Module 7 Reading at home

Module 7 talked about reading at home. I was surprised to see the statistics that kids are home for 49%  of the day. More younger children read at home for fun versus older children. This could be due to lack of motivation, resources  or reading purpose. Most parents look for advice for reading but they don't know how to help their child. As teachers we can provide parents with resources and ideas so they can encourage their child to read at home more. You can start by providing them with a book list that meets the needs of their child. you can also provide the parents with a book log sheet. They can initial when the student reads and hold them accountable. You may also want to suggest a reward system at home and in class. I will pass out log sheets at the beginning of the year. When a student reaches the set time they will be able to earn a no homework pass. Class incentives can be valuable to promote student motivation.

module 7 parent involvement

Parent involvement is an important part of a child's education experience. The module and chapter 14 talks about students success being related to parent involvement. When parents are involved students; get better grades, have higher self esteem, have a better attitude, and are well adjusted. We are doing an assignment that requires us to write a letter home to the parent of the child we were working with. This letter is important so we can take the opportunity to try to involve the parent in the learning process. Many parent would like to help their children but they don't know how. If we help the parents by making suggestions or giving them the information they need to help their child they may be more willing to get involved. I feel that creating a warm welcoming environment for families to come and be involved is important too. I will try hard to find ways to involve all families in the education experience.

module 0

In the Devries book chapter 5 talks about phonics. When I did my assessment I quickly saw how a child can successfully decode words. Page 105 talks about decoding. It states that children recognize the onset, rime, and initial letter first. Then emergent readers can recognize names by the first letter. Students learn decoding skills at a young age. The student I assessed was very strong in decoding skills and she was a fluent reader. I think this had a lot to do with being taught these decoding skills at a young age. Page 114 in the book has some different activities you can do with your students to help them with sounds. I have seen several activities done in a classroom during my observations. Page 115 lists word walls and the importance of using them. I will have several word walls in my classroom. I think word walls give students options and they are a great teaching tool.

module 5

Module 5 is about RTI an Fair testing. As a pre-service teacher I don't have much experience with these tests. This semester we had to take the states RTI course and it was a very helpful training. I have also observed and helped with a triple i intervention group. I think RTI is an important part of instruction. It was created because children don't all learn alike and they need different instruction. The next part of the module is FAIR testing. Fair testing is given several times during the school year to assess students reading ability. I was lucky to have a supervising teacher that showed me a students test scores and helped me analyze them. She showed me how she could plan her intervention based on her scores. I am looking forward to analyzing my own students data and helping them be successful.

module 6

This module and book chapters were about independent reading. This is important for kids because it has so many benefits. Research tells us that when students engage in independent reading it can (Kelley & Clausen-Grace, 2008):

• Increase vocabulary.
• Support academic gains.
• Predict future reading and writing competence.
• Promote comprehension.
• Develop reader confidence and self-efficacy.
• Improve motivation (attitude and desire) to read.

I used this strategy when I was doing my case study. I was teaching my student comprehension strategies. I had her read independently and then we discussed the story. This is something we have to make time for in the classroom. Many students like this but, you have to be careful since some students fake read. It is important to engage students in reading. You need to have a distraction free environment and a wind variety of reading materials available for them. You should talk to your kids about what they are reading and monitor them. This may be a way for you to find out if they comprehend what they are reading. 

Module 3 Chapter 8 & 9 of DeVries

     This module and readings taught us about comprehension. The goal of reading is for our students to understand. Right now I am working on my case study and the student I am working with is weak in comprehension. These were good chapters for me to review since my intervention will be teaching comprehension strategies. There are many helpful tools to use for comprehension. The DeVries book in chapter 8 talks about using graphic organizers.(REC 5.3, 6.6,6.8)(ELL) There are several different graphic organizers. There are story maps, charts, webs, and diagrams. We have used several of these in our second reading class. I will use several graphic organizers with my student. I think a helpful graphic organizer for comprehension is the beginning, middle, end organizer.(ELL) It helps the students organize the story and understand what happened in a sequence. On page 210 of the DeVries book they described an activity of retelling using puppets.(ELL) This will help the student sequence and recall the story using puppets. I think this would engage the students and be an interesting activity. I will use this strategy with the student I am working with since she has problems retelling the story. 

module 4 prediction

This module was very helpful for me when I did my case study. I worked with the student on comprehension, retelling, and predictions. I liked the introduction of this module and how it explained what prediction meant and gave an example. The example they gave was predicting weather. I think using this example would be helpful for students since they can understand weather and the up and downs of it. When kids are reading their predictions should be the same.  When a reader makes a prediction they are using their background knowledge and textual clues to infer what will happen in the text. This is an important strategy to teach kids to help them with comprehension. I had the opportunity to teach the child I worked with during our case study. I related prediction to real life issues so she could see how we predict things daily.

Module 2 Chapter 12

       Module 2 and the chapter is about spelling. I learned how to do spelling assessment in the 2nd reading class. I used the Words Your Way book and administered a few spelling tests with the student I was working with for my case study.(REC 5.3,5.12,6.3) The  DeVries book says we should teach children how to spell, not tell them what to spell. There are some great spelling activities on page 335 of the  DeVries book. I like doing fun activities with my students because I think it will keep them engaged and interested in learning. (ELL)Page 335 of the  DeVries book talks about using magnetic letters with your students. This is a good strategy. You can also simplify it with your ELL or struggling students by pre-selecting letters for them and laying them out. You can work on CVC patterns and this would make a good center. (ELL)(REC 6.11)
      Technology is a big part of the world now. It is important to integrate technology into our lessons. On page 338 of the  DeVries book it list different websites that can help students with spelling. The different websites have spelling games. word searches, and word puzzles. It would be good to compile a list of different websites and let the parents know. You  can allow students to use these websites to practice their skills during centers or free time.

Module 1 chapter 1-3

         These chapters discussed assessments and different literacy events. The module was about assessments, assessing ELL students and the classroom learning environment. The most valuable assignment we did for this module was the learning environment map. The DeVries book talks about safety being the most important part of your classroom environment  I believe that a full library with alot of different selections is one of the most important parts of the classroom.(ELL)(REC 6.10,6.12) My textbook from my seminar class was about best practices in reading. One of the best practices is having an appropriate library full of all different selections. You should also have a print rich environment. 
       The DeVries book also discusses assessments and the different kinds. There are many different assessments. The module discusses that we should use many assessments especially with our ELL students.(ELL) I was doing an observation in a 3rd grade class this year. In Brevard County the 3rd graders have portfolios. There is a set of standards for the portfolio and the students have to pass it in order to advance to the next grade.The teacher likes the portfolios since she can see the growth in students and she can see where her students may have weaknesses  I think portfolios are a good way to assess students.(REC 5.12) I learned in my ESOL classes that portfolios are a good way to assess ELL students.(ELL)