According to USA Today, the top 1% owns $38.7 trillion in wealth.

Technology also is only as effective as the pedagogy as well.

Researching and formulating essays online

Hyp could be the long looked for tool to write books, put together a row of countless summaries and observations...

Iris van Rooij means to counteract edu sector buying into the AI hype

Interesting analysis about the lifespans of various EDU IT systems.

Grants from tobacco lobies to UPatas.

Αριθμιτικές εκτιμήσεις για τους εισακτέους.

A manifesto calling on universities to become fully open knowledge institutions.

Το αντίθετο: η Κεραμέως ειναι, παραδόξως, "χρησιμη", αφού η αντιδραστική της πολιτική της ευθγράμισε, για πρωτη φορά στη μεταπολίτευση τους φοιτητές με τους καθηγητές τους!

Ο μυθος του "χτισίματος του Πρύτανη", ξεκινησε το 2006 στην Ξανθη όταν ο πρυτανης Καραμπίνης τους ειχε μηνυσει, το γραφειο ηταν αδειο και οι δικαστες δικαιωσαν του φοιτητες. 1 χρονο αργοτερα τον επαυσε το πειθαρχικο για διαπλοκη.

Slides for EDUCAUSE digital transformation in EDU webinar from 18 Dec 2019.

Process of EDU digital transformation.

EDUCAUSE webinar on digital transformation in EDUs with links to resources.

Definition of digital transformation (DX).

On EDUs working with vendors.

Audience Response System

Like Hypothesis. Read annotations here or add your own with a free Hypothesis account.

This is the dystopian vision that I fear a market-fundamentalist, machine-first approach will generate.

Pet peeve: Points taken away for Kevin's use of "devolution back" here, given that evolution does not go backwards.

DXtera Institute is a non-profit, collaborative member-based consortium dedicated to transforming student and institutional outcomes in higher education. We specialize in helping higher education professionals drive more efficient access to information and insights for effective decision-making and realize long-term cost savings, by simplifying and removing barriers to systems integration and improving data aggregation and control.

With partners across the U.S. and Europe, our consortium includes some of the brightest minds in education and technology, all working together to solve critical higher education issues on a global scale.

Using tools like hypothesis are a good example of this.

The Rubric for E-Learning Tool Evaluation offers educators a framework, with criteria and levels of achievement, to assess the suitability of an e-learning tool for their learners' needs and for their own learning outcomes and classroom context.

That’s why 130 institutions are joining together to increase college access, student, and postsecondary attainment. The initiative, called Powered by Publics: Scaling Student Success, represents the largest ever collaborative effort to improve college access, advance equity, and increase college degrees awarded.

Describes Duke University's Duke Kunshan project as an "open source" educational "exchange" program, built on the model of open-source rather than competition or knowledge transfer.

A compelling tour through the financial and human impacts of various initiatives to privatize public infrastructures — including public education.

I'll try to link related works here:

1. "A Comprehensive Framework For Evaluating Educational Vouchers" by Henry Levin.
2. "The common in higher education: a conceptual approach" by Krystian Szadkowski

Compare to a facile and polemic post on K12 education as a public good, by Cato Instittute's Corey DeAngelis.

Learn more about Krystian in his bio at Adam Mickiewicz University and at Academia. View Krystian on Google Scholar and Twitter.

A thoughful exploration of education as a/the commons.

Digital transformation in EDU.

It is so interesting to think about this topic. We share our stories between our families and friends every day. Not only verbally but through written expression as well. We sometimes even take that for granted. We were thought to read and write in a language that others around us could also understand. These people were not as fortunate and needed to share stories verbally to allow them to live on in history and to be passed down to lower generations.

Slaves were not taught to read or write to the benefit of the slave owners. Many viewed slaves that were literate as a threat. It would only make the slaves more difficult for them to control. Some slaves were taught to read for religious purposes.

