RE 3030 Book Reviews, Assignments, & Reflections

This will include book reviews for the RE 3030 class.

Book Review #1

1. Written by: Laura Numeroff

    Illustrated by: Joe Mathieu

2.     Date of Publication: 1995

3.     Title: Chimps Don’t Wear Glasses

4.     ISBN #: 0-590-96974-9

5.     The level: Read-Aloud

6.     Topic: Teaching children to use their imagination

7.     The storyline: The book uses rich illustrations showing animals in unexpected situations.  Then the author encourages the reader to close their eyes and imagine things they do not think is possible.  The book ends by telling children to tell or draw what is in their own mind.

8.     Why you liked it:  The illustrations were wonderful!  The illustrations will draw children in and keep their attention.   Young children will want to have the book read over and over because of the zany situations that the animals are in, giraffes driving cars, llamas shopping and yaks in tuxedos.

9.     What you might be able to do with it in a class: This will be a great book to use when teaching about stereotypes.  It will also be a good link to creative writing.

Book Review #2

1.     Author(s) (Illustrator): Eric Carle

2.     Date of Publication: 1977

3.     Title: The Very Grouchy Ladybug

4.     ISBN #: 0-06-027087-X

5.     The level (what grade level): K-2

6.     Topic (what it is about): Moods, telling-time

7.     The storyline: A ladybug, who is quite a grouch takes us through her day.  She meets a variety of animals, who she would like to fight, but none are big enough for her to fight.  She begins the day at the same place she started it, but is in a better mood.

8.     Why you liked it: This book can be read aloud with attention paid to the inflection of the voice.  I like that it teaches many different lessons with one book.  I also think that the page layout and colors add interest.

9.     What you might be able to do with it in a class: for example, think of ways to connect the book with themes in your social studies or diversity classes.  This book can be used in many different ways.  It can be used to teach time.  Manners are introduced in this book.  Moods can also be discussed when reading this book.  Another way to incorporate this book into a lesson would be with science.  It introduces different animals, insects, and the concept of beneficial insects.

Book Review #3

1.     Author(s) (Illustrator): Lisa Campbell Ernst

2.     Date of Publication: 2003

3.     Title: Goldilocks Returns

4.     ISBN #:0-689-85705-5

5.     The level (what grade level): Read aloud

6.     Topic (what it is about):  Goldilocks returns to make up for her past mistakes.

7.     The storyline: Goldilocks feels bad for running out of the three bears all those years earlier.  She is trying to find a way to make things right with the three bears; her past has haunted her all these years.  She returns to the woods and begins to fix all that she broke many years before.  But will the bears be ready to forgive when they return from their walk to find a dead bolt on their front door, all their porridge gone, and many other changes.

8.     Why you liked it: Very humorous, tells many different stories in just one book.

9.     What you might be able to do with it in a class: for example, think of ways to connect the book with themes in your social studies or diversity classes.  This book can be used in several different ways. One lesson would be to incorporate this book into teaching about diversity and culture; Goldi assumes that the bears share her taste in food.  This book can be used to teach about forgiveness.  Students could learn creative writing by adding their own ending to the original tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Book Review #4

1.     Author(s) (Illustrator): Author: Tony Johnston Illustrator: James Warhola   

2.     Date of Publication: 1998

3.     Title: Bigfoot Cinderella

4.     ISBN #:0-439-08364-8

5.     The level (what grade level): Read aloud

6.     Topic (what it is about): Cinderella story with a twist. 

7.     The storyline:  Three sisters from the swamp compete for a Bigfoot prince.  The story begins with describing a Bigfoot, who also is a conversationalist and his attempts to keep women who destroy the forest away.  He holds a competition to find his princess and falls for the female Bigfoot that no one thinks he would be interested in. She does not pull flowers to decorate herself.

8.     Why you liked it:  It is a different version of the Cinderella story with an added component of teaching children terms to use when describing a forest or swamp.

9.     What you might be able to do with it in a class: for example, think of ways to connect the book with themes in your social studies or diversity classes.  This book would be good to use when teaching vocabulary.  The book introduces new vocabulary to use when discussing forests. Also, this book can be used when teaching about acceptance and families.

Book Review #5

1.     Author(s) (Illustrator): Author: Alma Flor Ada, translated by Rosa Zubizarreta  Illustrator: Simon Silva

2.     Date of Publication: 1994 and 1997

3.     Title: Gathering the Sun

4.     ISBN #: 0-688-13903-5

5.     The level (what grade level): Read aloud

6.     Topic (what it is about): Alphabet Book in Spanish and English

7.     The storyline: Teaches each letter of the Spanish alphabet, and then translates the same word and description into English.

8.     Why you liked it:  Well written, Beautiful illustrations, teaches about Mexican culture while teaching the alphabet.

9.     What you might be able to do with it in a class: for example, think of ways to connect the book with themes in your social studies or diversity classes.  This book can be used in multicultural education.  This book can be used when teaching about how crops grow.  Also, maybe used when teaching about commerce and agriculture.  Gathering the Sun is perfect for introducing a new language to students.

Book Review #6

1.     Author(s) (Illustrator): Robert McCloskey

2.     Date of Publication: 1948

3.     Title: Blueberries for Sal

4.     ISBN #: 978-0140501698

5.     The level (what grade level): Read-aloud

6.     Topic (what it is about):  A mother and daughter go to pick blueberries and encounter other wildlife picking blueberries.

7.     The storyline:  Mother and child go on an expedition picking blueberries to store for winter.  They happen to get separated and encounter a bear cub and its mother, who are doing the same thing.

8.     Why you liked it:  A mother is spending time outside with her child, which families don’t do enough of in this day and time.

9.     What you might be able to do with it in a class: for example, think of ways to connect the book with themes in your social studies or diversity classes.  Study animals that hibernate, healthy food choices.  We could also use this for music class and talk about pitch and different noises.  Compare and contrast the way that humans and people store food and our food choices.  Compare and contrast the actions of the mother and child to the bear and her cub.

Book Review #7

1.     Author(s) (Illustrator): Jan Brett

2.     Date of Publication: 2005

3.     Title: Honey…Honey….Lion!

4.     ISBN #: 0-439-89198-1

5.     The level (what grade level): Read-aloud

6.     Topic (what it is about): Set in Africa, the story follows to friends who must rely on each other to eat and collect honey.  It is about sharing.

7.     The storyline: Honeyguide leads badger to hives and they have always shared the honey, but on this day badger decides not to share.  So honeyguide decides to lead badger to some more honey, or so badger thinks. She actually leads him on an African adventure to a lion.

8.     Why you liked it:  The illustrations are wonderful.  They detail flora and fauna that children would not encounter otherwise.

9.     What you might be able to do with it in a class: for example, think of ways to connect the book with themes in your social studies or diversity classes.  Compare it to folktales that are set in the US or other countries.  Read to the class before a trip to the zoo.  This book contains rich vocabulary.  It can be used as an energizer and the children can act out the actions described in the book.  We can tie the book to character traits.

Book Review #8

1.     Author(s) (Illustrator): Patricia Polacco

2.     Date of Publication: 1990

3.     Title: Thunder Cake

4.     ISBN #: 0-590-45426-9

5.     The level (what grade level): Read-aloud

6.     Topic (what it is about): The fear of thunderstorms.

7.     The storyline:  A young girl’s grandmother coaxes her out from under the bed during a thunderstorm.  The girl would not come out until her grandmother promised that they would make Thunder cake.  In order to get the cake made they must rush to gather the ingredients and get the cake in the oven before the storm gets to them or it will not be real Thunder cake.  They get the cake made and the girl realizes that she is not afraid of thunder anymore.

