Prominent Theorist Paper

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d3lC6QtNo0FONBC9xQtEwu48DaBuQjyLfxd1-znOWz8/edit

Module 4: Reading Reflection

Looking across Chapters 10 and 11, which of the understandings and strategies in the comprehensive literacy program are you already addressing/doing with your students (or have you done, or do you plan to do)?

After reading chapters 10 and 11, I realized that I already implement many of the components of a comprehensive literacy program in my classroom.

In second grade, I used shared reading as whole group instruction. We would read our story of the week several times so the students could become familiar with it. I also had guided reading groups to help students with phonics and comprehension. My guided reading groups were leveled so I was able to work on what students needed most. We would also have independed reading every day. Every morning when students came in the classroom and whenever they finished their work early, they had the opportunity to read a book of their choosing. My students really enjoyed this because they were avid readers!

In second grade as well as fifth grade, I used many writing strategies. I would write-aloud whenever we started a new writing unit. This would allow me to model what I was thinking to my students. I would start shared writing to get my students brains working before we would move to independent writing. I am a firm believer in this because the only way to improve anything is to practice, practice, practice. I made my students write a lot and I think it really helped their writing abilities. I would give writing conferences to my students to help them with where they struggled and to praise them where they did well.

Module 3: Mock Memo from a Reading Specialist

     Erica is reading 30% faster than grade level norms, but is unable to comprehend what she has read. This shows that her previous reading education focused on learning word parts instead of the meaning. She also may be reading rapidly due to the stress of standardized testing. Erica may feel the need to read the text quickly due to a limited amount of time allotted. Weaver (2002) states on page 214 "Another way to get through standardized tests rapidly is to identify most of the words automatically and therby read the text "fluently" and quickly. If students haven't been taught other ways of reading efficiently, it is hardly suprising that they would be hampered on standarized tests by not reading rapidly." Erica is reading the text quickly, but is not registering what she is reading.

     The other students are able to read words automatically but are not focusing on what they are reading. They may also be reading through the passages quickly to get them read in a certain amount of time, but are hardly paying attention to what they are reading. They may not have a true understanding of the words and may not realize that many words are used differently depending on the sentence. Some of these words also have different inflections depending on their usage.

     To help Erica, I would suggest using the "think-aloud" strategy. This strategy is used to help students better comprehend what they are reading. To implement this strategy, you choose a text that would be interesting to the students. Read it aloud while the students follow along with a written copy. As you come upon a trouble spot in the passage, stop and think through the difficulty out loud to the students. Continue to do this throughout the rest of the passage. Once you have finished, invite students to offer their thoughts on any difficulties or trouble spots they came across during the reading. Allow students to continue to practice this in pairs. This will force the students to slow down and truly evaluate what they are reading.

I would not classify these students as struggling readers. Even though they are not reading at the same rate as Erica, they are taking their time to comprehend what they are reading. Fluency is important, however it is not as important as comprehension.

References

Weaver, C. (2002). Reading process and practice. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Educational Books

Module 3: Reading Reflection

Do you agree with Marilyn Adams (1990, p. 108) who argued that rather than relying on context, “Skillful readers of English thoroughly process the individual letters of words in their texts?” Why or why not?

I do not agree with this statement. After reading "The Boat in the Basement", I found out that I bypassed the errors because I was not reading the individual letters to determind the word. The activities in the book showed me that it is much easier to determine words using consonants versus vowels. You also need the beginnings of words to completely determine the word while reading. When I read I do not look at the individual letters to decipher the word. I only look at a small portion and then am able to read the word. Knowing the beginnings and ends of words allow me to read the word more easily.

There are many other activities such as these floating around the internet showing that you can still read a word even if the middle letters are changed or some of the letters are upside down. This shows that we don't need to look at each individual letter in a word to read and process it.

Module 2: Activity 1 and 2

Activity 1:

Complete Exercise #3c on page 58 in the text: first write a definition of each word listed. Did you notice yourself using any fairly consistent principle for determining what the words might mean? Discuss. Then read the first chapter of A Clockwork Orange to find the meanings of at least six of the words: http://www.hubertlerch.com/pdf/Burgess_A_Clockwork_Orange.pdf. In each case, how do you finally determine what the word means?

creech- a sound like a screech
droogs- drugs
glazzies- glasses
goloss- shiny
malenky- mischievious fun
messel- a small portion of food
millicents- scoundrels
poogly- pudgy
razrez- miscellaneous junk
skorry- stupid
spatted- past tense of spit
zoobies- zombies

I looked at the word and then used a definition of a word that sounded similar to the original word.

droogs- friends
skorry- quickly
glazzies-eyes
spatted-been with
messel- idea, vision
goloss- voice
poogly- scared
creech-scream, yell
razrez-rip
zoobies- teeth
millicents- police

I missed a few of the words, but after reading the chapter, I was able to use context clues from the sentences to decipher the meanings of the words.

