Tompkins Chapter 5

Chapter 5 of Tompkins discusses fluency in reading and writing. I especially was intrigued by the explanation of how different levels of readers decode words. "Capable readers notice all or almost all letters in a word, whereas less capable readers do not completely analyze letter sequences of words. Struggling readers with limited phonics skills often try to decode words by sounding out the beginning sound and then making a wild guess at the word without using the cueing systems to verify their guesses" (Tomkins, 165). I have noticed this difference in reading fluency in my 2nd grade class. There are several readers who are very fluent and are conscious of every letter of the words and therefore able to read accurately. On the other hand, there are several students who read a word and get stuck at the start of the word and guess what word it is. For example, I was reading with a student (“Susie”) and she saw the word “power”. The students had just been reading Native American legends and so when she saw the start of the word “power”, she assumed it said “powwow” and read the word as “powwow”. I was intrigued to see her make that assumption because it signaled to me that she was not reading fluently. Additionally, she did not read with expression (prosody) which was another signal to me that she was not reading fluently. I have noticed over all that most of the students in the 2nd grade class are not fluent readers and writers which tells me that it is accurate that most students are not fluent until they are a bit older.

Chapter 5

“Researchers report that the big difference between students who identify words effectively and those who do not is whether they survey the letters in the word and analyze the interior components. Capable readers notice all or almost all letters in a word, whereas less capable readers do not completely analyze the letter sequences of words. Struggling readers with limited phonics skills often try to decode words by sounding out the beginning sound and then making a wild guess at the word without using the cueing systems to verify their guesses” (165). Just as this quote states, this situation really happened in my field when I was going around testing students on high-frequency words. My CT gave me a list of high-frequency words, and I was to call on students one by one and ask them to read the word. If they read it incorrectly, then I was to mark the word. A lot of the students were doing great with reading the words. But it was couple students who were having a hard time reading. One student was Farzeel, a student who has missed half of the school days, and comes to school late most of the time. When I started to test the high-frequency words, I was extremely frustrated. He was going well with the first column, but once he started to read the second list, he seemed like he was getting stuck, because there was pauses before sounding out the word. Then, what he was doing was interesting but at the same time disappointing. He started to sound the letters one by one, and then he read the word. It was interesting to see him do this, because none of the students in this class was seen doing this. On the other hand, it was frustrating because he was saying the words incorrectly, making wild guesses like the quote states. In addition, when he sounded the word incorrectly, I corrected him by saying the word correctly. Then he would say, “That’s what I just said…”

Based on this observation, I observed Farzeel read books in class, since it was March Reading Month. The class was required to read at least five books to one of the helpers. The first thing I noticed is that he was unable to concentrate when he was reading. When he finished reading one page, then he would talk about irrelevant things with the helper. Obviously, it was hard to make him concentrate back to the readings, because he would talk about endless stories. Another thing that I observed is that he would stutter frequently and were many pauses. It seemed like it was because he was unable to read a lot of the words. So he was sounding out the letters first and reading the word. So this took a long time for him to finish one book. Being able to read fluently affects so many areas of learning. Just by knowing the high-frequency words, it helps a reader become fluent in reading. If not, it affects how the student reads, and it also becomes an obstacle to the student.

Tompkins Ch. 5

The part of this chapter on developing fluent readers and writers that I enjoyed the most was the part on word recognition. I really enjoyed what the author had to say on this, because I feel that word recognition is something I see a lot in the field. Tompkins wrote about how children are more likely to recognize the word whale than the word what,"because whale conjures up the image of an aquatic mammal, whereas what is abstract. However, what is used much more frequently, and children need to learn to recognize it" (p. 158). Words like what, could, to, etc. are called sight words because they aren't pronounced phonetically, so children can't easily decode them, therefore they are words that children learn by sight and by forming a relationship of how that word is said.

