1)Throughout the semester we looked at a number of assessment principles and practices to be used to create and motivate learners to be lifelong readers. By understanding our students prior knowledge, culture, and learning style we can ensure that our students are being taught in a way that creates connections and strategies that will be used to excel in their literary knowledge and skills. The assessments that were taught and applied this semester showed us as preservice teachers how to learn about our students in a variety of ways to get a well rounded picture of where they each place and the difficulties in which they need further development and support through a variety of well thought activities learned throughout our previous semesters.
2)There were a number of articles that were examined throughout the semester including an interesting article on comprehension and fluency which both covered the importance of early childhood literacy. It is so important to engage children at a young age to create a love of language and reading and to begin a level of phonemic awareness that is critical in becoming successful students and readers once they enter the school system. The "Fourth Grade Slump" is a critical fact, once children fall behind it becomes challenging to catching up. It is so important for teachers, especially now with NCLB to ensure they are assessing their students properly to avoid putting a student in a position where they are not performing at grade level and moving on while becoming frustrated and unmotivated. Fluency is another important factor and goal in comprehension practices. The more fluent our students are the stronger their ability to comprehend and free up memory. By building on our students fluency and vocabulary and by helping them drive their connections they will be able to comprehend and become motivated learners. RTI is an important new method of response. In some cases where assessments show a lack of progress students may need a deeper level of intervention with greater services and attention. It is critical that teachers are capable of assessing these conditions and meeting the needs of their students before they approach any serious slump. There is a large responsibility on our part to ensure our student are being assessed properly for obvious reasons that need to be accounted for and taken serious.
3)As I look into the future, I will ensure that I look at each student as an individual and ensure each student is evaluated from a number of perspectives, including culture, prior knowledge and motivation. I feel it is important to assess children using a number of different strategies and assessments to get a good idea on how to best teach and motivate my students and ensure they are receiving the services they deserve.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Reminder - things to read on my BLOG
Please make sure to scroll all the way down to read my weekly updates posted as comments under:
Case Study - Read My Weekly Status Here
Monday, March 22, 2010
Fluency Summary and Links
Fluency is the ability to read text accurately and quickly and bridges word decoding and comprehension. While comprehension is understanding what has been read, fluency is a set of skills that allows readers to rapidly decode text while maintaining high comprehension.
There are a number of instructional activities to strengthen fluency in the classroom including assisted reading, echo reading, paired reading, partner reading, structured repeated reading, choral reading, reader’s theater, and radio reading. As teachers we need to foster a love for reading as the only way to really have students conquer fluency is to continue to enjoy reading at home as ardent readers. The more they read, the more successful they will become. Practice, practice, practice, except they need to see the pleasure “jouissance” in reading.
As a teacher, it is our role to find specific strategies to assist less fluent readers by determining their reading rate and providing ongoing assessment and intervention as needed and described above. These assessments need to be constant, especially at a young age as children will become faster and more confident readers if we guide them while they are young.
We most also remember that reading can be very intimidating, especially for those who have entered Grade K with no schooling and very little prior experience in comparison to their peers. It’s important to remain sensitive and observant to each child’s needs and create confident students that can participate in class activities and learn in a safe environment that encourages everyone to learn and read.
Fluency Links:
http://www.professorgarfield.org/parents_teachers/links/fluency_links.html
http://www.time4learning.com/readingpyramid/fluency.htm
http://www.meadowscenter.org/vgc/3Tier/components/fluency_activities.asp
http://www.ldonline.org/article/6354
http://www.pbs.org/launchingreaders/fluentreading/helpfularticles_1.html
There are a number of instructional activities to strengthen fluency in the classroom including assisted reading, echo reading, paired reading, partner reading, structured repeated reading, choral reading, reader’s theater, and radio reading. As teachers we need to foster a love for reading as the only way to really have students conquer fluency is to continue to enjoy reading at home as ardent readers. The more they read, the more successful they will become. Practice, practice, practice, except they need to see the pleasure “jouissance” in reading.
As a teacher, it is our role to find specific strategies to assist less fluent readers by determining their reading rate and providing ongoing assessment and intervention as needed and described above. These assessments need to be constant, especially at a young age as children will become faster and more confident readers if we guide them while they are young.
We most also remember that reading can be very intimidating, especially for those who have entered Grade K with no schooling and very little prior experience in comparison to their peers. It’s important to remain sensitive and observant to each child’s needs and create confident students that can participate in class activities and learn in a safe environment that encourages everyone to learn and read.
