"Why Ask? Questioning Strategies in the Classroom" is a great chapter in our text by Fisher and Frey discussing the benefits of questioning to literacy, and how creating quality questions is vital to our students' growth and understanding of literacy. I have often experienced that awkward pause in a classroom when the teacher asks, "so does any one have any questions?" and no one answers. The funny part, is that usually, the students do have questions, but since there is no structure set forth (especially in the younger grades) for the questioning process, the students simply chose to ask a friend, rather than ask the teacher. However, this chapter is not simply about classroom questions, but how using the idea of questioning is beneficial to our students, and can be used in a very structured way to make sure that students are learning to question the text, the authors, the teacher, and themselves in order to learn most effectively.
Fisher and Frey assert that "The self-monitoring of understanding that comes from self-questioning is underutilized by poor readers. In turn, these struggling readers learn to dislike reading because it is unsatisfying and the concepts of the textbook language are unfamiliar" (p. 83). I would have to agree with this statement, and say that it is a similar situation to the classroom experience, in which poor students who do not use questioning often leave confused about assignments or instruction, and therefore do not enjoy the class. When a reader does not use questioning to help clarify unknowns in a text, their comprehension suffers, and therefore the cyclical problems in reading continue to occur as the reader is unable to advance in understanding. I think it is important to share strategies with our students, especially those poor readers, that can help them learn to use questioning in a structured format that will enable them to gain content information to increase comprehension of the text.
One strategy that I really like that is expounded upon in this chapter is ReQuest. This technique for reciprocal questioning of both the teacher and then students, is a great way to build upon prior knowledge, vocabulary, and clarify confusing concepts or statements through classroom discussion. This strategy works well for content areas, such as social studies because the questioner can break text into small manageable parts to ensure good comprehension. Something that I have a question about though, is can this strategy be used in small groups? Could group leaders take turns being responsible for a passage and be questioners, and so forth? Or is this a strategy in which the teacher needs to be the only questioner?
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Note-Taking
In this week's chapter focus in Improving Adolescent Literacy, the authors, Frey and Fisher, explore the theoretical of note taking and note making, and the practical uses and needs for them in the classroom environment.
The authors assert that in their conclusions of prominent research, students who not only take notes, but take them with a structure, purpose, and strategy. They also stress the importance of teachers using classroom instructional time to instruct students on good, clear techniques for note taking during lectures and note making while reading text independently. I agree with the authors, that especially in the content areas, teaching students how to make notes that will be beneficial to them for study purposes is extremely necessary. From what I have personally observed, when a student gets into high school and college, and has no background for study skills and proper ways to record and organize the vast amounts of information, it can be very difficult for him or her to keep up.
One significant topic that the authors address that I found interesting was their differentiation between "note taking" and "note making," saying that note taking is the action of recording note from lecture, and note making is the recording of notes from printed text. I think this is a significant distinction between the two, although I do not know if I wholly agree with the authors that their should be a distinction if the notes are taken correctly with the objectives of the student in mind. I actually believe that notes should be representative of what the student feels important or significant that it needs to be written down in order for the student to remember it, or the interpretation of material written down for personal understanding. I think this is virtually the same when watching/listening to a lecture and reading a textbook, even though you do have the text to look back at later. If I were going to distinguish between the two, I would define note taking as recording exact words/definition/concepts, and note making as constructing understandings/conclusions/summaries/analysis.
Also, I absolutely loved the "dictologos" activity done by Mr. Herrera in the text (pg. 125) to teach students the value of detailed listening and selective scripting! I think this is a great tool to use in the first few days of school, when getting students' minds off summer and ready to learn!
My questions and concerns about this are, should teachers evaluate notes made by students, or require students to do them in a certain format? Or should we show them ways, and let them chose to make notes that are most meaningful for themselves? Also, how do we show students, or give evidence of what will happen if they take good notes?
The authors assert that in their conclusions of prominent research, students who not only take notes, but take them with a structure, purpose, and strategy. They also stress the importance of teachers using classroom instructional time to instruct students on good, clear techniques for note taking during lectures and note making while reading text independently. I agree with the authors, that especially in the content areas, teaching students how to make notes that will be beneficial to them for study purposes is extremely necessary. From what I have personally observed, when a student gets into high school and college, and has no background for study skills and proper ways to record and organize the vast amounts of information, it can be very difficult for him or her to keep up.
