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Heather Thornton

May 2, 2011
EDU 351
Final Reflective
I have learned a lot from this course. I learned that the foundation for reading is
phonemic awareness, phonics instruction, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.
Phonemic awareness is manipulating sounds so that they can be segmented and
blended into words. Phonics is the correspondence between sound and letter-symbols
to recognize and spell words. Fluency is the ability to recognize and decode words
quickly. Vocabulary is knowing or being able to figure out the meaning of words.
Comprehension is the ability to gain meaning from the printed word. All of these areas
are essential to becoming a successful reader.
This foundation is built through reading focus, word work and strategy work at the
pre-k through second grade level. At this level students are code-breakers. They are
learning how to read so that by the end of second grade they will read fluently, having
the ability to decode words on the run with a solid bank of sight words and writing
vocabulary.
The focus of these three components of reading- reading focus, word work and
strategy work- shifts when students reach third and fourth grade. They are now
becoming text-critics. They are building their comprehension through application of
learned strategies. There tends to be a slump in fourth grade, so you really need to keep
students motivated to read. The reading focus involves utilizing the reading components
of modeled, shared, guided, interactive, and independent reading, using the reading
process (pre-read, read, respond, explore, apply), developing comprehension, and
fostering enjoyment of reading. Word work changes from making and breaking words
apart to showing how words can be categorized and grouped together by common
traits. Students work with word sorts, compound words, contractions, suffixes, prefixes,
synonyms, antonyms, syllabication, etc. Strategy work shifts from learning to read to
reading to learn. The comprehension strategies should be taught one at a time. These
strategies include: making connections, inferring, visualizing, questioning, determining
purpose, synthesizing, analyzing and evaluating, etc. They should be taught by
modeling at first and then students should gradually become independent in their use.
The goal now is to engage the students with the text and increase comprehension- for
students to gain meaning from printed material. It is very important to keep boys

interested in reading, so be sure and provide them with materials they would find
interesting to read.
From fifth to eight grade it is important to still maintain environmental print and
word walls. The reading focus should: Continue developing vocabulary and
comprehension. Expose students to multiple genres. Vary lessons and engage them in
authentic reading and writing activities. Utilize the reading process. Center on modeled
and shared reading. Motivate, re-engage, reinvest low readers. Give students choice
and time. Word work reinforces third and fourth grade work, focusing on word origins,
Latin and Greek roots, special word groups, abbreviations, etc. Word work doesnt go
away as the grades advance, it just changes in form and focus, as you can see.
Strategy work continues to focus on comprehension strategies. Be sure to work
with Blooms taxonomy to develop critical thinking skills. Strategic reading means that
students constantly monitor their reading. They use decoding strategies to identify
unknown words. They use word-learning strategies to figure out the meaning of
unknown words. They use comprehension strategies to understand what theyre reading
and they use study strategies to learn information from textbooks. All of these are critical
in reading success because the goal of reading is to gain meaning from what is read.
Students cannot get that meaning if they cannot read the words or understand them.
Writing and spelling fit into reading as part of the acquisition of understanding. At
first, writing allows students to apply what they are learning about decoding to encode
words. Students use their understanding of how sounds and letter-symbols correspond
to create words. Then as they master writing words, they use those words to express
meaningful ideas. Students use reading and writing as tools for learning in all content
areas. Writing parallels reading in its processes- prereading/prewriting, reading/drafting,
responding/revising, exploring/editing, applying/publishing. Spelling helps because it
reinforces word work and vocabulary acquisition. It is another component of code
breaking along with phonemic awareness and phonics. A complete spelling program
teaches spelling strategies, matches with students stages of development, provides
instruction on spelling concepts and skills, provides daily reading and writing
opportunities, requires students to learn to spell high-frequency words and holds them
accountable for previous learning and spelling in all content areas.
Both reading and writing involve cueing systems. These cueing systems are
semantic, syntactic and phonological. This means students can ask themselves if

something makes sense (semantic), sounds right (syntactic) or looks right


(phonological) as they are reading, writing, talking or listening.
Vocabulary instruction is important also. Reading has the largest impact on
vocabulary acquisition. Since the goal of reading instruction is comprehension, and
reading is a collaborative activity between the reader, the text and the purpose, the
reader needs to be able to recognize words quickly and easily and identify, or figure out,
unfamiliar words using strategies. Words can be unfamiliar in several ways, as a sight
word, a new word, a word used to create a new concept or used with a new meaning.
When teaching vocabulary, chose words that extend students knowledge. Highlight the
words on a word wall. Help students develop a full knowledge of the word by teaching
mini-lessons and planning word study activities. Instruct them in how to use the
dictionary and thesaurus. Students can learn new words by connecting to prior
knowledge, repetition, word-learning strategies such as looking it up, recognizing pieces
of the word, context clues, or guessing and using word identification strategies such as
phonic analysis, analogy, syllabic analysis, or morphemic analysis.

