Monday, October 4, 2010
Beginning reading (due by Oct. 10)
After you do the readings on beginning reading instruction this week (Coyne et al, 2006 and Strickand, 1990), post (1) one strategy you find particularly useful and (2) one question you have about beginning reading, given the age and population you hope to teach some day.
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This is Mary Law.
ReplyDeleteI have seen progress, and thought it particularly useful, with the “big idea” concepts in a self contained population in an elementary setting. The particular strategies that were used were Orton Gillingham and Breaking the Code. I believe that part of the usefulness of these strategies is because the Conspicuous Instruction, Instructional Scaffolding, and Opportunities for Practice with High-Quality Feedback were part of the instruction.
I am willing, and will be licensed, to teach both general and adapted curriculum. It seems that in those two categories the reading readiness leans more towards general curriculum and emergent reading towards adapted. Am I correct in assuming this?
I like the conspicuous instruction principle of beginning reading instruction. I believe that struggling readers need to be taught explicit instructions and strategies for letter-sound correspondence, decoding words, letter blends and segmentation. Without explicit instruction, these students continue to struggle and fall further behind. By thinking out loud when we instruct, we can help these students know the “secrets” we use when we’re reading which will help develop their skills and their internal ‘self talk’.
ReplyDeleteA question I have is… once a student is still struggling in the fourth grade (the one I have in mind has also been retained once already) and has developed good and bad reading/decoding habits, where do we begin in attempting to catch him up with his grade-level peers?
One strategy that I find useful is "opportunities for practice with high quality feedback". My middle school paired our 8th grade students with first graders at the elementary school as reading partners. The first grade teacher selected students who were at risk for reading disabilities. I watched many young readers enjoy this one-on-one learning experience with teenagers. I have also observed small group reading instruction in the middle school which focused on fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. Since I work in the high school now, what has been the effectiveness of programs like Reading 180 that includes software and technology?
ReplyDeleteOne strategy that I find useful is modeling. Modeling gives that student a visible way for the children to see that word at work with the teacher showing them how to sound out their words. I would like to know how can you teach a child who can not do the sounds, but can recognize words without knowing the sounds. I would like to work with the elementary children in special education.
ReplyDeleteI think conspicuous instruction would work well with the class I am doing my internship in. (high school) A lot of the students have missing information on language, like that vowels can make diffrent sounds. "Letting them in on these secrets," will help them to better understand language and reading. Breaking words down into a step by step process would be very helpful for these students. They are trying to read but lack basic information they would benefit from breaking down the basics. Would any of these strategies be better for students who have some basic knowledge of reading but are not beginning readers.
ReplyDeletePart of phonological awareness, phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate the individual sounds in words. Why is phonemic awareness important? Simple. Because of it's strong correlation to reading fluency. The research is clear; children who develop strong phonemic awareness skills at an early age are more likely to become fluent readers and better spellers than children who do not. Kids need strong phonemic awareness skills to support literacy development.
ReplyDeleteMy question is how to go about helping a middle school child learn to read that has been passed through without making them feel indifferent or childish??
I like the modeling strategy. By doing this I think you can show the student the secrets that we use to "break" down a word?( sound it out). It may enable the student to pick up the secret and use it in their reading. I would like to work at the high school level in the general curiculum.
ReplyDeleteOne strategy that I think would be particularly useful is conspicuous instruction. In this type of instruction the teacher tries to decode the secrets of reading for children that need extra help. The main point is to give the information in a way that is easy to understand. The primary characteristic of conspicous instruction is modleing. I think that modeling could be one of the best ways to teach children. I also liked the point that "learning to read and write requires active participation in activities that have meaning in the child;s daily life".
ReplyDeleteThe question I have has to do with Juel's seminal research that "poor readers in 1st grade have an 87% chance of remaining poor readers". Do you think that most students that are poor readers in lower grades are given the supports they need to improve their reading skills? Or are these students often over-looked?
~ Laura Chrisco
It's hard to single out one strategy that is particularly useful because they often work hand-in-hand with each other. For example, conspicuous instruction should allow for modeling while being delivered to make the steps more easily understood by students who are struggling. I think modeling is especially important because many students with disabilities may hear instructions and remember them but have problems applying them practically or generalizing. By hearing us as instructors 'think out loud' they can gain insight as to the cognitive process behind applying what they are being instructed to do. Otherwise they just hear instructions and steps they are supposed to follow but are unaware of how they 'connect and apply' to their work. I was first aware of this in Shankland's Instructional Strategies course and then applied this modeling technique in the classroom I am doing my practicum in this semester. it really seems to help the student's grasp the process better.
ReplyDeleteMy question is how do we take students who already have low self-esteem issues due to their struggles with reading and help give them the motivation to suffer through 2nd grade reading level books? I plan to teach at the middle school level and self-esteem and embarrassment around peers seems to be a big issue. Last week I had to help a boy read books about childish topics because he is such a poor reader. This clearly embarrassed and frustrated him. Are there sources for more age-appropriate content material on a simple reading level? The school library doesn't appear to have any since it is a middle-school and caters primarily to reading levels primarily seen in those ages.
My question are there any particular strategies that are developed to close wide gaps in reading ability and actual grade level?
ReplyDeleteAllen Sigmon
The strategy that I find useful is the conspicuous instruction. I believe this strategy enables the student to easily understand what steps they are to take next.
ReplyDeleteI hope to teach in the general EC at the middle school level and my question is when we come upon a student has been "taught wrong" is there a way or even a need to unteach their wrong academic behaviors?
Conspicuous instruction and instructional scaffolding is used often in the class I work in. The step by step instruction is essential for most of my students. I have a particular student that really takes to the idea of "tiles"-we have him unscramble his sight words, and then we sound out each letter sound. He loves this activity, and is already showing improvement. He is on a very low reading level (4th grader/1st grade reading level). My question would have to be can we get him closer to his own (grade) reading level. This child has so much potential I can only hope.
ReplyDeleteI think the part of conspicuous instruction that would be most effective is providing opportunities for practice with
ReplyDeletehigh-quality feedback. Since "literacy is no longer regarded as simply a cognitive skill, but as a complex activity with social, linguistic, and psychological aspects," it stands to reason that the more feedback we get from people who are important to us the better. So if our favorite teacher or our parents read with us and give us high quality feedback we get reading instruction and the chance to enhance our relationship with that person and to hear them read when they model for us, etc. This makes reading a great experience. My question is wouldn't every person benefit from conspicuous instruction? It seems that a lot of the concepts that we learn to use in special education would be well suited for every student.
I found the strategy of giving the students opportunities for practice with high-quality feedback a to be a good one. To me, practice is one of the best methods for a child to use in order to gain ground in reading. Also, by giving them immediate and individualized feedback, the student has the opportunity to correct their mistakes. My question is how can I offer feedback to a beginning reader without sounding negative? I work with students in the 3rd to 5th grade and they struggle with hearing that they made a mistake.
ReplyDeleteThe strategy that I have found most useful is finding out what interests the student. Once their interest is peeked then they are more eager to know what is happening.
ReplyDeleteThe question I have is why do some teachers discourage students from reading certain books?
The strategy that I think would be the most useful is modeling along with finding out what interests the student. Once their interest is peeked then they are more eager to know what is happening.
ReplyDeleteThe question I have is why do some teachers discourage students from reading certain books?