literary opposites lessons and I may use it in my own lesson. I also liked how the chapter went through the reading process and explained what should happen at each stage. These are steps that I will consider and be sure to include in my lesson. For instance, I didn't really think about asking the students to think about what they thought the purpose of reading the text was. I will be sure to do that now, however. The rest of the steps were pretty much already in my lesson except exploring. I think that it is a good idea to have the students go back through the piece and analyze it. This, again, is something I will consider adding.

Noteblog 6-- Due 2/23

After reading the assigned readings for the week I began to recall my own experiences of reading comprehension.  In grade school, we were assigned a reading and then had to complete a worksheet with ten questions on it.  In the article, "Profiles in Comprehension" Applegate notes, "When it comes to assessing the reading comprehension of their students, teachers tend to use a large proportion of of questions that require factual recall of information included in the text... they are calling for their students to engage in recitation."  This is exactly what happened to me in school.  This form of "learning" is not very useful.  Students cannot make connections from their lives to the story, they are simply just recalling/reciting facts from the story.

Reading about the eight different profiles was extremely interesting.  As I began to look back over them, I began trying to classify my students into one of the eight profiles.  A lot of my second graders would fall into the "Literalists, Fuzzy Thinkers or Left Fielders" profile.  One intervention that I thought would be very helpful with all three categories is making a chart.  The chart would consist of important character and their personalities, logical relationships between evens in the story, problems the character encountered and the plan of action the character took in order to solve the problem.  A chart is a good tool for students to be able to visually see what is going on in the story.

Noteblog GLCEs

Since I decided to become a teacher, I have been thinking about and considering the ways in which to include students of all ability levels into one lesson so that all students benefit and walk away with new knowledge. The Grade Level Content Expectations are put into place to give teachers a guideline of what the students should know by a certain point in the year and to also standardize curriculum from school to school. This way, students will be on the same page when it comes to standardized testing (like the MEAP), students who change schools in the middle of the year will be able to pick up right where he or she left off at the last school, and it allows for a way to assess whether or not students are achieving at an "average" level or if they are behind or gifted. However, the GLCEs are not always the way to go about teaching all students. Many students need special attention or accommodated work, especially if the student is behind or gifted. The Breitfelder article discussed different ways to accommodate students with learning disabilities like ADHD, autism, or development disorders. Breitfelder claims that "one of the most effective ways to get students to process language is through the use of visual supports." I really liked how she gave examples of visual supports and explained how to make them and use them in the classroom. The examples seem like they will be very useful in a classroom when I am a teacher. The visual supports give a way to accommodate lower ability students into the school day and lessons. They also allow for the teacher to continue following the GLCEs but by adding the visual supports, more is being done to help the students. I have noticed that at my class at Post Oak, there are not very many visual supports used. I would like like to see more done in my classroom to accommodate visual learners. I will also consider ways to use visual supports in my lessons that I will teach.

Blog Five...2-16-09

After reading the two articles about learning and literacy. I have learned so many new things, about teaching and learning. While reading Marcus' story about his quick development in language and sense of humor, I thought that he would have no problems adapting to school and that environment. My natural reaction to his early development was that he would be picked on for being the "nerd" in his class. In (Marcus: Children with Special Needs)his mother stated, " Our son was very verbal, stringing words together at an early age. He walked by 10 1/2 months". As a reader I looked at Marcus' case and thought nothing about Special Needs. This story made me think about as a teacher I need to be aware of many different things with my classroom as well as my students. Though Marcus succeeded in speech, later on in the story his family and teachers found out that he had a difficult time learning to write. This reminds me of my focal student in a way, she was first put into special education a few years back, because she was said to have a hard time understanding concepts in subjects such as math. Now, in the fifth grade my student is mostly in the classroom more than the special education room. Though now she tries to use this as a crutch and says she cannot so her work because she is "special ed." Through this reading, I have learned that students grow and learn in different ways, though some students may succeed in one area they may struggle in others. As a teacher I know to watch out for different signs to work with all my students.

