Module 1: Learning Summary

The readings in Opitz and the QRI-5 were very interesting and enlightening to me, along with the assessment powerpoint and video as well. I found the video on the 10 yr old girl being tutored the most interesting topic this week. I like being able to actually watch someone effectively teaching reading, as I am a visual learner. I have personally never really taugh phonics instruction as I have always taught 3-5th grades. I do see and understand more clearly now the importance of the phonics instruction and how it deeply impacts an emerging reader. After watching the video, I want to dig deeper into how I can help my struggling and less proficient readers in 5th grade, one step at a time. I believe I may have to begin with phonics instruction to build reading fluency, rather than jumping right into long text and reading comprehension. The link to my blog is http://amandaherndon13.blogspot.com/. Here you will see all of my thought for Module 1.
This is the first time I have ever heard on QRI-5. However just from reading Chapter 1 I like how each student is assessed and scored based on their individual areas rather than norm-referenced or standardized instruction. With having many different level readers in my class this year, this inventory will be extremely beneficial as it is universal for readers across all levels and will help me groups students for guided reading groups and such. I also like how the 4th-5th grade students have narratives based on biographies which makes it much easier to assess their prior knowledge of a real person, rather than a fictional story. I have only give assessments before that asked simple comprehensio questions at the end of the passage, however I am interested in seeing how the retelling and think-aloud components will give me more exact insight at to where my reader stands. This assessment seems to align way more with my CCGPS reading standards, as well as it ties directly into Daily 5 and CAFE.
I researched a reading comprehesion article that was a study of reading comprehension skills of primary school 5th grade students in Turkey. I particularly found this article interesting, as it enlighted me on skills and strategies from a different country, giving me a global insight in education. According to both Opitz and the article many different factors may affect reasons for reading difficulties, which may be non-educational factors, such as home life and socio-economic status (Opitz, Rubin, Erekson, 2010, p.3). According to Kayiran & Karabay (2012), instruction in the primary years will significantly influence students' intellectual and social skills.   The article wanted to see if there was a difference in reading comprehension according to students' socia economic backgrounds and found that students from high socio economic backgrounds do have a higher achievement in reaidng and writing using both research methods used (Kusdemir & Karabay, 2012). This idea does coorelate with Opitz ideas as well because "readers brign their backgrounds, experiences, and emotions into play " (Opitz, Rubin, Erekson, 2010, p.6). Just from my 6 years of teachign experience I would have to agree with these statements as well. I have seen kids from low socio economic backgrounds score significantly lower on assessments and especially standardized tests than higher socio economic background students. I also believe that the standardized test reading passages are usually so foreign to many students, that even if they are able to read the words in the passage correctly, they have no clue what they are reading about and can't make any connections related to the text whatsoever to gain any meaning. So therefore, they simple answer questions about the passage based on finding the words from the question in the text and copying what they see, rather than comprehending any of the information.
Reading about the roles of a teacher to be a effective teacher were also interesting to me and something I want to make sure I am doing in my classroom. I do know that I am a "planner" but want to pinpoint whether or not I am an "explicit reading teacher" in my classroom. I have many plans for this year and implementing what I learn in this course. I have enjoyed reading the readings and watching the video as well.

Assessment Powerpoint: Module 1

   After viewing the assessment power point for reading and writing difficulties I now have a better understanding of vocabulary terms pertaining to both, as well as more knowledge of the stages of development.  Teaching 5th grade I realize my students should be in the "growing independence' stage, however I believe many of mine are still early readers. A few  of my higher level readers I would say are fluent enough and are able to read to learn. The power point states that the majority of troubled readers have a difficult decoding, which means their phonics knowledge is weak. I do believe phonics instruction at a very early pre-primer age is a necessity for becoming a proficient reader. Children often feel "defeated" especially when it comes to reading b/c they are failed over and over. Knowing that success is the key, makes me realize that beginning with what students already have prior background knowledge is the best  start to building confidence within themselves. This hits home to me so much as many of my students come from such a wide range of backgrounds and cultures. I really am trying to figure out a way to reach every student, but this is so challenging for me because I don't even know where to begin with a few of my students. I am just being honest here. I do begin each year by allowing students to read to me anything of their choice that interests them which does give me some insight. I currently think in my classroom I approach reading with a more "top down" approach. I begin with big ideas, and then lead into the smaller components that make up those ideas. I definitely want to start fixing "one thing at a time" with each of my students this year with their reading struggles instead of trying to fix it all at once.

Module 1: Activity 4 on pg.14 (Opitz)

Activity # 4 (Opitz) p. 14

Use Table 1.1 “Summary of Proficient and Less Proficient Reading Behaviors” to observe a reader.  Highlight the characteristics you notice and provide an example of what you see.