One significant topic that the authors address that I found interesting was their differentiation between "note taking" and "note making," saying that note taking is the action of recording note from lecture, and note making is the recording of notes from printed text. I think this is a significant distinction between the two, although I do not know if I wholly agree with the authors that their should be a distinction if the notes are taken correctly with the objectives of the student in mind. I actually believe that notes should be representative of what the student feels important or significant that it needs to be written down in order for the student to remember it, or the interpretation of material written down for personal understanding. I think this is virtually the same when watching/listening to a lecture and reading a textbook, even though you do have the text to look back at later. If I were going to distinguish between the two, I would define note taking as recording exact words/definition/concepts, and note making as constructing understandings/conclusions/summaries/analysis.
Also, I absolutely loved the "dictologos" activity done by Mr. Herrera in the text (pg. 125) to teach students the value of detailed listening and selective scripting! I think this is a great tool to use in the first few days of school, when getting students' minds off summer and ready to learn!
My questions and concerns about this are, should teachers evaluate notes made by students, or require students to do them in a certain format? Or should we show them ways, and let them chose to make notes that are most meaningful for themselves? Also, how do we show students, or give evidence of what will happen if they take good notes?
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Teacher's Reading-Aloud Styles on Vocabulary
This week's article, Effects of Teachers' Reading-Aloud Styles on Vocabulary Acquisition and Comprehension of Students in the Early Elementary Grades, is an insightful and thorough analysis of how three different read aloud styles-"just reading," "performance," and "interactional"impact the ability for first and third graders to succeed in vocabulary and comprehension.
The authors, Edna Brabham and Carol Lynch-Brown make several interesting points in presenting their rational for the need for this type of research. We read in our text books every day, and hear it from our instructors, that read-alouds are very important in the elementary education classroom. However, sometimes we are confused as to whether they should be used for strictly enjoyment purposes, or for only educational purposes, or how they can be used most effectively. Brabham and Lynch-Brown indicate the need for understanding on what exactly makes a read-aloud effective, and how teachers can use different reading styles to "make reading aloud a more powerful toolf or literacy learning" (pg. 465). I agreed with the authors that this is an integral understanding for especially us, pre-service teachers, to have, because jumping into a classroom can be an overwhelming experience, and we want the best for our future students. I, personally, feel like some specific training in this department would be extremely beneficial.
In their conclusion, the authors asserted that "verbally mediated, interactional, and performance reading-aloud styles are more effective for vocabulary acquisition than is just reading aloud with no discussion." (pg. 471). I think this assertion was kind of a "given," so to speak, because as we have learned over time, verbal discussion, analyzation, and explanation of literature helps to reinforce understanding and comprehension. I absolutely agree with the authors, however, I think this was a very reasonable hypothesis, and the study yielded very expected results in this particular probe. I did find it reassuring, however, that using the frequent interaction style did not diminish comprehension. I have always been afraid that if I stop and talk too much with the students in particular places, that the "whole effect" of the story may be lost.
Unfortunately, since no "best" way to use this process was uncovered, it will continue to lead me to the question of which one really is the absolutely most effective way? Are their guides out there with notes and information as to how to do a really great "interactional" or really magnificent "performance" read-aloud? As a person who is meticulous, and always likes to know the correct answer, the room for unknown is kind of scary, in this high stakes testing environment that has overwhelmed our public schools. I want to know how exactly I need to teach my students so that they will be successful. Hopefully, more research will continue to be done on the subject, and more enlightenment will come to educational academia in this way, so that we future teachers can be the best that we can be!
The authors, Edna Brabham and Carol Lynch-Brown make several interesting points in presenting their rational for the need for this type of research. We read in our text books every day, and hear it from our instructors, that read-alouds are very important in the elementary education classroom. However, sometimes we are confused as to whether they should be used for strictly enjoyment purposes, or for only educational purposes, or how they can be used most effectively. Brabham and Lynch-Brown indicate the need for understanding on what exactly makes a read-aloud effective, and how teachers can use different reading styles to "make reading aloud a more powerful toolf or literacy learning" (pg. 465). I agreed with the authors that this is an integral understanding for especially us, pre-service teachers, to have, because jumping into a classroom can be an overwhelming experience, and we want the best for our future students. I, personally, feel like some specific training in this department would be extremely beneficial.
