http://www.readingrockets.org/article/six-syllable-types
Great resource to review phonemic awareness, provided by University of Oregon's College of Education.
http://reading.uoregon.edu/big_ideas/pa/pa_what.php Helpful article provided by Scholastic:
How Children Learn to Spell A comprehensive strategy for teaching children to spell, incorporating visual memory and spelling memory, pre-communicative writing, and multiple spelling stages By Louisa Moats http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/how-children-learn-spell "Your classroom may be the safest, most organized, cleanest physical place for your student."
I've heard this a couple of times, and every single time I hear it, I think about what this means, what it looks like, what to do as a teacher. One of the reasons why I wanted to become a teacher was because I wanted to offer a fun, safe, and loving space and time for children. Children will spend majority of their days in school, and so providing them a place to come to where they can grow to be stellar individuals who hold maturity, intelligence, creativity, and strong understanding of their own identity. May I not forget the reason why I became a teacher and continue to think of about how I can provide a safe place for them. Word Study- explicitly teaching phonics, spelling and vocabulary through hands-on activities which allow manipulation of word features in ways that allow students to generalize beyond isolated examples to entire groups of words.
Sight Words- high frequency words that students do not decode, but recognize automatically upon seeing them. Article provided by Reading Rockets: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/knowledge-and-skills-teaching-reading
I have always loved walking into classrooms and seeing the different set ups and children's work around the room that liven up the space. Not having had a classroom of my own yet, I always thought about decorating my own classroom and how much fun it would be. When I would picture my own classroom in my mind, I would think about all the students' work that would be around the room, the colorful material bins with perfectly cut labels, visually appealing, simple charts hanging on the walls... All these things that impress someone who were to walk into the classroom and would give the impression that this was a "nice, clean" place that students come to learn everyday. However, it wasn't until this past week that I realized that I had the wrong idea this entire time.
Sharon Taberski, writer of On Solid Ground, explains the importance of creating a purposeful environment for the students. "The organization and look of our rooms, the materials we use, and the way we structure the day send a powerful message to children and parents about our attitudes toward teaching and our expectations for our children. When we create classroom environments that are attractive, comfortable and purposeful, providing materials that support our work with children, structuring our time to support our goals, then we'll surely reap the results of our effects" (33). After reflecting on Taberski's point, I began to think about my intention in setting up a "nice" classroom. I was wanting to create a place that was visually attractive but wasn't thinking about how the set up and design of the classroom could serve as a tool for students' learning. A classroom is a place that students come to learn, and when we utilize its fullest and truest value, it can be used to accommodate, facilitate, and challenge children's thinking and understanding. It's come to my attention that it's not about decorating a classroom, but considering whether the work or materials around the room serve a purpose to learning. When Professor Ellen asked the class to bring in a literacy artifact, I knew exactly what I wanted to bring in. As a child, I didn’t like reading books, and so I remembered exactly the small handful of books I did like to read (and reread). These books were Rainbow Fish, Caps for Sale, and Corduroy. Corduroy was my ultimate favorite. I was surprised to find out that many others in the class brought in or mentioned Corduroy as one of their favorites from their childhood.
It had been years since I held the book in my hands, and it had been years since I read it. Reading the story brought back my love for the little bear and the girl. I remember the feeling I had when reading it as a child. I remember feeling sad as she had to watch the girl leave the bear the first day she spotted him at the department store. I remember feeling my heart sink not only for the girl whose mother said she couldn’t buy it but also for the bear who wanted to be bought and loved by someone. It was only now that I began to think about how well the writer wrote the story- so simple, yet so alive. Professor Ellen shared in front of the class that Corduroy had been a favorite among many students. She then went onto to mention about the powerful illustrations and how the story teaches that even the flawed are worthy of love. As much as I had loved the illustrations, it never dawned on me that the illustrations were in fact one of the key components of this book as well as the lesson taught through the story. The illustrations showed emotions and got the readers to sense the emotions of the characters. The message behind the story of a girl who saves up to purchase a bear that doesn’t look new or have all of his buttons. I went home that day to reread this book at a completely new perspective than ever before. Talk about being touched by a picture book! Growing up as the one of the two Asians in an all-white elementary school, I was always hesitant about bringing up anything Asian with non-Asians. When I was asked to read the book Empty Pot to my class, I was a bit nervous and unsure of how the students would respond. I didn’t realize that I had all these thoughts running through my head just because the book had to do with some Chinese. Would the students think I chose this book because the story took place in China? Would the students think this is what is normal in Asia? Would the students ask me personal questions about being Asian? I wasn’t even sure if the students would enjoy the book because it was ancient Chinese story.
When I read the book for Read Aloud, I was surprised by the students’ responses. The students were engaged in throughout the reading, the students were following along closely as I read, asked questions, and shared their thoughts and predictions. What is an emperor? What was the boy’s name again? Why was Ping the only one who didn’t have a growing seed? The students loved the story and had a long discussion afterwards about what they thought about the story. I learned something that day that I’ll take with me as I teach and choose materials to introduce to my students. I learned to not assume what the students’ responses will be. It is okay to think about the different responses students will have and be prepared for their responses; however, their responses should not limit you from sharing something in class. Particularly for materials that are teaching about different countries and history, it is doing the students a favor when teachers read books that introduce different cultures and practices. To add, I should be careful not to get my personal insecurities in the way of providing what’s good for my students. |
AuthorA learning teacher and student living in New York City. Love exploring new ways to teach literacy and finding new books that inspire me and you. Archives
May 2015
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