Learning Module #1
As I read through chapter one of the text I was really struck by the amount of diversity that exists in classrooms around the world today. Children come from all walks of life, and the culture and environment that they bring with them makes teaching an extremely unique experience on a daily basis. We all know that literacy matters, and even when a child cannot read, they are surrounded by graphics in industry- billboards, internet, logos- that they associate with so many different things. It always amazes me that a child that cannot read, just through association, like what they like to eat, knows a McDonalds sign, or even a gas station sign.
Reading through this chapter not only showed the different approaches to teaching reading but also how in the last 60 years that two views have bounced back and forth among teachers. All recognize the componets of reading like word recognition, phonemes, comprehension, and fluency; moreover, the stages of growth through reading and how this must take place in order to progress in literacy. I guess its the movements that have changed, yet they are all working toward the same goal. Differentiation techniques are probably one of the most important ideas in the entire chapter, and that as we as educators, by aligning our instruction to the needs of our children, will also help the slower and faster learners. Challenging both reader types, including the intermediate reader, is the key, and differentiation brings that to the classroom.
Though I am not sure which of the movements in reading is the best choice, I do know that reading in general stirs the imagination and brings a side of creativity that a video game or conversation cannot. Reading enhances our critical thinking ability and helps a reader to learn how to read the context around a passage and figure it out based on clues.
This text, along with the other articles I read, helped me to come full-circle in the fact that though reading may come easily for some, it does not for others. My ESOL/ ELL readers may never have the same experience reading as I do or may never have the sense of passion that another may have. The ESOL student may never see the text come to life or know the importance of reading for their children. My best guess is that as an educator I must begin the process, even as a high school teacher, to push students to see literacy and reading in through whichever source they will read. Facebook, texting, Instagram....all of these may not be the type of reading we may want for our students, but whatever image can be created through technology and words can be used to describe it and can possibly change the reading-life of a child!
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteSo happy that you brought this up, “it always amazes me that a child that cannot read, just through association, like what they like to eat, knows a McDonalds sign, or even a gas station sign”, this is called learning through environmental print. This is a method that I use to teach my Pre Kindergarten students to read. Being able to recognize and identify this type of print is one of the first steps to reading and those little people take great pride in being able to recognize an environmental sign.
Also, I agree that we as educators must bring differentiation into the classroom to best serve learners of the 21st century. However, I have a quarrel with differentiation that digs deep… as a first year Pre Kindergarten teacher I was thrown into a classroom and expected to create differentiated instruction for 4year old students based off of assessments. Well, after gathering data I concluded that I needed 4 different groups for my learners: (1) Hatch Tablet (The tablet gathers data for the teacher, 3 students get a turn each day), (2) High Learners, (3) Middle Learners, and (4) My struggling learners. The problem is not placing the students into the groups, the problem is I have not been taught or trained on how to properly manage 4 different groups of learners, in a Pre Kindergarten classroom setting. I label small group instruction in my classroom as “structured chaos”, however some days it feels more like “CHAOS”.
Your thoughts regarding teaching students to read through whichever means is absolutely correct. Being a product and teacher in Baldwin County I know that many of the public school students come from a low-socio economic background and you have to find a way to connect; if that means twitter, then that means twitter! Maybe you could have some sort of cool message board on twitter, and encourage students to follow you and comment, this would be a cool way to have classroom discussions, while also encouraging reading and writing, well typing.
Great Post,
Camellia Foston
I agree that differentiation is the key to meeting the needs of students and one way to accomplish that, as well as literacy, is to research and offer ESOL students literature based in their own culture. While they may not enjoy the same stories that our English language students enjoy, they can still find texts that come alive and that they will enjoy reading to their own children one day if we take the time to find culturally relevant books for those students. This is where choice in reading material comes into play. If we are teaching theme, it doesn't matter what text the students read....theme is theme. So I am researching ways to allow students to choose the book and still learn the same standard. This element of choice incorporates both differentiation and cultural diversity into the classroom. I have a list from my adolescent lit class that offers books suggestions for a variety of readers (ethnicities) so I will try to bring it to class to share.
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