My CT has a word wall in the classroom, but after reading the list of high-frequency words in the book, I think my CT could add a lot more than what she already has. Her word wall is divided alphabetically and each letter has a few words under it, but since I'm in a first/second split class, I think more sight words would be beneficial to them. I've noticed that my students are getting really good at sounding out words and focus on on sound-letter relationships, but when they try to do that with a sight word they get stuck. I haven't seen my CT add any new words to the word wall since I first saw it at the beginning of the year, and Tompkins mentions in the chapter that word walls should be added to as new vocab is introduced and new elements of literacy are introduced. I think the students in my class would really benefit by seeing new sight words get added to the word wall, because they are so observant that they would always be looking for new words and this would really help with their fluency.

Tompkins Chapter 3

While reading through chapter 3, the chapter reminded me of a student in my field placement. Her name is Haja, who has come from Africa with very little education. There has been a war going on in her country, so she and father has come to stay with her mother’s sister who lives in Michigan. On page 85 of chapter 3, it says that young children are active learners “who construct their own knowledge about reading and writing with the assistance of parents, teachers, and other literate people. These adults demonstrate literacy as they read and write, supply reading and writing materials, scaffold opportunities for children to be involved in reading and writing, and provide instruction about how written language works.” Helping students with reading and writing and working with these students in these two areas is not just the teacher’s work, but also needs the involvement of “others” around the student, including parents. School is not the only place where learning takes place; it also takes place outside of school with the interaction with others.

Unfortunately, one of the problems my CT and I have encountered in class with Haja is that there is no one at home to sit and read with her even for five minutes. We have noticed this when she started to bring her book bag without a signature and has been continued for months. The students in my CT’s first grade class have a book bag that they bring home to read with an adult. When the book is read, the adult signs the sheet and returns it the next day. When the chart is full, the student receives a book prize. While other students have been continuing this process successfully, Haja was bringing back the same book back without a signature. My CT has told me that there is nobody reading to her at home. Her father and other guardian are also ignorant about things that happen in school. They have not shown up on Parent-Teacher Conferences. When Haja was the student of the week, nobody came to class to participate in her interview. What worries my CT the most is that she does not have other learning opportunities and opportunities of improvements aside from school, especially in a situation where she is far behind than other classmates in the class. Sadly, my CT decided to complete the book bag in class, daily, with the help of helpers in the class. Now, Haja is read to in class by other helpers in the class, and she does not take the book bag home. This shows the importance of parent-involvement and providing students with opportunities as much as they can be provided. Haja could have been a better reader and speaker by now.

Tompkins Chapter 7

After reading Chapter 7 from Tompkins about 8 comprehension strategies, I believe that teaching students to use all 8 strategies when reading a text is a key element when instructing students to be critical thinkers in relation to literacy. Tompkins makes a valid point when she said, “comprehension is an invisible mental process (that) makes it difficult to teach; however through explicit instruction, teachers make comprehension more visible.” (p. 241) Comprehension is an abstract concept that students, especially those in the younger grades, may have difficulty grasping. However, by incorporating comprehension strategies into everyday classroom activities in conjuncture with explicit instruction on what the strategy does (declarative knowledge), how to use the strategy (procedural knowledge), and when to use the strategy (conditional knowledge), students can become more fluent in using these comprehension strategies.

Prior to reading this chapter, I had never thought about visualizing as a comprehension strategy. However, I now see that visualizing can be a very useful comprehension strategy by helping “readers use the mental images to make the text more memorable.” (p. 229) I think this particular strategy could be a useful strategy to focus on while reading my book club book Scorpions by Walter Dean Myers. Visualizing while reading this particular book could be especially effective because the main character, Jamal, faces many challenges and is placed in particularly dangerous and difficult situations. Through visualizing either Jamal in these situations or by visualizing you, the reader, in these situations, I think that the text could become even more powerful.

Another comprehension strategy that I believe could work very well for Scorpions is connecting. Connecting helps “readers personalize their reading by relating what they are reading to their background knowledge.” (p. 229) In a typical suburban classroom, many of the ideas and situations in Scorpions could be very atypical, causing difficulty relating the situations Jamal faces to situations the children in the class might face. If the students in this hypothetical suburban classroom were to take time and specifically think of connections, I think the book could become more relatable and more memorable. While all 8 of the comprehension strategies in chapter 7 of Tompkins could be incredibly powerful in helping students comprehend Scorpions, I think that visualizing and connecting are two influential ways to help students comprehend this book in particular.