This was discussed in language and literacy at NVCC. This is an ongoing issue as students just a few years ago could recite folk tales and nursery rhymes they were told to as a child. Most adults today no longer tell rhymes and oral stories very often. [yale study video made same observations]

He is an example of a slave that taught himself to read & write with help from The Bible/ religion

HAIL

Yes: a human system. Not merely a set of tools and processes to optimize.

Not surprised to find both @kreshleman and @bonstewart talking about Cynefin.

Shape, not serve: this is a key distinction!

This is such a great point. While I like that in the past students were allowed a great deal of choice, in conducting the kind of poetry until that they have here, there is so much room for student choice. This is so important for actually getting students to be interested in the poetry.

I think this is also really great because for students, it is important to hear the poems in different forms. I think seldom do students get to hear selections read by people who sound like them (but more often, parents, teachers, etc.)

This is such a great way to not only motivate students to form interests in poetry, but to actually get involved with the poetry

Different modes are so important not only for differentiation, but as we see here, for all students and exposing them to all the kinds of poetry that exist.

I really like the fact that the teachers built time into the lessons for students to share what their reactions to poems--this is a crucial part of reading poetry. I think it also gives meaning to the poems for students (and seeing that meaning can be different for all students)

This is crucial

This is good practice for all subjects not just poetry, but especially poetry. In finding out what students need to know and want to know, teachers can design the lesson.

this is a really important factor.. accounting for individual student preferences is crucial

This is really important. Even when I think of reading aloud to students, I think of myself as doing most of the talking. This doesn't, and really shouldn't, be the case. Students have brilliant minds and making the story their own is so important for understanding.

This and the paragraphs that follow sort of answer my question..

This is so important, and something that I think did not exist very often when I was in elementary school. Of course, we were asked to make predictions and write alternative endings, but our expressions were not accepted as "making the story our own."

What I wonder is how teachers are supposed to address this kind of reaction. I think that it probably shouldn't be discouraged, because it is a student's response to what they are seeing, but at the same time, may upset other students and start a sort of chaos. How do we create a boundary where students can express themselves, and then deal with it when other students disagree?

This is a perspective I had not considered, but this is exactly what teachers aim for when they read aloud to students.

This is so important

Ideally...

This is crucial. I know so many of my peers, and even my brother, did not enjoy reading growing up. This was probably because it was such a high stakes task. If they had been told that it is okay to read for pleasure, to just read and enjoy a book, they may have come to appreciate and enjoy reading more.

This is a method I have not heard of before, but I think could be extremely useful.

This is also really important for students and teachers. Teachers need to know why they are doing something, but so do students. I think it is much easier to get students interested if they know why they are doing something. I also like that this occurred before the reading took place, so that students weren't surprised when they were asked to use the skill.

This is incredibly useful. This is a skill I learned in one of my past literacy classes, and is something I do when I am doing a read aloud. This is a great method for teachers.

I think pauses are so important for two reasons. First, not all students read at the same level. Some students need more time to understand than others. Pausing allows all students a "fair" chance at reading and understanding a story. Secondly, as the article states here, we cannot expect fluency from students if we are not also going to demonstrate fluency.

While I understand why this was not included as part of the essential component list, I think it is essential. This is something that I always experienced in elementary school, still see today, and would like to use in my own classroom in the future.

I will always emphasize how student choice is so important, especially in reading.

After recently visiting my own third grade teacher, she told me that she was being moved to sixth grade, but that she would not stop reading aloud to them, because she really values read alouds and sees the value in them. I think this article supports her attitudes, and also reminds me how sometimes teachers take adolescents so "seriously" but forget how useful the things we do in elementary school can be to students of all ages.

By teachers using mini lessons the students learning strategies can be much broader than doing a standardized lesson or test. Teachers can incorporate outside things to engage the students more, they can also change the level depending on their students. This will provide a comfortable working and learning space for all students.

All of these things are the actual point of literature circles.

