As the end of class approaches, I have found myself sorting through the piles of resources that I have accumulated. From class discussions, classmate blog posts, researcher presentations, article discussions and lesson plan presentations, there has been a wealth of information shared over the past 7 weeks. I came into the class feeling fairly comfortable with my understanding of emergent literacy. However, looking back, I feel as though I have not been doing everything I can to help meet all of the diverse needs of my students. I am so excited because now I have so many new ideas and strategies to use in my kindergarten classroom. Now that I am more informed on how children develop as readers and writers, I have a deeper understanding of why certain methods work.
One of the most important ways that adults can help a child’s development is by providing a nurturing and literacy-rich environment. By doing this, we influence children’s brain development and their ability to learn. Introducing nurtured children to learning opportunities every day will help them become happy, well-adjusted adults. In all stages of child development, each experience builds on the one before it. The most basic foundations can serve as the basis for the comprehension of more complex ideas in future years.
Based on my experience and the amount of information shared with me in this class, I strongly feel that it is imperative for teachers who work with young children to be continually provided with opportunities to learn more about child development, especially as it relates to literacy acquisition. By continually expanding our knowledge base, teachers will be better prepared to select appropriate instructional strategies, interventions, and materials to ensure that we are meeting the diverse needs of young children.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Word Study
This week we talked in detail about a different approach to spelling - word study. Word study provides students an opportunity to manipulate words (and parts of words) in meaningful and enjoyable activities and games. Word study activities call for active problem solving. Students are encouraged to look for spelling patterns, form hypotheses, predict outcomes, and test them. These activities require students to continually ask themselves, "What do I know about this new word, and how is it similar to words that I already know?"
My students love working with words, and frequently ask for more "word games." They thoroughly enjoy the various word work that I incorporate into their literacy centers. One of the things the kids like best is speed sorting. I get out my stopwatch and they sort their words as fast as they can. We do it once to practice, again to see how fast they can go and finally a last super-speed round.I always emphasize that no one is competing with anyone else. They are trying to improve on their own performance. They also love to do word study art. I have them write their words and then draw a picture around them so they are "hidden". Then they switch with someone else in their group and find the words. Sometimes they make shapes (flowers, stars, circles) and write their words along the edges of the shape (like a shape poem). These are good for when they are getting used to the words. Be sure you include some work on the vocabulary side of word study, like writing the words in sentences or a story. Sometimes kids just memorize these lists, so to work against that, I always ask for a challenge word when assessing them so they have to remember and use the sort rule.
I think a very important part of word study is consistency. Children need reinforcement and extra practice working with words and exploring patterns. The more exposure we can give our students, the better. Even if you cannot devote time for word study every day, finding a way to incorporate it into your classroom is the best solution. Developmental spelling research does indicate that as students develop and gain sufficient orthographic knowledge within a level of development, correct spellings increase. The more exposure to a word, the more we remember the word-specific information, including the general word structure or orthography (Beers, Beers, & Grant, 1977). Take some time in the morning, before lunch, after recess, during reading groups (etc.), any time you can squeeze in some extra practice would be beneficial.
Beers, J.W., Beers, C.S., & Grant, K. (1977). The logic behind children’s spelling. Elementary School Journal, 77, 238-242.
My students love working with words, and frequently ask for more "word games." They thoroughly enjoy the various word work that I incorporate into their literacy centers. One of the things the kids like best is speed sorting. I get out my stopwatch and they sort their words as fast as they can. We do it once to practice, again to see how fast they can go and finally a last super-speed round.I always emphasize that no one is competing with anyone else. They are trying to improve on their own performance. They also love to do word study art. I have them write their words and then draw a picture around them so they are "hidden". Then they switch with someone else in their group and find the words. Sometimes they make shapes (flowers, stars, circles) and write their words along the edges of the shape (like a shape poem). These are good for when they are getting used to the words. Be sure you include some work on the vocabulary side of word study, like writing the words in sentences or a story. Sometimes kids just memorize these lists, so to work against that, I always ask for a challenge word when assessing them so they have to remember and use the sort rule.
I think a very important part of word study is consistency. Children need reinforcement and extra practice working with words and exploring patterns. The more exposure we can give our students, the better. Even if you cannot devote time for word study every day, finding a way to incorporate it into your classroom is the best solution. Developmental spelling research does indicate that as students develop and gain sufficient orthographic knowledge within a level of development, correct spellings increase. The more exposure to a word, the more we remember the word-specific information, including the general word structure or orthography (Beers, Beers, & Grant, 1977). Take some time in the morning, before lunch, after recess, during reading groups (etc.), any time you can squeeze in some extra practice would be beneficial.
