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Koren StanislausParticipant
Read-a-louds, through my years as an educator, took on various forms while teaching Humanities, ELA, and Social Studies classes. All classes included reading aloud to students, but ELA came the closest in implementing a linguistic based lesson to engage students in close reading activities, to further improve their comprehension and analytical skills. The texts used in these classes varied in length and complexity, and writing and/or oral responses to questions were required of students. However, I don’t remember reading excerpts of text repeatedly, but the reading of short stories, articles, and non-fiction/fiction books, were used to highlight vocab and assist students in grasping a better understanding of the text through periodic pauses for discussions, while aiming to complete the story or book, by a particular date. The school, where I am currently a teacher, uses performance based assessments to gauge students’ overall understanding of topics taught in class. I have made the connection that the approach to the reading activities, as those described in both readings and your lectures, can be seen as a holistic as oppose to disjointed (lacking connectivity to other essential practices that are important to reading development).
Based on the three practices suggested by Boyle and the modifications laid out in Fisher and Frey, I can improve my current routine with students by being more mindful of other essential practices that are important to reading development. To begin, Boyle recommended using a short text to support students in identifying the recurring theme, and read through the entire sequence of events of the text. As appose to a novel, which could take weeks to identify themes or entire sequence of events in the story. I certainly can use this approach to teach into identifying theme in a short text, before moving on to identifying themes in a novel. Then Fisher and Frey recommended, when selecting a text that is suitable for deep investigation, read it to oneself at least twice to determine the basis for its complexity; after, identify parts of the text requiring close reading. If I am more mindful about the selection of texts to use for close readings, the layering of academic support will be possible for teaching into essential practices that are beneficial to all students in class, regardless of their academic abilities.
Koren StanislausParticipantIn the past, while I taught ELA, Close Reading consisted of read aloud to students, reviewing /discussing words flagged as maybe difficult for some students, which were sometimes designated vocabulary words, stopping periodically to check for understanding of content during read aloud, and whole class discussion to review what was read, thereby supporting students’ comprehension. However, as I am writing my response to your prompts, I can honestly say my approach to Close Reading was not like what I learned in Session #5 even though there were elements of support for students’ understanding. In my mind, I thought developing comprehension in students would require a flexible approach because support for each my class vary, depending on the time of the day and students’ level of reading. Now having completed Session 5, my approach to Close Reading to students in the classroom will certainly be adjusted to support all students on varied comprehension/reading level.
With my newfound awareness, I would want to try and master breaking down the language of text, so students would be able to better understand its meaning and build vocabulary knowledge. The first thing I would want to implement during Close Reading would be to review the vocabulary words and the meanings with students, while creating more complex vocabulary-building opportunities by identifying synonyms, antonyms, morphemes (prefixes, suffixes) to increase text comprehension; these exercises would also help to strengthen students’ written vocabulary. Second, during the reading of the text, I would weave in the “Wh” questions to students to support a literal understanding of the reading. Third, to support students in establishing meaning of the text, as a whole class, we would write a sentence summarizing the content of the text. For those needing a differentiated approach, I could include sentence starters or have the students choose verbs and nouns from a word bank to aid in the whole class sentence writing activity. To quote from the article by Eberhardt, “If a reader cannot derive meaning from individual sentences that make up a text, that is going to be a major obstacle in text-level comprehension.”July 22, 2021 at 9:13 pm in reply to: Reflecting on vocabulary instruction in model lesson and chapter #2136Koren StanislausParticipantWhile reading the chapter, I had the impression that thoughtful and deliberate vocabulary instruction positively impact reading comprehension, thereby improves reading skills. I totally agree that content rich vocabulary can further increase students’ ability to be more content proficient. The process of examining and analyzing words to determine their meanings, then providing students opportunities to engage in activities allowing for discussing subject content, further reinforce and strengthen their background knowledge. Especially, if we are drawing on students’ knowledge from the day before to connect to next day’s lesson/content.
There are certainly similarities and differences in the methods I had chosen for vocabulary enrichment compared to the information presented in the chapter. A similar approach in vocabulary instruction to students was, prior to reviewing vocabulary words, I engaged the students in a conversation about the overall subject matter to access prior knowledge and increase their curiosity. There were times when I included images, as well. Additionally, I sometimes discuss vocabulary words with students while reading. The difference in my approach to vocabulary instruction was, the usage of vocabulary word across different activities (respond, discuss, and engage in academic content) in the classroom was minimal. Also, the opportunities given to students to use more complex synonyms, antonyms, morphemes to unlock the meaning of words to deepen text comprehension were virtually non-existent. Then, there was the isolated word wall, and the dreaded weekly vocabulary test, yikes!