This is really important. I think that too often, as teachers, we want to just jump in as the teacher, when it really isn't even what students need. Sometimes, students could just use a guide, or a "gatekeeper" to keep them going, not someone barging in to redirect.

This is crucial. Students need books which are relatable. How can students be expected to talk about a book that is not even relatable or interesting to them?

I think this is really important. When students are expected to do something, teachers cannot just expect that they have had previous experience with it before, no matter how simple it seems. Like in this case: giving a complement does not seem entirely difficult, but in this case, it was something that actually needed to be taught.

I had never considered this perspective before. I think this is a really good way of putting what reading, at it's core, is supposed to be.

I noted this standard with the mind set of building on concepts. Since standards are supposed to be building every year, to reach the anchor standards, I looked at the first grade standard compared to the second. In first grade, students are expected to "describe" characters. In second grade, they are expected to "demonstrate an understanding" of the characters, which are two completely different tasks. Recognizing and being cognizant of these differences between standards will be important in creating our slide deck/ mini-lessons for teaching literary elements (and ensuring that we are teaching/expecting the right things by grade level).

One of the elements of literature included on our list is "character." This standard would align well with an activity in which students have to identify characters (especially using illustrations and/or details).

I think this standard goes particularly well with one of the "literary elements" included in our list: moral. The moral of a story is the lesson the story aims to teach. This standard requires students to demonstrate that they understand the lesson, or moral, in a work of literature.

contextual personal epistemology defined

subjective personal epistemology defined

absolute personal epistemology defined

annotation as "conversing with an author" even when the author is not actively responding to annotations, but when one's annotations are a conversation with the author through their work

maybe more than anything, annotation is an invitation to actively create knowledge for oneself

doesnt the DRA give us a general idea as to where a reader is struggling?

Different levels of reading need different individualized instruction/training.

This is great that not only were the boys able to connect the stories and situations to their won lives, but they were also able to come up with responses that worked towards something meaningful.

Students must realize that the person telling the story is not the same person the events happened to. The author trying their best to emulate the emotion the person was feeling during what was happening.

Great point that these stories are not to meant to make up things about someones life, but rather to say what happened in a more interesting way.

I think that this is especially more important for kids at younger ages. It will keep them more engaged and wanting to read pieces like fictionalized biographies.

This is a very good point. I would have ever thought about it this way, that the villagers just jump to the conclusion that boy was lying.

I think this is true because of how great not only the stories are, but the lessons that they teach are. The lessons themselves are timeless.

Fables are great ways of teaching life lessons to kids! The stories always result in learning a new lesson

This is a great point that shows how great reading to young children is. It expands their vocabulary and also their reading and listening comprehension.

This is very important that the books have a controlled vocabulary because it will make the book a lot easier for the kids to understand, thus letting them read it independently.

This is a very good point made, that picture books are made to interest the kids not to really measure their reading ability. Picture books will get kids interested in reading, and then from there they can move to more advanced books to measure their reading ability.

I personally think scaffolding is a very effective method.

Independent reading is something I feel a lot of children enjoy because they get to read on their own and use everything that they know and put it to the test. While its important sometimes to let the children pick the book they want to read, it's important that the books are at their independent reading level so they can read them with accuracy.

Literacy centers are something simple, but important. I think every classroom should have one.

Guided reading, is something I think is important because it helps you get closer to a group of students when reading something and its more "personal" so you can see first hand if kids are understanding what they are reading.

Engaging the children is probably the hardest part. I agree with the text when it's mentioned to use a variety of instructional methods. If it's done the same way, then the kids will lose interest.

All of these purposes as well are good enough reasons to do shared reading. It can be helpful to all students and help them build many skills.

It is important to choose the right text. If it's something not age appropriate or something the kids will enjoy, then you will loose their attention.

All of the purposes listed are valid purposes and are important

This makes total sense. Obviously as the years go by, the material is different and harder so it will differ.