This year  I have many students with learning disabilities in my classroom, mostly pertaining to math and reading. I have started off the school year with 2 types of assessments so far, the GRASP and the county wide reading benchmark test.  The GRASP assessment involved a 1 minute timed reading fluency check. I recorded the words read correct per minute for each student.  I have also met with each individual student for their first individual conference as a part of the CAFE and Daily 5 reading programs. In the first meeting I have just listened to them read aloud a book of their choice and asked a few simple comprehension questions based on what they read to me. After these assessments, I have noticed I have several children who seem to be less proficient readers based on their behaviors. I noticed a particular student who seems to want to read as fast as he can. He doesnt even stop at the end of sentences, unless he is stumped on a word. He blends all of his sentences together, which means he can't possibly comprehend anything he read. He spent several seconds on words he didn't know and tried to sound them out, however every time he sounded out the word he was struggling with, he came up with the same pronunciation, as he did not attempt to chunk different letter combinations together to see if he was chunking incorrectly the first time. One word I specifically noticed many of my less proficient readers getting stumped on was "airliners." Most of them would say "airline" or "airlines," however when they read a few words past, they would start back over at this particular word. This was a very interesting observation to me.

Watch and Learn: Assessing Reading Skills Video

     This video showed a 10 year old child being assessed and tutored for reading. This child had a problem decoding words, which meant she spent more time decoding words which led her to become exhausted, which in return affected her reading comprehension abilities. I have never thought of reading as being an academic and emotional process, which now makes perfect sense to me. Children do tend to "shut down" when they feel incompetent and "stupid" in class, especially if they are slow readers or can't pronounce the words in a text. Continuously assessing students is the key to building proficient readers, as constantly assessing their reading strengths and weaknesses is the only way to fix problems, and accelerate strengths. I do believe good teachers do are constantly self evaluating their instruction, which would lead many changes throughout the year according to their students specific needs. I like how in the video the tutor started by telling the child to read as fast as you can, to help build fluency. I do agree that more fluent readers, gain more meaning from text.

Final Personal Model of Reading Theory

Personal Model of Reading Theory

            At the beginning of this semester I definitely viewed reading and teaching reading a little differently than I do now. I have been teaching for 6 years and have never had insight to literacy as much as I have through this reading class and our text Reading Process & Practice by Constance Weaver. I have always used a comprehensive literacy approach in my classroom, as I have always had reading and writing workshops. However, I view how children learn to read differently than I have in the past. My eyes have truly been opened to teaching literacy more efficiently and effectively from this point forward.

            At the beginning of this class I read about a skills approach and comprehensive approach to reading. The skills approach is more geared towards phonics instruction and decoding words specifically, without much incorporation with reading and writing workshops. A comprehensive approach leans more towards teaching literacy through a variety of activities in whole group, small group, and individual instruction, with an emphasis is reading for meaning and using prior knowledge to understand texts. Guided reading, shared reading, sustained reading, reading conferencing, shared writing, guided writing, and sustained writing are a few key components to a comprehensive literacy approach to literacy. Children learn to read by first and foremost seeing and hearing reading, which shows how important good “modeling” is for teachers to portray in the classroom. Reading aloud to students so they can hear proficient reading, while participating in predictions and discussions about the book is crucial for emerging readers. Making connections with text is very important for reading for meaning. Children who read texts and cannot make any connection with the text or have no prior knowledge of what they are reading are often discouraged as they do not understand what they are reading and there are several unfamiliar words and language.

            (Weaver, 2002, p. 44) states that whether or not words are pronounced correctly, the reader can still get essential meaning from the text. This idea supports the theory that we do not read texts pronouncing every sound in every word. Teaching reading should not be focused on strictly teaching phonics rules and word decoding.  Phonics instruction should be incorporated in reading and writing workshops. The children should be able to actually apply phonics skills taught while they are reading and writing, rather than learning phonics rules strictly for a spelling test.  Proficient readers are able to read passages, while not reading every single word, and they are still able to gain meaning from the text. This is due to the fact that proficient readers pay attention to beginnings and endings of words rather than pronouncing every letter sound in a word. Word patterns and building new vocabulary is done much easier through reading texts in guided reading groups and reading aloud, rather than completing a worksheet on phonics skills.

            It is also important for students to begin reading selections that interest them, rather than random passages about random things in which the students have no prior knowledge of. In Weaver’s book Reading Process & Practice, a passage was given with several unfamiliar words throughout that I was unable to pronounce. Foreign words were used that I had never seen before or had any what they were. I had to answer questions related to the passage, and this was very difficult. This was an example of how many worksheets and standardized tests provide passages and comprehension questions for students to answer, while the students have zero background knowledge of anything mentioned. Giving children passages where they are unable to make any connections with, is the wrong way to build proficient readers. Over time as children acquire necessary reading and phonics skills, children will be exposed to unfamiliar passages and their reading and phonics skills will allow them to be able to gain meaning from texts using context cues. However, it is important to begin children with books that they can relate so they can easily apply their strategies to gain meaning.

            Overall my reading theory of how children learn to read has changed a little. Throughout college and even learning from fellow teachers, fluency and accuracy have always been emphasized as a major component of reading for comprehension. I do realize now that this is not necessarily the case. No reader reads every word exact, but this doesn’t prevent gaining meaning. I am going to teach phonics instruction through reading and writing workshop now, instead of having separate blocked off time for phonics rules and spelling tests. It is proven that a phonics background is important to have, but not the key component for reading for meaning. I see the important of encouraging children to read and even write aloud as well. I have always read aloud to my students, but I want to give them more opportunities to read aloud. I am very excited about what I have learned thus far in this reading course and I can’t wait to implement these strategies and techniques in my literacy program this coming year.