Activity 2:

1. We don't read words letter by letter; we use sound and letter patterns.
2. I chunked the words into syllables.
3. I did not sample the letters all at once.
4. sarsaparilla, plesiosaur, ingenue
5. Pronouncing the words made me realize that recogonized the words and thus knew the meaning.
6. I sound out the words as best I can and look to the rest of the sentence or sentences around the word to determine the meaning.
7. Students will have a harder time deciphering unfamiliar words when they are alone verus when they are being used in a sentence. When I give spelling tests, I use the word in a sentence so the student is aware of which part of speech the word is and how it is being used.

Module 2: Instructional Challenge

Take a look at the following examples of children's dialect-based miscues while reading and the difference between the child's original response (OR) and expected reponse (ER). Then answer the questions that follow.

OR: It my little monkey here.	ER: Is my little monkey here?
OR: We got to tell.	ER: We've got to tell.
OR: Frog look at Toad calendar.	ER: Frog looked at Toad's calendar.
OR: A word what sounded good.	ER: A word that sounded good.
OR: hisself	ER: himself
OR: I can come to your party?	ER: Can I come to your party?

Are these children's miscues evidence of proficient or non-proficient reading? Explain. If you were teaching children who made these miscues, what, if any, assistance or teaching would you offer?

These children's miscues are evidence of proficient reading. Even though words were changed or missing, these children still showed an understanding of the text. This shows grammatical errors verus comprehension errors. The students have a grasp of understand what is being read, but still have difficulty with all the grammatical comcepts of the English language. Weaver (2002) states on p. 76, according to the Goodmans, "that there is "no evidence that inability to cope with Book English is a general problem for any group" (1978, p. 3-5). The students' dialect or interlanguage influence was evident in their reading, "but it is not in itself a barrier to comprehension" (p.3-22).

If I were teaching children who made these miscues, I would not feel the need to provide any additional assistance beyond what was already being taught. These children are struggling with the different dialects of their home language and the English language. As long as their miscues are not affecting their understanding of a text, extra assistance would not be needed.

I taught many children at my previous school whose first language was not English. I noticed many of these miscues in their reading, however they were able to give me complete answers when asked what they comprehended about the passage. I also noticed that many of these miscues were not present in their writing, which showed me they understood and were able to put into words what they had read.

Module 2: Reading Reflection

“The major folklore of reading instruction relates to the “theory” that reading is considered an exact process. In other words, the reader is expected to read everything exactly as printed on the page in order to understand the message of the author. In general the consuming public, legislatures, courts, and too many educators hold to this theory. It is like the theory of the world being flat during the time of Columbus.”

-Robert Harper and Gary Kilarr

 

I disagree with the  first two sentences in this statement  saying that one must read everything on the page in order to understand it. I personally don't read every word, I skim because it is quicker for me. Many proficient readers are able to gain comprehension of a passage even after changing some of the simple basic sight words. "Constructing meaning from a text is far more important than identifying all the words-even though, obviously, many of the words have to be identified or at least understood conceptually, if the reader is to construct meaning effectively (Weaver, 2002, p. 70)."

 

If a student is applying reading strategies effectively and efficiently, he or she should be able to construct meaing of a text without having to read each word correctly. "Since meaing is the goal of reading, we hardly need to insist that every word be identified accurately (Weaver, 2002, p. 73)." People generally only read through a text once and are able to gain an understanding of what was read. It is not feasible to expect someone to correctly remember every word that was used in the text, because we are not looking for word identification, we are looking for reading comprehension.

 

I do not believe that students need to read every word correctly in a text in order to gain meaning. As long as a student is using reading strategies effectively and efficiently, he or she should be able to understand what has been reading.

 

References:

Weaver, C. (2002). Reading process and practice. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Educational Books

Module 1: Activity 2

a. What is corandic?
     "Corandic is an emurient grof with many fribs"
b. What does corandic grank from?
     "It granks from corite, an olg which cargs like lange."
c. How do garkers excarp the tarances from the corite?
     "By glarcking the corite and starping it in tranker-clarped storbs."
d. What does the slorp finally frast?
     "A pragety, blickant crankle: coranda."
e. What is coranda?
     "A cargurt, grinkling corandic and borigen."
f. How is the corandic nacerated from the borigen?
     "By means of loracity."
g. What do the garkers finally thrap?
     "A glick, bracht, glupous grapant, corandic, which granks in many starps."

How is it that you are able to answer such questions?

I was able to answer such questions by looking back at the passage and taking the answers from there. I may not have understood what was being said, but I was able to follow along and find the answers because they were easily stated in the passage.

What does this experience suggest about the kinds of "comprehension" questions often found on standardized tests?

This experience suggests that the comprehension questions often found on standardized tests are not higher-level thinking questions. Students are able to answer these questions easily because the answers are simply stated in the passage. These kinds of questions do not require students to fully comprehend the passage, rather they just have to spit out the words. These questions do not require much of an effort from the students and do not truly test their understanding of the subject matter.