These methods are excellent!

All of these are very important. I work at an after school program, and we have the kids read to the "class" as well as us reading to them.

I remember doing this in school and it was something different than reading alone or all together as a class. Reading with a buddy can be very effective because you can be more focused on the reading/ what is being read.

Totally agree with this ! I remember reading something one time and something more than once and saw how reading a text more than once was truly helpful in many ways.

When I read with the kids at work who are younger, I point to the words as I read them. Sometimes they point to the words for me if I forget. I can see how pointing to each word as we read and explain why we read something a certain way is helpful.

I agree with this statement. If students listen to a teacher who models all these things correctly, then there is no doubt it will help their students read properly. It is important that a teacher does this.

If a child can't read fluently, then reading might seem like a "task" for them and then they will not enjoy it. But when they can read fluently, they can easily enjoy what they are reading

I totally agree with this statement.

It's one thing for a child to learn how to read words and write, but its a completely different thing when it comes to them reading fluently.

aside from knowing for yourself if a prompt is good, children love to hear their teachers work. this would grab and keep the students attention.

I agree! If teachers are well versed in reading powerful poetry than they will be more confident in teaching it. Students notice if teachers believe what they teach.

This explanation pulled on my heart strings! I have always been so fond of poetry and I could not have elaborated on the amazing personal benefits more perfects than Perfect.

By giving children an easier skill to master (such as using repetition) poetry will seem less daunting and they will be more focused in future lessons.

This would be great for teachers and students because it will be something that they both become familiar with. As students progress through school they can challenge themselves through the tool because they will be comfortable with all of its possibilities.

I think this is a great idea. Although it may have more of an effect at an earlier age, it doesn't mean it cannot be used throughout all levels of education. In higher grades it can be used for creative writing or design classes as well as reading.

This is a goop point that you should not use this all the time. Only use this strategy if you think it will work well with your students.

I like this whole-part-whole approach because it allows for the children to get a phonics lesson with real text, rather than just random words or letters on a worksheet.

It is proven that phonics instruction will help our students with their word decoding, recognition and comprehension. I think that phonics instruction is very important at a young age and would be very beneficial to our students.

Reading for 7 to 8 minutes a day is not beneficial. This is not enough time for students to even become engaged in what they are reading, let alone learn anything. Students should be given the opportunity to read for At LEAST 30 minutes per day.

As long as students are engaged in their reading, and they are able to have meaningful discussions about what they read, than they are using their reading time wisely. There should not be such an emphasis on structured learning during reading instruction because it will make students dread it. Let them have fun. Let them be engaged. And let them learn to love reading,

This is so important. Students learn by example. If teachers are not implementing what they teach in their own lives students won't take them seriously. Reading is a way of life-long learning, and students should be able to see their teachers taking advantage of that.

I like this approach to reader's workshop because it allows students to take responsibility for their own learning. I have learned through experience that students love being given independence (don't give too much) because they feel trusted and mature. However, I think this would only work well in upper elementary and higher grades because younger students need more instruction and guidance.

I was really upset when I read this because that means that the majority of reading instruction is not actually spent reading. Students should learn to love reading, not hate it because they are forced to complete boat loads of worksheets every time they read something. Teachers should instead, allow students to do hands on projects or work in small groups to discuss books.

When Mr. Sheets is forced to be concise it can be very beneficial for the students. Since he has to be short and to the point the children are given the information right away and not given too much all at once to take in.

I like the idea of the teacher as the "recorder" for the group. This allows for the kids to all stay engaged in what everyone is talking, while you get to write down what everyone is saying so you can reflect on it later.

I like that kids are able to read books of their choice so that they are more engaged. It will help keep them more interested in reading and help with their reading skills.

I love this approach to learning because it is the way that I learn best. I do not think that it is beneficial for teachers to simply lecture students all day. Students need to learn to work with one another through problem solving and hands on activities.