Beers, J.W., Beers, C.S., & Grant, K. (1977). The logic behind children’s spelling. Elementary School Journal, 77, 238-242.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Differentiated Instruction
Not all students are alike. Based on this knowledge, differentiated instruction applies an approach to teaching and learning that gives students multiple options for taking in information and making sense of ideas. Differentiated instruction is a teaching theory based on the premise that instructional approaches should vary and be adapted in relation to individual and diverse students in classrooms (Tomlinson, 2003). The model of differentiated instruction requires teachers to be flexible in their approach to teaching and adjust the curriculum and presentation of information to learners rather than expecting students to modify themselves for the curriculum. Many teachers and teacher educators have recently identified differentiated instruction as a method of helping more students in diverse classroom settings experience success.
Differentiating instruction has become more of a "hot topic" in the last decade. The question is no longer "Are you differentiating?" it's "How are you differentiating?" Differentiation is something that all teachers should be doing. By differentiating, a teacher is making sure that all students' needs are being met. A teacher is able to make sure that those students who need enrichment or reinforcement are receiving it. Trying to find ways to differentiate in the classroom can be overwhelming for any teacher, but especially for a new teacher. I remember just being happy that I survived my first year of teaching; making sure I was differentiating did not become a priority until my second year. Research on novice teachers indicates a focus on classroom management issues, teacher-centered teaching, and instructional planning, not to mention surviving the student teaching or first year experience, made it difficult to focus on differentiating instruction to meet student needs (Tomlinson, 2003).
The necessary foundation for differentiation is content expertise. New teachers need to have clarity about what they want students to know, understand, and be able to do at the end of a lesson or unit. When new teachers are clear about the essential concepts and understandings within their disciplines, they can begin to see how the content can be differentiated to meet the needs of their students. Now that I have taught for 4 years and am much more comfortable in the classroom, I would never go back to teaching the same way for all learners. Differentiation needs to become a natural way of thinking about teaching and learning for all teachers because our children's education depends on it.
Tomlinson, C. A. (2003). Fulfilling the promise of the differentiated classroom: Strategies and tools for responsive teaching. Alexandria, VA: Association for the Supervision of Curriculum Development.
Differentiating instruction has become more of a "hot topic" in the last decade. The question is no longer "Are you differentiating?" it's "How are you differentiating?" Differentiation is something that all teachers should be doing. By differentiating, a teacher is making sure that all students' needs are being met. A teacher is able to make sure that those students who need enrichment or reinforcement are receiving it. Trying to find ways to differentiate in the classroom can be overwhelming for any teacher, but especially for a new teacher. I remember just being happy that I survived my first year of teaching; making sure I was differentiating did not become a priority until my second year. Research on novice teachers indicates a focus on classroom management issues, teacher-centered teaching, and instructional planning, not to mention surviving the student teaching or first year experience, made it difficult to focus on differentiating instruction to meet student needs (Tomlinson, 2003).
The necessary foundation for differentiation is content expertise. New teachers need to have clarity about what they want students to know, understand, and be able to do at the end of a lesson or unit. When new teachers are clear about the essential concepts and understandings within their disciplines, they can begin to see how the content can be differentiated to meet the needs of their students. Now that I have taught for 4 years and am much more comfortable in the classroom, I would never go back to teaching the same way for all learners. Differentiation needs to become a natural way of thinking about teaching and learning for all teachers because our children's education depends on it.
Tomlinson, C. A. (2003). Fulfilling the promise of the differentiated classroom: Strategies and tools for responsive teaching. Alexandria, VA: Association for the Supervision of Curriculum Development.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Phonemic Awareness
After reading each of the articles that were shared in class this week, I found myself able to relate most to the articles discussing phonological awareness. While phonological awareness is the ability to make and recognize rhyming words, count syllables and separate the beginning of a word from its ending, phonemic awareness is a subset of phonological awareness that the speech stream consists of a sequence of sounds. Specifically, phonemic awareness instruction consists of concentration on units of sounds, tasks or operations, and use of cues. The article goes on to suggest kinds of activities that can be used to help the development of phonemic awareness in young children. Being a kindergarten teacher myself, it was very interesting to read about the different strategies and skills that I should be incorporating into my lessons. It was also reassuring to see that I already include some of the ideas in my reading groups.