Module 6: Instructional Challenge

Next year, you will be teaching in a school where the vast majority of students did not meet standard on your state's criterion-referenced test and where more than 75% of the students are eligible for free and reduced-price meals. What are some specific universal literacy strategies you may implement to ensure students success? Include both in-class examples and things you could do outside the classroom.

Research has shown that even children in economically disadvantaged communities, benefit from a comprehensive literacy program rather than a traditional literacy program. Children who are given fewer phonics worksheets and actively participate in shared reading, choral reading, and guided reading gained more. Teaching children to figure out difficult words by asking themselves what makes sense, is a better approach than children repeatedly sounding out words incorrectly. Teaching skills out of context and meaning will not benefit children. Basing a classroom around specific skills, rather than whole-to-parts instruction, will not be as successful either in teaching literacy. Children need prior knowledge of what they read in order to gain meaning from text, as well as show interest and engagement rather than frustration. It is very important for age appropriate books be readily available to children. This is difficult in low income communities, where resources outside the classroom are limited. I do allow my students to take books home from my personal library in my classroom, and the school library books are available as well. I encourage my students to keep a reading log at home of what they read and if they liked it or not. I have found that my children enjoy keeping these logs, as I do not grade them on how many "minutes" they read, which is what many teachers require; a certain amount of time per week. I think reading for enjoyment is far more important than tracking minutes.

Module 6: Reading Reflection

Does any of the information presented in Chapter 15 influence your personal philosophy of reading? In what ways? How has your perspective this changed since you took the DeFord TORP a few weeks ago?

My personal model of reading has been influenced after reading Chapter 15.  I found it interesting how studies have shown that children taught in a comprehensive literacy approach were found to benefit the most. Theses children focused more on shared reading and story meaning rather than phonics and oral reading. Round robin reading also didn't show much of a benefit compared to shared reading. This is so interesting to me, as I have always been for the "round robin" reading in my classroom. I think children are more focused on when their turn is to read and if they will read every word correctly, more than gaining meaning from the text. Research has also shown that the more children know about a topic, the more likely they are going to be able to gain meaning from a text related to that topic. I have often times given children passages that they had no prior knowledge of and became frustrated because they did not comprehend. I can see now how difficult this must be.
I teach in a Title 1 school, where many of my student have limited or no access to books at home. I see how important it is for children to have access to age appropriate books. This is more important than having instructional materials. Most see phonics as reading, rather than phonics as a part of reading (Weaver, 2002, p.376). This is very true for most people, outside of education. Standardized tests have been designed to show that children who don't know phonics, don't do well on the tests. This is backwards as reading is much more than phonics, learning to read is much more complex as background knowledge, access to age appropriate books, cultural schemas, and language play important roles.
When I took the DeFord TORP at the beginning of the semester I noticed that I put strongly agree for fluency and expression being necessary components for reading comprehension  I would definitely agree with this statement a lot less than I did at the beginning of this course. I can pretty much agree with most other areas on this assessment.

Module 5: Instructional Challenge

As your school year starts, you realize that you have three ELLs who are newcomers to the United States. Discuss how a comprehensive literacy program addresses their needs, drawing attention to specific components of the framework that are particularly relevant. Then discuss any additional scaffolding you would offer to support these children's needs.

Using a comprehensive literacy program would be extremely beneficial to ELL students. Reading workshop, writing workshop  conferencing, guided reading and writing, listening to book on tape, and shared reading are all great components that would help ELL students develop literacy skills. Reading and writing workshop are great ways for ELL students to engage in group and individual lessons with the appropriate lessons specific to their reading levels. Reading aloud to children is important, especially to ELL students, as they hear fluent reading, they watch and participate in predicting strategies,  and they are engaged in discussions about the text. Conferencing would be great as students can work on specific areas of need with the teacher. Listening to books on tape is also another great opportunity for the ELL students to hear words pronounced that are too difficult for them. This is a great activity for them to read along with the tape actually pronouncing difficult words and becoming familiar with the text.  Shared reading is great for students to share different connections with the text, based on their background knowledge and schemas. This also allows discussion and opportunities for students to respond to each other's connections and ideas about the text.
I think it is very important, especially for ELL students, to read text that interest them, as well as reading text that they are familiar with and having background knowledge of the content. Placing students in groups with other students with similar abilities is also helpful for them to work together to figure out difficult words and passages.

Module 5: Reading Reflection

Where does phonics instruction fit within a comprehensive literacy program? When and how would you teach phonics?