Tompkins Chapter 7

Tompkins chapter 7, about students’ comprehension, was a chapter that grabbed my attention. This may be because of my unhappy experience as a student related to reading comprehensions. In this chapter, it talks about comprehension in depth, showing many parts of comprehension and how they can be done. Comprehension is “a thinking process” where students can “activate their background knowledge and preview the text, and it continues to develop as students read, response, explore, and apply their teaching” (223). But throughout sixth, seventh and eighth grade, literature and any reading related subjects were something that I hated, but on the other hand, I really liked my reading classes when I was in elementary. I can remember some of the things that I did in my elementary reading classes, but I do not remember what kind of things we did in reading classes in middle school aside from taking comprehension quizzes. All I can remember is the comprehension quizzes that were taken all the time after reading certain texts. I was a fluent reader but was reading without a purpose. I was not even able to make connections to myself or even to the real world, because I could not find the purpose for reading. Reading was merely reading fluently through the text, then taking the quiz, and then forgetting the information. As Tompkins talks about the purpose, it is for students to “activates a mental blueprint to use while reading” (227). But I never had a chance to form this mental blueprint, because I was busy trying to memorize the basic information in order to do well on the quiz. After graduating middle school, I had a hard time adjusting to high school reading materials and in my literature classes, because I was never able think and read with a purpose aside from the quizzes. So I had to struggle through adapting to finding the purpose of reading and also comprehension. It is important that “when teachers set the purpose, they should be teaching students how to set purposes so that they can learn to direct their reading themselves” (227).

Tompkins Chapter 7

I really enjoyed chapter 7 of the Tompkins book because I think comprehension is such an important part of literacy. I think if comprehension is going to be taught effectively, then all eight strategies should be used because together, I think they do a great job of satisfying students’ different learning styles. One of the examples from the book was about prediction and how prediction is a tool that is frequently used in reading. Prediction is introduced when kids are very young, and they might not even see how it can be used as a comprehension tool, but it can help the students focus their reading and give them a purpose as they read to find out if their predictions were correct. This is a great strategy to start out with when teaching comprehension because it is something students are already familiar with. The other strategies are also strategies students have used before, but will be bale to apply to comprehension. I think this is great because the students will be able to learn comprehension through skills they already possesses and it will help them to refine their skills. Tompkins develops the idea that comprehension is a process. It's not just a skill or a task that a student learns once and masters, but a process. As students use more and more strategies and techniques to help guide their comprehension, they will continue to build on the base they have and comprehension will be something that comes naturally to them.

This chapter really made me think about my own personal school experiences because comprehension was something I really struggled with. I was a very fast reader in elementary school, but I remember I would get to the end of a page, or a chapter and have very vague ideas of what it was about. I think I focused too much on reading the words correctly and moving through them, that I lost focus of how the words all worked together to create meaning. I can’t remember specific comprehension strategies my teachers used, but I’m sure there were strategies used. I wonder what it was about the strategies my teachers used to help teach comprehension that didn’t help me.

Student Roles

For this week’s reading, “Student Roles” from “A New View of Discussion” by Janice F. Almasi, I learned about four different roles that students can play during a discussion versus during a recitation. These roles are inquisitor, facilitator, evaluator, and respondent. Prior to reading the description of these individual roles, I was quite apprehensive that these roles may not be as unique in a discussion versus a recitation as the introductory paragraph suggested. However, subsequent to reading the descriptions of the respective roles, I realized that there really are four potential roles that students can play during a discussion among peers.