In their conclusion, the authors asserted that "verbally mediated, interactional, and performance reading-aloud styles are more effective for vocabulary acquisition than is just reading aloud with no discussion." (pg. 471). I think this assertion was kind of a "given," so to speak, because as we have learned over time, verbal discussion, analyzation, and explanation of literature helps to reinforce understanding and comprehension. I absolutely agree with the authors, however, I think this was a very reasonable hypothesis, and the study yielded very expected results in this particular probe. I did find it reassuring, however, that using the frequent interaction style did not diminish comprehension. I have always been afraid that if I stop and talk too much with the students in particular places, that the "whole effect" of the story may be lost.
Unfortunately, since no "best" way to use this process was uncovered, it will continue to lead me to the question of which one really is the absolutely most effective way? Are their guides out there with notes and information as to how to do a really great "interactional" or really magnificent "performance" read-aloud? As a person who is meticulous, and always likes to know the correct answer, the room for unknown is kind of scary, in this high stakes testing environment that has overwhelmed our public schools. I want to know how exactly I need to teach my students so that they will be successful. Hopefully, more research will continue to be done on the subject, and more enlightenment will come to educational academia in this way, so that we future teachers can be the best that we can be!
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
The other blogs of the members of this class are:
http://leeanngardner.blogspot.com
manderson16.blogspot.com
http://erinbreland411mw.
http://emilyburnettcir411.
http://keelycarr411mw.
www.hayleycollins411mw.
http://kimdavis411mw.blogspot.
annieellis411mw.blogspot.com
http://abigaillewisforeman.
http://jessicahemby411mw.
http://meganmcmurry411mw.
http://rosiamontgomery.
http://sonianixoncir411.
http://contentarealitteracy.
http://constancerushing411mw.
www.brittanysmith411mw.
http://nikkisnellman.blogspot.
maryanntwedtcir411classblogfal
http://wwwkariwest411mw.
http://
http://leeanngardner.blogspot.com
manderson16.blogspot.com
http://erinbreland411mw.
http://emilyburnettcir411.
http://keelycarr411mw.
www.hayleycollins411mw.
http://kimdavis411mw.blogspot.
annieellis411mw.blogspot.com
http://abigaillewisforeman.
http://jessicahemby411mw.
http://meganmcmurry411mw.
http://rosiamontgomery.
http://sonianixoncir411.
http://contentarealitteracy.
http://constancerushing411mw.
www.brittanysmith411mw.
http://nikkisnellman.blogspot.
maryanntwedtcir411classblogfal
http://wwwkariwest411mw.
http://
Friday, September 14, 2012
Read Alouds
The concept of read alouds is explored through our textbook by Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey, and by the article entitled, "Tapping the Potential of Teacher Read- Alouds in Middle Schools," written by Lettie K. Albright and Mary Ariail. Both sets of authors present interesting analysis of the concept as a method for engagement and improved comprehension in the lower, as well as upper grades.
According to the text reading aloud has been well documented as a effective use of instructional time and motivation for students in elementary grades and secondary content areas. The study done by Albright and Ariail also supports the use of read alouds in middle school, as a way of helping those "aliterate seventh graders (students who could read but chose not to)." (pg. 582)
On idea that stood out to me in the reading was that read alouds can be used to bridge the gap, so to speak, between content area texts that the student may have difficulty reading. I can say from my own experience, that secondary content area textbooks and reading materials are often difficult to comprehend and extremely bland and factual in nature. There is little motivation for students to actually read the text book, unless the student is being tested on the material word-for-word. For students with learning disabilities or a lower reading ability, comprehension of these text materials is not so much a matter of choice, but a matter of inability.
I know that if I were a student who already struggled visually processing the material, I would not be motivated to struggle through it. However, with a read aloud of the material, the teacher can focus on student's auditory processing skills, enable students to comprehend the material from the verbal transfer, and clarify misunderstandings and complex concepts. From my own experience, it is helpful when an instructor takes the time to verbally go through the text and insert clarifications and explanations in her own words. Sometimes, it makes it easier to relate the text to real world concepts this way. I think Albright and Arial were spot on with their opinions on picture books, especially for engaging middle school kids. Even as a college student, I enjoy lighthearted picture books and children's stories that help liven up the lesson. Dr. Reeves did an amazing job with this incorporation during my sophomore year.
As I read these passages, I felt like perhaps the authors needed to give me a little bit more information as to how exactly a read aloud needed to go to be effective, especially in upper grades. I kept wondering, how am I going to keep my students on task and not daydreaming or spacing out? Should I use typed question sheets for students to answer as they followed along? Or does that distract from the point of it being a read aloud? Even in an enjoyable fiction text, it can be difficult to stay focused for some children. How as a teacher, do I combat that challenge without being negative towards the reading experience?