In the other reading, was very interested in the topic of learning and literacy. In the article "Quick and Easy Adaptations and Accommodations for Early Childhood Students", I learned so much information in a little piece. This article was very benefical to my learning and will help in my future teaching. Literacy used to be such a define concept to my learning and understanding, now I feel more expanded in my learning as well as teaching. I really enjoyed reading an learning how to incorporate pictures and activities with pictures to accommodate students with autism, learning disorders, as well as students with ADD/ADHD. Both of these articles were beneficial and fun. I felt like I could look back to students in my field placement and understand a little more about certain students learning and background to an extent. I would definitely recommend both articles to any teacher or student going into this profession.

Noteblog 5-- Due 2/16

After reading the article about Mrs. Potter and her second grade class I had so many thoughts and ideas. The first thing I noticed was that Mrs. Potter realized that there was a problem/multiple problems in her classroom and spoke with a colleague for advice. It reminded me of our TE 402 class. When I have an issue in the classroom or an opinion about something I know that I am able to talk to anyone in the class and they are always will to offer their advice or opinions on particular topics. Talking with colleagues is a great way to work through an issue. So here is some advice that I would like to offer Mrs. Potter about each of her three students.

Lipita-
Mrs. Potter should talk to Lupita’s parents about in school or after school tutoring. It sounds as if Lupita is extremely behind academically and a little extra one on one attention definitely may help. Instead of not calling on her in class, perhaps Mrs. Potter could call on her occasionally and walk her through, for example, a mathematics problem. I do not think it is appropriate to call on her all the time, but every now and again would be good for Lupita. I would hate it if Lupita thought Mrs. Potter were ignoring her. During an assignment that appears hard for Lupita, modification could be made in order to challenge Luptia at an appropriate level of difficulty. If an assignment is too challenging, Lupita might just give up instead of really pushing herself. Lupita does seem to work well with the other children so even pairing Lupita with another student during an assignment might be beneficial. Working in pairs would help both students. This would be benifical as long as the student was helping her and not simply giving away the answers.

Jonathan-
A technique that I have used with children, in particular the children I babysat for one summer, is using material that interests them in a lesson. Because Jonathan is the star pitcher on his baseball team, reading books with a baseball theme might interest Jonathan more. Also, when assigning a worksheet to the class or anything with directions, it would help Jonathan if Mrs. Potter read the directions aloud as well as asked if anyone had any questions on the material. Telling Jonathan to come ask for help was not working. If Mrs. Potter walked around more often to see the student’s progression of work, it might make him more willing to ask for help.

Eddie-
Eddie’s constant need to move and lack of attention span might be something more serious than him not being interested. Since Mrs. Potter is a teacher and not a doctor, she cannot be certain that there is a medical condition, but speaking with the parents to let them know how their son is acting might be insightful. The parents might have noticed this type of behavior at home or even know the cause of the behavior. Eddie is one of twenty-four students in the classroom so it might just be that he is easily distracted by others. Moving Eddie to the front of the classroom, without secluding him from his classmates, might help him focus better. Instead of not knowing what it is that Mrs. Potter had just asked, Eddie might know what she asked and be able to provide the correct answer. Eliminating distractions as much as possible could possibly be a step in the right direction.

Noteblog digital natives

I really liked the article about digital natives. Working with young children who are exposed to all of the technology like video games and computers not to mention television and other forms of technology has been a concern of mine since I decided to become a teacher. It is definitely a challenge to have to teach students who are used to over stimulation and visuals when you are just in a regular classroom. I really believe that it is a good idea to allow students time to use the computers in the classroom. Also, assigning projects like blogs and other online resources is a good way to keep students who are used to using the computer involved in school. I also feel it is a good idea to use visuals when possible because the children who have grown up in this digital tend be more visuals thinkers. Lastly, I feel it is important that we, as teachers, keep up on the different technologies there are. The best way to get through to the students is to be on there level with technology and to know what the students are currently interested in. As for myself, I did not score a 100% on the quiz so I am not a digital native but I did fairly well, I was not able to define two words. I feel that this is a good thing for me as I am about to become a teacher because it shows that I somewhat understand what the students are thinking as far as technology goes.