A comprehensive program is designed to teach literacy skills using both reading and writing together. Many theories support more of a "phonics" based literacy program, not using reading and writing workshops together to teach literacy. Researchers have found that there is a direct correlation between phonemic awareness and learning to read words. Although we do not read words letter by letter and sounds out each individual letter sound, it is important that we have a background knowledge of phonics in order to be able to read effortlessly. Teaching phonics helps children learn how to decode words. When readers are taught phonics they improve their ability to spell words while writing, which means they can read those words easier. When teaching using a comprehensive literacy program, reading and writing workshops are both used to teach literacy. Children are encouraged to write and read their own writing, which is strengthening  their phonics skills by sounding out and spelling words.  Teaching strategies for decoding words such as "skip it" and "sound it out" are examples of what good readers do. Phonics instruction should not be taught strictly for phonemic awareness, it should be integrated in reading and writing instruction.
I would like to teach phonics during reading and writing workshop. Phonics could be taught during guided reading, guided writing, individual conferences, mini lessons, etc. Even writing aloud with the students would be a great opportunity to incorporate phonics skills instruction, while modeling for the students appropriate strategies and skills. Keeping writing journals throughout the year would be a great tool to have to help students learn phonics rules, as their writing skills progress. It is important for children to be able to take what they learn from phonics instruction and apply it to their reading and writing! Phonics should not be taught in isolation, where children cant make connections between phonics, reading, and writing.

Module 4: Activity 2

Which NRP topic area(s) or missing pillar(s) that Allington describes do you find to be most vital for childrens literacy success? Why?

I believe children having the choice to read what they find interesting is one of the most vital components. I think that all of the other topics can be addressed more successfully "if" a child reads something that interest them and something that can make connections with. It has been proven that good readers read more than poor readers and I think this stems from an early age of being able to read texts that interest them. A child who is brought up at an early age reading only text that are boring to them and text that they can not make connections with, sets that child up for "hating" to read. Who wants to read something that is boring? No one that I am aware of and if we are making children read such material before they even build a love for reading, then we are setting them up for failure. I think the more children read and love what they are reading, the more proficient readers they will become and the more they will read on their own!

Module 4: Activity 1

First I want to start by saying watching the video of Robin at 50 years old learn to read was one of the most moving and influential videos I have ever seen. It made me so emotionally to see how the strategies we use to teach our students today can even be used to teach ANYONE at any age! It is so rewarding as a teacher to see changes in people such as I just saw in this video.
Robin began learning to read by using spelling tiles and chunking words endings together and putting them with different letters at the beginning of the words to make all new words such as (p)ick, (st)ick, (t)ick. I also noticed him seeing large words such as "congratulations" and automatically seeing the word "rat" and then pronouncing "congrat" and then he automatically knew that it said congratulations without sounding out any other part of the word. This proves that readers do not read letter by letter! I enjoyed watching him write to read as well. He was writing and reading what he had wrote. He often reread several times without giving up or without the teacher helping him out. he was able to figure out the simple sentences on his own by rereading. Robin was able to use context and picture also to help him read as he did in the newspaper articles, comic book, etc. He saw the beginnings of words and knew what it must say by using the context clues to help him. Robin's passion and dedication for learning to read was so touching to me, and I would like to share this video with my teachers at work.

Module 4: Instructional Challenge

Marcus is struggling when reading by substituting words that start with the same letter or first letters of the word in the text, and his substitutions are not grammatically or semantically acceptable.

I would have Marcus reading and conferencing with me at least twice a week. I think this would help him greatly as I could help him when he made errors immediately (immediate feedback being important), and he could listen to me read the same words he is mispronouncing. I believe also if Marcus could hear himself read and listen to the mistakes he was making, he would be able to correct them. I would try having him record himself while reading and listening to himself. When he played back his recording I would have him making notes as to what words he was saying instead of what was printed in the text.

I also think having a peer to read with Marcus would be beneficial just as him reading to me would be.  A peer could offer feedback as well but could also read aloud while Marcus read to help him see and hear the words as they should be read aloud. Guided reading and choral reading would also be good approaches to take with  Marcus. He would be in a group of readers on or around his reading level, while listening to them read. I think hearing people read aloud is one of the most important beneficial things a reader can partake in to become a better reader. I think by working in a group, he would also not get discouraged as easily as he would if he were reading silently to himself.

Having books on tape might also be an approach that would give Marcus another opportunity to listen to someone reading aloud. His miscues can become less the more he hears good readers read and actively participates in group reading and conferencing.

Module 4: Reading Reflection

   In my classroom I have found that I am doing many of the comprehensive literacy program strategies. I implemented the Cafe and Daily 5 literacy approaches this past year in my classroom which involves many of these same aspects such as read alouds, guided reading, self monitoring while reading, independent reading, individual reading conferences, and journals. I did not do as much of the writing strategies as I would have liked to because our school is departmentalized and I was not the writing teacher for my team. I think reading aloud daily is one of the most important aspects of teaching literacy, as children are able to hear you read with expression and listening to more intense plots that they would not be able to read on their own independently and understand. I also think this allows children to see the importance of reading and they learn to read for pleasure and meaning after seeing and hearing an adult love to read and to read for fun! During independent reading time, I allow my students to choose their own books for this time, as long as the books are on their levels. I think this is very important so that children will be motivated to read. I would like to incorporate more writing so students cant write their own reading. I have always had my students read aloud in the classroom using for instance "popcorn" reading. But, after reading Weaver I see that this is not always the best approach  as some students are scared f being called on, most look ahead to see what is coming up, proficient readers are usually bored, etc. I also would like to move away from so much phonics instruction as research shows that it doesn't produce better scores on reading comprehension. Overall using Cafe and Daily 5 in my classroom has allowed my students to read more for enjoyment, while still learning how to monitor themselves for comprehension while they read, conferencing weekly with each student to see where they are and how they are progressing, etc.