According to the text reading aloud has been well documented as a effective use of instructional time and motivation for students in elementary grades and secondary content areas. The study done by Albright and Ariail also supports the use of read alouds in middle school, as a way of helping those "aliterate seventh graders (students who could read but chose not to)." (pg. 582)
On idea that stood out to me in the reading was that read alouds can be used to bridge the gap, so to speak, between content area texts that the student may have difficulty reading. I can say from my own experience, that secondary content area textbooks and reading materials are often difficult to comprehend and extremely bland and factual in nature. There is little motivation for students to actually read the text book, unless the student is being tested on the material word-for-word. For students with learning disabilities or a lower reading ability, comprehension of these text materials is not so much a matter of choice, but a matter of inability.
I know that if I were a student who already struggled visually processing the material, I would not be motivated to struggle through it. However, with a read aloud of the material, the teacher can focus on student's auditory processing skills, enable students to comprehend the material from the verbal transfer, and clarify misunderstandings and complex concepts. From my own experience, it is helpful when an instructor takes the time to verbally go through the text and insert clarifications and explanations in her own words. Sometimes, it makes it easier to relate the text to real world concepts this way. I think Albright and Arial were spot on with their opinions on picture books, especially for engaging middle school kids. Even as a college student, I enjoy lighthearted picture books and children's stories that help liven up the lesson. Dr. Reeves did an amazing job with this incorporation during my sophomore year.
As I read these passages, I felt like perhaps the authors needed to give me a little bit more information as to how exactly a read aloud needed to go to be effective, especially in upper grades. I kept wondering, how am I going to keep my students on task and not daydreaming or spacing out? Should I use typed question sheets for students to answer as they followed along? Or does that distract from the point of it being a read aloud? Even in an enjoyable fiction text, it can be difficult to stay focused for some children. How as a teacher, do I combat that challenge without being negative towards the reading experience?
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Writing to learn is an interesting concept that according to both readings, is a great way to get students engaged in learning different content areas like math, science, and social studies, while honing in on their writing skills and improving literacy.
One idea that the authors posed in Improving Adolescent Literacy that stood out to me was the idea of writing to learn being completely different from traditional writing in an English or language arts class, in that the writing is not meant to be a "process" piece, but rather a "catalyst for further learning- an opportunity for students to recall, clarify, and question." In my own experience, writing in content area classrooms has been one of two situations: a quick fill-in-the-blank worksheet, or a long research paper. Neither of these two assignments helps to focus the student on exactly what he or she is learning, the processes that occur during learning, or how the student learns individually. This idea of getting the student to refocus their thoughts or inspire thoughts seems to be daunting when trying to fit in so much information that the student needs to know in a content area class, but I feel it is a really important way to gage how the students respond to learning in the classroom. The authors in both passages gave several great examples of writing to learn exercises such as entry/exit slips, framed paragraphs, learning logs, and biopoems.
Another idea that Knipper and Duggan mentioned that I think is really important is the idea of getting students to really focus and condense what they know into concise pieces of information that can be remembered with less difficulty and help make connections to other small pieces of information stored in the brain. For example, generative sentences (pg. 143) require students to create a sentence based on a certain word and a certain sentence make up. It can be very challenging for students, and gives them an opportunity to show exactly what they know in correct grammar usage. I also love the idea of power writing. When I was in high school, my AP Language teacher gave us a lot of these writing activities based on a particular sentence starter or topic, for example, "It was a fine day outside..." I really liked not only the opportunity to just write whatever came to mind, but it gave me a personal challenge each time to increase my writing fluency and be able to think quicker and write better.
As I read about all of these instructional techniques and imagined using them in my future classroom, I kept wondering two main things. "How am I going to have time to incorporate this activity along with everything else I must accomplish?" When I have been in classrooms observing, it seems like the teacher is always pressed for time, and I worry that although the ideas are great ones, how realistic is it that I am able to use them daily, or periodically. And, "how am I going to make this be beneficial to my students and use it to get them, especially older students, engaged?" I worry that they may see the activity is just a quick little bell ringer, or something meaningless. I wouldn't want them to complete the activity just to get it over with, but how do I convey its usefulness and encourage concentration and interaction?
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