Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Initial post 1/16/13
1.16.13
In my classroom, literacy is included in ways that are both relatively mundane and There are times when my MT will read the entire class a book and then use that book to tie in to other concepts she wants to teach the students (a recent example would be using a book to introduce the concept of story parts like climax, resolution, etc). She also has reading/writing centers that the students rotate through, with one of the centers being buddy read (students pair up and read to each other), silent reading (students pick a book and read to themselves), and a really cool station where students put on headphones, listen to a book on tape while following along with paper copies, and then write a few sentences to explain different aspects of the book they just read. Most literature that my MT uses is literature that appeals to all children (like stories with animals) or stories that are culturally relevant and apply to her students everyday life.
Right now, my MT is really focusing on just getting her students to read; she is starting to focus on characters, plot, overall idea of the story. Basically she wants students to improve their reading skill and their reading comprehension.
The readings we did last Tuesday has made me consider how I would adopt literature into a curriculum. For me, my biggest thought would be to make sure to include reading materials of all different genres to appeal to all tastes and reading levels, but to also try and make sure the books I read to the entire class were culturally relevant to my students so that they can connect with the story and therefore be more engaged in the reading and other literature.
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I was pleasantly surprised to see the way my MT teaches language arts. My MT teachers in a similar way that you described. Her transitions allowed language arts lessons to connect and move forward smoothly. My classroom is directed by particular focuses of subject matter, but they are all closely related so they flow nicely. My teacher breaks the class period into sections for reading, learning about structure and form, and writing. Additionally, my teacher takes time to read aloud to the class. Right now she is actually reading a book about 9-11. It is a really good book thus far and they take time to discuss the happenings of that day. This is a great example of integration of other subject matter (such as history) in language arts. Reading this book to the class is a great way to teach students and to gain their interest in reading as well as learning about real events.
ReplyDeleteThe readings for this class as well as previous readings in other classes allows me to think about the kind of library I would like to build for my classroom, as well as the books that I can and will recommend to my present and future students. For example, a student recently lost her grandmother and I believe a book about loss or grief could help her cope, so I am looking for books to suggest or lend her.
Literacy is promoted to a great extent in the sixth grade classroom I am placed. Each and every day there is downtime between activities or free time after students have completed their work. During this time, students are always asked to read and they all comply regularly. Every opportunity they have, whether it be for three minutes or twenty minutes, the students will open their book (which they always carry) and read. The students have a great selection to choose from as they have a decent sized library, the teacher’s personal collection, and two Kindles in the class. To me, this is a very enviable practice and is one of my favorite aspects of this school.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there is one unfortunate literary practice that I do not wish to follow. The students are given informative books and must complete worksheets designed to improve their understanding of the chosen book. Normally, I would not have any misgivings about this exercise, except they book are incredibly boring and do not engage the students in any of their personal interests. They seem to be given haphazardly with unrelated topics. I must force myself to be interested in the material so I can lead small group readings and discussions. The students are always rambunctious and restless as we slog through each session as if it were punishment.
I feel this activity would be vastly improved if it were to adapt the multimodal approach which Hassett and Curwood promote and approach to literacy which Langer developed. First, as it relates to Langer, I do not understand what the goals are for the students as they read these books. This is no real discussion about the topics they read and the students walk out of the room having gained no connection to the material or insight into bigger themes that relate to the informative texts. Second, if these texts were delivered in a more engaging manner, I believe the students would involve themselves more with the reading. Instead, the writing is in plain text on white pages with pictures of people and places they have no way of connecting with. I can see the lack of desire to read on the students faces and I completely sympathize with them.
My MT teaches in a bilingual second grade classroom. She has an array of genres of books in both languages. She always selects a book that she can explore with along the students. For an example she brought in a rock that was special to her and read a story about a boy who worked with stones. The story touched based on the child relationship with a grand parent and the importance they have in our family history. She read a couple pages everyday and held discussions after the reading. The students were really enthralled in that book and would often search and find their special rock. Literacy and Math are the two biggest subjects in the class. My MT is very responsive on what literacy interests the students and what doesn't.
ReplyDeleteThe readings and experience at my placement has caused me to think how I would implement literacy. I definitely want my students to be able to explore text and connect it to their life. Not only do I want a library with an array of genres and themes, but I want to have a specific time set aside to explore the text outside of content questions. I like to think of literacy as an active subject that should take the reader on an adventure. I want to build an atmosphere that allows such adventures.