Regie Routman

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0yc3TUqwcItam5aZksxN0lhYTg/edit?usp=sharing

Module 3: Activity 3

  This past year my school system implemented a new spelling/phonics program where 
phonics skills and nonsense words are heavily enforced. I teach 5th grade and my students 
should have all the phonics skills they need to become proficient readers by the time they get to 5th grade. I struggled this past year teaching phonics rules, as I am not familiar with them and have a hard time figuring out the rules and how they apply to the words. We have been testing on nonsense words and I do not see any significance in this strategy at all. My kids can not pronounce the words have of the time and neither can I. I always teach my students to look up the definitions of unknown words so they know how to write and read it in context. This is impossible to do with nonsense words. I do think children should have knowledge of how to sound out unfamiliar words, but not to the extent of heavily phonics instruction and nonsense words. Proficient readers do not read letter by letter when reading words so I think relying on phonics skills to build a proficient reader would not be successful. Students need much more than phonics and fluency skills to be able to read for meaning and become proficient readers. I think in today's classrooms students want to see who can read the fastest because they are used to doing running records and being timed on their reading for fluency. This is the wrong approach at building proficient readers, children need to be able to read for meaning.

Module 3: Mock Memo from a Reading Specialist

Dear Teacher,     
  A student that is reading above grade level fluently, but not comprehending the text does not have the skills and strategies necessary to gain meaning from the text. I would first emphasize the importance of comprehension over fluency and rapidness,  reiterating the ability to read for meaning in life in almost all aspects is necessary. There are many strategies I would implement in the classroom to help build reading comprehension. I think first and foremost it is extremely important for children to be read aloud to daily. This not only will help increase their fluency, but also their reading comprehension. Predicting a text before reading using visual cues and skimming short phrases can help build a comprehension. Predicting helps with becoming familiar with a text before diving in to see if the child has any background knowledge of the text. Even if there aren't any pictures or visuals in text, skimming sentences and titles and heading can help the prediction process. Reading in chunks or small sections and then checking for comprehension just as Café and Daily 5 suggest can improve comprehension as well. Reading a page or two in a chapter book and stopping and verbally asking yourself what was just read would make the student think before continuing on. “Thinking out loud” is what I like to call my students stopping and self-monitoring themselves for understanding of the text being read. Students also need to be able read text below and on their grade level and comprehend those texts before reading beyond their level and not comprehending any of the text. Students being able to make personal and real world connections to text helps with comprehending. If students read above grade level material in which they have no prior knowledge of the context, then comprehending the text is going to unlikely. Emerging readers needs to build connections to gain meaning from text or at least have some knowledge of what they are reading. Identifying story elements while reading the text will also force students to stop and think about what they are reading. They need to identify things such as characters, settings, problems, beginning, middle, ending, etc. I would suggest student creating a story map of their text as they read. After reading, I would suggest students summarizes out loud to me or a peer what they just read. I have found this easier for kids to do in the beginning stages of comprehension over writing down a summary.
Mrs. Herndon

Module 3: Reading Reflection

Do you agree with Marilyn Adams (1990, p. 108) who argued that rather than relying on context, Skillful readers of English thoroughly process the individual letters of words in their texts? Why or why not?

From personal experience as a reader, from teaching reading, and after reading Weaver's text I do not agree with Adams. I think that poor readers try to process individual letters of words because they do not have enough skills and strategies to read using visual cues and context to gain meaning. It is said that they eye and the brain work together to perceive data. The eyes receive the data and our brain creates perceptions from the text we read. Skilled readers perceive only some  of the text and still gain meaning instead of each word and sound being identified. Proficient readers can read text with missing letters, and still gain meaning. The exercise on  pg. 91 where a story was given where the vowels were missing is a perfect example of being able to gain meaning from a text without processing individual letter sounds. The beginnings and ending of words are most important, and consonants play a more important role than vowels in word identification. A word can be identified by a proficient readers with missing parts. A story can be comprehending with missing letters in words as well. Poor readers would not be able to identify such type word with missing parts as well because they do not have the skills to pa attention to beginnings and ending of words. Fluent readers do not process words letter by letter  but rather by visual cues. Words can be recognized further away with small letters, where as small individual letters are harder to identify. Every individual letters in the English language also makes different sounds and blends which makes it difficult to say that skillful readers process individual letters sounds every time they read. Research has also suggested the children do not remember all phonics rules, but yet they become proficient readers and gain meaning from text.  I personally am not familiar with teaching phonics. I do not even recall being taught phonics in elementary school. I think that that proficient readers to do read rapidly, but not exact. There are many factors that impact a persons ability to read besides word identification. I believe readers read words to gain an overall understanding and meaning, but I think an overall meaning can only be gained according to individual schemas, learning abilities, experiences, knowledge, etc.

