Week 12 Metacognition and Comprehension

What do good readers do?

• Make connection to prior knowledge
• Use Context clues
• Predict
• Infer
• Reread for meaning
• Apply background knowledge
• Ask themselves questions

What can teachers do to develop comprehension?

• Teach comprehension strategies
• Build vocabulary
• Enable Discussion
• Have students apply multiple comprehension strategies
• Teach about the text
• Model comprehension
• Encourage writing
• Promote opportunities to comprehend
• Motivation
• Authenticity

What can teachers do to help struggling readers?

• Many of the strategies that are used for regular readers are incorporated in helping struggling readers, but with the struggling reader it takes more intensive practice.
• Monitoring
• Teach the student to make adjustments such as rereading and using illustrations within the text.

This video has depicted a lot of great tools that can be incorporated into the class to help students better comprehend a text. The firs thing that I observed in the vide was the many poster sheets with strategies that students can use to better comprehend. I believe this is such a great tool because this gives students something to reference back to when they are reading or when they are having trouble with a particular word. There were two things that stuck out to me while watching this video which were the IRE model of questioning and the use of open-ended questions. The IRE model of questioning is basically like having a one-on-one discussion with one student, the teacher ask a question and receives one answer and the teacher gives praise to that one student for the correct answer. I believe this way of questioning is not helping the student comprehend anything from the text because they are strictly giving the answer without any explanation of why. The IRE model of questioning does not promote discussion in a class, and discussion in a class is extremely important because through discussions the student builds knowledge and authenticity. I believe open-ended questions also stuck out as an important idea for teaching comprehension because it also promotes discussion which in many ways increases comprehension. When there are more open-ended questions in a class it makes the students come up with their own ideas and predictions and this keeps the student thinking. Some new instructional practices that I would incorporate in my classroom would be to have my students activate their prior knowledge. I believe activating prior knowledge is extremely important because when students can use what they already know to comprehend something new it will not only be stored in their long term memory, but they will also comprehend the information better than if they had no prior knowledge about the topic. In order to promote comprehension among the students that I am observing I would incorporate class discussions because the students do well with answering open-ended questions and formulating their own opinions and questions about a specific topic. Overall this video was extremely helpful in giving comprehension strategies for struggling readers.

Week 10- DIBELS vs QRI-5

I believe DIBELS and the Qualitative Reading Inventory 5 are both two extremely useful assessment tools but they differ in many ways. The QRI-5 allows the student to build up their confidence by starting two levels below the students grade level which I believe is a great way to start.In DIBELS you are focusing on many different areas of reading, which include fluency,initial sound recognition, and etc. While using the QRI-5 I found it easier to score the student because the information was their for me to reference back too. I was able to go back to the story the student read and determine the miscues. Although I was able to go back and reference back to the scoring sheet, I still had to come up with a lesson that would enhance the students reading level and comprehension. While using DIBELS I was more or less confused about how to properly grade the student. I do believe that DIBELS is a great assessment tool because it gives the cooperating teacher an analysis of the assessment, within the analysis DIBELS formulates different activities to better assist the student. I believe that is the greatest part of using DIBELS because it comes up with a specific lesson to meet the need of the specific student. Overall I believe using DIBELS and QRI-5 is a great way to monitor the students reading progress when used accurately,but if I had to choice one assessment to use I would use the QRI-5.

Observation Reflection-4/8/11

During my observations I was able to observe students reading a folklore tale called "Why Mosquitoes buzz in people's ears". After the story students were assigned to write a essay describing the reasons why mosquitoes buzzed in people's ears. In this essay students had to write at least 4 paragraphs. Each paragraph had to have 3 supporting sentences to back up the folklore.

I was honestly excited because this was the first time I was able to see the students writing ability outside of them working on the practice ELA exams. The class was definitely divided some students had exceptional stories where other students stories could barely write a proper beginning sentence. A lot of the students had great supporting details from the story which made their essay stick out from the rest of the class.

Practice QRI-5 with Brianna

During our practice QRI-5 session we are introduced to "Brianna" a 3rd grade ELL student. As instructed we began Brianna with the primer word list which would determine which reading level we would begin with. She was able to complete the primer word list with confidence and accuracy. So we continued on! During the first word list she began to struggle. At this point it was clear that we had to begin at the first grade reading level and work are way up depending on her confidence level. In level one she was given the Narrative writing prompt,

" Mouse in a House", in this section she was familiar with the topic. She was able to answer the concept questions with accuracy. Even though she was in the instructional level at this time we decided to continue onto level two just to be sure.

