Module 6: Reading Reflection

Does any of the information presented in Chapter 15 influence your personal philosophy of reading? In what ways? How has your perspective this changed since you took the DeFord TORP a few weeks ago?

Post your response on your blog. Name this blog posting "Module 6: Reading Reflection."

My reading philosophy has changed a lot over the period of this course. I have to say I now feel that I am better suited to teach reading to my students. Chapter 15 talks about meeting the needs of all learners by using a universal literacy program. Since taking the DeFord TORP a few weeks ago my philosophy has changed. I am now more focused on reading for meaning with my students. Before this course I felt that if the students were sounding out the words they were reading but I have found out differently. I now am ready to focus more on my students reading for meaning and not to just sound out the words that are written on the page. I am excited to get to use this information in my classroom very soon. 

Final Reading Theory

Mallory Johnson

EDRD 7715

Dr. Ritchie

July 17, 2013

Final Personal Reading Theory

            Prior to this course I had a different opinion about reading instruction than I do now. I have learned a lot that has helped me to really think about the reading instruction in my classroom. Before this course I really did not have an understanding of reading instruction. I now have a much clearer understanding of reading instruction.

            Different teachers teach reading in different ways and it all depends on the type of children that you have in your classrooms and their needs when it comes to reading. This is the major indicator that you need to focus on when you are deciding on what strategy that you need to use to teach your students. The classroom should be student centered and that should be what you base your teaching on.

            When teaching reading some people believe that students should memorize words and that should be the way that they read. They do not think that reading should be taught in a direct manner. On the other hand some people think that the students should be taught by using phonics and they do not really focus on anything else but sounding out the words. They think that if a student is able to sound out the words that they have mastered reading. Some teachers think that there is a happy medium. That students need to have certain phonics skills but they also need to have fluency and comprehension skills as well.

            The last group is the group that I fall into as a teacher I believe that students need to have phonics skills that will allow them to sound out words if they are reading and they encounter an unknown word. This will allow them to be more independent in their reading. I also think that if I student is focusing so much on sounding out words that it causes and interference in their comprehension then I think that they are trying to sound out too many words. That is what happens a lot of times when students are reading. This comes from teachers focusing too much on sounding out words. In my classroom if I am reading with a group of students and I see that one is having trouble with a particular word then I will just give them the word so that they are not sitting there focusing on the word and they are forgetting what they have read before. If a student reads something and they are not able to comprehend what they have read their reading is a waste. We should teach our students the true reasons that we read. They should also know that they read to do more than just sound out words. I have been guilty of telling a student to sound out a word if I think that they are able to sound it out but if I see that they are having a problem then I will be there as the teacher to step in and tell them the word so that they can move on and hopefully not lose all the comprehension that they have gained while reading.  

When a student is trying to read and their purpose is to sound out words then they are not reading for the right reasons. I think that students should be able to read well and they should be able to read for enjoyment. We as teachers need to foster that love for reading and we need to teach the students to want to read for the right reasons. I love teaching reading to students and I like to show them my love for reading. I have developed more of a understanding for reading throughout this course. I cannot wait to go into my classroom and begin to put the things that I have learned into practice.

Module 5: Instructional Challenge

As your school year starts, you realize that you have three ELLs who are newcomers to the United States. Discuss how a comprehensive literacy program addresses their needs, drawing attention to specific components of the framework that are particularly relevant. Then discuss any additional scaffolding you would offer to support these children's needs. Post it to your blog and name the posting "Module 5: Instructional Challenge."

        

  First and foremost you would really need to look at your reading instruction for these students. You would need to start at the very basics of teaching the English language. Chances are they are not familiar with the letters or sounds of English. Using a comprehensive literacy program would be a good beginning to reading instruction for these three students. I would like to work with these students in a small guided reading group. I think that a small group would work best for these students so that I can meet their individual needs. Also using guided writing would also be an effective instructional tool for these students. They will be able to see how the letters in English fit together to form words. When the students are not getting instruction from the teacher I would have them listening to a book on tape this would model fluency for the students. 

Module 5 Reading Reflection

Where does phonics instruction fit within a comprehensive literacy program? When and how would you teach phonics?

             I think that phonics fits into the comprehensive literacy program in several places. I do not think that phonics should be the only thing that is taught in reading. We also need to teach fluency and comprehension. I would teach my phonics lesson mainly in guided reading. This is the time when phonics skills can be worked on in a small group. I think that the students will benefit from having this phonics skills taught in small group guided reading. Another place in the comprehensive literacy program that I would teach phonics would be during guided writing. Teaching phonics in the guided writing lesson will help the students be able to work on there own writing. They will then be able to sound out words and be able to spell them phonetically on their own. I would incorporate phonics into my reading lessons but I would also teach fluency and comprehension as well to go along with it. 

