In Dr. Louise Spear- Swerlings’ article, she stated that in Kindergarten through third grade, student should be taught five key elements for effective reading abilities, which are phonemic awareness, phonics knowledge, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. Dr. Spear- Swerling, continued by saying phonic awareness is well develop in normally achieving reader by the end of first grade and by the end of third grade they should have acquired basic phonics knowledge. In addition to children excelling to become good readers, the instructions should be explicit and systematic, following a logical sequence of instruction. For instance, reading a decodable text that’s consisting of words with one syllable before advancing to an authentic text.
In this paragraph I will focus my attention on the in the middle category, more specifically two very specific questions as they relate to the rhetoric for teaching reading and writing. I will then provide an explanation and example scenario for each question. The first question is, how would you as a teacher create an environment where students have more time to commit to their writing? There is no simple answer to this question, because class time is valuable and attempting to complete the lesson in a classroom that has students with different learning abilities and or needs is a very complex task that all teachers try to complete. Although, author and educator Nancy Atwell has suggested in her book entitled In the Middle, simply giving students
Phonics Document for Balanced Literacy Handbook How to teach children to read is a controversial subject. In the United States there have been Reading Wars between proponents of the Phonics approach versus the Whole Language approach. In an article written by Martin Cothran he writes about the history of phonics. Teaching of Phonics in the United States dates back to the very first school text: the New England Primer, published in 1690. The first challenges to the phonetic approach came from people like Benjamin Franklin and Noah Webster who wanted to reform English spelling partly to iron out some of the language’s irregularities.
In this chapter, the author explains how literacy begins and the steps children go through in order to understand how to read. There are two different factors that help a child to begin to read, they are, decoding and comprehension. Decoding is when children translate written words into words they can say verbally. Comprehension is when the student process what the meaning of the text is. Decoding and comprehension alone cannot help children learn to read.
This would developed their literacy skills. The mixed or balanced approach combines both methods. It emphasizes the importance of drills and reading for meaning to teach literacy with little modification. The method argues that structured phonics are essential for literacy education however, it should be child friendly. This promotes thinking and learning about printed words.
• What would you include in your classroom? If money were no object and I could do anything I want, I would first take half the computer desk out my classroom and replace them with bean bags. This is the first thing I would do to foster a literacy-rich classroom because I feel students learn better when their comfortable.
My plan for academic literacy improvement has progressed nicely this study period. Although, I understand this will be a long process - as mentioned in Grellier and Goerke (2014), the best way to develop your reading and writing skills is to do hours of exercise - each minuet step I take to improve will be beneficial. Even with my hectic life schedule, I have managed to implement all the strategies mentioned in Assessment one. The first step I needed to take was to advance my vocabulary.
Throughout the school year, each time that my students walk through my classroom door I want the atmosphere to attract them to always want to read and write. As the school year progress, teacher made anchor charts are displayed strategically around my classroom as well as genre posters, new vocabulary words, class library books and additional skills that are introduced throughout the year. If money were no object, and I could do anything I wanted I would foster a literacy rich classroom that my students would consider a sanctuary for learning. After having read “The Elements of a Literacy-Rich Classroom Environment”, I agree with K. Tyson position that “we should begin by focusing attention on the classroom environment and make certain that it is a place that supports and encourages literacy learning.”
This question is a great start to get a feel of everyone’s insight on their outlook of reading and writing. I also posted a video about the importance of reading and writing. It was an interesting video that was attention grabbing with the graphics, music, and important information and facts. The final assignment was to read a short essay and take the quiz on it. A lack of reading in courses is detrimental to both student learning and course engagement.
Looking back over years of research, theories, and philosophies, I can see a clear progression in literacy development. Having access to this wealth of knowledge and experience, it is possible to see how the balanced literacy approach was developed. The term, balanced literacy, is an apt description of this approach. No one theory or philosophy is prized. Instead, the best of each theory and philosophy is incorporated into this approach; offering students the best years of educators, hard work, and dedication.
With the limitation of reading and writing to class assignments, students do not get practice of English and its accompanying comprehension skills. The lack of self practice deprives the students from skills that will aid them in the standardized test. The technological advancements have become as much of a distraction to students as they are successful in making life
This is accomplished with five basic components: (1) the read aloud, (2) guided reading, (3) shared reading, (4) independent reading, and (5) word study. The first four components are focused on helping students gain the skills necessary for reading as well as showing them that reading can be an enjoyable, fulfilling experience. The fifth aspect, or word study, gives children the opportunity to work with words through engaging activities and helps them learn essential skills such as letter and sound identification, root words, suffixes and prefixes, and decoding. Balanced literacy attempts to approach reading and language from multiple, giving all students the opportunity to learn and succeed (“Balanced literacy instruction”,
It is my goal to teach fifth grade students. I also am perusing special education, so I feel encouraging reading is that mush more important. I feel the fifth grade is a turning point for students, they are now using book to learn from and just learning to read. I want to open the door the books can take a student. Often time’s students with a learning disability struggles with reading, and I want to help them overcome their struggles while creating a literate environment.
I am writing to you about implementing a new Literacy framework into our classrooms. I believe that reading and writing should be taught in collaboration, and we can accomplish this by using the Three Block Framework. The blocks consist of a Language and Word Study work shop, Reading Workshop, and a Writing Workshop. Each of these blocks are implemented for sixty minutes daily and are beneficial for our students and teachers. This Framework when implemented will consist of daily time frames to promote time management, optimize student grouping, and provide an equal amount of teacher and student directed learning.
There are six major components to the reading process which, if followed and taught correctly, can greatly influence the progression of literacy in students. The National Reading Panel, a board of educators, administrators and scientists, evaluated scientific research and evidence to determine the best method for teaching students to read. In 2000, the panel concluded their research and published their reports. Their findings state that the most effective plan for students to learn to read is one that incorporates comprehension, oral language, phonics, phonological awareness, fluency and vocabulary. (National reading panel, 2015)