Literature circles are a great way to get students engaged in their reading, but this is only beneficial if students are able to work appropriately and efficiently with one another.

It seems to me that this class is not ready to work in groups. Direct instruction would be the most beneficial for this class because it would not give them the opportunity to work with one another. This privilege needs to be taken away until the students know how to appropriately behave with one another.

This is an important lesson to learn as a teacher. The directions and guidance that we give students does not always prepare them as much as we think it will. If this is the case, teachers must redirect their lesson to teach students the skills that have not yet been mastered. This is not a failed lesson, just a modified one.

This example shows just how easily a well planned lesson can go off track because of a student's behavior. As future teachers it is important to be prepared to go into school with one plan, but be able to redirect that plan in a minutes notice to accommodate what is currently going on in the classroom.

These are two very important skills that kids should learn at a young age. I think it is great that the kids learn these things so they can better develop their writing from an early age. Complete sentences will also help them in oral language as well.

decoding skills for children are so important especially at a young age. If they can "learn to read" earlier then later on they will be "reading to learn" a lot more.

Personally I learn better from direct instructions rather than a big long lesson where some information may be lost. This is a good idea to have these mini lessons, as they are very beneficial to the kids.

This is so important for people to realize. Children are born with the ability to understand anything that is taught to them whether it is sophisticated or not because they have open minds. Educators need to keep this in mind so that they stop sheltering children from abstract concepts and ideas that will actually help them in the future.

This was very interesting to read because it puts the way we act about certain things in front of children into perspective. My mother is an educator and the entire time I was growing up she never assumed that I was heterosexual (though I am). She would always say things like "when you grow up and have a husband or a wife..." She would also never make me wear a dress if I didn't want to. If we were going somewhere formal she would let me wear pants and a nice shirt if that's what I wanted to do. After reading this it made wonder if my mom did this because she knew how quickly children learn to internalize dominant gender beliefs. I think this is important for all people to know, not just educators, because it will help children to feel more comfortable about being true to themselves.

This is something that definitely needs to be addressed in schools. Most schools require that girls wear dresses to dances and boys wear suits, or that at graduation girls wear one color gown while the boys wear another. Schools need to stop dividing students based on gender so that no student is singled out. Instead, guidelines for sports teams, dress codes, and dances should be generalized to apply to all students no matter their gender.

This is something that I feel very strongly about. I don't think society should continue to normalize heterosexual relationships. Instead, homosexual and heterosexual relationships should be treated equally. Children should not only read books with heterosexual relationships, and they should not learn only about heterosexual people that have changed the world. There should be an equal amount of same-sex relationships and homosexuals taught in the classroom so that students will realize that one is not superior to the other. It sickens me that society has looked down upon the LGBTQIA community for so long. Everyone should be loved without being judged and it is so important to teach this to children starting at a young age.

A student's education experience should be a safe and welcoming one. No child should feel like he/she cannot be themselves when they are in school because it will greatly hinder his/her learning. Giving children the opportunity to fully be themselves, and showing children that their sexuality is accepted, will allow them to focus on their learning instead of getting distracted trying to hide who they really are.

I find it horrible that some students do not receive a quality education because of their sexuality. Teachers need to be fully prepared and qualified to teach all students regardless of their race or sexual orientation.

Knowledge really is power. Students need to be educated about gender and gender differences early on in a non-accusatory or judgmental way in a way that is suitable for their age/place in life.

I think that today some people still are unaware of the distinction. As a future teacher knowing this distinction is key being a socially competent teacher.

Wow! I find this to be very interesting. I think that racism in the home definitely can leave children more sensitive to seeing differences early on.

Children are very brilliant. I think at times teachers can underestimate what their students can understand and think. It is our job as teachers to see the full abilities of both academic and emotional sects, and provide accordingly.

I think that teachers have a crucial role in future society. By not allowing these "cultural dysfunctions" in the classroom, students learn early on that bullying for any reason is not accepted or tolerated.

