Teacher book selection

We have all participated in this University and have shared our stories of terribly dense readings that took hours to comprehend. I can say with utmost confidence that these were no one's favorite readings. The struggling through the vocabulary and the bleak word choice, make these readings difficult. Let me ask you this, which sentences to you comprehend better?

• Pontificating on preferred film choice, a macabre film presented itself successfully. Regarding the antipathy, every filament on my arm piloerected in trepidation.

• I thought about what movie I wanted to see, and the scary movies looked the best. While watching it I got goosebumps.  

We all understand the second sentence perfectly, and I'm sure some of us needed to use our dictionaries for some of the vocabulary from the first. The second paragraphs readability is at a level that is easily understood. In other words, it is easy to read, and more enjoyable for the reader as an end result.  The reading I chose for this week was the Fry article Readability versus Leveling. It compared readability with leveling and how the two help in book selection. We've already discussed how readability shows how easy literature is to read. It is objective and is easily quantified. Leveling is more subjective and coincides more with how the book aids in the lesson, how the images inside help the story, and if the word choice is challenging enough, but still understandable. As teachers we have to include books that challenge our students and ones that are enjoyable. We all need to improve our vocabularies, but to do so, we need enjoyable books.

Guided reading

The Ford and Opitz article Looking Back to Move Forward with Guided Reading provided a quick synopsis on the history of guided reading. It started with the grouping strategy we can all remember as kids. This of course being the groups of bluejays, robins, and crows. Or as the students thought of them smart, average, and dumb. As a fellow crow, I can remember hating this grouping and being so embarrassed about my reading skill. For this reason of negative social stigmatization, these groups ended. However, the need for small group instruction was still necessary for accurate guided reading instruction.

While the bird groups based everyone on ability, the new groups do so through strategy-based constructivism. The new focus would be on teaching learners, not merely covering the material. Guided reading is not about teachers telling their students what to learn, but coaching students on what they need to learn. It uses a scaffolding technique that "weens" students' need for constant aid from their teachers. The end result being autonomous readers.

The end of the article shared 11 facts about guided reading that have stood the test of time. Here they are:

1. All children have the ability to become literate
2. All children need to be taught by a skilled teacher in order to maximize their full potential in reading
3. The goal of guided reading is to help students become independent readers
4. Guided reading is but one component of an effective reading program
5. Reading for meaning is the primary goal of guided reading
6. Children learn to read by reading
7. Children need to become meta cognitive; knowing they they know and the how and why of reading
8. Children need to develop a self-extending system I order to be independent readers
9. Al children need to be exposed to higher level thinking activities
10. Children need to experience joy and delight as a result of the reading experience
11. Specific elements characterize the successful guided reading lesson: purpose, scaffolding, independence 

So here is my article on guided reading, please share with ,e if this was helpful or not in furthering the understanding of guided reading .

Here is a helpful guided reading activity

Vocabulary

Most college students hear vocabulary and immediately start sweating about the GRE. Ask a student in kindergarten what vocabulary is and they will most likely look at you with a blank expression until you tell them that it is words they already know. Vocabulary is an extensive, ongoing task students add to during their entire academic career and beyond. We accumulate new words until the day we die. As teachers, we take on the daunting task of teaching vocabulary to students. With the right tools this can be done efficiently and in a way that turns your classroom into a vocabulary hotspot, where words are continually studied and learned.On the right is a great worksheet students can use when exploring vocabulary.  The Blachowitz and fisher article Vocabulary Lessons teachers some very useful tools for implementing usable vocabulary strategies in the classroom. Teacher should create a POSITIVE words learning environment. This can look like:

• puns in conversational lessons
• implementing scrabble/bananagrams as a center in the room
• allowing student to create their own word walls
• using the STAR method in vocabulary
• select, teach, activate, and revisit
• teach correct dictionary usage 

Luckily, The Lane & Allen reading The Vocabulary-Rich Classroom:Modeling Sophisticated Word Use to  Promote Word Consciousness and Vocabulary Growth added to the strategic maneuvers that allocate efficient vocabulary teaching. One piece from this reading really stuck out to me. This was the teacher that made jobs for her classroom, but as the year progressed, so too, did the job titles. No, the jobs did not change, just their names. For example a weather watcher become a meteorologist and so on. What a great way to teach vocabulary that doesn't outwardly require an outright lesson. I love teaching without the students catching on because the activity is so fun. This is perfect for classroom with low SES students. They are not getting any word conscious teaching at home, so why not go in overload at school? By keeping the lesson fun and permanently scheduled, these students can STILL learn many new words to add to their vocabulary, sometimes with incidental learning. 

On a more technological note, The Dalton and Grisham article eVoc Strategies: 10 Ways to Use  Technology to Build Vocabulary noted the importance of multiple word exposures in different contents. The best content being technology. Teach terminology that goes along with the electronics these students use every day. Vocabulary words like browser, website, and search can all become high frequency words EVEN in younger classrooms. Teacher must use technology to aid in vocab development in this day in age. Power-points made by students FOR students allows them to teach one another and really cement the lesson in their minds. Plus, what a great way to teach autonomy and vocabulary requisition. New words are given through the students' own choosing, letting the class pick the focus point. To the left is a wonderful tool for the classroom that shows a quick look at prefixes and suffixes students can use to help gain meaning with new vocabulary that may uses these "meaning changers."

The final reading I implemented from this week was Classrooms that work Chapter 6. It reiterated the importance of introducing words with real things. Examples include:

• gymnasium for gym
• equipment for playground toys
• hinge for the door connectors

More classroom strategies to implement vocabulary include:

• taking a virtual field trip and studying words we may not know
• rating words on a scale of how difficult they may be a teach accordingly
• allowing students to make their own vocabulary boards and tally words they continually see and choose the "winning word"
• letting students give you IMMEDIATE feedback with new vocabulary
• 5 fingers: I get it, 0 fingers: I'm confused

We had a lot to read this week so what I want to know is what stuck out to you guys and why?

Comprehension- The Full Circle

The Gill article The Comprehension Matrix: A Tool for Designing Comprehension Instruction reiterated the importance of pre-reading, reading, post-reading strategies for students. One idea I really enjoyed was the KWL model. Simply stated it is:

• KNOW
• WANT to know
• LEARNED

Students can fill this chart out as they read, making critical thinking just as much of a part of the activity as the act of reading. These students will have a much deeper understanding of the content after this because the KWL model makes them map out their thoughts/knowledge acquisitions. Comprehension is more than understanding the text, it is also connecting it to the bigger picture albeit it the lesson, experiences, or life in general. The chart on the right depicts some great strategies for both readers and teachers to better comprehend the story. This is a great quick tool teacher can post in the classroom or keep on hand, in order to keep comprehension ever-present in the reading lessons. Plus, who doesn't love a little creativity in their lessons? This is a great tool because it offers strategies to help all sorts of different readers. 

The Gregory and Cahill article Kindergartners Can Do It, Too!Comprehension Strategies for Early Readers asserted the importance of teaching comprehension strategies to EVEN THE YOUNG STUDENTS. It is ever too early to start comprehensive strategy connections. The only thing teachers need to keep in mind is keeping the lesson on their level. Here is a great way to help students connect the story:

•  
• CONNECTION - where have I seen this before? 
• VISUALIZE - my mind movie is playing this scene...
• QUESTION - what will happen next?

No, let's not ask students in kindergarten to visualize, let's ask them to tell us their mind movie! It keeps the lesson fun and the objective clear. The same goes along with schema, instead our class can connect their ideas to what they already know. I loved how this article kept everyone involved in comprehension, even the little guys.