As for the readings, I really enjoyed the chapter in the Tompkins book. I like how schools are focusing on phonics more today than just sight words as it was in the past. I also liked all of the activities suggested in the chapter to teach phonics. Understanding phonemes, morphemes and graphemes and how they are related is an excellent skill to have as a young reader or writer. It allows children to sound out words they do not know or to spell words they have never seen before. When I was in school, public schools focused mainly on sight words, built I went to Catholic school where they focuses on phonemes etc. The reading levels at my school were much higher than those at the public school.

Due 2/9 Noteblog Four

Reading about the Digital Natives was very interesting. Before reading this article I had never heard this term “digital natives” which refers to the generation of children that grew up with technology. For example in the article the author referred to this generation as people who were addicted to Nintendo, calling the children “Nintendo kids”. Now students or workers are said to have different cognitive thinking patterns compared to other generations. When looking at “emergent” learning and digital literacy (Prensky “Digital Natives”) Prensky says, “As a result, the challenge facing educational designers is to recognize these cognitive differences and to develop learning offerings that are appropriate to their cognitive learning patterns.” Prensky is talking about digital natives and their different way of learning compared to different generations.

When looking at “emergent” learning Tompkins says emergent learning is, “This perspectives on how children become literate—that is how they learn to read and write.” Emergent learning is very essential to a students learning. Reading and writing is very important it not only allows the students to be literate, but also helps with all other subjects. When looking at English Language Learners (ELL) emergent learning comes later on for learning to read and write in English. Tompkins talks about children and the development of literacy. For reading the child show interest in books, they start to pretend to read. Children will also start to use illustration as cues to the story. As for writing; children may distinguish between writing and drawing. They also start to write random letters on a page or just show an interest in writing. All of my students are passed emergent literacy; though some may have a difficult time reading and writing they are capable of performing some type of reading and writing.

In all I was very interested in the part about “digital natives” and their learning, it would be interesting to learn more about this generation.

Noteblog 4-- Due 2/9

I really enjoyed reading the article, "Digital Natives in the Classroom."  After thinking about how they defined a digital native, I do not think that I would completely qualify as a digital native.  I took the quiz and I knew about half or a little less than half of the words and their meanings.  Therefore, I am an emergent digital native.  I have grown up with and used some of the technology that was discussed.  This blog that we are doing for TE 402 is the first blog that I have ever partaken in.  I actually did not even know how to blog or what a blog was until I began blogging here.  After blogging a few times I can understand why both students and teachers like this new technology.

Having a blog allows students to share their ideas and opinions with others in their class or group.  The blog is more "fun" than just writing a paper and turning it in.  The blog is easily accessible and  allows for students to comment on each others work.  This then will promote deeper thinking, students can challenge one an other.  The more students use technology, the more efficient they will become.  Thus, they will de defined as a digital native.  This is the same for emergent readers in literacy.  The more exposure to literature that students have, the better their understanding of literacy.  This idea is applicable to not just literacy but all other subjects as well. 

The other readings for the week, Tompkins and Gibbons, had a lot of great ides to develop phonemic awareness, phonics and spelling.  One of the ideas that I think and have seen work really well with students is the word wall like Gibbons suggests (62.)  The word wall can be set up in a multitude of ways. The words can be attached to the wall so the students can see then visually, or the words can be used as a manipulative.  Used as a manipulative, the words would work best if they were on a magnetic board on the wall or even a wall with velcro on it.  For example, if one of the words was "dinosaur" on one card would be "dino" and on the other card would be "saur."  The students would have to match the proper word beginnings with their word endings.  This method will help the students with their vocabulary.

Another method that I think would be useful to help improve students vocabulary, spelling ect., is making jumbled sentences.  Gibbons suggests that students can tell the teacher a sentence about themselves and the teacher will write it down on a long paper strip.  Then, cut the strips into single words and "jumble" the words together.  The students will then unscramble the words to create the sentence and write it down (70.)  This can also be used with younger children, use single words and jumble the letter and then have the students re-arrange the letters to make the word.

The readings for this week offered a lot of insightful information that I know I can use in the classroom.    

