Reading Part 1: LE 1
Summer 2015
LE 1: Curriculum and Reading
Because I have two sections of Reading Part 1, I've shared ideas from both in this Smore. So if you don't recognize some of the ideas here, that's why!
Effective Instruction in Reading
Last summer I was teaching a Remedial Summer Literacy program for Grade 7 students in which they earn 0.5 of a credit towards high school. The two-week session flies by and I found it difficult to assess students on learning skills such as self-regulation, organization, collaboration etc. in a short 10 day period. Consequently, I decided to explicitly teach and discuss what each of these learning skills looked like, sounded like, and was not in a simple graffiti activity. More than half of my Grade 7 class were unaware of what these learning skills meant and they had been in our schooling system for nine years. At the end of the session, students were able to self-assess and explain their reasoning, and I used these self-assessments to guide their learning skills marks. Although this example does not directly relate to reading, I believe the same strategies can be used in a literacy block. For example, I am always telling my students to make sure they ask questions while reading to monitor their comprehension, but I have never explicitly taught my students how to structure a question while reading. This is one of my goals for the summer reading program!
This infographic came up in a discussion. . .
Reading for Meaning
Shared by Nancy. . .
Cueing Systems
Resources shared through posts
Voice Threads
How you can use VoiceThread (your ideas)
- I might record myself reading a mentor text so that all students could have access to the text and go back and listen to me reading it instead of having the one-shot deal where I read a text at the front of the classroom and I only have one copy of the book. I might also use this for students who are on a modified program and have difficulty articulating their comprehension on paper. They could create slides with quotes/direct proof from the text and discuss it orally versus writing an essay/paragraph style answer.
- VT is great way for a whole class to collaborate on one project as is illustrated in the selection I chose to share. Each student was able to contribute to one final product
- I really try to try to involve parents in our community of learning. I think this would be a great tool to share what is happening in the classroom with families at home.
- ELL vocab building - I could have pictures of different items that may come up in a story and have ELL students listen to the VoiceThread to become familiar with the pronunciation of the new items so that when they come across it in the text, they will have seen and heard the word before.
- Many parents ask for work for their students when they go on a week long trip, or if they are missing school for a lengthy amount of time. This could be a great way for the student to stay involved in the classroom!
- It would be a wonderful way to make students' thinking visible and to document their thinking (I am thinking about how this could be used in Kindergarten for sure!) It would also be a wonderful way to share what students are doing in class with admin, other classes, and their parents or guardians.
- Students can practice fluency and expression. Students viewing the story will learn high-frequency words through repetition.
- In literature circles, I could have students recording their ideas on VoiceThreads when I'm not sitting with their group that day. This would allow me to monitor their discussions, and provide a way for students to go back and revisit their ideas.
- I think it would be really neat to use VT to record the inquiry process as a way to share with parents what is happening in the classroom, especially since reading and writing skills are still in the very beginning stages of development for FDK students. The VT could start by students recording their questions, it could show students working to find answers, and experimenting with different materials, and it could end with students sharing what they have learned. It would be a great addition to the oral language program as well.
- A VT could be a great addition to an online class newsletter or website including snippets of what is happening around the classroom (rather than it being all written text for the parent/guardian to read).
- I would use a voice thread at the beginning of the school year to introduce myself and to show parents around the classroom their children will be in all school year.