Emergent Literacy

Emergent literacy is everything that a child learns about reading and writing, such as the concept that printed or written letters represent words, before they can actually read. Another example is that they may grasp the idea that in English we read from left to right. Being in a 5th grade classroom, I do not directly see emergent literacy, but I can see traces of it. For example, when a student struggles over a word, it is evident that they realize that a word is made up of different parts, something they may have discovered before they could actually read. At this point, however, the reason behind their struggle is often that it is a new word that they have not seen or used before, not because they lack the ability to read.

At the 5th grade level, we are more concerned about promoting literacy learning through book club activities. Last semester I saw evidence of this when the class was reading a book about a town that experienced multiple destructive tornadoes over the course of a few hours. The CT really promoted literacy learning by igniting discussions that allowed the students to relate the story to their own life. Coincidentally, the tornadoes that swept through Williamston during October (when they were finishing up the book) gave some students a chance to see this type of disaster a little bit closer to home, and allowed them to relate to the story a little bit more. Even before this happened,though, students were able to make great connections that made the story more personal. Some discussed about when they have been in a scary situation, others talked about taking care of siblings (the boy in the story has a younger sibling). Unfortunately I've yet to see a good discussion like this so far this semester.

January 17th Post

Because I did this week's post last week I thought I would make up for that and do the correct post for last week...if that makes any since. We talked in class and in the article about English language learners in mainstream classrooms. This article was particularly interesting to me because I am currently taking a class called teaching non English speakers the English language. We have been studying the best approaches to helping and teaching students the English language. I think that this is a very important subject for us (future teachers) to be talking about because of the amount of children in mainstream schools now that are not proficient in the English language. It bothers me that many of these children are thrown into the school system without any help from teachers or administrators. They are expected to learn English and do well in school. As teachers we have to be aware of which students in our class are English learners and help them through the process of learning English. From what I have hear it is a pretty hard language to conquer.

Choral Reading

I personally dislike choral reading. I find it awkward to read out loud with a group. I would much rather read one person at a time. I do think it is important to read texts out loud from time to time. It helps bring the story to life, especially for younger children. I think stories can be enhanced by different people reading different parts or by one person using different voices for the different characters. I also think it is interesting to hear poetry read aloud, but I also don't feel comfortable doing that. I do feel comfortable in a classroom setting, but I wouldn't want to read at a poetry reading or anything like that.

January 24th Blog

In our classroom there is not very much of response centered talk. I think in order for this to happen there needs to be some activities that correlate with the stories that the students are reading and this is not happening. The students are not able to make new discoveries the way that they do their readings. Each reading group just reads the story and then they do a worksheet about it and then they switch off to another book. It does not seem like they have much of a chance for discovery or even time to really process what just happened in the book. The one thing that is encouraged is a little conversation, but only when there is time. They do get a chance to talk about what they are seeing, but this is only the times that I or Brittany are in the classroom. Otherwise our teacher has said that she really does not have time for many things especially because she has to meet with all of the other groups.

I also feel that there are many students in our classroom that need more scaffolding than they are receiving. When the teacher is working with one reading group the others pair up, but sometimes this is not productive. One reason being that they know they are not really being watched, but another more important reason is that they are not really sure what they should be doing. Some even have a hard time reading the book that they have, so it is hard for them to finish the worksheet on that book. Overall I think that it is very important that we are in the classroom because I think that these students are able to do so much more. Such as at least leaning in the direction of response centered talk. However, this is not the likely hood of most classrooms and that leaves me worried about how I am going to handle all of my students and to make sure that they are getting as much out of my teaching as they should.

Post 1

Like Brittney, I also see a lot of lecture in my CT's classroom. She does engage the students on occasion, especially when they read as a class, but for the most part she lectures and students take notes. This discussion is similar to that found in the McGee article, but I feel that it is less stimulating. Although my CT encourages discussion about a particular piece of literature, she often seems to dismiss ideas and encourage them according to her own preferences. These preferences seem biased and are not very clear.