I really like this view. People come to a text with a suitcase full of memories and experience so a text could mean many different things to many different people. With this view the reader is an active participant in what is being learned.

This is a huge problem. If teachers are unable to know what literature to pick and how to teach it, children are going to suffer greatly. Courses in literature are crucial to expose teachers to what is available to teach and learn.

I think that this "child-centered" approach is really crucial for the children to be exposed to. It is when they can interpret a book for themselves using their own lives and experience that a book can become a real, valuable experience.

I really like this point! As a future teacher I think that students coming up with ideas is necessary for not only learning to read a text but learning to respond to a text (without someone telling you what it means right away).

This way of talking about reading instruction is very scientific. It seems that with this view there is a step by step procedure for success. I find this very interesting in comparison to looser views.

I agree with this! In order to discover meaning in a text teachers must show students how to look into a text and find what it is really meaning (especially if there is more than just what is written implied.)

Not all students are exposed to different cultures and ethnicities at home. As teachers, it is our job to educate students about diversity so that they are not misinformed about people who may look differently than they do. A great way to teach students about different cultures is through literature.

It is so important for students to feel like they have the ability to accomplish their dreams. What better way to do this than to provide books for students to read that portray characters of their own race or background that overcame struggles and successfully accomplished their own dreams. Students should not feel like they cannot be successful because of the color of their skin. Allow students to learn that the color of one's skin does not determine their success. The drive and dedication that one possesses does.

This part of the article helped me to realize just how important it is for students to have the opportunity to read books that they can relate to. One of the reading techniques that I was asked to use all throughout school was making connections to the texts that I read. In order to do this, I had to think about how my life was similar to that of the character's in a particular story. I never seemed to have a hard time doing this because I grew up as a middle class white child reading stories about other middle class white children. How are minority students supposed to make connections to stories that are not at all similar to their own lives? If we want all children to be proficient readers than it is imperative that we give them all an equal opportunity to become such. All classrooms should have libraries that contain books with diverse characters.

Reading this was very unsettling. The Common Core State Standards were created so that all children are required to learn the same material in each grade level. Therefore, one can assume that the goal of the standards is to provide the best possible education for all students. If this is the case, then why has the Common Core not updated their website to include multicultural titles? These books would help many students to connect to literature in a more personal way because the characters are similar to them, but they would also help all students to better understand different ethnicities and backgrounds. Adding these titles to the Common Core website would only be benefit students.So why is the Council of Chief State School Officers so hesitant to do so?

Unfortunately, this statistic did not surprise me. My four year old little brother is half white and half black, growing up in a biracial household. I am constantly looking for books with characters that he can relate to, but never seem to have any luck. Diversity is all around us, yet children's literature doesn't seem to portray this. I don't think that students should only read books that have characters that are similar to them, but I do believe that children should be given an opportunity to read a variety of books with characters of many different backgrounds.

I really like this point that all children need "mirror" or "window" books. I have never heard this reference before reading this article but I could not agree more with it. It is so important for students to be able to read books that reflect things that may happen in their own life or see characters who may act or look very similar to them.

An adequate story to use to convey this reading standard for Literature K-5 would be The Snitches by Dr. Seuss, for the central message is about getting along and respecting one another, despite physical differences. This should be easy for students to understand based on character emotions and major events in the story.

At this point in reading, first graders should be able to make predictions and inferences, prior to, during, ad after the reading of a text. First graders will be able to do this by using key information as well as context clues from the text, such as descriptive details, punctuations denoting voice inflections, pictures, etc.

Fourth grade students must have knowledge about what a theme is. They must be able to use this knowledge to identify the themes of multiple pieces of literature.

They must also have the skill to pull out key details of texts in order to summarize story-lines.

Fifth grade students must know the definition of third-person point of view omniscient, third-person point of view limited, first person point of view, and second person point of view.

