All readers, Ch.5, Ch. 10

        In class last week we modeled strategies with Big books and I really enjoyed it. I think it's a great way to teach kids to remember the strategies and eventually be able to use them on their own. It's definitely a good way to make things fun but a learning experience at the same time. It was kind of like a game guessing what words were behind the tape and children always enjoy games. I will for sure use this in my future classroom.
       The reading talked about how we need both traditional read-aloud and interactive read-aloud in our classrooms. A traditional read-aloud is just for fun which kids always need in a busy school day. And interactive is for modeling a strategy and engaging the reader before, after and during the story. I think teaching kids that reading can be for fun and for learning purposes will be beneficial to them, we have to teach them to love to read. I also loved how the reading suggested that kids had their own book boxes or bags that were filled with books that were of the appropriate level. This will maximize the amount of reading the kids can do because they aren't wasting time choosing a book. And it will allow the teacher to keep track of what level each of her students are.
       All teachers need to realize that students come into the classroom at all different reading levels. Some children don't even get read to prior to schooling and some get read to every night. It all depends on how involved the parents were in teaching their children the basics before going to school. Whenever I am babysitting it always makes me happy to hear the kids ask to read a book before bed like mommy always does. They even often argue about what book they want to read, then they climb onto my lap and listen intently. I love it because books are wonderful and these kids know that prior to going to school. I was always read to at night and during the day too, I think it's a sign of great parenting.

"Beyond Sound it out" Ch. 4 Catching readers

         I often get the opportunity to work with children on their reading while I am at work. We have what's called power half our where they do thirty minutes of homework, reading or writing. Whenever I am reading with a student and they get stuck on a word my initial response is always "sound it out." After reading this chapter I was worried that I had been steering these children in the wrong direction because the reading said that isn't the best response. Sometimes words don't follow the phonetic rules so sounding the words out isn't always an option, this is true for words such as knight, said and know. I don't necessarily think that sounding words out is a bad strategy, however, it can't be the only one that children are taught. The English language would be a lot easier if all words followed the common phonetic rules, however, that's just not the case.
       This chapter talked about how kids sometimes relied too heavily on phonetic knowledge and I see this in a lot of kids that I work with. They look at a word and sound out the first few letters and they guess what the rest of the word is. Majority of the time the word that they guess isn't correct and it doesn't fit with the context of the sentence. I usually tell the child to go back and see if the word makes sense. I am also a big fan of telling beginner readers to read with their fingers. It does slow down the process but it helps them until they become stronger readers. I love that the book said that we don't want to get students through a certain book, we want to teach them skills that they can use on any book.
       I really enjoyed reading this chapter because I know the information is beneficial to not only my future teaching career but right now with the kids I work with. Reading is such an important skill to have and I want to be confident that I can successfully transform my students into really strong readers.

Catching readers Ch.1-3

           In class we were given an article to read and were asked to take notes in the margins about what we were reading. I read the article the first time and had no idea what I was reading about and there was nothing written in my margins. I read it a second time and still had no idea what the article was about. I started glancing around the room to see if my classmates had written in the margins or had a confused look on their faces. Finally our professor told us to stop reading and discuss the article with the people sitting around us. Man, was I relieved when they told me they had no idea what the article said either. Turns out we were purposely given an article that was way over our heads. In that moment I found out what it meant to be a struggling reader.
           Struggling readers don't always have the same experience that I had. They are constantly comparing themselves with their classmates and wondering why they can't read at the same level. They don't always get the satisfaction that I did when I found out that no one else understood the article either. I loved this exercise because I got a chance to put myself into a struggling readers shoes and know exactly how they feel on a daily basis. I did an exercise similar to this in a math class that I took, we had to learn base 7 instead of base 10. We had to relearn how to add, subtract, multiply and divide all over again in a different way. I think exercises like this are very important for teachers because we have been doing this tasks for year, they have become simple to us. We don't think twice about adding simple digits together or having to read a paragraph in our favorite book. Since these tasks are so simple to us sometimes we think they are simple for everyone and that is most definitely not the case.
          I really enjoyed reading about Vygotskiah's Zone of Proximal Development because I think it's a wonderful theory. I agree with him when he says students learn best when they are in their ZPD. Giving students assignments that are too easy for them aren't beneficial and neither are assignments that are way too challenging. Providing students with something in between is a great way for them to learn without being discouraged.
          

Allington readings Ch.2-3

       I have personally always loved to read and I was never opposed to doing it in the classroom, however, not all elementary aged students have this in common with me. I strongly believe that reading is for everyone; there are so many different genres, plotlines and levels of books that there is surely books out there that fit every child. We have to give students the opportunities, resources and chances to fall in love with reading. There are many ways that we can accomplish this goal that the reading talked about.
        Reading is such an important skill especially now that standardized tests are required in a lot of schools. Whenever I was in elementary school the teacher would pick out a book for the entire class to read and you had to read it regardless of whether you liked it or not. I don't see this in schools as much now, instead students have reading logs where they write down the books they have read along with the date, length of time they spent reading and a short summary. I think this is a great way to get children to love reading, giving them the opportunity to pick a book that they are interested in can be very powering to them. When I was younger we had DEAR day, (drop everything and read) where we brought in our sleeping bags, stuffed animals and as many books as we wanted. We spent the whole day sprawled out on the floor reading. It's something everyone looked forward and it's a great way for kids to get many hours of reading in.
       Another way to get students to love reading the article suggested was by leveling the books in your classroom so they know they are reading an appropriate book for their level. I liked how the article suggested the 3 finger rule, if you can find 3 words that you don't know in the text then a student should think about choosing something else. It's a good thing to suggest to students so they won't get frustrated with the reading and become discouraged. I also love the idea of reading magazines, when I was in elementary school we got to read Time for Kids. This magazine is wonderful, it's very informational with things that are happening around the world and it changes things up from what they are used to reading.