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.