8.     Why you liked it:  I like it because I was afraid of storms when I was little and feel sure that many children will be able to relate to this story.  I like it because it tells of a little girl and her grandmother; many children live with their grandparents and will be able to relate to this.  I also like it because a child is able to work their fears and it is important for children to see that they can overcome their fears, too.

9.     What you might be able to do with it in a class: for example, think of ways to connect the book with themes in your social studies or diversity classes.  I think that we will be able to use this in science lessons.  This book will work easily into lessons about following instructions because it ends with the recipe for Thunder cake.  The class would enjoy sampling this cake at the end of the book.

Book Review #9

1.     Author(s) (Illustrator): Robert Lopshire

2.     Date of Publication: 1986

3.     Title: I Want to Be Somebody New

4.     ISBN #: 978-0-394-87616-0

5.     The level (what grade level): Read-aloud

6.     Topic (what it is about):  Being happy with who you are.

7.     The storyline: An animal decides he wants to be in the zoo. He then makes two new friends who convince him that he should be in the circus instead.  He changes into different circus animals and discovers that his new friends like him exactly the way he is.

8.     Why you liked it:  Although, the other animals would all be fun to be, the animal sees that what he has to offer is something very unique.  I like that his friends like him the way he is.  They convince him to be happy with himself.

9.     What you might be able to do with it in a class: for example, think of ways to connect the book with themes in your social studies or diversity classes.  This book would be a great lead in to a diversity lesson.  Children could also find things that they like about each other.

Book Review #10

1.     Author(s) (Illustrator): Marc Brown

2.     Date of Publication:1995

3.     Title: Arthur’s TV Trouble

4.     ISBN #: 0-316-10919-3

5.     The level (what grade level): Read-aloud

6.     Topic (what it is about): The influence of media on children’s lives.

7.     The storyline:  Arthur is watching cartoons and sees an advertisement for a doggie treat dispenser.  Although his family tries to convince him not to get it, Arthur is determined.  He works for a neighbor to earn the money.  When he earns the money his family goes to the mall and he buys the treat dispenser, even though he sees that it is much smaller than advertised.  The dispenser does not work properly and scares Arthur’s dog.  Arthur is determined to never be tricked again.

8.     Why you liked it: I loved it! Arthur works for what he wants; he does not whine and beg for it.  Arthur’s sister helps him when his hard work for the neighbor almost becomes undone.  I also like that it deals with a very important issue and that is media’s influence on small children.

9.     What you might be able to do with it in a class: for example, think of ways to connect the book with themes in your social studies or diversity classes.  I will use this book when I teach about media’s influence on children.  I will bring “as seen on tv” items to class and let children see if they are all they are advertised to be.

Book Review #11

1.     Author(s) (Illustrator):Leo Leoni   

2.     Date of Publication: 1979

3.     Title:  Fish is Fish

4.     ISBN #: 0-590-40006-1

5.     The level (what grade level):  Read-Aloud

6.     Topic (what it is about): Being happy with who you are.

7.     The storyline:  A tadpole turns into a frog and goes out to see the world.  The problem is, his tales of adventure leaves his friend Fish yearning to see the world.

8.     Why you liked it:  Children are all so different and often wish that they were more like one of their friends.

9.     What you might be able to do with it in a class: for example, think of ways to connect the book with themes in your social studies or diversity classes.  This book can be used when teaching a health education lesson about individualim.  It can also be used for creative writing – children can descibe the things that frog saw for the first time, as though they are seeing them for the first time.

Book Review #12

1.     Author(s) (Illustrator):  Lisa Campbell Ernst

2.     Date of Publication:  1996

3.     Title:  The Letters Are Lost

4.     ISBN #: 0-590-32992-8

5.     The level (what grade level):  Read Aloud

6.     Topic (what it is about):  Teaches letters and words that begin with those letters using wooden block letters.

7.     The storyline:  The letters are lost and are hiding in places that correspond with the letters represented.  Follows along in alphabetical order.

8.     Why you liked it:  The illustrations are colorful and interesting.  It uses attention-grabbing verbs to descibe where the letters have hidden.  For example – hitched, joined, and tumbled.

9.     What you might be able to do with it in a class: for example, think of ways to connect the book with themes in your social studies or diversity classes.  I will use it when teaching sounds and it will be great to use wooden block letters along when I read the book.

Book Review #13

1.     Author(s) (Illustrator):  Author: Barbara deRubertis     Illustrator: Eva Vagreti Cockrille

2.     Date of Publication:  1997

3.     Title:  Tiny Tiger

4.     ISBN #: 1-57565-024-X

5.     The level (what grade level):  Read Aloud

6.     Topic (what it is about):  This book is about a shy tiger who learns with the help of a wise Lion how to make friends.

7.     The storyline:  Tiny Tiger is too shy to make friends.  When he sees friends his age he hides until they are gone. Tiny Tiger asks the advice of Riley Lion and learns that he must speak to people if he wants to make friends. 

8.     Why you liked it:  This book will help shy children learn how to make friends.  This story helps you form a friendship with Tiny Tiger so you want him to learn how to make friends.

9.     What you might be able to do with it in a class: for example, think of ways to connect the book with themes in your social studies or diversity classes.  This book teahces the long i sound.  It can be used when teaching about feelings and overcoming shyness.

Book Review #14

1.     Author(s) (Illustrator):  Author: Shane DeRolf   Illustrator: Micheal Letzig

2.     Date of Publication:   1997

3.     Title:  The Crayon Box That Talked

4.     ISBN #:  0-590-81928-3

5.     The level (what grade level):  Read-Aloud

6.     Topic (what it is about):  Teamwork

7.     The storyline:  A box of crayons learns to appreciate their differences.  They see that when they work together the world is a prettier place.

8.     Why you liked it:  It can be a great tool when teaching the kids that they need to work together and the crayons make a great analogy.

9.     What you might be able to do with it in a class: for example, think of ways to connect the book with themes in your social studies or diversity classes.  Great tool for teaching about diversity and what make each child in the class unique and the unique beauty that they bring to the class.  Can also be used to teach young children colors.

Book Review #15

1.     Author(s) (Illustrator):  Ezra Jack Keats

2.     Date of Publication:  1963

3.     Title:  The Snowy Day

4.     ISBN #: 978-0140501827

5.     The level (what grade level):  Read-Aloud

6.     Topic (what it is about):  A young boy wakes up to find a blanket of snow covering his neighborhood.

7.     The storyline:  Peter wakes up to find freshly fallen snow.  He makes snow angels, observes a snowball fight, and makes cool tracks.  In the end – we wonder, what will the next day bring.

8.     Why you liked it:  I love the illustrations and that the child is not white.

9.     What you might be able to do with it in a class: for example, think of ways to connect the book with themes in your social studies or diversity classes.  This and other books by Keats should be in all classes, so that children can see kids of all color enjoying universal adventure.  Creative writing – what would you do if you woke up and saw that it had snowed overnight.  Also, can be used to talk about seasons, climate, and temperatures.

 

 

 

Reflections, Responses, and Assignments

Text Talk Response

The Text Talk article is an article that all elementary teachers should keep close-at-hand.  Building an understanding of decontextualized language is important for children to be good readers and writers.  The points made in this article seem to be common sense points, but reading this article helps tie the ideas together.  Additionally, the article provides a clear layout for creating successful Text Talk lessons.