Looking back, I can now see how my approach to building vocabulary knowledge was compartmentalized and not organically weaved into the subject content; but even more, I now understand the importance of explicit vocabulary instruction in deconstructing words into parts for better understanding and building vocabulary skills, which could be transferable across subject areas. I would like to end with one more thing I learned from reading the chapter that I never really thought about until now: that is, students should maintain their native language, because their primary language helps to build respect for their own culture, and in turn supports academic success.Koren StanislausParticipantTo think about the adaptation of my units to make room for developing phonological and/or morphological awareness and vocabulary to build and activate background knowledge, I separated the information from the readings into three ideas, to be able to process and organize my approach in creating lessons for vocabulary enrichment in an organic way, which would serve to support students in the acquisition and building of the meaning of vocabulary words.
The first idea I kept in mind was, how phonological awareness of spoken words are related to the sound of words, while at the same time connecting these sounds to phenome awareness, which relates to the understanding that words are made up of individual phenomes, and that these phenomes can be rearranged or substituted to create different words. The second idea for me to consider, was the notion that repeated exposure to words helps to build vocabulary knowledge within students, during read alouds. Also, pointing out words and merely giving their definitions to students is not enough to build vocabulary. The third category, morphological awareness, reveals another technique which can be used to strengthen vocabulary development, as it pertains to morphemes (prefixes, roots, and suffixes) – the breaking down of words.
Through the years as an ELA teacher, I have certainly “touched on” or have done some of the work outlined in my categories, but in a disjointed manner for several reasons. I honestly think there is a time factor too, which drives sometimes teaching – not to mention the other responsibilities for teachers in the classroom. However, after watching the video and reading the articles, I slowly began to see how the connection of phonemes, repetition, and morphemes could assist me in strengthening vocabulary acquisition in students, including ELLS, which could be accomplished with read alouds or when working with a small group. My take away from this session is, if vocabulary is seen as building blocks for comprehension, more emphasis might be placed on vocabulary development for students, regardless of subject area.Koren StanislausParticipantWalking me through the background history of the development of the Common Core Standards (CCS) and the very notion that these standards were created with no input from the professionals who would use them in schools is mind boggling. Then it gets better…the first grade CCS were unbelievable on many levels…it’s like learning how to run before you can walk. I totally agree with with the comment that the 1st grade CCS would be more appropriate for higher grades. Now that I have expressed my shock I would like to bring my comments to the CCS for ELA, which I am more familiar with for 6-12the grade, they seem to be the same for each additional grades with slight adjustments. The skills that students use to demonstrate meeting standards remain about the same, but the end products become more complex as the grades increase. So for example, in 6th grade you write a five paragraph essay using one source and by 12th grade you must be able to write up to a 10 page paper or more using several sources.
When it comes to our emergent language learners in my school, I sometimes differentiate by reducing the length of the paper. So instead of five paragraphs, three would suffice, and working in smaller groups or one on one depending on the students needs. While viewing video, I was really impressed by how one can create appropriate Learning Targets that still meets CCS. Looking forward to learning more..
Koren StanislausParticipantHello,
My name is Koren, and I have been a Special Ed teacher for almost 20 years. My school has a High School and Middle School. I have taught primarily in the Middle School, and have really enjoyed teaching this age group because the growth from 6th to 8th grade is an amazing process to see. The demographics have changed over the years in my school, and so the students who are English Language Learners have increased slightly. I have only worked at my current school, and have learned a lot over my years as an educator. I am really looking forward to learning as much as I can from this course, and be able to take back what I have learned back to the classroom.
Koren StanislausParticipantThrough the years I have heard/ read about numerous ideas on how to support children to to access language, and become better readers or to encourage them to read more often. These two articles actually support my belief that reading and acquiring language begin at an early age, and should be nurtured as soon as possible.
In the first article by Celia Genishe, a guideline suggested by the author really spoke to me: “Remember that parents, caregivers, teachers, and guardians are the chief resources in language development.” Having taught for years, I have seen first hand, students who grasped language easily and was able to express their thoughts and knowledge in a comfortable manner, which benefited their learning and their classmates. Coincidentally, these students due to their comfort with language, would also be the ones to take chances, and also ask for assistance from their teachers. I have seen this situation time and time again. Therefore, for students are not comfortable with speaking in front of the whole class, as an educator, I have found it necessary to create opportunities for them to express their thoughts, speak up and assert themselves; to see the growth over the years has been gratifying.
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