Module 2: Activity 1 & 2

Activity 1 & 2: Module 2

As stated in the text (Weaver, p.56) I used visual cues to try to determine the definitions for these nonsense words. I have no clue what they really mean. This was difficult to do as I had no context to help me gain meaning. I can see how giving students vocabulary words without context is not the best approach to learning new word meanings. Words in isolation are definitely harder to define. Even though I am sure I do not pronounce any of these words correctly, I could have still gotten more meaning seeing them in context.

Creech- reminds me of screech, so some sort of cry or scream

Droogs- dragging something

Glazzies- looking or gazing

Goloss- to lose something

Malenky- a blanket or cover of some sort

Messel- a disease

Millicents- some type of currency

Poogly- ugly or unattractive

Razrez- a razor or sharp object

Skorry- a story or tale

Spatted- to spit

Zoobies- a limb on the body

After reading the first section of A Clockwork Orange I was able to get meaning to a few of the words with the help of the context. The first sentence clearly shows that droogs mean friends, school mates, family members, or people because it lists people’s names. Messel is used in a sentence tht shows it means an idea or a thought. The book uses the word as someone thinking of something and realizing everything was in the past.  Goloss is used talking about a singer and the goloss moves from one place in the bar to another, so this leads me to believe it is the singers voice. “He looked a malenky bit poogly when he viddied the four of us like that, coming up so quiet and polite and smiling, but he said :”Yes? What is it?” This quote shows that malenky  means a little bit and poogly must mean scared or frightened from what I get from the context. I was completely off on the definition of razrez after reading this section. I gain that razrez means to take apart or tear something because it said the book was hard to razrez because it was made when things were made to last.

This was a very difficult text to read to me. I struggled through the entire thing. I found myself skipping words and sentences I didn’t understand and just kept on reading. My definitions of these words may still not be exact but I used all the context clues in the chapter to help me determine meaning.

When I encounter unknown words while I am reading, I often do attempt to figure out the meaning. I do not spend too long trying to figure this out however because I assume I will probably see the word again in the text and may be able to determine meaning depending on the context again. When I finish reading something if I feel like I must know the meaning of that word in order to get full understanding of the text as a whole, I will look up the word. As you can see from my previous attempt of defining the vocabulary words at the beginning of the words, I usually find myself defining a word based on other words that look similar to that word. I do take word parts into consideration when determining meaning as well like I did in the word razrez. I thought this looked similar to razor which is how I came up with my guess of the definition, however this did not work for finding meaning for this particular word.

Helping students with unfamiliar words is a challenge. I do not think there is any right or wrong way to teach this. Contrary to that statement I do not think when a student is learning to read that they should stop reading when they come to an unfamiliar word to look up the meaning from a reliable source. I think they should attempt to read a large portion of the text skipping words they don’t understand first before going back and figuring out the definitions. Sometimes they will find the more they read the text and see the words used again, they will be able to come up with the meaning. I also tell struggling students sometimes when they come to an unfamiliar word to try to replace it with another word that they think may mean the same or similar thing as the unfamiliar word. I have found this to be helpful sometimes, where as some cases the students do not even know where to begin with this process. A child’s age and reading level are huge factors when tackling this process. I do not think a very beginning reader should be exposed to text with as many unfamiliar words as a more proficient reader should.

Module 2: Instructional Challenge

Take a look at the following examples of children's dialect-based miscues while reading and the difference between the child's original response (OR) and expected response (ER). Then answer the questions that follow.

OR: It my little monkey here.	ER: Is my little monkey here?
OR: We got to tell.	ER: We've got to tell.
OR: Frog look at Toad calendar.	ER: Frog looked at Toad's calendar.
OR: A word what sounded good.	ER: A word that sounded good.
OR: hisself	ER: himself
OR: I can come to your party?	ER: Can I come to your party?

Are these children's miscues evidence of proficient or non-proficient reading? Explain. If you were teaching children who made these miscues, what, if any, assistance or teaching would you offer?

I do not feel like these children's miscues are evidence of either a proficient or non-proficient reader. I think these miscues show an emerging reader. Language and dialect have a huge influence on the way a person reads, writes, and interprets text. I think this is especially evident when considering how my English language has so many "slang" terms and to a person who isn't proficient in English may struggle with these types of terms and sayings. I do not however, think that a persons dialect and language can hinder them from gaining meaning from text. I see the ability to code switch and translate are an advantage. Language patterns vary and a persons ability to convey their meaning through writing and reading varies as well. Again, I do not see how there is any "exact" method for reading, writing, speaking, etc. If I were teaching these children who made these miscues I would give assistance based on the grade level and level reader I am working with. A struggling reader I feel like needs to build confidence and while making these miscues, I do not feel like I would bring that to their attention. I do not feel like it would benefit them in any way. I think that as a reader progresses and becomes a more proficient reader is when correction becomes more pertinent.  When children speak and write it is often a reflection of their thoughts and understandings.  So I think that taking all factors that may have an impact of their learning into consideration is important when giving feedback. I know that grammar is important but I feel like it develops with age, and I do not expect any of my students to write, speak, or read without errors.

Module 2: Reading Reflection

After reading Chapters 3 and 4, return to the quote from Harper and Kilarr on p. 41. Respond to this quote on your blog, saying whether you agree or disagree and explain why or why not using ample evidence from the text to support your assertions.

