Module 4 Summary

Literacy Across Curriculum

I do believe that literacy should be taught across the curriculum. It is easier to integrate with all subject areas and include componenets of literacy in all content areas. It can difficult to teach all subjects throughout the day, but integrating allows for more opportunities to complete the required standards. Now with the addition of Common Core, integrating subject areas is easier than ever! In my opinion, Common Core places more emphasis on literacy and integrating it throughout the curriculum.

RTI

I'm already familiar with RTI as the classroom I student taught in had many students on the different tiers of the pyramid. But, it is always nice to have a refresher on the information since I have been out of the classroom for more than a year now. I found the pyramid in the RTI in Georgia presentation to be a great visual aid. We actually had this pyramid in our conference room on the wall at the school I student taught at and had little post-it flags with the students' names on them and were able to visually see where on the pyramid he/she was and could move them if necessary.

Reading Rainbow Video

I remember watching Reading Rainbow as a child, but I don't remember the theme song. I think the new theme song will inspire children to read more and encourage them to read more on their own for fun.

Writing Express with First Graders - Writing Sentences Video

I love how this teacher built sentences with his students. He allowed them to put their input into constructing the sentences. He used whole group, individuals, and partners to build sentences and constantly reiterate the different parts of the sentences and how we must remember to capitalize the first letter of the sentences. Having the students come up front and be part of the sentences is great for kinestetic learners as well. I would love to try this with a group of first graders. All of the students in the video seemed very engaged and interested in the lesson.

PPT Presentations

I enjoyed all of the PowerPoints in this module. They were great refreshers! My favorite was the Strategic Reading Instruction PowerPoint. I think it is great for new teachers, or for those of us that have been out of the classroom for long periods of time. It provided great examples for different centers and what students should be doing in small groups while the teacher is working with other students. It's definitely one I'll want to keep on file and refer back to.

Module 3 Summary

Encouraging Enthusiasm For Reading
This video is an excellent visual aid of showing how important reading with a child can be. As I was watching it I was immediately taken back to times when my parents would read aloud with me each night before I went to bed. Parents taking action by reading a short book or chapter each night with their child is an easy way to encourage them to read more. It's something I am grateful my parents did for me and I believe it is why I love to read for enjoyment as an adult.

Using the Smart Table for Collaboration
I absolutely love the idea of a Smart Table. I was fortunate enough to student teach in a classroom with a SmartBoard and the students absolutely loved getting the opportunity to use it. I can only imagine the possibilities and things they would be able to create with the Smart Table. One thing that they mentioned that is different from the SmartBoard I used was that it is multi-touch and multiple students would be able to collaborate on one assignment! Technology is constantly changing and moving forward for the benefit of our students. I would love to have a Smart Table in my future classroom!

Exploring Social Studies and Technology
I love the idea of being able to incorporate technology and social studies with the Smart Table. Social Studies is often one of the subjects that students get bored with, but integrating this new technology with social studies would be an excellent way to get students engaged. I loved how someone on the video mentioned that it's like digital play dough! Students could make all sorts of projects and discover new ways of learning through this technology.

Integrating Science and Literacy in Early Childhood
This video really stressed the importance of working with the parents and having literacy at school and at home. One of the first things that caught my attention in this video was when literacy was defined as listening, speaking, thinking, reading, and writing. Often times we only think of literacy as reading and writing and its a culmination of so many things. Informational texts in science can often be boring for many readers, but they provide us with the background knowledge and allow us to travel to an exotic location that we may not be able to do on our own. 

Development of Literacy Strategies
I'm so grateful for the "Plain English Definition" in this presentation.  I believe literacy development begins well before children are in school and starts at home. It develops through hearing and speaking and continues to develop as they begin to read and write. I immediately think to my niece that is only two, but carries on full conversations in full sentences. Her parents and grandparents read to her constantly and never spoke to her in "baby talk." Now she is also able to write the entire alphabet and her name. I believe if her family had not put such an emphasis on literacy at such a young age her literacy would not be as developed as it is.

Expository Text Structures
I've seen something very similar to this graphic organizer before and have shared it with my previous students. The cue word really helped them be able to identity the pattern in the text.

Article: Expository Text Structure - Moss
This article not only stressed the importance of text structures, but also told the reader how to teach them. My favorite part of the article was the section that described the difference between a summary and retelling. This is something many of my previous students have struggled with and this is a great and easy way to explain to students how to properly differentiate between the two. I also really like that the author gave a list of trade book ideas that could be used in the classroom.

Effects of Explicit Instruction on Reading Preferences

This paper was an action research project performed with second grade students that explored the effects of explicit instruction on reading preference. I enjoyed reading this article and enjoyed seeing an example of a completed research assignment. I wasn’t surprised to learn that most classrooms have more fiction texts than non-fiction texts. Students I have worked with in the past typically like to read more non-fiction texts when we work or have worked on it in class and it catches their attention. I’ve had numerous students return from the library with non-fiction texts that relate to the content we were learning about because they were so intrigued by the subject(s). I believe these text help students to learn a wide variety of vocabulary and challenge their reading skills.