Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Letters, Sounds, and Words
By March 24, please post one thing you understand better about teaching letters, sounds, or words from reading Ch. 5 on Word Recognition in Rasinski. Then post one question you have about teaching these skills. For example, can you see how this applies to the population you plan to teach some day?
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I now better understand what types of instruction are helpful and which are not. For example, that flash cards, drills, and isolated phonics rules are not typically effective at teaching word recognition. I also have a better understanding of helpful strategies like word sorts, word making, and teaching sound and letter patterns through texts. I'm not sure how it would apply to students that I may have with significant motor, intellectual, and/or communication disabilites.
ReplyDeleteConnecting word families and writing a story using rhyming words makes so much sense. I have thought about using words that would be relevant in the students’ lives, but I had not considered using words that are relevant to each other. I don’t know how I could use this for Highschoolers without making it sound like a Dr. Seuss book though. I might need help making it appealing for older students.
ReplyDeleteI now understand why things such as word charts where the students sort the words out to create sentences are useful and helpful to students when recognizing words. I will use strategies such as this when teaching my students in high school. Even if they do not have the motor skills to move the words themselves, things such as eye gaze will be just as effective for this type of lesson.
ReplyDeleteThe main thing I learned was related everything in school to what a child already knows and what already interests them. It goes back to the last class, if you let a child read and write what they want to read and write about, you will have more success as a teacher. Keeping students engaged in wanting to learn is the key. I always thought hooked on phonics was the way to go growing up but that is not the case. I think that is why I despised school growing up because I was always taking to an isolated room and worked with flash cards 2 hours a day so i could learn to read and pronounce the letter "r". I just want to learn how to teach that kid who really doesn't want to learn. You tell him he can write about anything he wants, anytime he wants to but he simply won't. What do you do if you give a kid an option of writing and tell him it is not required nor graded and at the end of the year, you check his journal...and there is nothing in it. How do you get through to those kids???
ReplyDeleteUnfamiliar words should be recognized as quickly as familiar words (Use effective word recognition strategies). Flash cards work, good but in small doses: This is true because if there is too much of it, it gives the message that reading is only getting the words right and not understanding what students are reading. Word Ladders: Allow students to build and examine words with support- making a new word based on the one before it (Ex. changing “trick” to “track”). Word Walls- physical classroom environment that encourages word exploration and play- have word families on construction paper and put them on the walls. To help with word recognition, do little instruction and a lot of guided authentic reading experiences. My question about teaching these skills is how useful/important is phonics in reading instruction in the classroom compared to what it once was?
ReplyDeleteI know understand the use of words in a classroom much better. It is important to use a variety of different techniques in the classroom. I really like the idea of the word ladder and wall. I think these ideas are really important to show students that words are important. How could I apply this to students who have a communication disorder?
ReplyDeleteThis chapter really opened my eyes about how to be more effective in the class room. Drills and repetitive work sheets are not the answer for higher learning in the class room.Individual stories and using relevant real life interaction is definitely a better approach to learning in the class room.Many students find word wall or word ladders to also be affective in a teaching.Are the techniques mentioned in the book the only and effective methods of teaching literacy.
ReplyDeleteI learned how important and how easy it can be to relate words to eachother as well as to the child's life. There are many games that exist that use the same ideas (i.e. scrabble, bananagrams, and especially up-words). My question is if a strategy works should you stick with that one, or change it simply for the sake of generalization?
ReplyDeleteI think that a word wall and word charts are really good ideas to implement in your classroom. They alow students to see the words and apply them to their work instead of just forgetting what the words are and not adding them into the sentence. This allows them to take apart the sentences and words and placing them where they want and make sense to them. If a student has a learning disability it does them no good for us not to help, and if they see familiar words on the wall, then they may be able to form and write sentences better. How can you give older students word walls?
ReplyDeleteI learned that the typical word recognition drills I was taught in school are not effective. Using relevant words, sentences, and stories is the most effective method. I want my students to be excited to learn new words and I think I can do that by allowing them to share words that are relevant to their lives. I think a word wall or a word board are great ways to get students thinking about new words. I would love to have a dry erase board that is just for writing new words. We can use those words to create sentences and talk about things that interest my students. I am intersted to know how teachers incorporate these words/sentences in to their already established curriculum.
ReplyDeleteI understand that flash cards and isolated phonics tools are not good at teaching word recognition. Word walls and word ladders are better at teaching students. Real life stories and experiences are better for them since they are not memorizing but getting to use background knowledge and relating it to their lives. I would use group stories with large print and lots of group projects that have to do with the students lives to teach new words.
ReplyDeleteLee
One thing I understand better about teaching letters, sounds, or words from reading Ch. 5 on Word Recognition in Rasinski is what types of word recognition strategies are helpful and which has been used in the past, but are no longer useful. Traditional word recognition instruction features lists of words in isolation, flash cards, learning phonics rules or generalizations, and repetitive drills with isolated words. These traditional word recognition approaches have been found to be ineffective and pose serious problems. Types of word recognition that are helpful include: word sorts, word making, and teaching sound and letter patterns through texts. One question I have is how will I teach these concepts to kids with significant learning disabilities?
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 5 I learned about the Language Experience Approach. I had never heard of this before. This is a really good technique because the text that is used, is text that the students themselves have come up with. Another important thing that I saw were that flash cards were not the best way to assist students with word recognition. Is there another technique similar to flashcards that would be helpful in teaching kids with learning disabilities? This has just seemed like a good way to do things.
ReplyDeleteI learned that several of methods used to teach me as a child (flash cards, learning the rules to phonics). Instead teachers should teach sound and letter patterns through text or use a word ladder. These are strategies that are proven to be helpful and strategies that I will use in my classroom. I am curious if there are other strategies that weren't mentioned in Chapter 5 and if other methods I was taught as a child are inefficient.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to see the different methods we went through in class that could drastically help a child with word recognition. This was a great chapter to me because it was the real knowledge we need to know as teachers when actually teaching students to read. The chart we used in class would be such a simple and effective way to get students involved and feel like they are learning. There are so many ways to use repetition for practicing without it being boring.
ReplyDelete- Holly
Letters, sounds, and word recognition is not done through repetition, for example flahs cards. Although the chart from class seems like repetition it is useful because they are still learning to recognize certain words and how they sound. Getting a child to want to learn these concepts is the challenge for teachers. It was mentioned that you can give assignments that are not necessarily graded, however this gives them little motivation to do any kind of assignment. However, how do you make things meaningful to students that are at a higher level with out making them to childish? Also with students with severe disabilities how can you get them to communicate with you and get through to them? Implementing these concepts is my biggest worry.
ReplyDelete