After reading about the roles, I began to analyze my prior experience observing Elementary School students during discussions and recitations. As stated in the text, respondent is a role that students have traditionally played; it is also a role that I have frequently observed in both discussions and recitations. Inquisitor is a role that I have seen some students play during a recitation, though I have seen this role played much more frequently during discussions. For example, I recently observed a discussion amongst several of the second graders at my field placement asking each other to explain the rational behind each other’s interpretation of a poem. Facilitator is a role that I had a more difficult time racking my brain to think of a personal example. However, there is a girl in my field placement who, when working with groups or having a group discussion about a topic, always tries her best to incorporate other children in her group by asking their opinions about previous statements. Finally, the role of evaluator is one that, for me, seems to go hand in hand with inquisitor. This is because many times, by being inquisitive, the children begin to challenge each other’s ideas.

I have realized, after reading this particular section, that students can gain a plethora of knowledge through participating in a discussion. By this I mean that students are able to learn how to act as an inquisitor, facilitator, evaluator, and respondent; all of which are roles that are frequently played in real-life discussions. Through learning these roles in a familiar and safe context (school), children can then eventually feel comfortable using the roles in their everyday lives.

Week 5

The second article, “Understanding Literature” Judith Langer, talked about four major ways students can understand and interpret a text. These four ways of understanding a text had to do with processes that the readers needed to go through in order to see the deeper and broader pictures of a text. The four ways included Being Out and Stepping In, Being In and Moving Through, Being In and Stepping Out, Stepping Out and Objectifying the Experience. While reading through the four different ways of viewing and understanding literature, it reminded me of last week’s reading by Gibbons about the different roles of a reader; readers as a text decoder, text participant, text user, and text analyst. The four ways and the four roles of readers seem intertwined together and are parallel to each other. Both Langer’s four ways and Gibbons’ four roles are what the readers need to be and need to do in order to understand the inner side of literature rather than just the outside, reading through words where readers do not find any meaning. Students need to be able to play these roles when they are reading, and it is also important that students are not just doing it in class with the teacher but also when independently reading.
While reading through the first article, “Instructional Conversations: Promoting Comprehension through Discussion”, classroom management was a topic that came to mind. This is because when teachers are not able to manage students’ behavior and keep them focused, especially during the discussions, it becomes impossible to carry on a “serious” and in-depth discussion with the class. This can be seen in my first grade field placement class. It is really difficult to do a class discussion, and even though the teacher does one, she has to end quickly by asking some simple questions. Although there is always an excuse of saying “they’re first graders…”, I feel that it is important to talk with students in depth about what they have just read, regardless of grade level. It is an opportunity for both students and teacher to listen to each other’s opinion and learn from it. For me, it is also a chance for students to talk about various perspectives and how each individual understood the text.

Almasi Article

I read the section on student’s roles and figure three of Janice F. Almasi’s article, "A New View of Discussion” and I particularly enjoyed the two diagrams that described students and teachers roles in both a recitation and a discussion setting. As teachers it is important for us to know how to fulfill each role when it is appropriate. We should keep in mind that during a discussion, the main focus is on students’ thoughts and collaboration. During discussions, the student’s roles as inquisitor, facilitator (of both interaction and interpretation), the respondent and the evaluator are highlighted while the teacher sits back making observations and intervening only when absolutely necessary. This is the chance for the students to interpret the reading, share their thoughts in the reading and have their questions answered and analyzed by their own peers. I love the idea of student-led discussion because I think it fosters self-efficacy and allows students to share ideas in a comfortable setting. Students who might normally, feel intimidated to share might be more open to the idea knowing that their peers are asking the questions and participating as well.

In my field placement I see many recitations take place where my CT has large role as the inquisitor, facilitator, respondent and evaluator, and I have yet to see a discussion take place like those mentioned in the article. Since I am currently placed in a first and second grade split class, I think the recitation works well because my CT is able to ask questions that guide students in a certain direction and assess comprehension and test to self-connections. The students in my class love sharing their opinions, but when asked open-ended questions they easily get off task and will begin to share any story whether or not it is relevant to the initial question or the reading. I think the students in my class might struggle with a student- led discussion at this point, but with scaffolding, I think it is something they would be able to do in small groups. After reading the roles students take on during discussions, I can picture certain students in my class who would do well in each specific role and I look forward to planning and teaching my literacy lessons, so I can try some of these discussion ideas with them.