I have yet to see reading groups. Instead, I have seen many instances of full-class reading (this semester and last). In fact, I lead a full class reading lesson today. My CT does like to incorporate writing and art into her literacy lessons. I think this one of the most effective teaching methods. For example, last semester the students made their own “tall tales” in which they wrote their own stories in the “Jacket” of a paper doll character.

I think that my CT’s positive attitude is something that I will use in my own classroom. She struggles with some aspects of her classroom, but she maintains a positive attitude and is always very enthusiastic about teaching.

Response to Rensponse-Centered Discussions

I really enjoyed the article on Response-Centered discussion by McGee. In other classes I have had we discussed the importance of group discussion on a particular book. I think that this article took what I already knew about discussion groups and enhanced. This article not only showed what a teacher should be doing in the group but also how the students responded to it. I was amazed at how some of the students responded to the question of why the fox could never catch the hen. Some of these students really came up with great and insightful ideas.

The teachers role in the Response-Centered discussions is really important. They first need to create a set of expectations or rules for the discussion groups. They also need to really help lead the group into a good discussion and make sure that everyone is included and participating in it. With lots of practice, eventually the teacher can back off the group and let the students take hold of the discussion themselves. By the teacher scaffolding this type of discussion the students will be able to hold meaningful discussions on their own. This will allow them to feel more comfortable with the process and dive deeper into the comprehension they had of their story.

I would really like to try this in my first grade classroom. I believe that a lot of the students in there would really benefit from this type of student lead discussion group. I know that it would take a lot of practice and patients on my part and the students', but the benefits and outcomes of this would be so important to have.

Brittany's Noteblog 2- Discussions

In our classroom placement we mainly see lecture. The teacher stands in the front of the room and lectures to the students and then the children complete worksheets. I haven’t seen much response-centered talk taking place. I feel this is due to the teacher’s teaching style and possibly because of the young age of the students. The teacher has the class divided into reading groups which meet with her. I think the class has four. During that time they have more of an opportunity to have discussions. I think that some children need smaller groups to focus and truly participate in a discussion. The reading groups are modeled by the teacher. While one group is reading, the other students often pair off and work in a way similar to the way the small groups are conducted. Depending on the number of students and their individual personalities, students often need additional support and prompting during this time. There are some students in the class who need both verbal and visual directions and lessons in order to complete a task. There are also students who need to see the schedule and assignments for the day written out on the board.

If I were to see more response-centered discussions I believe the students in this class would need to have adequate prior knowledge, prompting, open-ended questions, a comfortable environment and classroom community.

Goals for the Course

Hey Girls! I was just seeing if everything was working. I'm not sure if we have to post this first blog or not, but I thought I would try it out.

One of my personal goals is to gain more confidence in the classroom. I have had lots of experience with children while at MSU and in my hometown. I just need to feel confident making decisions, giving feedback, and being in the lead role. I feel this will come with the experience of the class. I will get lots of opportunities to interact, ask questions, and make decisions throughout the semester. I think this will be a wonderful opportunity for me to become more comfortable and allow me to develop my own personal teaching philosophy. In order to gain confidence, I will be timely and attend all sessions. I will engage in activities and planning, ask questions, offer suggestions and ideas. I will also keep a positive outlook and ask for feedback.

I hope to successfully integrate some technology into the curriculum over the course of the semester. I am very interested in learning multiple strategies for working with students with special needs. I would also like to find more ways to involve parents in their child’s education. I hope to achieve these goals by being an active part of the classroom. I will suggest ideas, listen, receive feedback, and prepare for conferences. I will also get to know the families in my class. I will learn their needs and wants. This will help me know how to better assist them or involve them in the classroom. I will be nonjudgmental of others practices, customs, or cultures. I will also be open to educating myself on different cultures from my own. This will help me develop and constantly reflect on an anti-bias classroom. Through this more families will feel welcome and accepted in the classroom setting. I will also find out the children’s interests and then develop ways to incorporate those interests in the classroom setting and curriculum.