The first thing that caught my attention is the idea that children need to talk about books not just read them.  Children need to be active participants in a story; however there are steps to preparing a Text Talk lesson that must be followed to make the lesson a success.  Teachers and students must realize that there is, “Talk surrounding the text.”  This is what facilitators of a Text Talk lesson must pull out of the story.  Equally, we must, “focus on important story ideas” and give students, “opportunities to reflect” and not expect, “quickly retrieved answer.”  Teachers must provide an appropriate wait time, allow all students to participate, and it is essential that teachers do not answer the questions themselves.  We must reconstruct the question if we are not receiving the appropriate response, or if necessary reread the text.

Another thing that caught my attention was the emphasis on children relying on background knowledge when constructing a story.  Teachers must stay on track and help students stay on track by redirecting students who have strayed by introducing background knowledge that is not relevant to the story.  Students often miss the main idea of the story because they are focusing on what they already know about the subject.

Showing pictures after reading a passage is must be done to get the most out of a Text Talk lesson.  Children must focus on the text and construct what the text means before sharing the pictures.  Pictures should just be used to reinforce what is going on.

Another key point in this article is the importance of preparing the lesson ahead of time.  Proper steps must be followed when preparing the lesson. Those are:

1. Select good quality books – Choose books that introduce new ideas, vocabulary, or detail complex events.
2. Prepare effective initial questions -  Make sure that children have to focus on the text to answer the questions.
3. Thoughtfully plan follow-up questions – Encourage elaboration and build upon their first responses.
4. Pictures – Do not show pictures until text has been read.
5. Background knowledge – Guide students when asking questions regarding background knowledge.
6. Vocabulary – Select about three key words – focus on these words while reading story and when the story is completed.

The text talk lesson that we did in class was very helpful to me.  Seeing the Beware of the Bears! lesson done made the whole Text Talk article make sense.  I think that the vocabulary words that were presented would be good words to focus on when reading the story to small children.  I think that children will enjoy being made a part of the story.

 

Words Their Way Response

Emergent (Preliterate) – These children cannot read in a formal way.  They are able to recognize logos and letters in their own name.  They may recognize letters from their name while out shopping or driving and call it their name.  This stage does not necessarily mean that they are writing actual letters, they may just be making marks or swirls.  Students will begin to notice the sounds in words.

Letter Name-Alphabetic (Early Letter Name and Letter Name) – This is the stage in which formal reading is taught.  This stage involves dramatic growth in reading levels.  In the early part of this stage students notice the first and last sounds of words.  In some cases you must know the writer’s message to read it, because they often do not put spaces between words.  Confusion can be a problem due to similar sounding consonants.  In the mid to late stage students begin to master correct consonant sounds.  Long vowels are noted correctly, while confusion is still present when deciphering short vowels.  At the end of this stage students know most short-vowel sounds, diagraphs, and blends.

Within Word Pattern (Within Word) – Students have developed automatic knowledge of letter sounds and short-vowel patterns.  Students have begun independent reading.  This stage lasts longer than the previous stage.  Homophones are now recognized.  This stage is where students begin to look at many different layers of words.  They study words by sound, pattern, and meaning.

Syllables & Affixes (Syllable Juncture) – Students begin to think about spelling patterns when using prefixes and suffixes.  Spelling patterns where syllables meet are noted during this stage. An example would be adding –ing or –ed onto the end of a word. Vocabularies are enriched while students notice base words and their prefixes and/or suffixes.

Derivational Relations (Derivational Constancies) – This is the last stage of spelling development.  This stage continues through adulthood.  Students realize in this stage that words share common derivations, base words, and word roots.  This is a stage that includes building of vocabulary.

Text Talk Assignment:

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Retold and Illustrated by James Marshall

Penguin Group, 1988

Puffin Books ISBN# 0-14-056366-0

Summary:  Naughty, Goldilocks runs an errand for her mother.  She disobeys her mother and takes the route through the woods.  Goldilocks pays an uninvited visit to the bear’s house.  She eats their food, sits in their chairs, tries out their beds, and makes a big mess of the house.  All of this mischief makes her tired and she falls asleep in Baby Bear’s bed.  Papa Bear’s ire wakes Goldilocks up and she flees the messy house without a word.

Comments and Questions:

Cover

I will show the cover, read the title and author.  I will point out Goldilocks in the foreground and the bears on the bike in the background.

Page 2

Vocabulary Word: naughty means to behave badly, especially being mischievous or disobedient.  Immediately begin discussing the illustration on thenext page.

Page 3

What does this picture tell us about Goldilocks being naughty? (She is ignoring the signs and taking the short cut.  The signs say that this way is dangerous, risky, and that she should turn back.)

Page 6

Vocabulary Word: scalding means extremely hot. (They burnt their mouths and did wanted to wait for the porridge to cool off.)

Page 7

Don’t they look relaxed and happy? (Mama looks so nice in her hat and coat, Papa Bear is singing.)

Page 9

She is naughty isn’t she!  She walked in the house without knocking and she is going to help herself to their breakfast!

Page 10

After the first sentence say, What is another word for too hot? (Scalding)

Page 11

Look at this naughty girl, her feet are on the table and look at this mess!

Page 12

Vocabulary Word: coarse means rough to the touch. (Where did the coarse fur come from? Let’s see where Goldilocks thought it was from.)

Page 13

Look at all these books!  The bears must like to read, just like us!

Page 15

Whose chair is this? (Baby Bear’s)

How is he going to feel about this? (sad, upset, angry)

Page 19

Whose room is this?  (Baby Bear, isn’t he messy!)

Page 21

How do they feel? (surprised, shocked, scared, Papa bear looks angry.)

Page 27

What are they going to do? (Maybe, wake her up, yell at her, make her clean up, and tell her to leave.)

Let’s see what they will do.

Wrap –up:

What do you think Goldilocks will tell her mother when she gets home? (Have the children consider whether she went to get muffins in the next village.  Have them explore whether or not she feels bad about what she did to their home.

 

 

Word Study Response

Study Guide: Spellings of words: A neglected facilitator of vocabulary learning by Ehri & Rosenthal (2007)

Name:_____Connie Wyant_______________________________________

Please consider the following questions BEFORE you read the article.

What does it mean to know a word? When you know a word, what do you know of that word?

In order to know a word, you must be able to read, pronounce, and understand the different meanings of the word.  When you know a word you are able to use it properly in writing and speaking.

We live in a print society, in which we are bombarded with a variety of text online or in print. Depending on complexity of the text content, we encounter words that may not be very familiar to us. Think of a time when you had a similar experience. Think of a word that you came across while you were reading a particular text online or in print.

When my daughter started school 4 years ago, she had an assignment that I was reading.  Mattie was asked to code words with a breve.  I had no idea what a breve was.  I felt so dumb that I could not help my kindergartner with her homework.  I finally looked the word up and figured out what it means.

What strategies did you use to figure out its meaning? Did you decode the word? Did you use the surrounding context to cling a meaning to it? Or did you look it up in a dictionary?

I used the surrounding text to figure out what the word meant as well as looking the word up.  I also asked my daughter if she could remember what the word meant.

Do you think you learned the word’s meaning? Can you identify its meaning if you were presented its spelling?

I know how to use a breve, but am not sure that I quite know the meaning of the word.  It is not built from a word that I already knew so it is hard to connect the word to anything else.

The article you are going to read deals with similar issues and sheds light on the connection between different representations of word knowledge.  

 

Answer the following questions AS you read the article.