Module 4: Instructional Challenge

Marcus is a student who very frequently miscues by substituting words that start with the same letter or first few letters of the word in the text, but his substitutions often are not syntactically or semantically acceptable (they neither sound right grammatically nor make sense). What possible teaching strategies would you suggest to help Marcus? Post your response to your blog and name the posting "Module 4: Instructional Challenge."

          I would sit down and work with Marcus one on one to begin with. I would tell him to slow down a little bit and look at the whole word. I would then read the sentence to him and have him read it back to me with correct fluency and expression. Having someone model correct fluency will help Marcus to read. We would also would look at the entire word and break it into parts. I will work with him on sounding out the words. I will show him how to break the words into chunks and sound them out. We will also talk about the word and why it can not be something else. We will also discuss the meanings of the words in the sentence that we are reading. I would use guided reading to work with him on phonics skills and reading comprehension skills. We will also talk about the grammar during this small group. I would also like to put him listening to a book on tape in a listening center. Hearing someone read with the proper fluency will help Marcus to read better and for the words to make more sense. 

Module 4: Activity 1

         After watching this video it first off truly made me realize the whole reason that I decided to become a teacher to help people. This video shows us an effective way to teach reading to young children. In the video Robin used chunks to figure out unknown words and when he was trying to read a word he would look and find words that he knew in the word and sound out the rest and then he was able to read the unknown words. The teacher that was teaching him used phonics to teach him how to read and the more that he practiced he was able to read the words faster and understand what he was reading. They also used phonograms to make new words out of the same word family. Once he learned the word families then he was able to read most any word by putting on a new beginning sound. I really enjoyed watching this video it has really made me remember why I decided to be a teacher. This reminds me of when I worked with an afterschool program one of the custodians at the school where I worked could not read. He would come in afterschool when I was working and ask me to read something to him. He would also have the teachers at the school to teach him how to read and write when they had time. I do not know if he ever learned how to read but I know that he had a determination to learn and Robin reminded me a lot of this man.

Module 4: Activity 2

Which NRP topic area(s) or missing pillar(s)that Allington describes do you find to be most vital for children’s literacy success? Why? Post your response on your blog. Name the posting "Module 4: Activity 2."

I think that the topic areas that the NRP discussed that are most vital to children’s literacy success are phonics, fluency and comprehension. I think that there is a fine line between the importance of the three. If the students are not able to sound out words that can hinder their reading but if they do not have the correct fluency or read with the correct rate and expression there reading is not going to make much sense and they are likely to not be able to comprehend what they are reading. The reason that you would read is to comprehend. Sometimes many children read just to read words and they spend so much time trying to sound out the words that they do not even remember what they have read when they finish sounding out the words. According to Allington in the missing pillars that I think are the most important is matching students with texts that they find interesting and texts that are on their level. They do not need texts that are too hard or too easy. They also need to have texts that they are able to connect with and that they find interesting and that focus on subject matter that they can relate to. I also like the idea of group work and working with the students on an individual basis. I know that when I am teaching whole group I do not feel like the students have made meaning to anything that I have taught. I would much rather teach to a small group especially in reading. I feel like it makes a more personal connection with the students and if the teacher is able to work in a small group they are more likely to catch any problems that may occur with students reading.

 

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)?

Post your response on your blog. Name this blog posting "Module 4: Reading Reflection."