Fluency Links:
http://www.professorgarfield.org/parents_teachers/links/fluency_links.html
http://www.time4learning.com/readingpyramid/fluency.htm
http://www.meadowscenter.org/vgc/3Tier/components/fluency_activities.asp
http://www.ldonline.org/article/6354
http://www.pbs.org/launchingreaders/fluentreading/helpfularticles_1.html
Reading Comprehension Article
This supposed “fourth grade slump” is interesting as there are definite indicators as to when children either get it or they don’t and similar studies with different subjects such as math in young girls who lose interest in 5th grade. With research like these we know that early intervention plays a critical role and elementary school teachers have a great responsibility when it comes to assessment and providing the appropriate instructional strategies.
The article indicates a valuable piece of information that the reading tests make comprehension gap seem much greater in fourth grade because the tests used in earlier grade are heavily focused on early reading skills and not vocabulary. Comprehension is an area we need to pay close attention to as we develop fluent readers.
When you become a fluent reader you mind has more room to learn and concentrate on comprehension. In turn, the more you free your brain space up, the more vocabulary you learn and so on. We need to build consistency with that development at a young age. Unfortunately research consistently shows how hard this is for low income children who do not have the access or environment to develop or continue their learning at home and therefore school is very important.
An interesting fact I liked was that “children who can sound out nonsense words quickly and accurately ha mastered the decoding process and is on the road to freeing up her working memory to concentrate on comprehension of meaning”. This goes to show you that books should always be fun for children. Exposure to different books is important as is domain knowledge, also known to us as prior knowledge.
Each article emphasizes the same key concepts, which clearly indicates to me that we need to use this knowledge to offer the best research based strategies for our students.
The article indicates a valuable piece of information that the reading tests make comprehension gap seem much greater in fourth grade because the tests used in earlier grade are heavily focused on early reading skills and not vocabulary. Comprehension is an area we need to pay close attention to as we develop fluent readers.
When you become a fluent reader you mind has more room to learn and concentrate on comprehension. In turn, the more you free your brain space up, the more vocabulary you learn and so on. We need to build consistency with that development at a young age. Unfortunately research consistently shows how hard this is for low income children who do not have the access or environment to develop or continue their learning at home and therefore school is very important.
An interesting fact I liked was that “children who can sound out nonsense words quickly and accurately ha mastered the decoding process and is on the road to freeing up her working memory to concentrate on comprehension of meaning”. This goes to show you that books should always be fun for children. Exposure to different books is important as is domain knowledge, also known to us as prior knowledge.
Each article emphasizes the same key concepts, which clearly indicates to me that we need to use this knowledge to offer the best research based strategies for our students.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Week 5 ELL Book Project Update
Book Project Update:
1. According to the SOLOM Matrix my student's Comprehension measured a 4, Fluency measured a 2 in class and a 4 in her ESL class, Vocabulary measured a 4, Pronunciation measured a 3 and Grammar measured a 3. On the Limited English Proficient/English Language Learners Observation Rubric my student measured at the Mid Intermediate level for Listening, Low Intermediate level for Speaking, High Beginning level for Reading, and High Beginning level for Writing. Her reading and writing levels were included in Week 4.
2. The book we have decided to use was "To The Beach" by Thomas Doherty, author and illustrator. My cooperating teacher calls this a mentor text method. The book has a beginning, middle and end. Our prompts will be: If you could go anywhere where would you go? What would you bring and How would you get there?
Today-we read the book and talked about what they observed and predicted.
We asked them to think of where they would go as a take away thought.
Next-we plan to do a graphic organizer and do another read aloud without stopping.
The cooperating teacher wants to work with them on a collage book and I will supply Lulu publication and link for teacher to post on her site. She expressed concerns that the illustrations can take long so we will use kidspiration or cut outs. We estimate 6 weeks upon completion and she would like to have all finished products by May 12.
1. According to the SOLOM Matrix my student's Comprehension measured a 4, Fluency measured a 2 in class and a 4 in her ESL class, Vocabulary measured a 4, Pronunciation measured a 3 and Grammar measured a 3. On the Limited English Proficient/English Language Learners Observation Rubric my student measured at the Mid Intermediate level for Listening, Low Intermediate level for Speaking, High Beginning level for Reading, and High Beginning level for Writing. Her reading and writing levels were included in Week 4.