In kindergarten, most students are not ready for reading instruction at the beginning of the year. Therefore, much of my time in the first half of the year is spent strengthening phonemic awareness skills in my students. I play many games with them to practice blending and segmenting words, and the students participate in silly poems and songs that focus on rhyming words during whole group lessons. We look at word families and have fun changing the words by simply changing the first letter. Segmenting and blending words is a skill that children should master in kindergarten. The following is a little song that I like to use with my class to practice phonemic segmentation:
Listen, listen to my word,
Then tell me all the sounds you heard: race
/r/ is one sound
/a/ is two,
/s/ is last in race it's true.
Thanks for listening to my word
And telling all the sounds you heard!
The kids love when it is their turn to choose a word for us to segment. They also love a game we play where we pretend to put a big piece of bubble gum in our mouths, chew it up really well, and then use our fingers to stretch the gum from our mouths as we listen for each sound in a given word. Some students used this technique during writers' workshop. It was so cute to see them use their "gum" to hear the sounds in the word they were trying to write. My point is, no matter what activities you do, if you teach pre-K, Kindergarten or first grade, you need to find a way to incorporate phonemic awareness activities into your daily routine. Until a student can segment and blend sounds of a word together, he/she will have a difficult time when faced with an unknown word.
In kindergarten, most students are not ready for reading instruction at the beginning of the year. Therefore, much of my time in the first half of the year is spent strengthening phonemic awareness skills in my students. I play many games with them to practice blending and segmenting words, and the students participate in silly poems and songs that focus on rhyming words during whole group lessons. We look at word families and have fun changing the words by simply changing the first letter. Segmenting and blending words is a skill that children should master in kindergarten. The following is a little song that I like to use with my class to practice phonemic segmentation:
Listen, listen to my word,
Then tell me all the sounds you heard: race
/r/ is one sound
/a/ is two,
/s/ is last in race it's true.
Thanks for listening to my word
And telling all the sounds you heard!
The kids love when it is their turn to choose a word for us to segment. They also love a game we play where we pretend to put a big piece of bubble gum in our mouths, chew it up really well, and then use our fingers to stretch the gum from our mouths as we listen for each sound in a given word. Some students used this technique during writers' workshop. It was so cute to see them use their "gum" to hear the sounds in the word they were trying to write. My point is, no matter what activities you do, if you teach pre-K, Kindergarten or first grade, you need to find a way to incorporate phonemic awareness activities into your daily routine. Until a student can segment and blend sounds of a word together, he/she will have a difficult time when faced with an unknown word.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Play in Kindergarten
This week in class was spent focusing on people who have played a large role in education's history. While I learned new information about many significant people, the one person who I found myself most interested in was Friedrich Froebel. Froebel changed the way we think about early childhood education. He designed balls, wooden blocks, tiles, sticks and rings to demonstrate that children learn by playing.
Being a kindergarten teacher myself, I sometimes find myself feeling torn between making sure all of the expected objectives are being met and making sure that my students are growing socially and emotionally, as well. Kindergarten used to focus more on the social growth of children, but lately I feel as though there is much less focus on social/emotional growth and much more stress on a child growing academically. There is not much time for play in a day filled with writers' workshop, reading lesson, literacy centers, guided reading groups, math lesson, math centers, math groups and a science/social studies lesson. I find myself having to incorporate "play" into our center blocks. While I would love to allow the children more free choice time and more time to role-play, our strict schedule does not allow it.
Luckily, others are starting to realize how important play is in the elementary classroom. A recent New York Times article focuses on just that: "During the school day, there should be extended time for play. Research has shown unequivocally that children learn best when they are interested in the material or activity they are learning. Play — from building contraptions to enacting stories to inventing games — can allow children to satisfy their curiosity about the things that interest them in their own way. It can also help them acquire higher-order thinking skills, like generating testable hypotheses, imagining situations from someone else’s perspective and thinking of alternate solutions. A classroom like this would provide lots of time for children to learn to collaborate with one another, a skill easily as important as math or reading. It takes time and guidance to learn how to get along, to listen to one another and to cooperate. These skills cannot be picked up casually at the corners of the day." (2010). Thank goodness people are remembering how important play is in children's growth and development. Teachers should not be forced to squeeze play in throughout the day; children are actually learning through play. Froebel is probably thinking "finally!"
