Coaching Reading

Chapter 5 of Classrooms That Work made an interesting point about fluent readers coming across unfamiliar words.  Triremes means nothing to me, I've never seen it and I don't know what it means. Children learning to read have similar experience with new words, but their experience is uniquely different. They have a large bank of words that are familiar to them in spoken language, but unfamiliar in print. They are in a strange position to face a foreign word, take time and "sound it out" and then all the sudden they know what that word is, they know how to say it and they know what it means! I sounded out Triremes but still had no idea what it meant. I wasn't exactly reading because I wasn't getting any meaning.

Before reading and writing was automatic, someone taught you, or coached you. It took tons and tons of practice. What games can you remember playing in class with manipulating words?  I remember clapping out syllables, finding rhyming words, and categorizing words that have the same endings.  I remember doing these tasks over and over and over.

"Word recognition is a necessary but insufficient condition for comprehension: it alone does not guarantee comprehension but without it comprehension cannot occur"

-What can I say besides "Sound it out"? 

According to Kathleen Clark, there are many other things to say.  In the first two transcribed interaction from the classroom, "sound it out" wasn't used even once. 

what are some other good phrases to say instead of "sound it out"?

fun with phonemes!

Literacy development in preschool through first grade is strange.  I don't remember before I was a fluent reader when I would have sounded out words: ppp- eee- ttt. pet! 
I don't remember manipulating words, but I certainly did it.  My dad showed me a composition book full of my own work on phonemic awareness. what I do remember, is playing games! Tons and tons of games. All very much like the ones described in Yopp & Yopp's article. I loved school when we played games all day! Little did I know, I was developing my literacy.

And all of these strategies and techniques are great, but they aren't all there is.  The IRA and NAEYC statement reported teachers noticing increasing variation in the children in their classrooms. There can be up to a five year reading level difference in any given kindergarten class!  So, good teachers are the ones that incorporate a variety of methods to encompass the diversity found in their class.  Just as Yopp & Yopp brought attention to in the "cautions" section of the paper; teachers need to be watchful and notice when some strategies aren't working, or children need extra help or perhaps a different approach.

As much as I bring baggage into my classroom from my own literacy history, my children also bring with them "metaphorical backpacks" full of what their family and cultural upbringing has taught them.

Kiki Jones came from a home that valued literacy and employed various avenues for practicing this important skill. Not all homes emphasize literacy, however.

Chapter 3 of Classrooms That Work had quite a bit to say about addressing how to teach children who  come at all sorts of different levels.  These are a few that I liked:

• Create a library of books full of important vocabulary words with pictures that can be read during independent reading time.

• Keep a variety of writing mediums and utensils for the children to use.  Mixing it up encourages creativity and increases desirabililty to write.

• Make plenty of opportunities for children to use reading and writing in the make believe play center (i. e. restaurant, house, office). this will help them see the usefulness of literacy if they haven't learned this concept at home.  

"Children's attention is better if you

 make sentences about them" 

Get to know the children! Attention will come easier if the subject concerns them.  Use their names to study the alphabet and phonetic awareness. 

What are some other ways that teachers can apply to all levels of learning readers?  How do teachers keep the advanced students interested, but not go over the heads of the students starting from scratch?

A classroom that works, instruction that's effective, and remaining calm.

           I don’t want to be responsible for a classroom that does not work.  So I’m pretty into this textbook, Classrooms That Work.  The first chapter, Creating classrooms that work provided an exciting introduction to a topic that I’ve been waiting three years of college for.  What first grabbed my attention was the pervasive theme of “excellent teachers” contrasted with not excellent teachers.  Effective classrooms versus not effective classrooms. uhm... I couldn’t live with myself if I were on the wrong side of that contrast.  So, as I read, my motivation is, how do I become one of the excellent teachers?

            Classrooms that work is a broad title.  A lot goes on in a classroom.  In the lens of a reading education class, the theme seems to be literacy.  Reading lots of books, reading lots of different types of books, textbooks and fun books.  Reading comprehension; the plot of a fantastic story or the main idea of the science textbook chapter.  Reading does and will and rightfully ought to find itself in nearly every minute of the day.   Followed by writing and speaking.  Effective teachers did not put science or social studies on the back burner in favor of language arts all the time, rather they integrated these studies, and they complement so well.

            Chapter two of the text calls for creating enthusiastic, Independent readers.  Most helpful and ironically most obvious is the idea of acknowledging students differing interests and providing plenty of books to suit those interests.  Boys like different things than girls, as I observed first hand this summer and recently verified from my readings.  I have four younger siblings, all between the ages of 6 to 11.  Over the summer, for one week they all came to Knoxville and stayed with me in my tiny college house and we had a blast.  We went to the library and checked out some books.  My sister Emma picked out a fantasy chapter book (typical girl) and also a lengthy, picture-less historical fiction chapter book (surprising).  My brother Gabriel picked out a large informational book about bugs, spiders, and snakes, with plenty of pictures (typical).  I also took summer classes and it happened to be finals week when I had the kids.  For my children’s literature class I had to read Clementine, an easy kids chapter book with a  few sketches here and there.  So I decided to read  it aloud to them to kill a few birds with one stone (benefiting their interest in reading, studying for my class, snuggle time…) the boys could not have been less interested though!! My sisters loved it and would sit and listen.  The boys did not.  Lesson: kids like different sorts of books!  I’m glad we went to the library and found something Gabriel would enjoy.

            Richard Allington’s article, What I’ve Learned About Effective Reading Instruction was suspicious at first.  Really?  What you learned about effective instruction fits neatly into six T’s?  Seems unlikely…

I was surprised!  What good things he had to share that added to what I’m learning about effective reading instruction!  Disheartening though, from what he had to say, the excellent teachers taught against the grain.  They rejected the neat and outdated techniques of assign and assess.  Textbooks are not “one size fits all”. Classrooms need tons of all sorts of reading materials that are not otherwise provided.  The excellent teachers spent their time and money fighting to effectively teach their students.  It sounded like a lot of “fighting the system,”  I don’t want to have to fight the institution.  I want to teach.  But how can I teach well in a setting that is not helping that cause?

can I keep calm?