In contrast to you two, my CT has a word wall, yet it is still a work in progress. As such, she references it only infrequently, so the students don't really know how or when to use it. I have had kids ask me how to spell words that are on the wall; if they were experienced users of the wall, it would seem like second nature to them to scan the word wall first before asking for help.
Rachel, my students always ask about spelling words that are in the prompt! I am tempted to point to the prompt and simply say, "See - it's right there!" Yet maybe it would be better to ask them, "Besides asking me, where might you find how to spell that word?" Of course, I am in a first/second split, so this question might be more suitable for them than for your kindergartners. This shows that how spelling strategies (e.g., the word wall) is used in a class depends on the grade level. It's no wonder that us three, being in different grade levels, have different experiences!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Word Walls. Word.
Having focused on the concept of fluency to a fairly great extent in TE301 I thought that I knew quite a bit about what fluency was and how to promote it within the classroom setting, however, after reading this chapter I realized that we really only scratched the surface. I found this chapter to be very helpful in regards to providing examples of how to promote reading fluency in the classroom and additionally will attempt to modify some of the ideas/minilessons mentioned in the text in order to promote some of the students' fluency during my time in my corresponding classroom.
Reading chapter five of Tompkins really helped me to realize how many little things my CT does in her classroom with the intention of promoting reading fluency. Nearly each one of the sections within the chapter I have seen within my corresponding classroom in one way or another. I was very impressed by how many tasks my CT includes each day that truly are promoting fluency and surprised that I did not catch this fluency promotion on my own prior to reading this chapter.
One thing that caught my attention in this chapter was the heavy focus on the use of word walls within the classroom. This is something that I have seen present in my corresponding classroom since the beginning of the school year; however, I do not think that I have ever seen my CT work with the word wall in the classroom. I am sure that she does engage the students in minilessons throughout the year that focus on the word wall and its importance as well as usefulness, but I am somewhat surprised that I have not first handedly observed any such lesson. I have however seen the students refer to the word wall when writing on their own and have noticed the growth of the word wall over the course of the year. The chart on page 159 is very, very similar to the word wall that is present within my corresponding classroom (perhaps my CT has this exact text!). When I return to the classroom I am definitely going to pay attention in hopes of seeing the Cunningham-suggested procedure for practicing the words on the word wall being exemplified in the classroom.
Reading chapter five of Tompkins really helped me to realize how many little things my CT does in her classroom with the intention of promoting reading fluency. Nearly each one of the sections within the chapter I have seen within my corresponding classroom in one way or another. I was very impressed by how many tasks my CT includes each day that truly are promoting fluency and surprised that I did not catch this fluency promotion on my own prior to reading this chapter.
One thing that caught my attention in this chapter was the heavy focus on the use of word walls within the classroom. This is something that I have seen present in my corresponding classroom since the beginning of the school year; however, I do not think that I have ever seen my CT work with the word wall in the classroom. I am sure that she does engage the students in minilessons throughout the year that focus on the word wall and its importance as well as usefulness, but I am somewhat surprised that I have not first handedly observed any such lesson. I have however seen the students refer to the word wall when writing on their own and have noticed the growth of the word wall over the course of the year. The chart on page 159 is very, very similar to the word wall that is present within my corresponding classroom (perhaps my CT has this exact text!). When I return to the classroom I am definitely going to pay attention in hopes of seeing the Cunningham-suggested procedure for practicing the words on the word wall being exemplified in the classroom.
Pursuing Fluency
As I have talked about in previous blog posts, I was caught once again by another example of using a text over a period of days, rather than having a one-and-done reading of it. Students in Ms. Williams class, featured in the vignette at the beginning of the chapter, had read A House for Hermit Crab numerous times, and Ms. Williams still included it for students to read on their own at the class's listening center (Tompkins 150). This practice is particularly useful for fluency because multiple exposures to a text help to increase a student's base of sight words, i.e. words they can recognize immediately upon sight. Read Green Eggs and Ham in virtually any classroom and you'll see what I mean: many students have the book practically memorized. Of course, memorization does not necessarily build fluency; however, repeated exposure when the text is presented to the class (as Ms. Williams did at her literacy center) seems bound to help students make connections between the words they hear and those they see on the page.