"Play is the highest expression of human development in childhood for it alone is the free expression of what is in a child's soul." Friedrich Froebel
Engel, S. (2010). Playing to learn. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/02/opinion/02engel.html
Being a kindergarten teacher myself, I sometimes find myself feeling torn between making sure all of the expected objectives are being met and making sure that my students are growing socially and emotionally, as well. Kindergarten used to focus more on the social growth of children, but lately I feel as though there is much less focus on social/emotional growth and much more stress on a child growing academically. There is not much time for play in a day filled with writers' workshop, reading lesson, literacy centers, guided reading groups, math lesson, math centers, math groups and a science/social studies lesson. I find myself having to incorporate "play" into our center blocks. While I would love to allow the children more free choice time and more time to role-play, our strict schedule does not allow it.
Luckily, others are starting to realize how important play is in the elementary classroom. A recent New York Times article focuses on just that: "During the school day, there should be extended time for play. Research has shown unequivocally that children learn best when they are interested in the material or activity they are learning. Play — from building contraptions to enacting stories to inventing games — can allow children to satisfy their curiosity about the things that interest them in their own way. It can also help them acquire higher-order thinking skills, like generating testable hypotheses, imagining situations from someone else’s perspective and thinking of alternate solutions. A classroom like this would provide lots of time for children to learn to collaborate with one another, a skill easily as important as math or reading. It takes time and guidance to learn how to get along, to listen to one another and to cooperate. These skills cannot be picked up casually at the corners of the day." (2010). Thank goodness people are remembering how important play is in children's growth and development. Teachers should not be forced to squeeze play in throughout the day; children are actually learning through play. Froebel is probably thinking "finally!"
"Play is the highest expression of human development in childhood for it alone is the free expression of what is in a child's soul." Friedrich Froebel
Engel, S. (2010). Playing to learn. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/02/opinion/02engel.html
Friday, June 11, 2010
Learning at Home
The interaction between a parent and a child significantly impacts the child during the beginning phases of literacy development. The environment at home plays a major role in a child's development. As a result, it is important for teachers to gain an awareness of children's family literacy practices, especially when the linguistic and cultural backgrounds of the children's families are different from their own. This helps them tap into children's prior experiences, draw upon their strengths and interests, and address their individual needs.
In order for a child to be most successful, learning needs to take place at school and at home. Home is a great place for reinforcement to take place. As a kindergarten teacher, I use many activities during reading groups that promote phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness improves children's word reading, reading comprehension and spelling. There are a number of strategies that I implement in the classroom, such as using songs, rhymes, poems, and chants, working with syllables, concentrating on the beginning sounds of words and playing word games. At home, parents can support their child's phonemic awareness by singing alphabet songs with their child, read stories that their child chooses, help their child clap the beats or syllables in words, point out letters in words around the house and play with language and rhymes. Parents can help further their child's learning by making sure that reinforcement takes place at home. By engaging parents in their child's reading acquisition, children will find greater success in school.
In order for a child to be most successful, learning needs to take place at school and at home. Home is a great place for reinforcement to take place. As a kindergarten teacher, I use many activities during reading groups that promote phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness improves children's word reading, reading comprehension and spelling. There are a number of strategies that I implement in the classroom, such as using songs, rhymes, poems, and chants, working with syllables, concentrating on the beginning sounds of words and playing word games. At home, parents can support their child's phonemic awareness by singing alphabet songs with their child, read stories that their child chooses, help their child clap the beats or syllables in words, point out letters in words around the house and play with language and rhymes. Parents can help further their child's learning by making sure that reinforcement takes place at home. By engaging parents in their child's reading acquisition, children will find greater success in school.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Welcome All
Hello to everyone interested in learning about literacy development in children. My name is Annie and I am a grad student at Johns Hopkins University. I am currently enrolled in my fourth class on my way to obtaining my masters degree in reading. I have been teaching kindergarten for the past 4 years, so I am always interested in learning about how I can help my students be successful readers. Kindergarten has definitely changed since I was there. Students are expected to be reading simple books by the time they exit kindergarten. I am excited about this class, Emergent Literacy, because I believe it will help me acquire more techniques and strategies that I can use to help my students develop their reading skills.
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