Noteblog ELL and Emergent Readers

During our TE Literacy class on January 26, we broke into groups to discuss different readings. My group discussed the reading Assessing English-Language Learners in Mainstream Classrooms by Lenski et. al. We found it interesting that the reading pointed out that not all students who speak the same language come from the same background, therefore the same assessment does not work for all students who speak the same language. We also saw that a very important point was to know what you are assessing for. This is important with all students, not just English language learners. Also, it is important for teachers to use a variety of assessment tools, not only over time, but also from student to student according to the students needs.



Besides ELL students, another type of literacy learner to focus on is emergent readers. According to Tompkins, emergent readers are readers who are gaining "an understanding of the communicative purpose of print, and they move from pretend reading to reading of repetitive books and from using scribbles to stimulate writing to writing patterned sentences." This level of reading is often found in kindergarten students and may even begin long before kindergarten if the child's parents or caregivers read to the child or point out what written words mean. The process of beginning to read may be as simple as the child just understanding that the word McDonald's has a meaning that refers to his or her favorite place to eat.



I have not had a chance to observe many emergent readers, as I am placed in a fifth grade classroom where all of the students are able to read at a second grade level or higher. However, there are many ways a teacher may help a young student become a reader including writing down his or her own speech. This way, the student will see that his or her words can be written and that words on paper have meaning.

Noteblog 3-- Due 2/2

During the choral readings my group focused on the assessment aspect of ELL students.  We all agreed that assessments were necessary in order to chart the progress of a student.  We, as educators, do not want to simply assume that the students have learned what we taught.  Instead, we want proof that shows the students have an understanding of the material.  In the article Lenski wrote, "The purpose for assessment can be quite diverse; they can range from students placement to instructions decisions and from program development to program evaluation.  It is crucial that teachers identify the purposes for assessing their students before choosing the assessment instrument to be used (Lenski 9)."  Teachers need to make sure that the assessments that they are going to use are appropriate for what they are trying to assess.  There is no point in assessing a child with a test that is inappropriate for what is being assessed.  

I really enjoyed reading the Gibbons text.  The 'mode continuum' was one topic that I found to be especially interesting.  The mode continuum shows how language is connected through a series of processes, each process building on the previous.  As the processes continued through the series, the complexity of the students thinking increased as well.  They began to use vocabulary words instead of saying, "... it doesn't go... it doesn't move... (Gibbons 40)," the students used phrases like, "... magnets attracts some kinds of metal... (Gibbons 40)."  Having the students work together in groups facilitated the ability for them to use the vocabulary in its correct context. 

One final thought, even though I had trouble with the "Where I'm From" poem, it was a lot of fun!  I am excited to see what everyone else wrote.  See you all in class tomorrow =)

Choral Reading and Participation in Class on Jan. 27th

During class on January 27, 2009 we were split into groups to discuss different chapters we were assigned to read for the class. I was put into a group that was o discuss the packet reading A New View of Discussion by Almasi. In our group we discussed the many different ways that we as teachers could assess English Language Learners (ELL). ELL students have a hard time with standard tests in their class room for many different reasons. The two main reasons could be that the student needs the question read out loud to understand the question or it could be that the student has hard time writing, so the student could state his answers orally instead of writing the answer down on paper. I currently have no ELL students in my classroom at the time, but I feel that this assigned reading was beneficial in giving me knowledge for the future.

We also participated in reading and discussing poems, that described "Where I'm From". As I read through a couple of these poems I could pick distinctive features that told me about this exact person. My group used a choral reading method to take turns and one person had thier own paragraph to read. This worked out for our group because we only had four paragraphs as well as four people. This method also worked because we were all confident enough to read on our own. There are other methods used in choral reading. Such as reading all together or split the reading into two parts with two groups. The options are endless. After performing our choral reading with my group and the class it helped me to have a better understanding of different methods to use when working with poems and students. I also realized that you can tell so much about a person in action words. After discussing our own poems and characteristics, we learned that this could be a great activity to do with the students in the classroom.Then once all students are finished, you could make a class book for reference and keepsake.I would one day like to do this activity in my own classroom.

