This is a great website that I use often. 'Read, Write, Think' is excellent because it provides useful resources for grades k-12. This site provides teachers with classroom management resources, professional development, parent and after school resources, and learning objectives. My favorite part of this site is under the classroom resources tab they provide a plethora of lesson plans (great place to get ideas), and terrific interactive lesson plans too! I hope you enjoy because this is one of my favorites :)
This article was very interesting to me. I teach reading in an urban district so 'Delivering What Urban Readers Need' caught my eye. The article talks about the reading difficulty in schools that are predominately minority and economically disadvantaged.
This article contains information on: 'An Acute Problem', 'Strategies for Urban Readers', 'Provide Balanced Reading Instruction', 'Identify Those At Risk', 'Provide Supplemental Instruction', 'Encourage Active Student Responding', 'Teach Within Small Groups', 'Monitor Student Learning', 'Create Peer-Mediated Learning Environments', ' Practice Nonexclusionary Classroom Management', 'Help Parents Reinforce Learning', and 'Offering Learners Their Best Chance'.
I found the section on providing a balanced reading instruction to be the most relative and intriguing to me. After reading this article, I feel more confident then ever that all students need repitition! "Good reading instruction is explicit, intensive, and systematic. Such instruction is beneficial for all learners, but it is nonnegotiable for students at risk for reading failure."
This article is important for teachers in urban districts or even if you have 'at risk' students...truly worth a look.
This blog written by Maria Salvadore is very encouraging for adults that have young children or work with young children on a daily basis. This blog points out the facts that when young children are engaged with their reading, they are more likely to always remember the books they read at a young age. Parents and other adults will see what books become the child's favorite ones. These favorite books will be the ones that the child wants to read over and over again without skipping any parts of it. Teaching children the benefits of reading at a young age will most likely make them avid readers when they grow up.
Reading Rockets' children's literature expert, Maria Salvadore, brings you into her world as she explores the best ways to use kids' books inside - and outside - of the classroom. Books entertain, educate, inform, engage, and more - more than we may realize. Readers meet others and see themselves in them.
The ability to read well is the most important skill children can acquire. Reading ability and the desire to read vary significantly among groups of children, however.
This article discusses the results of a study taken in 98-99 of kindergarteners. It provides information on how schools and families can improve the reading skills of native English speaking children, particularly poor elementary school level boys of color.
It states that boys typically learn to read at an older age than girls, take longer to learn, and comprehend less easily than girls.
It talks about reading genres that boys prefer, such as adventure, science fiction and fantasy and books that have characters like themselves.
They discuss the value of reading aloud to students and in providing silent reading time along with a wide variety of books for boys to choose from.
Lastly, it gives suggestions for parents and communities to provide opportunities for young people to help engage them in regular reading.
Oh phooey....I forgot to put Journal #1 on my posting and the author....Wendy Schwartz. Here I was so proud I figured out how to get it there too! Sorry! :)
I love the idea of allowing boy readers to read what interests them. I think a lot of times boys reading for information is viewed as negative, as girls are more apt to discuss and analyze the text. This is something that is just as valuable and can add a lot to the classroom climate and teachers should learn to value this too.
Based on reading this article, what strategies might you incorporate in your classroom/school? Have you previously engaged in any practices to increase boys' reading?
I always try to do a survey with students for likes/dislikes, strengths/weaknesses. I use this information to help students find reading material they are interested in and give them a choice when reading. I also purchased books like Guiness Book of World Records, Ripley's Believe It Or Not, and MythBusters to put on my informational book shelf. Boys seemed to have liked these books very much.
The article I read was inspirational and made me think about my teaching style/methods in a whole new way. The article was about helping children use literature as a way to grow intellectually and emotionally.
This article described that no matter what the medium, we must create educational experiences that strive to make the individual learner the central focus-the star of the lesson. If we do this, then the lessons have an outstanding chance of helping children grow.
Throughout the reading, a study of an inner city, African American adolescent named Kevin is depicted. Kevin struggled to succeed in school and in life. He received tutoring from the author of this article (Terrence Hackett). After getting to know Kevin, Hackett realized that he had a difficult life and the fact that Kevin saw himself as a survivor. Kevin's home life was in turmoil in ways that are unfortunately all too common for inner-city single parent families. As his tutor, Hackett decided to have him read the novel, "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen. This book united his world in a meaningful way. Kevin's real life was a survival story. This book matched his lived experience. It was personally relevant to him, and as a result he was interested and engaged.
He continued to fail in school, despite being tutored by Hackett. Kevin saw the lessons he was being taught in school as completely irrelevant. They had no relation to his lived experience. They were remote and distant, did not appeal to his interests, and were presented in ways that failed to engage and motivate him in the least. The lessons did not consider his strengths and weaknesses as a leaner. The school's ditto sheets, textbooks, and workbooks were meaningless to him, so he tossed them aside. Something that was particularly noticeable to me was that Kevin attended a school that stressed remembering over thinking and acceptance over inquiry. Faced with the prospect of being turned into an object that memorizes and repeats irrelevant information, he chose to rebel. Hackett's tutoring sessions helped Kevin grow intellectually and emotionally, unlike school.
To me, as a reader, this article demonstrates the power of personal relevance for learning. At school, If Kevin was the focus -the star of the activity-his level of concentration and determination devoted would have been enormously high.
I am now a firm believer in making sure that my students are the "star" of every educational experience I provide for them. This article helped me understand what separates meaningful, effective learning environments from ineffective, frivolous ones.
It's probably not realistic to make every student a star in every lesson. Being aware of different ways to reach different students--and being wiling to try--is important. Thanks for sharing this article.
I believe we need to make learning and reading relevant to all students. It is a challenge to find ways to engage all students, but I think we can come up with common themes with kids in our classrooms as a springboard for doing this. Thanks for the link! :)
just an article I stumbled across...additionally, the page contains a platform for a bevy of opinions on this "hot topic". Poke around if you get a chance.
What an interesting idea! I would love to create one for the math classes I teach. I always have parents asking what they can do at home for review. Having a central location for them to go to would be a great educational tool. Thanks for sharing.
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