1. What was the hypothesis tested by the researchers?

The hypothesis tested was that students will learn the pronunciations and meanings of new words better when they see spellings of the words during study periods than when they do not.

2.Who were the subjects?   

The subjects were 20 second graders with a mean age of 7 years and 7 months.  They were from an urban school with a large minority population.

3. What were the experimental conditions?

Children were taught two sets of six concrete nouns; the students saw the spelling with one set and did not see the spelling with the other set.  Words were defined and used in sentences.  Study cards were used and had a picture and the word written on the card.  Pronunciation as well as definition recall was used.

4.What did the treatment involve?

Treatment involved pronunciation and definition recalls.  Students would see the picture then try to recall the word with correct pronunciation; the experimenter would then say the word, show the spelling, repeat the definition, and then use the word in a sentence.  The second grade would then repeat the word and the sentence.  For definition recall the student would see the word and picture, and then recall its meaning.    The experimenter would give the correct meaning use it in a sentence, and then the student would say the word and give the correct meaning.

5. Which group (spelling-present vs. spelling-absent) gained more in vocabulary learning?  How were the groups’ recall of pronunciations affected by the treatment?

The spelling present group gained more in the vocabulary learning. The explanation is that when students saw heard and repeated the spellings, grapho-phonemic connections

were spontaneously made to cement the pronunciations in memory.  The children leaned better pronunciation of the words.

6. Why do you think that fifth graders who were high on a word reading task benefited more from the spelling aids than their peers with less orthographic experience and knowledge, even though the two groups did not differ on receptive vocabulary knowledge?

I think that the fifth graders who were already high on reading word tasks benefited more because they had more to connect the spelling to.  They have possibly been exposed to more difficult words that their peers did.  I believe that the connections they could make with these words are what helped them. 

7. What general conclusions were derived from the study findings by the authors? What implications were offered for vocabulary learning and instruction?

 

Teachers should make sure to make a chart of new vocabulary words that children will encounter when reading books.  This will be especially helpful in younger grades where students read the same books.  In older grades teachers need to encourage students to put the book down when they encounter a new word and go get the dictionary and find the meaning of the word.  Teachers need to make sure they have an area to display new words.  This would be helpful in all grades.

8. What questions do you have from the article? List them here.

How much do spelling tests help students to develop orthographic knowledge?

How helpful would it be for me to make a list of vocabulary words that go along with all books my children will be reading?

How helpful are class dictionaries? ex. This can be a wall where teachers have pockets representing each letter of the alphabet so that students who are having trouble with a word can look there for the word, and then ask the teacher if they don’t find the word there.  Then the teacher will add the word to the class dictionary.

Study Guide for DRTA Article

Study Guide: Dougherty Stahl, Katherine A. (2008)’ The Effects of Three Instructional Methods on the Reading Comprehension and Content Acquisition of Novice Readers. Journal of Literacy Research,40:3,359 — 393

Name:_________________Connie Wyant___________________________

 

Answer the following questions AS you read the article.

1. Describe in broad stokes the reading processes that take place during comprehension of informational text (p. 362, under Construction of Meaning and Concept Development with Informational Texts).

Cognitive instruction and social mediation must take place for students to comprehend text. Students must be able to connect what they are reading to background knowledge.  They must be able to rely on accurate previous knowledge to help comprehend what they are reading.  Conversations about the text are what make this happen.

2. Specify the effect that background knowledge may have on constructing mental representations from informational text. Why should teachers be concerned about activating prior knowledge?

Teachers need to make sure that the discussions about the text remain focused.  They also must be sure that through the conversations the children are relying on accurate background knowledge, so that they do in fact understand what they are reading.

3. What are the three instructional approaches that can be used to help primary-grade students comprehend informational text? Describe their common (p. 365) and distinctive features (p. 363-5).

Picture walks, KWL  or know, want to know, and learn, and finally DRTA or directed reading thinking activity.

They are similar in that require that children must place their prior knowledge into the text to develop understanding.  They also rely on guided conversations to help dissect the pictures, the text.  They also ask that students make predictions in the books.  Differences are that picture walks would be geared towards books that contained pictures, KWL works best with informational text, and that DRTA is geared towards grouping students rather than the teacher leading the entire reading.

Other differences are that KWL’s are more open ended, DRTA’s do not rely as much on building up the book as the other methods, and that Picture Walks mainly rely on pictures rather than text for discussions.

4. What is the purpose of the experimental study reported?

The purpose of this study was to explore how the PW, KWL, and DRTA could influence developmental reading abilities and content acquisition when used with informational text in the primary reading group context.

5. Who were the subjects?

The subjects were 51 second graders from 2 demographically similar schools, in the mid-west.

6. Describe the reading materials used during the intervention.

Reading materials used were informational texts, based on what they were learning in science.  It was a total of 12 texts or leveled little books.

7. How long did the experiment last?

For the first half of the academic year, with a 3 week break. It lasted a total of 10 weeks.

8. What were the experimental conditions?

The experiments included using picture walks, KWL’s, DRTA, and a control group.

9. Describe the procedures specific to the Picture Walk, KWL, DRTA, and the Control Group conditions.

Picture Walk – The experimenter introduced the text, worked through the book – page by page with the children talking about text structure, pictures, and things that they related to his.  The experimenter would then ask regarding what was going happening on the page or what was the writer trying to tell you?  Then he would introduce vocabulary and have children mumble read the text.  Then as a group they would see if their predictions were correct and summarize their information.

KWL – The class would make a KWL chart, then discuss the topic.  The class would then fill in the Know column.  The children would do this personally then share with the group.  The experimenter would then give a brief overview of the book before having the students contribute to the Want To Learn column through a guided discussion.  The children would then mumble read the text and fill out the Learned column.

DRTA – The children would first make and justify predictions based on the title, cover, prior knowledge, and table of contents (if there was one).  Then they would predict for a 2-3 page section text.  They would mumble read that section.  Then verify through discussion if they had been correct, then do the same thing for the next section.  When the book had been read by all groups discussion was minimal about the overall text.

Control Group – The children were given a brief overview of the text.  They then mumble read the text.  After reading the text the children drew a picture or wrote something they wanted to share with the class about the text.

10. What measures were used to determine the relative effectiveness of the treatments? Describe the measures briefly.

VRT – a yes/no test designed with a total of 25 words, 18 from the text and 7 words were “unrelated foils”. Students circled words they could read and relate to the text.

Maze – The original text with 10 content words deleted, the child had to pick from multiple choice answers to complete the story.

Free recall – Students were prompted to retell everything they could remember about the text, then they were prompted to tell anything the book made them think of. Results were analyzed using a coding sheet.

Cued recall – Students were asked to answer 3 implicit and 3 explicit questions regarding the text.  A rubric was used to determine if the answer was correct.

11. Which treatment(s) were found to be more effective in increasing students’ vocabulary knowledge and maze performance (p. 381)?

All three methods proved to be very effective; the small groups were very effective to those who were reaching grade level.  In reference to the maze the Picture walk and DRTA proved to have the greatest success on teaching vocabulary.

12. Students’ comprehension of the texts was greater under the DRTA condition than KWL and the control conditions. What do you think explains DRTA’s advantage over the KWL condition (p. 382)?

I believe that the scaffolding provided during the reading when teaching through the DRTA method is the advantage in using this method.  Students are required to use higher level thinking when using this method.  I have had to do the KWL’s in classes that I have taken and am just not that fond of them myself.  I think that the inferences that the students are placing on what they are reading are done more effectively using the DRTA because the KWL’s do not seem very specific, when I have had to use them.