In level two Briana reads the expository writing prompt "Whales and Fish. In this section she was extremely unfamiliar with the topic. She was unable to answer many of the concept questions. At this point we can begin to see Brianna's confidence diminish. She is unable to recall most of the main details of the story. At this point due to Brianna's confidence level we will remain at level two.

Overall I believe Brianna did well on the narrative section because she was familiar with the topic. She was familiar with how people feel about mouses in their houses. Even though Brianna is reading below her grade level, I believe there are many tools the cooperating teacher can use to increase Brianna's reading level. This assessment is useful in differentiating instructions to meet the needs of the students in the class because in every classroom their are going to be students who are below their reading level. It is up to the cooperating teacher to adjust the lesson to meet the needs of all his/her students.

Week 8-Writing Community

• The components of an effective writing program includes Personal Connection, Writing Conventions, and Inventions. Personal Connection is important for students to incorporate their own personal experiences into their writing, which may include an interactive journal. Writing Conventions are the different writing stages that the teacher will go through with a specific student. Invention is giving the student an opportunity to experiment with different writing formats.

• I would have students incorporat their personal experiences into a narrative because I believe personal experiences is a great motivation for students.

• I would allow students to make personal connections in different subject areas by allowing the student to come up with their own format for their working. For example during a science unit, if the class is studying animal habitats, I would give the students a chance to compare and contrast their own habitat to the given habitat. This gives the student a chance to incorporate their own enviroment into their writing. This motivates the student to find information on how their habitat compares to other habitats.

• I believe this truly depends on the class you have because the class that I am observing now, I would incorporate more personal connections into the writing program for them. I would incorporate more personal connection writing because the students are more motivated to work when it comes to giving details about their own personal experiences.

• I would incorporate student inventions during narrative writing because this gives the student the chance to either write their narrative in a poem form, an essay form, or through using pictures and diagrams.

COCA-Concepts of Comprehension Assessment

The COCA was designed to assess the processes rather than the products of comprehension which I believe is a great concept. In so many schools today the process leading up to comprehension is often overlooked. The process of comprehension is so critical when students are in the primary grades because that can potentially have an effect on how they will do later on. The different books for assessment of the COCA include the Salmon, and the Dragon files. In the COCA one major thing that stuck out to me was that the students had to fill in the blanks of the specific story. I think that is a great tool because this way the teacher has a true understanding of whether the student comprehends what was just read to him/her. It is also a good way to assess the students vocabulary and word recognition. I would incorporate this assessment tool in my classroom because I believe it gives the teacher an idea of where his/her students are in relation to their reading comprehension abilities.

As a future teacher would this tool be something you would incorporate into your classroom? Why or Why not?

Observations at New Vision Elementary

So, Today was my first day at my observations. I coincidentally have the teacher I did my first observations with during my first semester. (Ms. V) She is all about her student observers working with the students on a more hands on basis. I got the chance to do a short reading comprehension sheet with a small group of students. The students are smart but they are extremely loud and obnoxious from what I seen today. Overall it was a good experience because she allowed me to work with the students on my own unlike a lot of the teachers I had to observe in the past.

Christopher Myers: A Writing Story

This video was so exciting to watch because of the way the students reacted to Christopher Myers. Myers showed the students that everyone has a story to tell about either themselves or the things around them. Even though some of the students did not like to read they were excited to come up for a character for the story he was creating on the whiteboard. What caught my attention was when Christopher said " his grandfather could not read, but yet he told the best stories. My question to everyone is why do they think that is?

When I observed in Rockville Centre 2 semesters ago they had a famous children's writer come to the school. I thought that was so amazing because in many ways that motivated the students to want to read. For many of the students the writer definitely made a difference in their interest in reading.

Placement

I have been placed in New Vision Elementary School, I will start Wednesday at 9am.

Podcast-Creating a home-reading program

I found the podcast to be extremely informative and interesting because not only are teachers trying to work with students at school, but there also trying to encourage students to read at home. The podcast made a lot of great points about how when students read at home it definitely increases their vocabulary and reading skills. The reading that can be done at home can include reading a magazine, a newspaper or even reading about a topic of interest for the student. The podcast spoke about "R4" which stands for reading, relax, reflex, and respond. After listening to the main ideas behind the R4 I would definitely incorporate it into my classroom, because it encourages the student to read and at the same time it allows the teacher to test their comprehension of what they have read. In this day and age reading at home is extremely important because it can actually determine if your reading on grade level or below grade level for a lot of struggling readers.