Classroom Discussions

After reading our assigned chapters I began thinking about classroom discussion and my experiences and thoughts about discussion. While growing up and going through Elementary and Middle school discussions always made me nervous. I was a shy student and was always scared the teacher would call on me to answer the question. Me fear was that there was only one correct answer and I would not get it right. I spent most of the time worrying if the teacher was going to call on my to respond, rather than listening to others inputs and explanations. Gradually I became less nervous, though I still did not like discussion I tried to participate in High School. It was only when I got to college that I felt more comfortable in discussion. I felt that in college courses, discussions are more laid back and opinionated rather that one direct answer. Students are able to discuss what they read and how they interperted the reading. Through this discussion other classmates may agree or disagree but hear others thoughts. Now, while in feild placement I observe the students as well as my CT and notice different strategies and techniques that are used daily.

While observing my 5th grade classroom, my CT performs discussions daily. Most of her discussions are based around a question of a book she is reading to them or a topic they learned the previous day. She uses discussion to review topics already learned or to inquire minds on topics the student may not know at all. My CT usually starts out using I-R-E ( Initiate-Response-Evaluate), which means the Teacher initiates the discussion with a question, then a student is called upon to respond and then the response is evaluated. From observing last semester into the beginning of this spring semester, the majority of the discussion I see are I-R-E, though I have witnessed on occassion where the teacher poses a question to the class, and the students take over the discussion and the CT sits back to monitor the discussion. When I asked the CT about using discussion, she said that she poses questions during books when their are subjects and words students may not know. She also said that this helps the students keep on track and the students will follow along better, when they understand the text.

In the future, I hope to see more self-student directed class discussions where the CT is monitoring the discussion instead of self-directing the discussion. I unerstand the setting up discussion is difficult and a skill that needs to be practiced, and I hope that after our readings, I will try to incorporate more self-directed discussions in my lesson planning.

Noteblog Discussions

Throughout the last semester and into this one, I have not seen very much discussions in my classroom at all. When I taught my own lessons last semester, I tried to get discussions going. However, since these students had not even had much practice with recitation type discussions, they were a little unsure of what to do. They wanted to raise their hands and be called on as well as have the questions posed for them. My discussions turned into recitation style discussions. I feel that this is because in other grades, this was all they had practice with. Also, there has not been any discussions led by my CT all year, as far as what I have seen.

I have discussed this with my CT. She has told me that she does not like "controlled chaos." She said that that is what she feels discussions will turn into. She was also very surprised that I was able to handle the students working in small groups for both my social studies and science lessons that I taught last semester. She told me that although she saw learning taking place, it was too chaotic for her and that she was glad I could handle it.

As far as what I have seen in language arts this semester, The CT just puts questions on the Smart Board and has each student answer them individually. They then switch papers and correct them. This is pretty much how all of her lessons go. There is no discussion or group work, just quiet, individual work.

I would like to use more discussion in my lessons this semester. I know that I will have to start out small and make them feel comfortable talking without raising their hands or having the question posed to them. I feel that having them discuss in small groups last semester was a good start. Hopefully I can get them moving towards more of a full class discussion later on where everyone is able to give their ideas.

Noteblog 2-- Due 1/27

In my classroom, for the most part, the classroom discussion has been in the I-R-E (Initiate- Response- Evaluate) participatory structure.  I have only seen three language arts lesson thus far because it is so early in the semester.  The CT will pose a question and a students will respond.  The student's responses typically answer the question directly but do not explore the answer any further.  Occasionally a student will comment on another students ideas but that typically does not happen.  

To help the students pose their own questions and facilitate their own discussion the teacher needs to begin by asking fewer questions.  Instead of asking all of the questions, the teacher should occasionally pose good model questions for her students to learn from.  Also, the teacher needs to encourage the students.  If encouragement does not take place then the students might feel nervous to share their opinions with the class.  At the end of a discussion the teacher should give a "re-cap."  The teacher should sum up the discussion and ask for any final thoughts or comments.

There is one student in particular in the classroom that does not participate in any form of classroom instruction.  I do not think his lack of participation comes from being nervous or unsure, I think his lack of participation is intrinsic.  The student is not motivated therefore needs extra attention from the teacher or classmates.  Hopefully throughout the semester I can try my best to motivate the student to participate more in class discussion.