I learned that teaching reading involves not only lessons based on the areas
covered above, but other factors that need to be incorporated. Things such as finding
students zone of proximal development where they are challenged to expand their skills
by doing tasks that require social interaction (from teachers or peers) to do at first, then
gradually become independent. (Scaffolding students and then gradually removing
assistance.) Introducing students to the structure of literature- stories (narrative text),
informational books (expository text), and poetry, as well as various genre. Setting up
literature focus units and literature circles. Developing reading and writing workshops.
Evaluating basal reading programs. Determining assessment of students reading and
writing. Finding ways to motivate students. Understanding students interests. As well as
finding ways to help the struggling reader. Each student has individual needs and
learning styles. It is important to meet those needs. It is also important to students
motivation and learning abilities to have choices. They need to be able to chose which
books to read, what to write about and what projects they will do. There is so much
involved in teaching reading. It is a very complex, dynamic and vital process.
My classroom would be a mixture of teacher-centered and student-centered
instruction, combining elements from the theories of behaviorism, constructivism,
sociolinguistics and cognitive/information processing. This would be evident from the

use of mini-lessons and repeated readings, a mixture of basal reading selections and
trade book selections. There will be literature focus units, literature circles and grand
conversations. We will use K-W-L charts, graphic organizers, and reading logs. We will
incorporate modeled reading, shared reading, buddy reading, and guided reading. We
will have an authors chair or something similar as a means of authentic publishing. We
will do reading and writing workshops and interactive writing.
Our classroom will be a community of learners. This will be evident by the
students taking responsibility for their learning, behavior and contributions to the class.
They will have opportunities to engage in authentic reading and writing activities. They
will have plenty of opportunity to chose their own books, writing activities and projects.
We will have both teacher and student demonstrations of thinking skills and strategies.
Students will be encouraged to take risks and explore topics. I will provide instruction
through mini-lessons and guided practice. Students will share responses and get
feedback after reading and writing. There will be plenty of time to pursue reading and
writing activities. We will work together to establish guidelines for assessment.
I will proved a balanced approach to instruction using the focus of the three key
reading components as I discussed earlier. I will combine explicit instruction, guided
practice, collaborative learning and independent reading and writing. I will scaffold
students reading and writing as necessary, always working toward the goal of reaching
their zone of proximal development. I will incorporate assessment tools such as
observation of students, running records of students oral reading, examination of their
work, conferences to talk with them about their work, checklists to monitor students
learning and rubrics to assess their writing and other activities.
I would also find ways to work with students parents. I would encourage them to
participate in family literacy activities and school-wide programs. I would find ways to
communicate positively with parents and try to get them involved with home-literacy
activities.
In terms of what my classroom would physically look like, I do not know what
grade I will end up teaching. If it is at the pre-k to second grade level, I will have my
classroom saturated with language. There will be environmental print everywhere. We
will do large group morning messages, book walks, lots of modeled reading and oral
language activities in a common area with semi-circle seating for students. There will be
various word walls situated around the room, for sight words, writing words and

vocabulary enrichment words. There will be various stations situated strategically


around the room: a discovery center for math and science activities, a reading corner
with lots of books and comfortable seats, a project area with arts and crafts materials, a
role-play area, with plenty of props and costumes to promote role-playing activities, a
writing center with various writing utensils and papers for publishing writing, a display
area for students to share their art work and writing pieces and a construction area for
large motor skill development. There will be learning centers for small group work, such
as magnetic letter word work, letter sorts, independent writing, reading and listening
activities,
If it is at the 3-4 grade level, I will still have a word wall. There will be various work
stations around the room. For example, an editing center, a listening center, and a
classroom library with books at many different levels, in many genres and forms of
reading material, especially ones boys would be interested in. The classroom would be
arranged to allow for both small group and large group formations.
If it is at the 5-8 grade level, I will still be sure to include the use of a word wall,
with plenty of environmental print. There will be a classroom library with a variety of
books that meet the interests of the students, in their reading levels, and varying in
format and genre. There will also be basal readers, trade books, resource materials,
and book sets for classroom literacy circles. I will be sure and allot plenty of time within
the class to allow for personal reading and writing activities. I will also use modeled and
shared reading with the class.
A sample of a
mini-lesson for an
eighth grade class:
Topic: Teaching
students about the
story element, climax
Time: One 30 minute
period
Students have been
working on elements of
a story: introduction,

rising action, climax, falling action, resolution. It appears students are a little weak on
understanding climax.
Introduce topic
Review with students the elements of a short story. Discuss the role of each element.
Talk about the the climax of the story. Review that it is the crisis, the turning point, or the
big event in the story.
Share examples
Play the youtube video Dramatic Stalking Cat http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=FG6iF7fPzkU
Provide information
Have the students discuss how this video shows story elements-introduction, cat far
away by box, rising action- each time door is closed/opened the cat is nearer, climaxwhen the cat fills the screen.
How did the students feel as the cat came closer? How did it feel when the cat was right
in their face?
The climax of a story is when it reaches the most exciting, most intense part. Help
students understand that they need to build intensity to reach that point in their writing.
Guide practice
As a class, using guided writing, write a simple story about the topics below, being sure
to focus on an appropriate climax.
Bungee Jumping
Pie Burgler
Assess learning
Have students write their own short stories building to an appropriate climax.

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