13. It was found that the treatments did not differ in the quality and quantity of students’ retellings (p. 384). In other words, students were not differentially affected by the treatments in the way they integrated textual information with prior knowledge. What does this finding mean in terms of the different emphases employed by experience-based (KWL) vs. text-based (DRTA) treatments?

What I understood from this is that students who utilize graphic organizers will be better at recalling facts and organizing facts on their own for retelling.

Answer the following question AFTER you read the article.

14. In light of the findings from this study, what conclusions can you draw about the role of teacher support in children’s construction of mental representations from informational text?

I think that this article supports all that we are learning to do in this course.  Reading articles like this help me to see the importance of teacher support in helping children to construct meaning within what they are reading.  It is also important for teachers to expose children to different types of graphic organizers so that they can find a way to organize information in a way that makes sense to them.  Reading teachers should try to help their students by employing instructional methods when facilitating reading that can help them comprehend what they are reading and teach them vocabulary.  We must know that we cannot simply give children books and expect them to get as much out of them as they would with our guided instruction.

Chapter 5 Study Guide

Study Guide for Chapter 5 (Howard Street Tutoring Manual—Morris)

Answer these questions and post the responses into your blog.

1. What grade is Curt in?

Curt is in third grade

1. Look at the summary of scores in the table on page 170.  Notice that there are scores for the grade-level lists of words from the Word Recognition Test (Flash and Untimed) and scores for orally reading grade-level passages (accuracy of word reading, e.g. percentage of words read correctly and rate, expressed in number of words read per minute).

a1. What was the flash score for words at:

first-grade level?      75%         second-grade level?         50%                 third-grade level? 20%

b1. What was the accuracy score at:

1-2 level?    9o%                     2-1 level?    65%            2-2 level? 90%

c1. What was the rate score at:

1-2 level?           68%              2-1 level?        65%        2-2 level? 44%

d1. Look at the spelling scores in Table 5 on page 172: What was the percentage correct score for:

first-grade words      60%       second-grade words  0%

Consider the expected scores in the following tables, then compare those expectations to the scores Curt produced.

a2. With the Word Recognition Test, flash scores are generally interpreted as follows:

90-100%   indicates          Independent Level

60-85%     indicates          Instruction Level

Below 50%   indicates     Frustration Level

a3. Which grade-level flash score is the best choice for Instruction Level?

1-2 or late first grade

b2. With oral reading accuracy, scores are generally interpreted as follows:

98-100%   indicates          Independent Level

65-97%     indicates          Instruction Level

Below 92%   indicates     Frustration Level

Instructional level at 1-2 or late first grade.

*Note: 92-94% accuracy is marginal; take a close look at Rate.

b3. Which grade-level accuracy score is the best choice for Instruction Level?

2-2

c2. With oral reading rate, expected grade-level ranges are as follows:

Grade                          Words per minute

  1^st                                     45-85

  2^nd                                    80-120

  3^rd                                     95-135

c3. What do Curt’s rate scores indicate about his grade-level reading?

It indicates that he is on the first grade level. 

d2. With spelling scores, around 50% correct indicates Instruction Level.

d3. What do Curt’s spelling scores indicate about his Instruction Level.

Put all of these scores together, and what do they indicate Curt’s reading level to be?  He is on the first grade level.

1. Look at the spelling errors that Curt makes. What stage of word knowledge is Curt in?

Curt is in the with-in word pattern or letter name stage.

Why do you pick this stage of development? What are the key characteristics?

Curt knows short vowels, consonant clusters; he did not recognize some long vowel patterns.

1. Describe partner reading.

Partner reading is reading between a student and a tutor, they will first walking through pictures on the first few pages.  As they do this they will speculate about what will happen later on in the story.  The student and the tutor will then alternately read pages.  It is safe and comfortable for the child.

1. Which is harder for a student, partner reading or DRTA?

They are almost interchangeable based on the children’s chances to read. 

1. In planning a DRTA, what is important about selecting places to stop?

When selecting places to stop the teacher must ask her/himself, “At what point am I able to anticipate an important upcoming event or plot turn?” 

1. In planning a DRTA, what is important about deciding questions to ask? What kind of questions? How many?

Before reading the story predictions about the story should be made.

The first stop should include questions about the setting and characters introduced in the first two pages.  The next question at this stop should be whether or not and why the child wants to keep their first prediction.

The second stop should include 3 questions regarding the child’s comprehension, plot-relevent information, and predicting what will happen next.

The third stop should consist of questions that require retelling the story.  Or the questions can include asking how the story will end and why they believe this.

At the end of the story the questions can be direct, such as: How did it end? or “Was your prediction correct?  Possibly the teacher can ask if there is a moral to the story.  Teachers can also question the child about a possible alternate ending.  Finally, the teacher could simply omit an end of question story.

DRTA Lesson Plan

Frog and Toad Together

By Arnold Lobel

The Garden

Read the title: The Garden

What do you think this story might be about? (Gardening, vegetable, flowers)

Look at the pictures. What do you think might happen?

• Toad went to visit frog 
• Toad plants a garden 
• He watched the ground for the seeds to sprout 
• Toad sat out at the garden at night, reading by candlelight 
• He sang, read, played music
• Finally, he slept
• The seeds sprouted
• Toad was worn out

Part 1: pages 18-19

What was Frog doing when Toad came by? (p. 18)

                (working in his garden)

What did Toad think about Frog’s garden? (p. 18)

                (he liked it, he wanted one)

What did Frog warn Toad about the garden? (p. 18)

                (it was hard work to have a garden)

What do you think Toad will do now?

Part 2: pages 20-23

What did Toad do when he got home? (p. 20)

                (planted his seeds)

Is Toad being patient with the seeds? How do you know that? (p. 21)

                (no – he is pacing, walking back and forth.  He is also telling them loudly to grow.)

What did Frog tell Toad he had done to his seeds? (p. 22)

                (he shouted at them and made them afraid to grow)

What advice did Frog give Toad? (p. 23)

                (leave them alone for a few days)

What did Frog tell him would happen if he left them alone? (p. 23)

                (they would grow)

What do you think will happen next?

Part 3: pages 24-25

Why did Toad take candles to the garden? (p. 24)

                (because he thought the seeds were afraid of the dark)

What else did he take to the garden? (p. 24)

                (a book)

Part 4: pages 26-27

What all did Toad do for his seeds to encourage them to grow? (p. 26)

                (he sang, he read poems, he played music to them)

What did the seeds do when he did all of this for him? (p. 27)

                (nothing)

What did Toad say when the seeds did not grow after all he had done? (p. 27)

                (“he cried, ‘These must be the most frightened seeds in the whole world!’”)

What does it mean to be frightened? (p. 27)

                (scared, afraid, upset, worried,)

What did Toad do next? (p. 27)

                (he fell asleep, he wore himself out)

What do you think will happen next?

Part 5: pages 28-29

What did Frog tell Toad to do when he woke him up? (p.28)

                (to look at is garden)

What did Toad notice? (p. 28)

                (that his plants were coming up)

Why did Toad think his plants started to grow? (p. 29)

                (because they were no longer afraid)

What did Toad tell Frog about gardening? (p. 29)

                (it was very hard work)           

Do you think the seeds were scared?  Why? What do you know about seeds?

What does it mean to be patient?  Was Toad being patient? How do you know that?

Rasinski Response

1. What are the three dimensions of fluency? How can you assess each dimension?

1-Accuracy in word decoding -  readers must be able to sound out words in text with minimal errors.