            After reading Chapters 10 and 11 in the textbook I now have lots of ideas for reading instruction. I love teaching reading. My favorite part of the day is guided reading group time. The guided reading groups that I do in class are more like literature groups. I love to sit with the students in a small group and discuss a book that we have just read. I really enjoy hearing the students talk about what they think the book is about and expressing their ideas. It also gives me a chance to know if the students are really comprehending what they are reading. During the guided reading we also work on skills. I am a Kindergarten paraprofessional so we have to work on phonics skills along with reading comprehension. I also love doing read alouds in the classroom. My students love to hear me read books. This past year I had a student that would always come to me during free group time and ask me to read the book to them. I would then have a group crowded around me while I read them a book aloud. It makes me happy so that I am able to foster a love for reading in my students. Another thing that I like to use is individual reading conferences. I think that it is very important for the students to have the chance to meet one on one with the teacher and discuss the book that they are reading and also read for the teacher so that if there is a problem with their reading the teacher will be able to catch the problem that the student is having. I also use the shared writing and writing aloud activities in the classroom. When we are starting on a new writing I usually write my story on the smart board. Then we discuss that the students stories should not be just like mine and then I take it off the board so that they can not copy mine. The students do not usually copy my stories it just gives them ideas and demonstrates how to write a sentence. I also agree with the book when they say that "round robin reading" is not a very effective reading strategy I do not use this in the classroom or in reading groups. I do not think that students need to be put under that kind of pressure. I can remember when I was a student I did not like when teachers did that in the classroom. Even though I was a good reader and I was able to read all of the words it made me uncomfortable and it made me not like reading class. I also use the "buddy reading" strategy in the classroom. Every morning we have a couple of fourth grade students come into the classroom before the tardy bell rings. I pair up students who are struggling with reading with these older students and they help them work on the skills that they need to be working on. I also enjoy doing readers theater activities in the classroom although there is sometimes little time for these types of activities. I think that the students need to be able to express themselves and have a little fun with reading so I try to make times for these activities every now and then. I am very excited to try these activities from chapter 10 and 11 in the classroom next school year. I enjoy teaching reading and I like to make it interesting and fun for the students. 

Module 3: Activity 2

I think that reading nonsense words can help struggling students to learn to crack the code of reading. Reading these words where they can just make the sound of the letters instead of having to worry if the letter makes that sound in the word or if it makes another sound. The nonsense words can let the students sound out the word. This also words good with constant vowel constant words. Sometimes they are not really words but learning to put those sounds together is a vital skill that students need to learn.  I think that readers once they have grasped the idea of phonemic awareness they need to be taught the basic rules of English and the sounds that letters make in real words. But as I said I think that using nonsense words during the time that students are learning how to blend is beneficial to the students. 

Module 3: Mock Memo from a Reading Specialist

Module 3: Mock Memo from a Reading Specialist

    Dear teacher,

                I see that some of the students in your classroom are struggling with reading comprehension. I see that they are reading on grade level for fluency but I see they are having a little trouble with there comprehension.

                I believe that your students are reading just to read words they are not actually reading for meaning. You can help to solve this problem by working with the students in a small group. You need to explain to them that we read for meaning and that it does not matter how fast you read if you do not understand what you are reading then it does you no good to read words. Tell the student that it is important to slow down with their reading. Have them read a short passage to you aloud. Then have them to tell you what happened in the story. If they are not able to tell you what is happening then you may need to read it with them. Model reading slower and with expression. When you read an important part in the story stop and discuss it with the students. You may have to work with some students individually. They may not be able to read out loud in a group setting. I think that you will find if you tell the students to slow down and you practice with them reading for meaning and not just to read words their comprehension rate will improve.

Mallory Johnson

James Gee

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PT_qPqMnq33EVfEDYj6UMHeISfMaNHVYNGGnbgYZfjA/edit?usp=sharing

James Gee- A Prominent Literary Researcher

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 the idea of Marilyn Adams. I do not think that skillful readers have to process each individual letter in order to read.  The textbook states that good readers do not read word by word instead they use context to perceive and identify words. Many times a word can be identified without someone looking at each individual word. When adults and children encounter words that they are unfamiliar with the reader decodes the word by looking at word parts, particularly syllables and then units within them onsets and rhymes. According to Venezky if a person attempted to scan left to right, letter by letter, pronouncing as he goes could not correctly read most English words. The mutilated word activity was very interesting to me. It is interesting how I could read those words with parts of the word missing. I think that this is what proves that to be a skillful reader you do not have to process individual letters. 

Module 2 Activity 1 and 2

Activity 1:

#3c

Creech- creep or move very slow

Droogs- dogs

Glazzies- glazing

Goloss- gloss

Malenky- lanky or skinny.

Messel- a vessel

Millicents- million            

Poogly- puggy

Razrez- reminded

Skorry- scurry

Spatted- this reminds me of the word splattered so I would think it means about the same thing.

Zoobies- animals that live at the zoo

I have to admit that this was a very hard exercise for me to complete. This took a lot of thinking on my part. I first had to think about what part of speech that each word sounded to be and then think of a meaning for it. Many of the words I based on my knowledge of other words that I know in the English language. I don’t think that I got many of the words right but this was a hard thing to do is find the definitions of these words with no context to go along with it.

After reading the chapter in A Clockwork Orange I was able to find the definitions to the words by looking at the context in which the words are used. This was not an easy read.  This was a lot easier to do than just looking at a list of words and writing a definition for it.