As we see in this vignette, learning high-frequency words so that they become sight words is an important development in a student's fluency. This is particularly the case for words that are difficult to sound out, or whose meaning is not easily discernible from context. Tompkins offers 'to,' 'what,' and 'could' as examples of words that fit into both of these categories (156-7). Ms. Williams successfully used fill-in-the-blank activities to teach high-frequency words (152, 154). These activities, since they were so well designed, put the words in meaningful contexts, used some words repeatedly, and allowed the students to decide upon their placement based on both their formal and informal knowledge of the words.
I appreciated the word-identification strategies (Tompkins 162-70), since I am often faced with students asking me, "How do you spell ________?" Usually, I'll tell them to try sounding it out, which is, I now know, a prompt for them to use phonic analysis, the first strategy. If the word is 'gave', for instance, then I'll walk with them as they make each sound. If they end up with 'gav,' I will ask them something like, "What letter do you add that makes the 'a' say its name?" They'll usually add the 'e.' But with a word like 'dove,' for example, I have always been at a loss for how to help them. I realize now that this is because I always try to use phonic analysis, while other strategies work better for words like this. Take the analogies strategy, for example. (The remaining two strategies, syllabic analysis and morphemic analysis, seem mostly too advanced for my first- and second-graders.) If a student asks me how to spell 'dove,' I could ask them, "Can you think of any other words that sound like 'dove'?" Perhaps they say "glove," and they know how to spell it; then they are well on their way to inferring the spelling of 'dove.'
Dave Koch
As we see in this vignette, learning high-frequency words so that they become sight words is an important development in a student's fluency. This is particularly the case for words that are difficult to sound out, or whose meaning is not easily discernible from context. Tompkins offers 'to,' 'what,' and 'could' as examples of words that fit into both of these categories (156-7). Ms. Williams successfully used fill-in-the-blank activities to teach high-frequency words (152, 154). These activities, since they were so well designed, put the words in meaningful contexts, used some words repeatedly, and allowed the students to decide upon their placement based on both their formal and informal knowledge of the words.
I appreciated the word-identification strategies (Tompkins 162-70), since I am often faced with students asking me, "How do you spell ________?" Usually, I'll tell them to try sounding it out, which is, I now know, a prompt for them to use phonic analysis, the first strategy. If the word is 'gave', for instance, then I'll walk with them as they make each sound. If they end up with 'gav,' I will ask them something like, "What letter do you add that makes the 'a' say its name?" They'll usually add the 'e.' But with a word like 'dove,' for example, I have always been at a loss for how to help them. I realize now that this is because I always try to use phonic analysis, while other strategies work better for words like this. Take the analogies strategy, for example. (The remaining two strategies, syllabic analysis and morphemic analysis, seem mostly too advanced for my first- and second-graders.) If a student asks me how to spell 'dove,' I could ask them, "Can you think of any other words that sound like 'dove'?" Perhaps they say "glove," and they know how to spell it; then they are well on their way to inferring the spelling of 'dove.'
Dave Koch
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Comment on Rachel's Post (3/29)
Yo Rachel,
Thanks for your response to the reading. I think it's cool how much your CT uses prediction, both before and after reading activities. My CT is like yours in that she likes to use prediction before reading to get the kids invested in the story. It's interesting that you did that with Green Eggs and Ham - I would have been worried that some students would know the ending and spoil it for the rest of the class. Did anything like that happen? My CT is different than yours, however, in that she does not typically use predictions after reading. I think this was particularly useful for your kindergartners, since the concepts of past and future are still developing for them. In general, making predictions outside of the reading seems beneficial since it connects the act of reading a story to living life (we often don't know what's coming next!). I hope to bring in the use of predictions both before and after subsequent reading lessons.
Dave
Thanks for your response to the reading. I think it's cool how much your CT uses prediction, both before and after reading activities. My CT is like yours in that she likes to use prediction before reading to get the kids invested in the story. It's interesting that you did that with Green Eggs and Ham - I would have been worried that some students would know the ending and spoil it for the rest of the class. Did anything like that happen? My CT is different than yours, however, in that she does not typically use predictions after reading. I think this was particularly useful for your kindergartners, since the concepts of past and future are still developing for them. In general, making predictions outside of the reading seems beneficial since it connects the act of reading a story to living life (we often don't know what's coming next!). I hope to bring in the use of predictions both before and after subsequent reading lessons.
Dave
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)