2 – Automatic Processing – readers must expend as little as little mental effort as possible when decoding words so that they can use their cognitive resources for meaning making

3 – Prosodic Reading – the reader must parse the text into syntactically and semantically appropriate units.

1. Rasinski refers to fluency as a “bridge” between decoding and comprehension. What does he mean by the “bridge” metaphor? 

Fluency is the key to getting the deeper meaning of the text.  It takes students from the surface level processing to the deeper area of comprehension.  When children learn to decode and develop fluency they can then move onto to focusing on comprehension.

3.    What instructional methods does Rasinski suggest for students with difficulties in automatic and prosodic reading?

1 – Assisted reading – Rasinski reads aloud and then he asks students to read along silently, then aloud.

            2 – Repeated reading – helps with fluency, reading rate, decoding, comprehension.

1. Multidimensional Fluency Scale (MFS) is used to measure prosodic quality of oral reading. List components of the MFS and describe what each refers to (p. 49).

1 – Expression and Volume – Learning to read with expression and enthusiasm and can very expression and volume to match the text.

2 – Phrasing – Pauses appropriately between sentences and clauses.  Uses adequate expression.

3 – Smoothness – reads smoothly with some breaks, resolves words and structure difficulty smoothly, usually through self-correction

4 – Pace – reads at conversational pace, throughout the reading

Text Talk Lesson Book of My Choice

Blueberries for Sal

By Robert McCloskey

The Viking Press, Inc, 1948

ISBN# 978-0140501698

Summary: Sal and her mother go on an outing to collect blueberries to store for the winter.  Sal would rather eat the berries than take any home.  They become separated and encounter wildlife who are also gathering berries to store for the winter.  Sal and her mother both encounter a mother and child bear who are storing berries in a different way than they are.

Focus: A focus will be placed on food sources that we rely on. Another focus will be on the ways that people and wildlife store food for the winter.

Comments and Questions:

Cover

Show cover and read title.  Ask children if they know what a blueberry plant looks like.  Ask the children if they like blueberries. 

Illustration on page preceding title page

Ask children if they have ever seen anyone can vegetables or fruit.  Explain what it means to can fruit.  Go over what is happening in the illustration.

Page 9

Sal will never fill her pail if she keeps eating all of the blueberries she picks.

Page 10

Struggled means to make a great effort or to move with great difficulty.  So what does it mean to say that Sal struggled along behind? (she could not keep up with her mother, her mother’s legs are longer)

Page 13

Do you think that Sal likes blueberries? (yes. She is eating every berry she picks)

Page 17

I think that Sal is going to have tummy ache when she gets home.

Page 19

Why are the bears storing food for the winter? (because they hibernate)

Page 21

Hustle means to hurry.  Little Bear and Sal both were having a hard time keeping up with their moms.

Page 23

Who else became tired and sat down to eat blueberries? (Sal)

Page 29

The berries are getting eaten by many different animals and people aren’t they? (Bears, Sal, her mother, crows, let’s see who else eats blueberries…)

Page 35

Do you think it will be his mother?  Let’s see who or what it is…

Page 39

Their mothers have no idea that their children are not behind them!

Page 43

What does mother bears face tell us?  ( she is surprised to see Sal and not little bear!)

Page 46

Tremendous means extremely large.  Who does Sal’s mom think is eating tremendous mouthfuls of blueberries from her pail? (Sal)

Page 49

Who else made this face? (Mother Bear)

Wrap up:

How do you think Sal felt when she could not find her mom?  How do you think Sal’s mom felt when she realized that she was being followed by a bear instead if her daughter?  Who do you think was the more scared?  (Sal, Little Bear, Mother Bear, or Sal’s mother)  Have the children consider that illustrations did not show fear or surprise on Sal or Little Bears face.

Week #1

The reading in this class varies.  The students read independently for a set time each morning.  The books they read during this time are A/R books from the library.  They should have read the books the previous night, also.  This reading serves as a review of the book.  There is one child in this class whose parents do not read the book with her in the evenings.  Her desk is right beside the teacher’s desk and she reads to the teacher while the other children are reading independently.  During this time the children take A/R test.  When they have taken their test, they are able to walk to the library to exchange their book.  I like that they are able to go to the library every day.  I do not know of many schools that allow this. 

In addition to this reading time, the children read from basal books.  This particular day the children read “Boots for Beth.”  It is quite obvious that the children have read this story several times.  The teacher asks them to name the characters in the book, the setting, and to retell the story in the order that it happened.  The children read the book aloud, each reading one page, and she questions them throughout the text and at the end she asks review questions.  The children also read this book independently after this.  The next day that I am in the class, they reread this story and take an assessment that asks the similar questions to the ones the teacher asked in the prior reading.  The teacher also has this book on tape and they read, following along with the tape.

Another method the teacher uses is the big book approach.  She reads a large book with great illustrations to the children while she sits in a chair and they sit at her feet.  The children enjoy this very much!  She asks the children questions that require them to relate the story to their own lives.  She keeps the discussion related to the text and moves on when the children are ready.

She allowed me to read in this manner one day and it felt great.  I had never read the book before, it was a Fancy Nancy book and I was proud of myself for asking good questions throughout the book.  I incorporated new vocabulary and a good study of the illustrations.  I really felt privileged to be able to do this.  I felt prepared to talk about the book as well as read it.

I think that this teacher does a great job of teaching children to love books.  I am aware that there are skeptics of the A/R points/reading system, I have no problem with it, but I wonder what the statistics tell us about this program.

Week #2

This week I was able to teach a lesson, along with Melissa.  The teacher asked us to teach a Science or Social Studies lesson.  She feels that these are areas that get ignored due to curriculum revolving around math and language arts.  She does not feel like she has enough time to teach those subjects.  She must integrate those subjects into other areas.  I can easily see this, there is so much crammed into the day.

The children had recently been to an apple orchard and the teacher asked that we teach on farming, since she knew that my husband and I farm full-time.  This teacher is very supportive of Melissa and me and wants to give us as much experience in front of the class as possible.  She gives us ample time to observe and collect data, while giving us the chance to teach.

Melissa and I decided to engage the students with a book.  Melissa found a book about Christmas tree farms to read to the children.  The children loved that portion of the lesson.  She prepared by reading the book in advance and having a text talk type of lesson.  After this I taught the students about life on a grain farm and how we get plants from seed to market.  I brought in soybeans that we had just harvested, soybean plants that were ready to be harvested, wheat, food products, and non-food products that come from soybeans and wheat.  The children loved the lesson and loved the book.

 I think that the book really grabbed the student’s attention. I do not believe that the book would have been an affective teaching tool if Melissa had not prepared the text talk lesson to go along with it.  These students knew how to behave when reading independently, as well as when the teacher reads to them.

These children are lucky to have a teacher that can break away from the monotony of teaching only what the state tells her she has to teach.  She did advise us to use the NCSCOS when preparing our lesson, but the fact that she let us be creative says a lot about her teaching style.  I think that a good teacher can teach the required curriculum, while exploring practical concepts, too.  I feel like the educational system is going to a teaching system that dumbs down teaching, by not allowing teachers to be creative when planning lessons.  Teachers are now required to urn in lessons for the administrators to review.  They must have them posted and must be on task when an administrator enters the classroom.  I see that this is a good way to get the bad teachers to stay on task, but I also think it takes part of the fun out of teaching and learning.