"The major folklore of reading instruction relates to the "theory" that reading is considered an exact process.  In other words, the reader is expected to read everything exactly as printed on the page in order to understand the message of the author.  In general the consuming public, legislatures, courts, and too many educators hold this to theory.  it is like the theory of the world being flat during the time of Columbus" -- Robert Harper and Gary Kilarr

 I do not agree with this quote even the slightest.  I do not think there is one reader in the world who reads everything exactly as printed in the correct order and comprehends exactly what the author tried to convey.  I personally do not ever read anything EXACTLY as printed, and I usually have no problem comprehending the text I read. I have never met an educator who convinced me that they believe this to be true as well. I would be interested to do some research to see who perceives reading like this and what evidence they have to back up this theory. Reading chapters 3 and 4 clearly confirmed my interpretation of reading, which in return does not support this theory at all. I believe reading is on going process that gets better the more you do it. Although I have been reading for many years, I have never thought that I had to read exact. I was always taught different techniques and strategies that help me read quicker, while still comprehending the text. For instance, skimming a passage is something readers do. By skimming a text, I do not feel that is a "wrong" way to read. Comprehension and understanding can still be accomplished through this process, as well as many others.

 (Weaver, 2002, p. 44) states that whether or not words are pronounced correctly, the reader can still get essential meaning from the text. This supports my opinion exactly. Not one reader can pronounce every word exactly as stated. I still have difficult pronouncing certain words, but this does not impact whether or not I gain meaning from the text. We as readers have the ability to use everything we know to understanding unfamiliar words in context which enables us to learn new vocabulary (Weaver, 2002, p. 45). This to me shows how reading expands our vocabulary which is a natural process that helps us become better readers. The theory that readers should read exactly as printed to me means that everyone should know the meaning and how to pronounce every single word in their language before attempting to read a text and gain meaning. This is ridiculous to me. Readers use context within sentences to help get them through text, which makes perfect sense of how we learn as we go.  A reader could not be able to pronounce a number of words in a text, but would still gain meaning by the help of graphs, pictures, context clues, sentence construction, etc. If we were to teach reading as an exact process, then not all people would succeed at reading considering our different cultures, schemas, abilities, etc.

In chapter 4 when reading about miscues so many points were made about readers that I have not even actually thought about before. The fact that I often substitute words, omit words, and even insert words in text when reading shows that I read to gain meaning instead of being worried about reading words exactly as printed. According to the exact process of reading theory this would be an error in reading. I disagree completely.  The goal of teaching reading should not be to accurately pronounce every word, but it should be the effective and efficient use of reading strategies in order to gain meaning (Weaver, 2002, p.71). I do not word identification and pronunciation takes precedence over reading for meaning. A person could have the ability to accurately read every word and have no clue as to what they have read. This happens everyday. Some people refer to this as "daydreaming" which happens even when people read. They have read the text accurately and fluently, but have no comprehension of the text at all.

Module 1: Activity 2

Complete Exercise #5 on p. 39 by reading the passage and answering questions a-g that follow it.

A.      What is corandic?

          A corandic is an emrient grof with many fribs.

B.       What does corandic grank from?

          From corite, an olg with cargs like lange.

C.       How do garkers excarp the tarances from the corite?

           By glarcking the corite and starping it in tranker-clarped storbs,

D.       What does the slorp finally frast?

           The slorp is garped through several other corusces, finally frasting a pragety, blickant crankle,                                 coranda.

E.        What is coranda?

            A cargurt, grinkling corandic and borigen.

F.         How is the corandic nacerated from the borigen?

           By means of loracity.

G.        What do the garkers finally thrap?

            A glick, bracht, glupous grapant, corandic, which granks in many starps,

First off I want to say that this was one of the most challenging exercises I have ever done revolving around reading and literacy. I read this passage over and over and tried to make meaning of what it was saying, but I never could. In order to answer the questions, I simply had to go find each word in the passage from the question and copy what followed in order to answer the question. I can see how children on standardized tests and workbooks are lost when reading a text that means nothing to them. I clearly had no background knowledge of anything from this passage, therefore I could not even begin to make sense of what the passage was conveying. Children are given passages all the time where they have no background knowledge of anything in the passage and also can't pronounce half of the words as well. I could not pronounce any of the words hardly in this passage which made it very difficult to read. I see how giving children texts that do not match their schemas can help benefit them, but only have mastering passages that they can read and understand. After reading this I can see how children would give up reading and begin guessing at answers on a test or worksheet. There is no benefit in reading a random passage and recalling information by going back and looking in the text for the answers. This must be very frustrating for children especially when they are beginning and emerging readers.

 

Module 1: Activity 1

Module 1: Instructional Challenge

Hocked gems financing him, our hero defied the scornful laughter. Think of it as an egg, not a table, he said. Then three sturdy sisters sought proof, forging over vast calmness, and sometimes over turbulent peaks and valleys, until at last welcome winged creatures appeared, signifying monumental success.

1. What are the hocked gems?

I think of the hocked gems as being something precious to someone that has value. I feel as though this is something a person is having to either give up or something that someone wants and has to go to extreme measure to get.