Droogs- friends

Glazzies- eyes

Melanky- old

Millicents- police

Zoobies- teeth

Skoory- quick

Activity 2:

I did not try to read these words letter by letter. That would have taken too long. Trying to sound out these words letter by letter would not be an effective way to read the words. Instead of trying to read them letter by letter I tried to read the words by chunking them into syllables. This is the way that I try to read unknown words when I am reading something on my own. This is the most common way that people read unknown words. In my opinion this is much easier than sounding out letter by letter. You would put together the word parts that you know.

I was not familiar with any of these words at the time of reading. There were some of the parts of the words that I knew so I was able to make out what parts of the words so I could determine what parts of the word meant but I would have had to look up the root words to find out the whole meaning of the words. As I was pronouncing the words some of them sounded familiar and that made me think that I may have known some of the meaning.

When I am reading and I encounter an unknown word I like to read all the sentences around it and try to use context clues to find out the meaning of the word. This is the best way that I have found to deal with unknown words. This is a strategy that I could use to help my students to be able to read unknown words when they encounter them in text. 

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? Post your thoughts to your blog. Name this blog posting "Module 2: Instructional Challenge."

            I do not think that the miscues that these children are making make them any less of a proficient reader. I think that they are just reading in a way that they would talk. These students are just used to the dialect that they talk in. Thinking about the reading from this module we read that students in order to be a proficient reader do not necessarily have to read every single word on the page just right. They just have to gain meaning from what they read. If I am talking to a child in proper English it is possible that they may not understand what I am talking about if they are used to another dialect. 

             When I think about teaching students that may make miscues like this I do not think that we as teachers should stop them in the middle of the reading just to correct something that is in their dialect  If they understand what they are reading and they are comprehending it then I do not see a problem with it. 

             At the school that I work at we have a large number of Hispanic children. Many times when they are reading they will reverse words. They sometimes put the adjective last. They may read a sentence "She has a car red." The student will gain meaning that she has a red car but it may come out in a different way but I do not think it makes them a non-proficient reader. 

          I think that reading the way that they speak will go away as the students grow and I do not think that it is something that we need to dwell on in the early years. I think with experience they will read what is on the page and not what they would say themselves. 

Module 2: Reading Reflection

"The major folklore (belief/study) 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 Gart Kilarr

**Do you agree or disagree? Explain why or why not using evidence from text to support assertions.

        I disagree with the authors views about the processes of reading. Students do not have to read every single word in a passage to gain meaning and comprehend what they have read. Many good readers can not read every word in the English Language. There are words that I come to when I am reading that I do not know. That is where I use the strategy that the assigned reading chapters focused on reading words in context. Readers can use the context in which words are written to make a meaning out of them. The reader that is encountering an unknown word can either look ahead into the text or skip the word and see the context that follows it. Using syntactic or semantic context are two types of context within the sentence that readers can use when trying to figure out an unknown word. (49) 

       In chapter four the authors discussed miscues and what they mean to readers. According to Kenneth Goodman miscue research has led us away from a word focus to a comprehension focus. (61) Just being a good reader does not mean that you get all of the words right. Good readers who generally make less miscues than average readers may make many more miscues involving pronouns and simple function words. (63) If they are reading for meaning they may make some miscues that do not change the meaning of the text such as an error like the one in the following sentence. White men came from the cities. The reader would change the word the to their.(63) That does not change the meaning of the sentence and it is an error but that does not make them a poor reader. Reading is not an exact process and being able to read every single word in the English Language does not make you a proficient reader. Reading is a process that requires taking in meaning of the words that are being read. 

Module 1 Instructional Challenge:

Module 1 Instructional Challenge:

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? money

2. What should we think of as an egg and not a table? Hocked gems

3. Who are the three sturdy sisters? People who were going to help him

4. What kind of winged creatures appeared? Welcomed winged creatures

If you were to use this passage with students, you would need to make sure that the students had a prior knowledge of the subject that you are going to be reading about. You would need to go over vocabulary words to make sure that the students are ready for that type of passage. Also you would need to go over strategies to help the students if they are not familiar with a certain word so that they would be able to understand what they are reading. I would like to first get the students interested and maybe make a chart about the topic of the passage so that the students will get interested in it. 

Module 1 Activity 2

Module 1 Activity 2

Types of Vacations

Camping

Big city

Mountains

Beach

Staycation

 

                                          

Beach	Mountains
Hot weather Ocean Sand and surf People do not usually go hiking People usually swim	Cooler weather No ocean No sand and surf People usually go hiking People do not usually swim