Noteblog Goals

I have many goals for this semester as a far as what I would like to achieve through my experiences with language arts.



1. One of my biggest goals is to learn how to accommodate English language learners into a lesson on language arts. When I first entered the TE program, I struggled with the whole concept of accommodating students of many languages and backgrounds into a single lesson. I felt like it was impossible. I have learned many strategies that work, however. I feel though, that since language arts is so English based, as a teacher, I will have to be very creative when it comes to incorporating these students into the lesson.

2. I would also like to learn creative ways to teach language arts as a lesson in itself and not as something integrated into another lesson like science and social studies. Up until this point My CT has only used the integrated method of language arts. However, we recently got a Smart Board in the classroom so she has been trying it out with activities from the Internet. I however feel like the activities she has chosen are below fifth grade level and do not cover the standards required for fifth grade language arts. My goal is to have creative strategies for teaching language arts to upper elementary students (as this is where I plan to teach in the future).

3. I also would like to be able to diagnose where a student is in his or her literacy level. We covered this in TE 301, as far as morphology, phonology, etc... so I understand the criteria that goes into this. I would just like more practice and possibly be able to give my own explanations for why students at my placement are struggling with literacy. This way I will be ready for this when I am a teacher and will make correct choices towards a student and his or her literacy goals.

Noteblog #1

After reading over the syllabus thoroughly after skimming through the pages with the class. I have thought about my goals for this semester and what I want to learn in this course. Though there are many things I want to learn, I want to focus one these three things the most, the rest will incorporate themselves in at the right time.

1. I want to learn effective and creative ways to teach and integrate language arts in the classroom. I want to learn both in class and in feild placement, to get a variety of many different ideas in teaching chidren the aspects of literacy.

2. I want to get the experience to work with a vareity of students, particularly my three focal students to learn their style and understanding of literacy and what ways they learn the best.

3. In TE 401 we did many projects and lesson plans that consisted of standards. Through the process of writing many detailed lesson plans, I learned that there is a great amount of thought that gets put into creating lesson plans, because of the amount of standards teachers need to incorporate into their lessons. As one of my goals, i want to learn more about standards and particularly language arts standards for all grades, especially fifth grade. I feel this would help me understand lessons taught in my placement. Standards are somewhat confusing in many aspects, so I want to get more aquainted to my standards theough this course.

I am looking foward to this semester. I feel that there is so much to learn about literacy and language arts. I am excited to see what this semester becomes.

Noteblog 1-- Due 1/20

After reading over the syllabus for this course, I have come up with my own personal goals for the improvement of my understanding of language arts.  My hope is that by the end of the semester my goals have been accomplished and I have a deeper understanding of language arts and different approaches that can be used to teach.  Below is a list of my goals for the semester:

1-  In TE 401 I was shown how useful literature circles can be in both a language arts class as well as in other subject areas.  I saw the different roles each member of the group was assigned as well as how to fulfill their duties and actively participate with the rest of the group.  However, other than literature circles, I want to discover other methods of group work that can be used in language arts.  Having students learn from their peers is something that I think is very important. 

2-  I understand that it is extremely likely that I will be faced with ELL students.  I want to learn different teaching methods that will both promote effective learning for both ELL students as well as students that are proficient is English.  Incorporating all of the students is important in order to create a community; therefore, I want all of my students to be included in the lessons.

3-  Up until this past year I was unaware of the multitude of standards that teachers need to incorporate into their lesson plans.  I am some what worried about having to follow both the districts standards as well as the states standards.  I have many questions- what if the two sets of standards are very different, is that even possible, and if so, which set of standards should I focus on?  Also, I want to become more aware of the language arts standards and approaches to use in order to make sure that I am teaching the material correctly.

4-  I would like to observe some effect and creative language arts lessons in my field placement.  I want to see how my CT promotes language arts and makes sure that the students are learning the material that is being taught.  I have an amazing CT so I am sure that I am going to see some very effective teaching strategies. 

I am very excited for this TE 402 class and am looking forward to reading everyone else's goals for the semester!