2. The book we have decided to use was "To The Beach" by Thomas Doherty, author and illustrator. My cooperating teacher calls this a mentor text method. The book has a beginning, middle and end. Our prompts will be: If you could go anywhere where would you go? What would you bring and How would you get there?
Today-we read the book and talked about what they observed and predicted.
We asked them to think of where they would go as a take away thought.
Next-we plan to do a graphic organizer and do another read aloud without stopping.
The cooperating teacher wants to work with them on a collage book and I will supply Lulu publication and link for teacher to post on her site. She expressed concerns that the illustrations can take long so we will use kidspiration or cut outs. We estimate 6 weeks upon completion and she would like to have all finished products by May 12.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Week 4 Types of Assessments
After speaking with my cooperating teacher regarding assessment she informed me that due to the fact they receive so much assessment in class via DRAs (3x a year) she really tries not to over do it in her sessions with them as they need motivation and time to express themselves without being judged.
The ESL teacher is also going to need to begin preparing them for their annual NYSESLAT test in Spring which consists of 4 modules.
She did express that she does informal assessments using Dolch site words and constantly changes them. Ms. Miniero stated, "The more site words they know the more space frees up in their brains to learn and comprehend more."
The ESL teacher was hired by the state and goes back and forth between two schools. She sees her students 5x a week.
The girl I am observing is in 2nd grade. Her name is Shelley and she is first generation. There is no English spoken in the home and her parents have very little involvement. She is very outgoing in her ESL instruction but I am told in class she is mute and barely speaks a word to the teacher. She is identified as slightly mute.
She is rated a level 12 based on her last school assessment and should be a 24, reading chapter books at Level L. She is reading with comprehension at this point at midgrade 1. According to Fountas & Pinnell she is at a level G.
The day's lesson consisted of a writing workshop using I am not, and they filled in the blank with an animal word or another word from their recent word list. They also had a chance to write in their weekly journal which is targeted to their parents on what they enjoyed and learned in school that week. It appeared that Shelley really enjoyed that and is making great strides in her writing.
The ESL teacher is also going to need to begin preparing them for their annual NYSESLAT test in Spring which consists of 4 modules.
She did express that she does informal assessments using Dolch site words and constantly changes them. Ms. Miniero stated, "The more site words they know the more space frees up in their brains to learn and comprehend more."
The ESL teacher was hired by the state and goes back and forth between two schools. She sees her students 5x a week.
The girl I am observing is in 2nd grade. Her name is Shelley and she is first generation. There is no English spoken in the home and her parents have very little involvement. She is very outgoing in her ESL instruction but I am told in class she is mute and barely speaks a word to the teacher. She is identified as slightly mute.
She is rated a level 12 based on her last school assessment and should be a 24, reading chapter books at Level L. She is reading with comprehension at this point at midgrade 1. According to Fountas & Pinnell she is at a level G.
The day's lesson consisted of a writing workshop using I am not, and they filled in the blank with an animal word or another word from their recent word list. They also had a chance to write in their weekly journal which is targeted to their parents on what they enjoyed and learned in school that week. It appeared that Shelley really enjoyed that and is making great strides in her writing.
Week 3 Challenges encountered
I met and spoke with my cooperating teacher on Friday 2/12. She is keen on the project but will need to present it to the principle and review it over the break so I won't see her til next Friday.
According to Phyllis Hunter, a nationally recognized educational consultant in reading, reading is “the new civil right.” Literacy is the key that allows us to access our rights as Americans, including the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Week 2 ELL Questions
What is your experience in terms of working or friends with people from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds? I am first generation, my parents are from Italy and therefore I entered the school system speaking very broken English and was placed in ESL for a few years. I have friends from a number of cultural backgrounds and appreciate there are many challenges for teachers when presented with learners of various abilities.
I had the opportunity to observe an ELL student in the fall of 2009 and witnessed many obstacles from a student perspective and teacher perspective. There are many instructional strategies being used with ELL students that have proven to be very successful, no different then the strategies that are utilized for many other learning needs. The most important factor rests on the instructor as it is the instructor’s responsibility to understand their student’s needs and what will suit them best. In some cases the social acclimation of the student plays a major role in the student’s success. If we can provide ELL student the support to develop a strong self efficacy to learn English then they will succeed. It is also important to engage their parents to reinforce the work and support they need at home.
Do you have experience in working with ELLs? Yes, myself and previous student observations.