Students must also have the skill set that allows them to understand how these different points of view effect the way a particular text is told.

A third grade students must have the skill to understand that some words have multiple meanings. They must also have the skill to use a dictionary so that they can look up the definitions of words.

These students also need the knowledge that allows them to understand that things are not always meant literally.

A second grade student must know the definition of characters, challenges, and major events.

They must have knowledge about reactions and how events play a role in how characters develop throughout a story.

They must have the skill to identify the actions of characters and what events or challenges occurred in a story.

A good lesson to go along with this standard would be to read a book and then make a cause and effect chart as a class. This can help students identify the reactions of a character and what caused them to react this way.

This would require that students have the knowledge of different points of view in a text and how to identify when the point of view changes.

A good story to help practice this skill is Me First by Helen Lester. Most of this story is told by the narrator, but there are parts of the story that switch and are told from Pinkerton's and the Sandwitch's point of view. The classroom teacher can have students identify when the story changes point of view and how they knew that this was happening.

In younger grades it is very important for teachers to pause periodically while reading a story so that students have an opportunity to ask questions that they may have or make predictions about what they think may happen and what details in the story make them think this. Teachers can help students to come up with predictions by asking them questions about things that have already happened in the story. This helps students to stay engaged in and will also help them to answer questions that the teacher asks after the story is over.

In order to do this skill students must have knowledge about what key details are. Without this knowledge, students may try to retell the story using details that are not important to the plot.

A good story to exercise this skill is Goldilocks and the Three Bears because there are three key details that lead to the bears discovering Goldilocks in their bedroom. As the story is being read, the teacher can pause after Goldilocks tries all of their oatmeal and have students predict what might happen next. The teacher can also have students talk about how they would feel if they were the bears and discovered that someone had been in their home.

After the story is over, the teacher can ask the class to describe the three things that Goldilocks did in the bears' home.

Kindergartners must be able to retell a story that has been read to them in the past that includes key details.

To help students exercise this skill, teachers can read two books from the same series. For example, "Mrs. Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten" and "Mrs. Bindergarten and the 100th Day of School." These books would be read at separate times, but after the second book is read, the teacher can ask students what Mrs. Bindergarten did in the first book, and then have them explain what she did in the second book. I believe these books would be useful for this skill because they share the same character which will help to spark the students' memories.

In order for students to master this skill they must have knowledge of different stories so that they can retell them. They also must have the knowledge of what it means to retell a story.

1st Grade students must have the knowledge of what makes a character different than a setting. Knowledge of these definitions and parts of a text is crucial to being able to describe what is going on.

Looking at a Strega Nona book that has many elaborate characters and scenes could be very helpful. Ask students who is the character on this page? What is the setting on this page?

Like in life, characters In texts have different perspectives and teaching this is crucial! 2nd grade student must be able to look at individual characters and where they are coming from. A good example to use would be the text My Mouth is A Volcano because the teachers view of the boy is different that the classes view of the boy, and the boys perceptions of what he is feeling.

Kindergarten students must be able to identify that they do not know certain words, and then know to ask for help or ways to get to know words. Having everyone in the class underline 3 words they do not know in a text and then going around and talking about them could be helpful

Teachers of 1st graders must provide appropriate instruction on how to read different pieces of literature. Exposure to different types of literature such as poetry is important. 1st graders must be able to read texts and know how to approach reading them even if they struggle. And teachers need to know how to prompt them without doing the work for the students. Having a weekly "poem in my pocket" could be helpful if teachers go over it and refer back to it/do activities with it throughout the week.

5th grade students must be able to look at books of the same genre and compare the texts within that genre to each other. It is here they can make connections between how plots of different stories have similar makings within that genre. An activity a fifth grade teacher could do would be to look at the magic tree house series (pick one of the books) and the A to Z Mysteries series (pick one of the books. Although they are different series how they develop the stories (exposition/settings/characters) are very similar. Making a T-chart with the order in which events happen could be very helpful!