The interview I was unable to complete because I have yet too be placed, but I called the school yesterday and I was told the principal will call me back to set up my hours so I can begin observing. I will be observing in New Vision Elementary School in Freeport if everything works out. I am waiting for her call, so hopefully I can be placed at the latest Monday.

Respond To Intervention: What Teachers of Reading Need to Know

Respond To Intervention: What Teachers of Reading Need to Know

In this article it goes in-depth into RTI and the major steps in the intervention process. Respond to Intervention or RTI as it is known as is the initial referral and identification process for students suspected of having learning disabilities. This article gave a lot of key points in the intervention process. In the article it focuses on the measured response of the intervention rather than focusing mainly on standardized testing, which I believe is extremely important. I believe that there should be many different ways to assess a student rather then just sticking a test in front of them. The article also described how in order to know that the intervention is working effectively there has to be a way to see if the students academic performance has improved. I believe that is the main purpose of RTI, which should be too make sure that the student is improving academically on grade level.

The Assessment of Thoughtful Literacy in NAEP: Why the States Aren't Measuring up.

The Assessment of Thoughtful Literacy in NAEP: Why the States Aren't Measuring up.

This article describes the major differences between the NAEP test and the state test that are given to students to assess their reading level. The article states that the state tests do not measure up to the NAEP. The NAEP assess in a more open-ended way compared to the multiple choice format on the state tests. NAEP places a great deal more emphasis upon a readers ability to construct and explain a response to text, whereas the state test place a higher premium upon a readers ability to recognize a response and distinguish it from other less adequate responses. NAEP de-emphasizes vocabulary items and the sample of the state tests uses them regularly in comprehension assessment. NAEP calls for a higher order interpretation more than twice as frequently as the highest ranked state test. NAEP uses far more open-ended items in its assessment of reading, uses far fewer vocabulary and genre items, and demands far more thoughtful response than any of the state tests. A significant advantage of NAEP is related to the complaint voice by many educators. Many teachers say that assessment is driving curriculum , and teachers are being pressured to teach to the test rather than toward the achievement of a set of clearly articulated goals.

Why do think the state tests are still being given, if the NAEP works better from what the article is describing?

Using Assessment to Guide Instruction

This video session was extremely informative and enlightening. The basis of this session was to analyze the ways to use assessment to create more effective instructional activities. Assessment in the video was considered consequential because the teacher that is assessing the student is using that information for the basis of their future instructional activities. This is important because then you can further assess how the student is progressing with the new instructional activities. In the video session many teachers demonstrated the way they assessed their students, which included kid watching ( where the teacher would watch two children every other week). The great part about this particular assessment is that the teacher uses that assessment to create instructional activities for the class. I believe this assessment gives the teacher a better idea of what levels of reading his/her students are on. Another assessment tool used was jobs within the classroom . In this assessment the teacher can see how the students interact with one another while completing their given task. I believe this tool can be useful for a teacher to learn about his/her students strengths and weaknesses. Another assessment tool was monitoring. In monitoring students, the teacher can see where the student needs extra assistance.

I have learned a great deal from this video session. I learned how to assess a students reading skills using 5 main points which include; word knowledge, fluency, comprehension, writing, and language. The main point that I got from the 5 main points was that having teacher/student conferences can make a tremendous difference because the teacher begins to know and understand his/her students which in turn leads to better instructional activities.

ELL survey

• I have some experience interacting with children from a different cultural and linguistic background because I usually interact with my boyfriends younger cousin Erica, who is not yet proficient in speaking or writing in english.
• I can remember working with her on completing her vocabulary homework. When she first came from El Salvador about 4 months ago she was really struggling to get the lanugage and vocabulary down.
• In teaching ELL students in classroom I have not really had the opportunity to do that.
• In the case of Erica, She was so driven to learn the language and read in english. Everytime I would come over she would have me read a story to her. She was always trying to pronouce different words that she heard on t.v. When we were reading if she recognized a word that look familiar, she would say it in spanish and I would tell her the word in english.
• Ell students usally encounter alot of difficulties in school like not being able to complete the assignment because they do not understand the instructions.
• Classroom teachers resolve ELL difficulties by assigning different materials to better assist the student such as vocabulary list for different lessons.
• An intervention strategy that can be incoporated is seeking different resources for the student such as reading courses outside of the classroom.