Becoming Readers And Writers: Shelia Owen's Kindergarten Class

In the video, “Becoming Readers and Writers”, Shelia Owen’s kindergarten class, are five-and six-year-old are readers and writers from day one. The teacher discuss the four reading activities they use in the classroom. The first one she discuss is read aloud, which the teacher is reading a book, modeling the language, and stimulating the discussion in the love of reading. Share reading is when the teacher pulls back on participating and the children role increases. Another one she discuss about is guided reading, and that’s when the teacher pulls back further, and the children show her how much they have learned. She’s there to help them and guide them, and scaffold their learning. The last one she mentions is independent reading and that’s when the children do all the work and the teacher is observing.

Researchers and instructors produced some basic information about effective instructions. In chapter 2, they discuss six important traditional principles well-known during that time: focusing on academically relevant tasks, employing active teaching, fostering active learning, distinguishing between instruction and practice, providing sufficient and timely feedback, and teaching for transfer. One of the most important traditional principles that every teacher should use is employing active teaching. It has shown to be effective, exclusively in the basic skills. As noted by Brophy (1986) stated, “teachers who engage in active teaching are the instructional leaders of their classrooms; they are fully knowledgeable about the content and purposes of the instruction they present and about the instructional goals they wish to accomplish” (p.31). An active teacher is a leader in the classroom and do a lot of teaching. In the classroom, active teachers use and discuss strategies, and monitors the student as they challenge new ideas. Graves, Juel, Graves, and Dewitz