Module 1: Activity 1

Module 1: Instructional Challenge

Read the following passage:
Hocked gems financing him, our hero defied the scornful laughter. “Think of it as an egg, not a table,” he said. Then three sturdy sisters sought proof, forging over vast calmness, and sometimes over turbulent peaks and valleys, until at last welcome winged creatures appeared, signifying monumental success.
Answer these questions about the passage:

1. What are the hocked gems? The hocked gems are the money that is being used to finance this voyage.
2. What should we think of as an egg and not a table? We should think of the Earth as an egg because it is round and one could travel around it, rather than a table which is flat.
3. Who are the three sturdy sisters? The three sturdy sisters are the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria.
4. What kind of winged creatures appeared? The winged creatures are the birds that signified the travelers had reached an area close to land.

If you were to use this passage with students, what schema would you need to activate with them first? How can you help teach children whose schema and the text’s content don’t match? How much time should children spend in texts that don’t match their interests or schema?

The schema that would need to be activated before using this passage with students would be their knowledge of world explorers. As an American student, students should have at least a somewhat sufficient knowledge of Christopher Columbus, however if a student was raised in another country, he or she may not have that knowledge. Even though a student's schema and the text's content may not match, that student can still be taught. A teacher can activate the prior knowledge and see what that student knows before introducing the new topic.  I believe a fair amount of time should be spent on texts that don't match a student's interest or schema. In order to broaden a student's mind, they must obtain information on topics that may not always appeal to them.  I would use a text that is needed information, then follow up with a text that matches their interest to still keep them engaged and to practice more with what is being worked on.

Module 1: Reading Reflection

There are quite a few major differences between a skills approach to literacy and a sociopsycholinguistic or comprehensive view. One of the first differences is that the skills approach focuses on teaching from the bottom up, meaning students are first taught the letters and letter-sound relationships, before they move on to learning the words. Once students learn the words, they are then able to determine the meaning. A sociopsycholinguistic view, on the other hand, is a whole-to-part approach, meaning the reading is using his or her own schema and what is in the text to understand the meaning of the word.



Another difference between these two views is that the skills approach starts with teaching phonemic awareness, then moves on to phonics, next is the automatic and rapid word recognition, and finally the meaning. The comprehensive view involves a more circular approach in that letter-sound relationships, words and their meanings, schemas, context, and virtual aspects of words and texts are all interrelated and are used together to understand the text.

Personal Reading Theory

            Reading is something that is used all the time by people everywhere. It is such a vital part of life, yet it is something that students struggle greatly with. Many strategies and techniques can be effective to help a less proficient reader succeed or to instill a love of reading into a stubborn child.

            Almost everything in life requires a person to be able to read. Novels, the newspaper, and even a grocery list could be frustrating to someone who has difficulty reading. Teaching someone to read starts at a young age, but it is something that should continue to be worked on as a child grows and is able to understand more difficult concepts. Teaching a child to read starts very early, but learning is a never ending process and building upon basic concepts is crucial. Knowing vocabulary can help a student improve his or her reading comprehension. The more words a child knows, the more he or she will be able to fully grasp what is occurring in the book. When a child has to look up every other word to find the definition, or just skips over the word without knowing the meaning, he or she will not truly distinguish what the book is about. To help students build up their vocabulary, I used a word wall in my classroom and would add new words when the students and I came across them in our studies. I would include words from all subjects to let students know that reading is used across the board and not just in reading class. Knowing how to read is more than just knowing the letters of the alphabet, it is also the retention and comprehension of what has been read.

            When a child first learns to read, they should read out loud as much as possible. This allows children to practice the pronunciation of letters and sounds and to build up their fluency. Many students are also auditory learners, so this gives them double the chance to comprehend the information, by reading in their head and also hearing themselves read out loud. Poor fluency can be a sign that a child is having trouble comprehending what has been read. When a child reads slowly and has to stop and think about how to pronounce words, instead of the sound coming automatically, he or she is not spending much brainpower on understanding what the sentence or passage means and is instead focusing on his or her pronunciation. Fluency is something that should be developed at an early age and progress as the child grows.

            Reading is something that is very enjoyable to me, and I enjoy showing my students my love of books in the hope that they too may share this love. To me, reading is a way to escape reality for a bit and live through the eyes of a character. Reading can show you another country, the deepest part of the ocean, or even insight to a person’s thoughts. Students who dislike reading miss out on all of these adventures. Some students will only read the bare minimum, and it is one of my goals to implant a love of reading into these children. One way I have found to do this is by allowing students to read a book of their choosing and then create a project from that book. They could make a diorama, create a PowerPoint presentation, or write a drama that goes along with the story to show me that they actually read the book and gained something from it. Students really enjoy these projects, even my reluctant readers, because it allows them to use their own creativity and talents to create a masterpiece. Reading must be pleasurable for a child if they hope to become more adept with it.

            Reading is an essential part of our everyday lives. Learning to read can be a troublesome endeavor for young children. My goal is to become a more effective reading teacher in order to help students become better readers and, in effect, more successful.