Week #3

On Monday the class began a new story in their basal reading book.  The teacher asked the students to pull out their books and to find the table of contents.  She spent time explaining to the class the importance of using a table of contents.  After the children found the story on their own, she asked them to read the title of the story and predict what would happen in the story based on the title.  The story was “Try Your Best” by Robert McKissack.  The students had to rely on personal experience to predict what would happen in the story.  The children found the title, author, and illustrator; the teacher wrote these on the board.  They discussed the significance of each of these.  She next asked the children to do a picture walk on their own.  The class discussed the pictures as a whole, and then decided on the setting of the story, which the teacher wrote on the board.  The book has a page with vocabulary on it.  The teacher had the children look at this page and children would tell her a word that was on the list.  She wrote these on the board.  The children then, as a group read these words aloud, she would give a definition of the word if it was a homophone.  She uses 4 methods when having children say the vocabulary words; I have seen her do this once before.  They do “tractor”, which means saying the words slowly in order.  They do “helicopter”, which means saying them in mixed up order.  Then they use “train”, which means in order but sped up.  The last way they say the words is “jet”, this means super fast.  The kids really like it when they do words in this order.  After the class finished this, the teacher asked the class if there were any words that the children did not understand.  At this point the children had to go to PE.  The teacher told the class that they would find out what happened in the story when they came back from PE.  The class enjoyed talking about the story and the vocabulary session.  They all paid close attention because she uses a word ring with the children’s names on it to call on children.  The kids never know when their name may be called.  I like the discussion that the teacher used when introducing this story.  I think that she uses this activity in a group setting because all children will benefit from the vocabulary portion.

Week #4

I am amazed at all of the time spent on spelling and reading in this class.  It seems like the class spends the majority of their time on writing, math, and calendar time.  I do not really see any other things taught in the class.  I do not fault the teacher, at all.  She is an excellent teacher, but she is just short on time and does the work without the help of her assistant.  I think that the assistant should be required to help with the at-risk readers.  I believe that all teachers should have someone to spend time in their classroom at least three times a week to help with children who are at-risk in their reading and/or math.

This particular day, the teacher asked Melissa and I to work with the children who are considered to be below grade level in reading.  The children are required to have intervention with Letter Land, and it is my understanding that this must be documented.  We had four kids in our group.  They were all ELL children.  They were given a spelling test that they had taken the Friday before.  We gave the children sounds, such as short vowels, diagraph sounds, spelling words, and sentences that they had to transcribe.  Melissa and I were both surprised by the fact that all the children got all of the answers correct.  We both concluded that perhaps this was a waste of their time.

At the conclusion of their test we did individual fluency tests with the four children.  This day they all showed improvement from the previous week.  The children practice the fluency test with partners several times a week.  This is a routine that they know well.  We have helped the children with this several times, and they know exactly what is expected of them when the teacher tells them that it is time to practice fluency. 

I think that Letter Land is a worthwhile venture, as long it is done properly.  I think that this school would benefit immensely if it had a teacher who specialized in Letter Land.  This teacher could do lessons in each class, while the teacher taught the same lesson to a smaller lower performing group.  The Letter Land lessons that I helped with were all valuable and were similar to things we have learned in RE3030.  For example, the children did a word sort with words that ended with double consonants such as ll and ss.

Week #5

This week Melissa and I are teaching a Science lesson.  We are teaching about matter – specifically solids and liquids.  Our teacher has been wonderful to us.  She has allowed us to teach any lesson we wanted to in Science and Social Studies.  She says that these two areas are ignored due to not having enough time.  She and a fellow first grade teacher think that it would be nice for one of the students “specials” to be Science.  I think that this is a great idea, because the teacher could actually have a lab for students to work in.  They told us that some elementary schools have theatre class, so I do not see why they couldn’t have a Science class!

We used a hands-on approach and the kids really seemed to enjoy the lesson.  We had the children classify solids by various properties and then do the same thing with liquids.  We then mixed cornstarch with water to show the children a substance that could be both a solid and a liquid.  This lesson is inspired by Dr. Seuss’s book, Bartholomew and the Oobleck.

Children love experimenting and getting their hands dirty, they also love a good Dr. Seuss book!  I think that in a perfect world we would have time in our day to teach math, science, language arts, social studies, health, computer, foreign language, and everything else, but that will never happen.  Until then we just need to be experts at integrating when we can.

Our teacher taught a science lesson on frogs that she tied up on Monday.  The children read a book about frogs the previous week.  On Monday they wrote in their journal about frogs, and then they illustrated a page to go along with the story.  She was able to tie in science, writing, and art all into one lesson.  I thought of a math lesson to tie in to this lesson, if I ever used it in my classroom.  The children could pretend to be frogs and see how far they could jump.  Then, they could measure the distance and create a graph to represent the distances.

I have loved this experience.  I have had the pleasure of working with an expert teacher and one of my fellow classmates, who will be an awesome teacher.  I have observed a teacher who is giving her students a great start in learning to love reading.

Chapter 3 Study Guide

Morris (Ch. 3)

What does Fraatz (1987) mean by “paradox of collective instruction”?

This means that the teacher must address the reading levels of individual students, while keeping in mind that she is teaching an entire classroom, not individual students.

 What are the three critical components of learning to read?

1-attend to individual sounds within words

2-decode printed words by matching letter to sounds

3-automatize decoding or word-level processing so that the mind can concentrate on the meaning of the word being read

 List the four tasks that the first-grade teacher can use to assess individual children’s reading ability during the first week of school. Describe what each task is used to assess?

1-alphabet-to see if children understand of letters

2-concept of word in text-to see if children can identify individual words within sentences

3-spelling-to see if children can sound out words, their knowledge of phonemes the child can represent by spelling

4-word recognition-to see if the children can read common sight words, does the child read, attempt to read, sound out words, etc.

 What are some of the challenges of small-group instruction that face students and teachers?

• Children in the low-reading group may feel bad about themselves
• Children can become “locked-in” to a certain reading group, which can put them significantly behind their peers
• Teachers are left to wonder what to do with the group(s) they are not currently helping

 How does Supported Oral Reading (SOR) differ from round robin reading in guiding children’s contextual reading?

The SOR technique provides scaffolding and resembles a text talk lesson where there is a conversation around the book that assists in comprehension and word recognition, while the round-robin approach just fast-forwards to children reading, without first introducing the book.

 Why is appropriate leveling of books important and how has it been used in intervention and classroom settings?  

It teachers to follow a pattern when choosing books, it provides pacing while moving onto more difficult textbooks.  First big books (language experience), then controlled texts (based on sight words, or predictable in nature), finally basal stories or tradebooks.

Describe the developmental sequence of word study instruction. What does the continuum consist of? Why is it recommended that teachers follow such a sequence of instruction?

• Beginning consonants – children recognize the beginning consonant sound of words
• Word families – children recognize word families ex.-at –an –ack, etc. and some blends
• Short Vowels – children recognize short vowel sounds, ex a – hat and some blends
• One-syllable vowel patterns – recognize words such as mat, lake, park

 

Children must be able to master each concept to effectively build and move to the next level.

How could you assess where a beginning reader’s is at on the continuum of word recognition skill?

Provide a spelling test and compare it to the Development of English Orthographic Knowledge Chart we used in class.

Describe word sorting activities to teach beginning sound consonants and short-vowel word families.

I used this with Charlie, who just turned five, he liked it and it worked out great!  Place three picture cards with beginning consonants that the children know.  Have them sort and sound out picture cards and place under the appropriate picture.  If children are familiar enough with the alphabet the teacher can place the corresponding alphabet cards out and have them place the appropriate cards below the letter.  Use the same activity to teach short-vowel words.

