I've seen literacy incorporated in my placement in a few ways. First, I often see the students engaging in Silent Reading for ten minutes after lunch. They're allowed to pick any book of their liking, but must use the designated time to read and read only (this is sometimes hard for the students since they are in second grade and easily distracted.) The fact that students are able to choose what book they read at this time seems to really help their motivation. Second, I've assisted my class when they take trips to the computer lab where they often use a specific educational website. This website offers students lessons, pre-assessments, post-assessments, games, and more. This reminds me of literacy because our textbook stated that "teaching students how to read and write online has become a priority so that they can become literate in today's digital world" and students are gaining experience in this area each and every time they use this website. Third, I've seen my students do a few writing assignments where my teacher will pick an emotion, describe what the emotion is, and then have students write about a time where they felt that emotion. Afterwards, my teacher picks volunteers who would like their story to be read aloud to the class. This seems to work very well with the students because many are eager to share their stories with others; therefore, they put forth a lot of effort when writing their stories.
After reading the articles, there are a few additions or alternatives I would incorporate. To begin with, I have seen my teacher read a story to the students, but I have not seen the reading session incorporate open ended questions. Most of the time, she asks questions with one right answer simply to make sure that the students are paying attention. Though there is nothing wrong with keeping the students focus, the Langer article states that using open ended questions during literature will make students much more engaged. On top of that, the Triplett jigsaw aritcle stated that struggling readers actually enjoyed open ended questions that turned into discussions. These discussions not only kept them motivated to overcome their struggle with reading, but they drastically improved their comprehension as well. Furthermore, after reading the Hassett & Curwood article, I definitely want to include multimodal literacy into the classroom. In this type of literacy, children can infer meaning not only through words itself, but also through color, font styles, and more. It is important that students practice doing this since so much of our literacy today is multimodal compared to what was commonly used in the past.
Does your teacher read her own book during the children's silent reading time or does she do other things? I think that she should sent those few minutes to model reading a book that she finds interesting so that the children can see that reading for fun is something you can do no matter how old or young you are.
ReplyDeleteI think having the children really discuss the readings by asking them open-ended questions would get the children engaged. I wonder if the children would be able to start a conversation and keep it going with little or no support from the teacher. I know my class of kindergartener's would struggle with having a conversation as a whole class but your second graders may be able to handle that. I think that she should try letting the children lead conversations in small groups first.
I think you are on a roll when talking about how important it is to ask open ended questions. I think it is important to ask those questions because they can start a discussion and encourage struggling readers, like you said. I also think that open ended questions are benificial to the teacher in making sure that the students are not only focusing on the book, but also comprehending it. Yes, if they are listening they can tell you the characters name, but only if they are comprehending the story will they be able to tell you how that character is feeling/doing.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I also thought it would be great to have your students write about an intertextual experience they had when writing about their emotions. For example, they could talk about how they were angry they were not alloud to sit in the front seat of a car and connect it to Pigeon not being allowed to ride the bus. This could be a creative way to get students to connect what they are reading to their lives. You could also reccomend a book where a character goes through a similar situation and they could read that in silent reading. I think if you have a student going experiencing strong emotions or tough problems, it could be really helpful to them to read about a character experiencing the same things and learning from how they react to it.