Sarah's Choral Reeding Entry

In class last week we practiced choral reading by dividing the class in half and reading a poem together.  In this case we were able to put emphasis on the poem through choral reading.  Choral reading can be used for a variety of purposes, for example to emphasize the meaning of a passage or poem or to get everyone in the class to participate in reading aloud.  I think that choral reading can be a beneficial way to get students to feel comfortable reading aloud since they are not reading by themselves but rather as a group.  Many students are not confident with their ability to read aloud and are shy when speaking in front of the class.  Choral reading provides a way for these students to participate in reading aloud without getting nervous or feeling singled out.  The difficult thing about choral reading is that it can be hard for the teacher to tell which students are actually reading aloud and which students are just mouthing the words and following their peers.  Also, some students may not put as much effort into doing the actual reading if they can just follow along with their peers.  Overall, I think choral reading is most effective when trying to emphasize meaning or when used with beginning readers.  

Emily's Entry 1/28

After reflecting on our readings and class discussion from last week, I wanted to address one topic in particular. In the Almasi article, it is suggested that students have specific roles when partaking in a discussion or literature group. These roles are inquisitor, facilitator of interaction, facilitator of interpretation, respondent and evaluator (37). At first, I wasn't quite sure whether to fully believe this was best. However, after thinking about our discussion in math class about status, I came to the conclusion that it is probably best to have students have roles for literature discussions. I think there are a couple of benefits actually. The main one is to not give in to status. If there is one student in the group who does all the talking then they have the status of being the leader, being prepared, on task, right all the time, etc. Even though other students may have ideas, they cannot vocalize them because the dominant student is taking over. Another reason to have roles is so students stay on task. With everyone having a specific duty or responsibility they are more likely to stay on topic and work their way through a discussion. Lastly, each student feels valued and important to the discussion with roles. If they successfully do their job, then they feel as though they were represented and made contributions to the group. I think it is important to note that these roles should be rotated with each discussion. This way it allows students multiple perspectives of participating in a group. I am anxious to try this with my second grade students!

Liz's Blog 1/23

My field placement is at Bath Elementary in a Kindergarten classroom. The students have been learning letter identification all year long and are now being introduced to inventive spelling. The teacher begins the mini lesson by reading a book to the whole class. From this point, the teacher engages in recitation with the students. The recitation is led by the teacher who asks questions about the book and the students answer them. If there is opportunity for small group discussion, such as "Name a time when you did something really nice for someone", the teacher will ask the students to share with their neighbor and then bring the focus back to the whole group. The teacher-led recitation allows the students a chance to answer questions about the book and share their opinions. Also, the teacher-led discussion provides opportunities for the students to make meaningful connections from the text to their lives. Additionally, the students are able to enhance their social skills by listening to their peers and taking turns providing answers. After the recitation, the teacher introduces what the centers will be for the day, and then the students disperse to their centers. After the winter break I've noticed the literacy center becoming more prominent and demanding. The students were given journals and each day they write in them. They either practice writing words from a word list the teacher has provided, or they respond to a prompt the teacher gave during the whole group discussion, such as "Write about one exciting thing that happened to you this morning." The students are encouraged to use inventive spelling to write as many sentences as possible. I find that the literacy center is the center that generates the most student discussions as well as the most frustrations. If the teacher has to unexpectedly cut her centers short, the literacy center is the first one to either be eliminated or simplified because of its time demand.

I find that the librarian in the school also does a great job of leading recitations with the class. Before reading a story, she announces, "After I read this book, I'm going to be asking you a few questions about it, so keep your ears open." The students are encouraged to raise their hands and answer her questions as well as bring in meaningful connections from their own lives.

I am looking forward to seeing these students develop in their literacy skills as the semester carries on. They have already come a long way from the beginning of the year. Even though they still have a long way to go when it comes to their confidence in literacy, they definitely have the motivation and desire to learn.

Sarah's Entry 1/22

I am currently placed in a Kindergarten classroom in Lansing.  The students have been working hard at really understanding letter identification and letter sounds.  The students read a lot of short stories in the classroom and each week have a short booklet to take home and read about a different letter.  When not working in literacy centers the children are primarily learning literacy through worksheets and journals.  After doing the readings for this week I have discovered that the talking in my classroom are more guided by the teacher rather than response-centered talk.  The teacher uses more recitation talk where students are expected to restate facts and information about stories that are read to them.  I feel that the students in my classroom could benefit from response-centered talk focuses more on discovery and constructing a new understanding of literature.  Many students in my classroom have a good grasp on the literacy skills they are being taught but those who are struggling seem to keep falling further and further behind.  These students may be having difficult because they cannot make meaningful connections to their prior knowledge or even to current concepts they are learning.  Response-centered talk may help students to explore these connections and construct a deeper understanding of the literacy skills and concepts they are being taught.  

I feel that there are a few students in my classroom who could really benefit from some extra help in literature.  In particular, these students need help learning all their letter names and sounds.  It would be best if they could have some one-on-one help or even small group help during literacy centers because without knowing these basic skills these students are getting lost as the class moves onto new skills like spelling, using punctuation, and writing sentences.  These students also seem to have low self-confidence when it comes to literacy, but maybe with the extra help and some positive reinforcement one could change their attitudes about literacy.  In the future I hope to be given the chance to work with those students who are struggling with literacy and try and help them to become successful in learning basic literacy skills and concepts.

Emily's Entry 1/22: Literacy in my Placement

Okay, let’s get this blog started!

I am in a second grade classroom, and after doing the readings this week I am a little concerned about the lack of literacy taking place in my field placement. At previous local schools that I have been to, they have devoted three hours of their school day to literacy and where I am there is maybe an hour each day spent on literacy activities. I am not implying that this is the case in all classrooms at the school but it is generally what I have noticed. Typically what I see for literacy is students silently reading while my CT and myself work with reading groups. We will pull a group of 4 or 5 students based on reading level and read together as a group. I will ask them comprehension questions before, during and after reading but in all it probably takes 10-15 minutes per group. While we are working with the groups, the rest of the students are usually off task and not reading silently but talking with their peers instead. I have not seen anything like the readings describe such as response-centered talk because they do not work in groups or read a story as a class and have a discussion. I can’t say that they do not do this at all, but I have not seen it. The student’s desks are arranged in groups and yet they do not work in groups at all! The classroom setup would be great for literature circles and small groups discussions where students can have a specific role to contribute. The readings offer great suggestions for all students to feel included in the group by each of them having a responsibility such as facilitator or evaluator.

One aspect of literacy that I have been in charge of the past few weeks is conducting a read aloud with the class. Towards the end of the day, I read a chapter book for 15-30 minutes to the class. They love it! We just started a new book today called Double Fudge by Judy Blume. Although there are no pictures, I still hold the book so the students can see the text. The few students in the front actually do follow along with where I am. This may be a stretch, but I kind of view this as scaffolding in a way. Maybe I am more modeling for them by showing how to hold the book and set an appropriate pace to read. I also will stop occasionally and ask questions to make the students predict what will happen or to see if they understood the events that just occurred.

I hope to see more literacy in the future and to make more connections with what we are talking about in class!