 What skills does word sorting help develop in beginning readers coupled with word games and spell checks?

Once the child learns the pattern they will be able to apply that knowledge to help them read other words that follow the same pattern.  This helps them learn to decode many other words.  These games help them be able to make sense of not only the vowel patterns they are studying, but it aids them in learning to make sense of other spelling patterns.

 What is instructional pacing? What factors were found by Barr (1974, 1982) to affect effective pacing?

Pacing is how a teacher, in this case first-grade, guides or moves her students through a set of graded reading materials.  The farther the students progress in first-grade , the higher their reading achievement will be at the end of the year.

Barr’s factors of affective pacing

• Difficulty of classroom reading materials
• Time allocated to reading instruction
• Number of low readers in the class
• Teacher’s years of experience in teaching first grade

 In what ways can writing help beginning reader’s development?

• Helps them develop phoneme awareness
• Helps them assume the stance of the author
• Gives them a chance to read and reread text
• Provides an opportunity for the reader to experiment with letter sounds, patterns, and sight words

 What are three tasks that could be used to assess end-of-year reading achievement? Describe the tasks briefly.

• Word recognition – see if children can read approximately 40 words to determine if they are ready to move on to the next level
• Passage reading – read passages aloud that vary in difficulty from early first to late second grade that contain approximately 100 words each
• Spelling – child attempts to spell a list of 15 words, task takes into account both phonemic and orthographic spelling

Chapter 2 Study Guide

Morris (Ch. 2)

Explain what Morris means by the traditional role of kindergarten is “to level the playing field” in terms of literacy experience.

Children come to kindergarten with many different experiences.  Some children know the library like the back of their hand and some have no concept of what a library is.  Children who are read to (on a regular basis) and familiar with words and books have a huge advantage over children who have not been introduced to books. Kindergarten is meant to involve all children in learning letters and becoming familiar with the make-up of words and sentences.  If this is not happening kindergarten is not, in fact leveling the playing the field.

 What literacy activities should be included in a kindergarten reading program?

1-reading aloud to children – this must be done consistently to get all children on the same level

2-contextual reading – involving DICTATED EXPERIENCES stories where children build off of past experiences to teach them to read and BIG BOOKS where pictures and print are oversized.  In big books the writing is very predictable and easy to read

3-letter sound study – alphabet knowledge, phoneme awareness, and letter-sound correspondence –   This is why we are creating a word box.

4-early writing – students begin trying to write.  Students begin to notice the beginning sounds, then the ending sounds, and finally vowels – beginning with long vowels and finally short vowels

 Why read aloud to children? (5 things children learn)

1 – They extend what they know, it takes them from their own experiences and into the experiences of others – real or make-believe.

2 – Provides new vocabulary to children.

3 – Exposes children to rhythm and structure of written language, which contrasts to spoken language.

4 – Children are able to create their own mental image to go along with what is being read-aloud

5 – It makes children literate by helping them create language symbols beyond the context of the book.

 Why is guided contextual reading important in kindergarten? It provides children with a concrete, supportive and meaningful way to begin their educational career and their love of reading.

 What is echo reading? A skilled reader reads a sentence then the emergent reader echos the sentence.

 Describe dictated experience stories (language experience approach—LEA)Using a student’s  experience we record an event told to us by the child or children onto chart paper, then read and reread the sentence.

 Describe big book approach (shared reading approach) – Find a book with large pictures and large text, with a predictable story, repetitive lines, and rythmatic language.  Read aloud then allow children to read along with finger pointing., eventually allowing child to read.

Why include both LEA and shared reading methods in kindergarten? – both are modeled by teacher and involve finger-pointing techniques, both rely on group choral reading, both rely on memorization and repetition. They both should be used because one involves spoken sentence patterns and the other involves written sentence patterns.  Dictated stories allow involve shared classroom experiences and big books provide new experiences.

 Why is finger pointing so important for early readers? It is important because it allows students to recognize the spaces between the words.  They must stop between words an realize that words do not run on and on.

 Questions about letter-sound study: Is this as effective in teaching adult students to read as it is in teaching young children to read?  Is it done best individually?

Questions about early writing:  Is there evidence that supports children should read or write first?

 Is there a role for independent reading in kindergarten?              Yes children need to feel success on their own.  Reading big books is a great way to build children’s confidence in their reading skills.

 Questions about early assessment and how it informs instruction:  I think that emphasis in kindergarten should be placed on informal assessment.  I think that kindergarten is too early to place emphasis on what each the formal assessments due to the fact that children are not on a level playing field when they come in. Summative and formative is more important at this point than benchmark.

Flanigan Reflection

Connie Wyant
RE 3030-350
Trathen/ Ari
28 August 2009
Response: “Daddy, Where Did the Words Go?”
Learning to read is a milestone in the life of all children. Children become reliant on words as soon as they come into the world. It is the act of reading that helps children realize just how important these words are to function in society. They must learn the structure of words and the spaces between words to construct sentences and stories. This article focuses on the importance of Morris’s Model of Early Reading Development, a four-stage model of early literacy to help children become successful readers.
Children like the familiarity of having the same stories read to them. Once they become familiar with a story, they begin to “read” the story by memorizing the words and following along by pointing to the words with their fingers. Eventually, children will realize, like Jack that they are not actually saying the words that they are “reading” or pointing to. Children learn to read by recognizing the beginning consonant sound of a word, and then the ending sound. The words they first distinguish will have a consonant as the first and last letter. After this they recognize the vowels in the middle of the word and eventually they will put all the phonemes together to construct the word. Then beginning readers will see the spaces separating the words as a place to pause and begin a new word.
That is what makes up the four-stage reading model. This reading model explains the way children learn to read. It describes why children who are “reading” memorized text do not have the ability to follow along accurately while finger pointing. Flanigan states, “Because the beginning reader either does not possess or does not apply knowledge of letter-sound relationships while reading, he or she has no information available to detect where one word ends and another begins” (pg. 5).
Teachers can be confused about the sequence involved in teaching children to read. They put an empahsis on learning site words, but unless the four-stage model is used it is difficult to figure out where children are in the reading process. Flanigan notes that one teacher said before using the model she had, “been skipping an instructional step for many at-risk readers” (pg. 11).
Flanigan states, “It is not in the telling, but it is the very act of reading that Jack will learn how to read” (pg 10). This is a very important statement for reading teachers. It means that until children can experience each stage of the model, they will not have the skills to be the best readers they can be. Teachers must create experiences and not just tell children what they need to do to read. These experiences are where children will feel success and build their reading confidence. My favorite strategy involves the Cut-Up-A-Sentence strategy. This method emphasizes the break between words in a sentence. I believe that a mixture of all of the strategies mentioned would work the best. Also, it would be important to discover which method worked the best for each child based on their individual needs.
The most important thing that I will take away from this article is the importance of following the four-stage model when teaching reading. Children may come to my class at any stage of the model. Some children may not be familiar enough with books to even begin using the model. It is my job as an educator to help children feel success and not frustration; this model will help me to do that. I also believe in using a variety of the instructional strategies mentioned to help children develop awareness of words and phonemes. Using the four-stage model will ensure success in the most important part of educating a child, developing a love of reading.
After reading this article I still have a few questions. I wonder if there is an appropriate age to teach a child to read. I question if using these strategies can help even out the playing field in children’s reading ability. I also wonder which instructional strategies have proven the most successful. My last question is whether or not these strategies would help children who have dyslexia.