Module 6: Instructional Challenge

Next year, you will be teaching in a school where the vast majority of students did not meet standard on your state's criterion-referenced test and where more than 75% of the students are eligible for free and reduced-price meals. What are some specific universal literacy strategies you may implement to ensure students success? Include both in-class examples and things you could do outside the classroom.


In the classroom I would first read aloud to my students modeling how I would want them to read when they are reading aloud.  Next, I would have them work on shared reading with texts that they have background knowledge about and would be interested in reading. I would then transition into guided reading with students grouped by ability and skill needs. In guided reading I would present the students with a variety of texts on their level to choose from, so they can choose the one that interest them the most, engaging their schema. I want students to reading successfully and not become frustrated or disinterested while reading. Finally, I would give the students the option to choose a book from a leveled library in my classroom for their independent reading. During my student teaching, my CT did this exact method with her students and it was amazing to see the progress. The majority of the students were on free or reduced meals and many of them did not past the state tests. Throughout the semester we saw many improvements.


Outside of the classroom I would allow my students to take home the leveled texts they choose for independent reading time for extra practice. I would assume the majority of them do not have access to many texts on their level at home. I would also include journal responses and questions about the texts that worked on their comprehension. Also I would have them read aloud to a family member at home, keeping in mind how I modeled read alouds.

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?


My personal philosophy of reading has been reinforced through Weaver's text throughout the semester and Chapter 15 helped me to better understand the importance of a comprehensive literacy classroom and the benefits of it. I have always known that the primary goal of reading was to read for meaning. During my undergraduate work professors would always emphasize phonics and part-to-whole instruction rather than whole-to-part. The studies on page 369 in Weaver's text lead me to believe that a comprehensive literacy program will benefit the students the most and make the successful in reading and comprehension. I also like that there is emphasis on page 373 and 374 about using texts that students have background knowledge on and are able to connect with to gain better understanding when reading. 


My perspective hasn't really changed since I originally took the Deford TORP. The majority of the answers I marked were the same. Originally I scored in the skills section and after taking it again, I still remained in the skills section.

Final Personal Model of Reading Theory

Throughout the course of this semester, my knowledge about reading instruction and teaching reading strategies has grown, however, I still believe a large part of what I stated in my first paper.  Reading is the foundation of every subject and without a solid foundation in reading students will struggle in other content areas.  Initially I believed reading was a process that slowly built upon itself or a part to whole concept; however I now believe reading is a continual cycle that allows students to continually learn and grow.  In reading, contexts, meaning, and prior knowledge should be all intertwined to effectively teach reading to a student.   Ultimately, the students will use reading in everything they do and continually build upon their foundation.

            I believe that reading begins before a student enters a classroom.  Students are able to connections and associate pictures, words, and letters long before they are able to read and use phonics to sound out unfamiliar words.  I believe that utilizing word association and the alphabet will help children to excel in reading before they reach the elementary school level.

            Once a student reaches the elementary school level, students should begin building upon the knowledge they already have about words.  This includes learning phonics, sight words, and word patterns, fluency, and comprehension.  I have had many students that have been unsuccessful and struggle with reading. However, I believe through shared reading, guided reading, individual conferencing and other components of a comprehensive literacy program students can improve their reading skills and level.  Also, students are able to view how to become a better reading through the teacher’s modeling during read-alouds and mini-lessons.

            Comprehension is vital to the success of young readers. I believe that as a student begins to develop as a reader they must not just be able to identify the words they are reading correctly, but also be able to recall the information they have read.  This course has shown me that often times when a reader reads aloud, the may use miscues if they are fluent readers, but the words they miscue may not necessarily change the meaning of the text.  In this case, miscues are acceptable as long as it does not change the meaning of the passage since comprehension is one of the primary goals of readers. Readers take on meaning from their texts by making connections to the words and their contexts from prior experiences. The process of comprehending written text is an ongoing collaboration of visual aspects, letter-sound relationships, schemas, contexts, and words and their meanings.

            Young readers should also continue their work on making connections.  Allowing students to make connections to words using context and prior knowledge will help them develop.  For example, many times teachers ask students to write a sentence about something and draw a picture to go with it.  The connection with the picture may help the students write the sounds of the words they drew.  Eventually this will lead to learning and identifying spelling patterns and strategies to correctly spell a word, which will lead them to become better readers.

            Readers should also master is fluency. During my undergraduate work I had a professor say that fluency was not just the speed at which a student can read, but the ability to use decoding and comprehension quickly. Fluency is important for students to learn so they spend less time decoding and trying to pronounce the words and more time comprehending the materials they have read.  When a student read to me during guided reading or through assessments and made many miscues I often assumed the student was not a proficient reader and needed to be placed into a lower reading group.  This course has shown me that it not always the case.  Many times readers can change a word accidently and the passage will still make sense.  Ultimately I would like the reader to not make any miscues, but my main concern is that the student is able to take away meaning from the text.

Reading is a lifelong journey and a continual learning cycle, not just a step-by-step process.  It is my goal to instill a passion for reading in each of my student’s lives that they will carry with them long after the leave my classroom.  This course and Weaver’s text has really helped me realize that reading is valuable and important to teach to students.  I have learned a great deal from this course and cannot wait to try some of the strategies I read about with some of my future students. 

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.


A comprehensive literacy program can help ELL students learn through multiple opportunities for many individual conferences with the teacher. ELL students can also observe modeling throughout the mini lessons that are led by the teachers. Students also have the opportunity to work with students in shared reading and guided reading groups with other students who may speak their native language, providing them with a comfort and sense of security.


Comprehensive literacy programs also provide the opportunity for teachers to easily assess their students progress throughout the year. ELL students can be placed into groups with other students on their level or a group that is focusing on a specific skill in reading and writing. 


In classrooms I have observed, often times ELL students that are struggling with many basic components of reading and writing will be pulled from the regular classroom to work with another teacher on basic reading strategies and skill sets.

Module 5: Reading Reflection

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


Phonics is an important component of reading, students must be able to sound out and make the sounds of letters and words within a text. The goal of phonics instruction is to help readers quickly determine the sounds in unfamiliar written words. According to Weaver (2002), “parts are intertwined in a indivisible whole that must be studied and relate to other parts and to the whole.” Phonics in a comprehensive literacy program is taught the same way, with all of the parts relating to one another and the whole concept. Comprehensive literacy programs are designed to have phonics imbedded into the everyday reading and writing activities, not taught separately.  Teachers can teach phonics through read alouds, guided reading, shared reading, and individual conferences.  


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

Module 4: Activity 2

I believe the two most important pillars of reading instruction from Allington are matching students with the appropriate texts and access to texts and choices. Having students interested and engaged in the texts they are reading helps aid in their understanding. Personally, when I read texts I am interested in and am a more fluent, proficient reader and am able to comprehend better as well. I believe students learn the same way. It can be very challenging to read when you are not interested in a text. Matching students with appropriate texts is also extremely important. In my student teaching classroom we always had the students find "just right" books. As a teacher I never wanted my students to become too frustrated when reading and just give up, but I didn't want them to find books that were too easy and didn't challenge them. It's important to find a balance that is right for the students that will help them build their comprehension and fluency.