Being that I do not teach elementary school, I never really have thought much about the stages of reading or learning to read. It is perfectly normal for me to believe that everyone had the same up bringing as others, where parents read books and told stories to them. As a teacher I know that is not how all children are brought up. I have found that since I have started this class I counciously have begun to try to understand my students and the barriers that have kept them from being proficient readers, and moreover, how I can help urge students to move beyong a basic proficiency.
My first steps toward better literacy in my classroom has been reading passages with my students to show the importance of reading with my students. I have begun to look for primary sources that have more basic language so that students can begin the process of decoding through context clues, but I have also started stopping more regularly throughout the text and have questioned students about the text. What is the text saying? Who or what is involved in the text? Trying to find ways to relate the text with real-life situations..... This is not always that easy!
I also know that in the tenth and eleventh grades students should have a larger vocabulary, but it is unsafe to assume this. Word Walls, while as a new teacher I thought these were silly, really make a difference for student's vocabulary through referring back to those words throughout a lesson, but also by leaving them posted, students have the opportunity to use them and revisit them often. In other words, the words are not just here and gone. I believe this models good vocabulary and an expanding vocabulary. Last year in my US History class, we were in a unit discussing WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War, Watergate, Kennedy, Truman, Nixon, etc. I played the song "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel. Students liked the beat. Next I played the song with the music video...they liked the images that they saw and began to notice "history" we had been discussing. After the unit was finished, I played the song again and gave the students a lyrics sheet. It was amazing! Students had to underline the words they recognized throughout the unit and even sang along. I loved the way the students were able to connect with the text historically, and this gave them a new way to synthesize material! By posing questions and clarifying information we are allowing a safe place for students to learn and grow.
Text is definitely more than words on a page, but it can also be a song in our heart and words we pen. Our students today need more than one mode to understand and consider text. Students have so many resources at hand to use to research and enjoy, yet it doesn't seem that we as schools are taking advantage of the technology available as we should. Just as the podcast I listened to stated that " students must write to learn," teachers must to willing to go the extra mile for the best of readers and the lowest of readers. Just because a student or adult is a fluent reader definitely does not equate a comprehender.
Lastly, as a child I was in one school system K-2, then moved to another Georgia system for 2-5. I never remember learning phonetics, yet I was a good reader. I do remember moving and the talk about phonetics confused me. I tried to catch on, but never really understand because my original school learned by sight words. I encourage kids to sound-out words as they stumble across them. I do the same with spelling, encouraging kids to sound out a word instead of me giving a spelling. It works for some, yet we have a long way to go! As I gave the WTW spelling test to Thomas (9 years old), I really began to see for myself, as I checked his words during the assessment, the way he heard me "pronounce" them was not always the way he heard them. It was eye opening for me! We as teachers must do our best to push students to their best, from emergient to proficient, and use multi-modal resources to make them the best they can be and to make the most of the resources we have!
I am in the same boat...I like to think that students by 10th or 11th grade have been taught along the way-yet as the reading specialist I have found that this is not always true. I too felt that word walls were somewhat juvenile for a high school classroom, but have found that many students benefit from seeing the words in print. I use "real world" definitions rather than dictionary definitions with my students because they need to know the true meaning of a word-as it applies to them. For example, I have the word "integrity" on my word wall. The students were asked their own opinions about the meaning and came up with 1. truth 2. honest 3. believable..etc. The dictionary definition is more complicated that the word: integrity- adherence to moral and ethical principles. I feel that the students understand the real meaning and benefit more from real world explanations and examples.
ReplyDeleteHey Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog today. I give my hat off to you for teaching and having a vast knowledge of history. History was my least favorite subject, I had a hard time comprehending the information that was given to me. I love how you still incorporate the word wall inside of your classroom. I remember back when I was in high school and sitting here thinking I can't remember a classroom that even had a word wall being utilized. I learned more about word walls once I entered the field of early childhood. You are right that at times its hard to find real life experiences to connect to certain topics you are teaching. With the population that I have in my class, my students don't have background knowledge on several things that I discuss with them. I have to use technology to get certain points across so they will be able to visualize and comprehend exactly where I'm coming from.
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteIt is so neat to hear that even the high school teachers can learn valuable lessons from learning about beginning reading and emergent literacy. I have no idea how you guys do it. When I get my new preschool students each year, they do come in at all different levels. Some have been read to at home. Some have practiced letters and even reading at home. While others exposure to the written word has been very minimal. I know this could not even begin to compare to the variation of learning levels that come into your classroom. And I'm sure as a high school teacher, you sometimes feel that you do not even know to begin when you too have students that have seldom been exposed to the written word. I applaud you for your efforts to differentiate your instruction and to make your lessons valuable and interesting for every learner.