2. What should we think of as an egg and not a table?

I feel like this is saying that things in life are sometimes of great value and sometimes these things are of little value. I feel like the "egg" are things that we may want but do not necessarily  need. A table I feel is in reference to things that are more meaningful in life and have more value.

3. Who are the three sturdy sisters?

The three sturdy sisters to me signify a support group of some sort reassuring us of things that matter in times of trouble and things to not worry about as well. I feel like the three sisters are also there to help us stay calm through the storms in life.

4. What kind of winged creatures appeared?

I view the winged creature as some sort of bird or flying thing that comes in times of need to bring us peace. I thought of a dove to be specific coming to remind us that there is always hope no matter what.

I believe that children should be exposed to literature that they do not always understand and relate with. I feel like this helps children be able to expand their knowledge of greater things by coming out of their comfort zone. I do not think children should spend more time in texts that do not match their interests than they do reading text that do interest them. I think if children spend more time in text that do interest them, then that will create confidence in them  to where they are able to read more out of their comfort zone text.

Module 1: Reading Reflection

  After reading the first 2 chapters concerning 2 different approaches to reading, I am confident that the comprehensive approach is the most beneficial to students. I believe that this approach helps readers at a young age develop into proficient, accurate, fluent readers in life. However, I can see how the skills approach does benefit students in certain areas. I believe that a phonics base does benefit students and helps them become better readers. I think the ability to decode words and sounds will in the long run help a person become a better reader. I was enlightened when I read that a teachers belief of the purpose of reading has a major influence on how developing readers evolve.

   A skills based approach to reading simply requires a developing reader to decode words using phonics skills. I can see how using to help develop language skills that will in the long run help develop a better reader. I can see how giving children books that consists of the basic words and use repetition abundantly can help a child get into the routine of reading basic sentences. After reading the different dialogues of students being asked how they read texts, I can however see how some sounds out words and others skip them. I believe that having a strong phonemic background can be an advantage for children as they build their knowledge of reading. On the other hand, I still feel as though the comprehensive approach to reading has a stronger advantage to building a proficient reader. 

   The comprehensive approach is geared more towards reading for meaning and using all of your knowledge to accomplish reading. I strongly agree that reading something of interest and something that you can relate to helps. I enjoyed reading how writing can be related to a better reader in this approach. Reading a variety of texts through this approach such as poems, magazines, songs, recipes, etc., can help a reader see that reading does not only take place in a school setting from a textbook with informational text. 

  Overall I am astonished at the different approaches to teaching reading. I never understood how a teachers belief and approach to reading is many times the major influence of how students view reading. I as an educator want to make sure that I approach my class in a way that views reading as not only a major building block for life, but also as an enjoyable escape into a way of expressing oneself.

  

Personal model of the theory of reading

  Reading has always been a struggle for me. As a young learner, I hated reading over any other subject in school. I had to work extra hard when it came to reading and comprehending what I had read. I would always find myself reading a book and then getting to the end and not having a clue what I had read. I feel as though this was mainly because as a student I was never given the option to choose what I read.

  As I entered high school and college my view of reading became different from the past. My high school literature teacher gave the students options for novels that we read. I remember the first book that I ever read that grabbed my attention was "To Kill a Mockingbird." From this point forward I found that reading was something I could actually enjoy and wouldn't mind doing in my personal time. I wish my teacher in high school knew what she taught me not only about reading, but the personal connections you can make with a writing.

  As I made my way through college and began taking reading courses, I realized so many different things. Although I knew that I always wanted to be teacher, I worried about teaching reading to elementary age children since it was such a struggle for me. Reading could actually be made "fun" instead of boring. I believe that making a comfortable environment is key to being successful when reading. For a non-reader, I believe that having a safe environment where the student doesn't feel ashamed to make mistakes is important. I also realize that reading doesn't just take place out of a text book. 

  When I became a teacher I am sure you can guess what my number one goal was for teaching reading effectively in my classroom, MAKING READING FUN! I have a classroom with many below grade level readers each year. Many of them come to me feeling as though they hate reading, which I can totally relate. From the beginning of school, all of my students get "book boxes" which is where they keep all of their books. I encourage each of them to choose 2 books that interest them and are on their level, as well as 1 book that is a bit of a challenge. I have implemented CAFE and Daily 5 this past year in my classroom. Doing this helped my students with reading and literacy in many ways. My students have a choice every day as to what they are going to read and each of them has a set day a week to meet with me and conference about what they are reading. I can't tell you how excited they are to see me on their special day. They get so excited about the individual time with me, that they forget they are talking about reading comprehension, fluency, accuracy, and expanding their vocabulary.

  Overall, I have a deep compassion for teaching students reading in my classroom. I believe reading should be something everyone feels confident doing whether it be to themselves, out loud, giving a presentation, etc.  I have seen from my personal experience in the classroom as a teacher how students gain confidence and learn to love reading. I do group reading as a whole class or small group so that some of the lower level readers can hear other proficient readers. I believe reading aloud to my students daily also helped them hear how a fluent reader sounds with expression and emotion. I have grown to love teaching reading so much that I believe I could do it all day long, everyday, and never get worn out!