Assessment

I read Chapters  10 and 11 in Classrooms that Work. Assessment is such a terrible sounding word with many negative associations. The statement in Chapter 10 "assessment is not grading" probably sums up how I am beginning to understand reading assessment. After Thursday's class talking about what we will actual do in the classroom it became even more apparent that assessment is a critical prerequisite for just about everything.  An important point I picked up on in the readings is that assessment has to be intentional but it does not have to be formal. Anecdotal data taken constantly will be a primary means that I use in my classroom to make instructional decisions. Student conferences and small group instruction are going to be very important to collect reading assessment information.

Authentic activity: Story time at the library

I went to my local library branch to observe the 5-7 year old story time. They have this scheduled for every Wednesday at 3:30. Just my luck no kids showed up for story time today. So I decided to interview the librarian that leads story time. She was an elementary school teacher for 30 years before coming to work at the library. That definitely classifies her as an expert in my book. (pun intended) She told me that she always did read alouds when she was a teacher. She usually has 6 to 10 children for story time. Her method for picking the books is simple. She picks books she likes, and she knows the kids will like. Usually there is a theme. For example, today she was going to read The Purple Kangaroo. She also had several other books with kangaroos that she would let the kids browse and make available for check out. During the read aloud she says that it comes naturally to stop and interact with the children. This is usually in the form of questions like what do you think is going to happen next. An important part of her story time program is a simple craft activity which the kids do after she reads the book. She says this gives them a chance to talk about the book and many times the craft is something like a puppet which can be used to retell the story. She also gives them some type of related coloring/activity sheet to take home. She wants the children to remember and talk about the book after they leave story time. She also mentioned that she really likes books by Mo Willems for read alouds for this age group.

Vocabulary: 3 words from a read-aloud

In chapter 6 in our text a specific activity is described in how to teach 3 specific new words from a read-aloud.  I thought this was a very easy to understand way to teach new vocabulary by connecting the learning to a specific book. Students can first experience the word in the context of the book. Then the activity is extended to activities to get the students to begin to look for those words in other contexts and the ultimate goal is to get the students using the word in their speaking and writing. I appreciated the description of how to pick which words to teach as "Goldilocks" words or words that were just right. Vocabulary words are described in three tiers in this chapter as well as the Lane and Allen article in which tier 2 words should be selected because they are words students do not likely know but will need to know. Tier 2 words can usually be linked to concepts that are already familiar to students. Tier 1 words are words most students already know and Tier 3 word are usually more obscure and technical.

Velcro Theory and Comprehension

The Kindergarten article describes using connections to stick new knowledge to prior knowledge like velcro. I have heard this learning theory a million times but this new description used for these very young students will "stick" to my prior knowledge very well. The teacher in the article did not only know and apply this principle in her teaching but explicitly taught it to her Kindergartners. This entire article was a great summary of how kids make meaning.

Wide reading

Wide reading is encouraging fluency by reading a wide variety of genres. For instance, a student who only reads nonfiction about reptiles will be missing out on an array of vocabulary and fluency from other genres. For our weekly plan Jennifer and I have designed a weekly book review club. In order to channel students towards reading new and different genres the teacher will compile a list of several books per genre. Students will read their books independently during the week. On Friday students will take the role of a book reviewer and present their book to their small group. Students can choose any way that they would like to convey their book to their group. Book review options may include, but is not limited to, written review, oral, picture, act it out, poem, song. Teacher will need to provide examples of what a book review includes and how it looks to prevent students from simply saying, " I liked this book." following the book review, students will get to post a 1-5 star review about their book. The poster with the stars will be displayed in the classroom all year long.

Fluency practice

The point that has stood out to me in the text and the Rosinsiki article is to achieve fluency rereading practice is essential. I had previously thought that kids should always try to read new things slightly above their reading level so that they would be challenged. Fluency practice actually looks like something most kids would enjoy doing. I really liked the idea of using dramatic readings such as poetry or stories that can be read as plays. Also a great way to engage different levels of readers without embarrassment. What fun!

Ten Words

Really enjoyed the Yopp article which outlined a very specific way to teach vocabulary. Every step of this activity seems valuable from the picking out of the important words to the plus activities that can be added at the end. The potential for the variety of activities makes this activity easily adaptable for the different level students in the class. One point that stood out was to make your classroom a place that gets excited about words. Enthusiasm is contagious! Could not resist making a wordle with words from the article.