3rd grade students must be able to read and understand different types of literature appropriate to 3rd graders independently. Having SSR sessions and then journaling about what was read, and then sharing could help greatly in understanding/getting better at reading.

5th grade students must be able to look at a text and what the words imply, especially in figurative language. An awesome example show students figurative language would be any of the books in the Amelia Bedelia series, because she is constantly misreading figurative language and would be a great start/talking point for looking at figurative language, plus they are all great reads!

5th grade students need to know how to look at texts as a whole and how they interconnect. An example could be looking at The Orange Tree Poem (John Shaw Neilson) and look at how it would be hard for the stanzas to make sense without all of them there.

4th grade students must be able to compare and contrast different themes in texts because it is what makes them different. Example Question: A good question in all texts would be "what do you think the author wanted to teach us". Here the themes of the texts could be talked about and contrasted by students.

5th grade students must be able to look at a text as a whole in order to fully understand the meaning of it. By looking at the smaller parts that make up a story (such as characters and what makes them different from each other/why they are included) is crucial in reading, not just staring, at literature. Making a venn diagram with two characters and seeing how they are different and how they are connected could greatly help 5th graders see how characters interact and contrast.

Even though it might makes us uncomfortable, I agree that it is important to correct our students because if another student thinks what the student said was correct when it wasn't then they will think no one made a mistake.

This is important and I agree that if we teach them these meaningful parts then they can use it to decode and pronounce new words in the future.

Rhymes and Songs are activities that may not seem important when it comes to a kindergarten class, but these everyday activities are exposing them to phonological awareness in a fun and productive way.

This activity is something that is very simple to do with the kids and I can see how this is something important when it comes to exposing the kids to phonological awareness

This is very important especially to kids who are in Kindergarten and First Grade like mentioned. The first step is to show children how books work so they can build upon that and when they learn to read they know how to go through a book.

Once children learn to decode then they can stop wasting time trying to decode the words and will be able to read by themselves and understand what they are reading.

This is important to keep in mind because as teachers we need to find different ways to explain these spelling patterns so that the children can understand.

This is a rule I never heard of and I think it could actually come in handy when it comes to helping kids pronounce words and know which sounds to pronounce.

This is fascinating and I never took the time or had any reason to realize that when saying certain sounds it can cause our mouths to change shape.

After reading this section, I feel more prepared on how to help my future students pronounce and distinguish the difference between certain consonants.

I am eager to learn the nasal sounds that are made when certain constant phonemes are pronounced. I myself have never noticed my nose making certain sounds when pronouncing words.

After reading the chart showing examples of the "Stop Pairs", I didn't realize until now that certain constants stop the flow of air though the mouth at some point when pronouncing words with these constants in them. I learned where the tongue ends up when pronouncing certain stop pairs in w

I was unaware that when a letter is considered a vowel or constant, it has nothing to do with the letter but the sound it makes. I am curious to learn more.

If we can understand how mouths work as we pronounce sounds, then we can listen and watch our students more closely because we will be able to see right away who is struggling based on their mouth formations. This is an important piece of knowledge and will help make sure all the students are pronouncing words corectly.

I agree with this statement 100%.

I always find myself referring to spelling conventions in my head when I write words. I agree that writers generally rely upon memory and constant reputation to cue spelling patterns. This takes time, but once you got that down, writing is a breeze.

I took the time to try this and while the new spelling didn't sound exactly like fish, it was pretty close. It makes me wonder what other words could be spelled differently and sound the same.

This information is important because every teacher is going to have students who are far below grade level and we should know how to help them.

I'm curious to learn the reasoning behind reading programs because as a future teacher, this information can help us understand more of how we are teaching.

I used to do these when I was in 6th grade and they helped tremendously when it came

All of these come to play in terms of reading comprehension. I feel like all of these are important and play their own role in helping us understand what we read.