aking over, they are in total control. At this point, to the f
Facilitating learning until students are in total control is how teaching should be. Students should be so immersed in the story that they feel like they could be in it. Through these ideas of engagement, students gain this total control. And this leads to good learning.
wo worlds become superimpose
Having the two worlds of the storybook world and the real life world is important for connections which can lead to comprehension. When students begin to superimpose the two worlds they begin ti feel empathy fro characters and can imagine themselves in the story which leads to being fully engaged.
) respond ed by curving his fingers and swiping his han
Adding the physical moments helps students comprehend what is being said more. It allows students to make a connection between the movements and the words.
I'll also describe how knowledge of the various types
This is an important idea to understand because students responses can sometimes seem out of place or non relevant, however; they are relevant in the students mind. Such as in the example of the student who started to sing the cops theme song , this response could be seen as a disrupted response but it was actually how the student connected the story to his own life.
udent sharing time (5-10 minutes) As a daily closing activity in the RW, we recommend a sharing t
Sharing time is a great idea. I find it is hard to teach kids when they have so many thoughts and ideas floating around in their little heads that sharing is a great time to allow them to discuss together and release their ideas.
o begin the workshop, students and teachers spend 10 minutes en gaged in free reading of a book they have cho sen for recreational reading or they may be reading goal pages established in their litera ture response group. (Goal pages are
Having students self select a text is a great idea to grab students attention and engage them in the reading and lessons to come.
ast experiences or schemata before reading in order to enhanc
Drawing upon past experiences really help struggling readers and all reads connect what they are about to read to their own life and this can help comprehension.
Individual reading conferenc
I believe that having reading conferences are a great way to informally assess your students and where they are at. They also allow you to develop a relationship with your students and get to learn and understand their thought processes.
less time completing worksheets while maintaining a well-managed classroom
I agree with the idea that reading time should be spent on reading and not completing a worksheet! worksheets take away from reading and allow students to just skim the text to find the answers instead of fully comprehending the story.
ritically reflect u
Critical reflection is such an important skill to have and understand within students and throughout adult life. This was such a great idea that I will implement in my future classroom.
dents' teachers also presented a difficulty. For exam ple, one day Jennifer exclaimed that the students' sci ence teacher frustrated her. Science was just before her class, and she claimed that when the students en tered her room they seemed like they were always in a hurry and were very competitive. She attributed some of this to the science teacher, who used a lot of team games and stressed quickness in completion of assign ments. She stated that sometimes it was hard to get kids to settle down and sit and talk when they had just spent an hour working quickly and individually. This raises another issue of how to create a community of learners in a setting where the students are switching classrooms and receiving instructional styles that dra matically differ. As middle-grade content becomes more challenging and the need for specialized teach ers increases, it is important to realize how switching teachers and teaching styles can work against achiev ing group cohesion. Jennifer often felt that all of her hard work to build a community was dissolved as soon as the students walked out the door, and the next day she would need to start again. Ways to Improve Literature Circles As the year progressed so too did our frustrations with creating meaningful instructional practices that val ued student voice, encouraged positive interactions, and fostered transactional reading opportunities.
It almost seems for Jennifer to have a successful classroom with these goals.
in-school suspension in which they were pulled out of class for days at a time.
Is this practice of pulling students out of class time really effective?
during the year the teachers had to call the police about some girls who were having trouble in the hall because an issue that was rooted in a neigh borhood d
In my opinion, the police should never have to be involved unless other peoples lives are at stake. This is a direct example of the school to prison pipeline and it makes me so sad.
Successful literature circles de pend on a classroom climate in which everyone feels valued" (
This idea is for sure very important because in order for students to speak up in literature circles and talk about what they are reading, they have to be comfortable enough to speak. This comes with establishing a safe and welcoming classroom community from day one.
students who talk about what they read are more likely to engage in reading" (
I love this quote and think that it is very effective and accurate. In my own experience, talking about what I read has always read to further comprehension.
Jess, Julia and Mia Hashtag
's theory as a frame to ex- amine how children create meaning and invent themselves within a whole language classroom commu- nity
The way children create meaning can vary across students based on their home life, culture and where they come from. I think it is important, as a future teacher, to develop an understanding of your students ways their convert meaning to concepts.
hat Aaron had constructed an important un- derstanding of print that he could naturally use to help him in his own writing
I think that this is an important idea to recognize because even though what he is reading outside of school is not acceptable in school, it could be used as a basis of teaching for more academically appropriate reading. Using student;s prior knowledge is key to helping them advance in their learning.
hat every child who comes through the classroom door becomes our teac
I love this phrase because I believe that it can be a phrase that can argue the entire idea around teaching. That we are not just the the teacher but our students teach us just as much as we teach our students.
ad. Aaron was at the top of my "kids who are struggling" lis
I think that this line is really eye-opening. Because how can a student who is on the struggling readers list at school be so good at reading in their home environment. Can they? Well, I think it is important to recognize a student's home environment and how that student may be more successful within ideas and reading thing they are familiar of. But, how do we translate this into our classroom so they can also excel in the classroom environment?