13 Matching Annotations
  1. Oct 2015
  2. Sep 2015
    1. A close look at this graphic shows us that our ability to decode—to translate individual letters or various combinations thereof into speech sounds to identify and read words—is built upon our book and print awareness, phonological and phonemic awareness, phonics and the alphabetic principle, and word and structural analysis skills. Our ability to comprehend—to actively read and understand language—is based on our background knowledge, vocabulary, and ability to use comprehension strategies. Finally, our ability to read fluently—with speed, accuracy, and expression—is dependent on our ability to read non-decodable words on “sight,” to decode with such automaticity that we spend no mental energy in the process, and to read with appropriate phrasing. Reading fluency is the bridge from decoding to comprehension, hence its placement in the graphic.

      Decoding is amazing. We are able to look at words, and understand them. They are just lines put in a certain order and we can look at it and find meaning.

    2. We simply cannot focus on understanding a story if we must spend all of our time decoding the words on the page

      An example of this is when I was taking a spanish course. I did not have a good understanding of the language so I constantly found myself looking up sentences word by word. If we had to do that all the time we wouldn't even bother with language.

    3. Most teachers develop students’ Book and Print Awareness through constant, explicit modeling. When they hold up a Big Book that the class is reading, they “think aloud” about how to hold the book, where to start reading, and in what direction. While a teacher is writing the morning news on the board for his first graders, he might ask the students, “Should I start at the top of the board or the bottom?”

      It is important as a teacher to constantly remind ourselves that our students have 0 knowledge of these concepts. Asking a question about writing orientation may be silly to us, but it is truly helpful to students.

    4. Understanding that the spoken language is made up of units of sounds, such as sentences, words, and syllables

      understanding that language has rules that break it up into understandable sections

    5. Understanding that spoken words are made up of individual phonemes (the smallest part of spoken language); being able to hear, identify, and manipulate those phonemes

      The simplest thing can change a word completely. Pad, Pat....Bad, Bat...

    6. n Kindergarten, singing common songs, such as “Mary Had a Little Lamb” that encourage students to attend to sounds in words

      In the alphabet song when it gets to the part....LMNOP....it is said very fast, and for a long long time I thought that LMNO was one word.....this is a good example of making sure that students understand separation.

    7. need

      they need review for as long as it takes for them to understand.

    8. cyclist

      I remember that all of our spelling words were very similar, and I never thought about it until now that these words were specifically grouped together as a technique for better understanding of core meanings within the word families.

    9. Discussions of new words that occur during the course of the day, for example in books

      In a kindergarten class that I observed, every morning the teacher wrote them a letter on the board. They would read it during morning meeting and then any new words would be introduced. For example on Saint Patricks day the new word was leprechaun.

    10. . As the year continues

      We spend so much time flying through material and then not really explaining it. I still don't have a good understanding of the rules.

    11. One of the most profound and personal connections that young children make to print involves their names. The presence of students’ names in several locations around the elementary classroom (on classroom management charts, reading group lists, classroom job boards, etc.) is of great importance as an instructional tool for new readers.

      During my own field work I noticed that the classroom had not only names of students but in some area there were pictures. It is a good idea to give students that relationship with their education. They are literally part of it.