Do you have experience in teaching ELLs? No
What is your perception on ELLs in terms of their learning motivation and performance in general and in reading and writing specially? Like any child they are eager to learn. Self efficacy plays a large role in their success and it is very important that teachers accept ELL student’s culture and embrace it into the classroom in a way that they are seen as an added value and feel comfortable making mistakes and meeting the language challenges.
What learning difficulties do ELLs usually encounter in schools? ELL students face many challenges from fitting in socially to keeping up with the rest of the class.
In your observation, how do classroom teachers resolve ELLs’ learning difficulties and improve their learning motivation? Teachers utilize similar techniques with guided reading, read alouds using books that the ELL student might relate to enrich the class on different cultures and engage the ELL student so they feel part of the class.
What strategies do they often adopt? See above. In addition cooperative group work so they may learn from their peers who may know the language or be able to help.
Are these strategies effective? Yes
Are you familiar with these strategies? Yes, very. Every class I have observed utilizes these strategies
Are family and community involved? Not that I can really witness. Providing pointers to family on how they can help is very helpful.
What intervention strategies would you adopt if you have ELLs in your class? RTI, running records, solom.
How do you go about teaching the child? Based on their difficulty I would try to keep the student in the class and work with them during center time for guided reading work. If I had the budget I would provide a speech to text translation program in class as an assistive technology piece they can use when appropriate.
How do you go about reaching out to the family and the community?
I had the opportunity to observe an ELL student in the fall of 2009 and witnessed many obstacles from a student perspective and teacher perspective. There are many instructional strategies being used with ELL students that have proven to be very successful, no different then the strategies that are utilized for many other learning needs. The most important factor rests on the instructor as it is the instructor’s responsibility to understand their student’s needs and what will suit them best. In some cases the social acclimation of the student plays a major role in the student’s success. If we can provide ELL student the support to develop a strong self efficacy to learn English then they will succeed. It is also important to engage their parents to reinforce the work and support they need at home.
Do you have experience in working with ELLs? Yes, myself and previous student observations.
Do you have experience in teaching ELLs? No
What is your perception on ELLs in terms of their learning motivation and performance in general and in reading and writing specially? Like any child they are eager to learn. Self efficacy plays a large role in their success and it is very important that teachers accept ELL student’s culture and embrace it into the classroom in a way that they are seen as an added value and feel comfortable making mistakes and meeting the language challenges.
What learning difficulties do ELLs usually encounter in schools? ELL students face many challenges from fitting in socially to keeping up with the rest of the class.
In your observation, how do classroom teachers resolve ELLs’ learning difficulties and improve their learning motivation? Teachers utilize similar techniques with guided reading, read alouds using books that the ELL student might relate to enrich the class on different cultures and engage the ELL student so they feel part of the class.
What strategies do they often adopt? See above. In addition cooperative group work so they may learn from their peers who may know the language or be able to help.
Are these strategies effective? Yes
Are you familiar with these strategies? Yes, very. Every class I have observed utilizes these strategies
Are family and community involved? Not that I can really witness. Providing pointers to family on how they can help is very helpful.
What intervention strategies would you adopt if you have ELLs in your class? RTI, running records, solom.
How do you go about teaching the child? Based on their difficulty I would try to keep the student in the class and work with them during center time for guided reading work. If I had the budget I would provide a speech to text translation program in class as an assistive technology piece they can use when appropriate.
How do you go about reaching out to the family and the community?
Case Study - Read My Weekly Status Here
My name is Cristina Spathis. Welcome to the comment section of my weekly observation blog! I am observing a second Grade ESL student who's first language is Spanish. Her parents are from Mexico and she has a twin brother who is also in the program. Only spanish is spoken at home. For our book project we are using "To the Beach" by Thomas Doherty as our inspiration. My student is going to write a book titled "To the Library". Read this section to learn more about my weekly progress!
About me
I am a Childhood Education Graduate currently taking EDLI 636 at NYIT, Old Westbury. I will be student teaching in the Fall of 2010 and look forward to having my own classroom one day. I too entered the school system as an ESL student. I can definitely imagine what these students experience is like and hope they develop the confidence that I eventually did.
About me
I am a Childhood Education Graduate currently taking EDLI 636 at NYIT, Old Westbury. I will be student teaching in the Fall of 2010 and look forward to having my own classroom one day. I too entered the school system as an ESL student. I can definitely imagine what these students experience is like and hope they develop the confidence that I eventually did.
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