Gibbons Ch. 5

Through reading Chapter 5 of the Gibbons text, I learned that there are not only different theories that are related to literacy pedagogy, but that it is incredibly important to plan before-reading, during-reading, and after-reading activities. I had never thought about the importance of modeling the manner in which effective readers read prior to reading this chapter. Previously, when I thought about teaching reading, I solely thought about the importance of teaching the students to read for comprehension. For some reason, I had completely forgotten about the fact that many young readers as well as English Language Learners may not have a grasp on the techniques required to become an effective reader.

While reading this chapter, I began to think about my own elementary school years, and I cannot remember a single time where I took place in a before-reading activity. Similarly, in my current field placement, I have never seen my CT incorporate any before-reading activities into her lessons. I cannot help but wonder if my lack of experience with before-reading activities is due to the fact that there were very few (if any) English Language Learners in my Elementary School, and there are no ELLs in my current field placement. However, I think that before-reading activities can be useful to any level of reader, no matter if they are reading in their first language or not. One of my favorite examples of a before-reading activity was "Predicting from Title or First Sentence" (85). I thought that particular activity would be especially helpful because it allows the children to model hypothesising about the content of a book/reading prior to reading it. Additionally, if the predictions are given in a group setting, it would be fairly easy for the teacher to "guide the class in a way that will best help them deal with the major concepts or events in the text to be read." (85)

I hope to incorporate the concepts I learned from this reading into my future classroom as well as my current field placement. Although there are no ELLs in my current placement, I hope to still incorporate before, during, and after reading activities into my lesson I teach. In my past as both a learner as well as my time spent as a "teacher" in a classroom, I have seen during and after reading activities modeled, so hopefully I will be able to incorporate my prior knowledge of those types of activities with my new-found knowledge I gained from this reading.

Gibbons, Chapter 5

As quoted on top of page 77, literacy develops “in a variety of rich contexts”, regardless of whether the learner is an English language learner or a native English speaker. Being able to read does not stop after a student finishes reading a particular text. There are many factors that affect reading skills for the English Language Learners and even those who are not. Providing students with the opportunity to explore with reading, aside from just literally reading a text, is giving students a chance to experience literacy in a rich context.

The readers’ role does not stop as a code breaker, where students simply have knowledge on letters and how they sound. As Gibbons mentions in this chapter, readers are “text participant”, “text user”, and also “text analyst” (81-82). These four roles showed the importance of teachers and their role as leading and guiding students into reading. The four roles of a reader and the three steps for planning for reading are what struck me. Especially the last part of the chapter where Gibbons mentions about three steps for planning for reading, it made me think about my school years in elementary and middle school. Reading was one of the subjects in elementary and in middle school, and I was thinking that I would have enjoyed reading if my teachers had planned out before-reading activities, during-reading activities, and after-reading activities. Reading was not my favorite subject, and it was difficult for me to understand texts if enough reading time was not given to me. Also, almost all the reading we did in class, especially in middle school, was timed, and then we had to take a comprehension quiz after reading. So, reading was not a fun subject for me. When we were taking the comprehension quizzes, I was frustrated about reading and even taking the quiz, because some stories were difficult to understand, trying to understand a text under limited time was terrifying, and trying to take the quiz without understanding the text was discouraging. It is extremely important for teachers to find ways to engage students into reading, so that reading will not become simply reading a text or even a frustrating subject.

Gibbons Chapter 5

One thing Form this chapter that rally struck me was when Gibbons wrote, “ When you are unable to bring personal knowledge and understanding of a topic to a text, you are effectively robbed of the ability to make use of a key resource for reading: what you already know” (Gibbons 78). Despite the passages obvious statement of the importance of prior knowledge over a variety of different scopes, Gibbons said, “Effectively robbed” which just reiterates the important relationship between prior knowledge or understanding and meaning and comprehension. This is so true, and the example of the restaurant schema proved that this prior knowledge and meaning connection doesn’t just take place in literacy. After reading this chapter I gained an appreciation for the importance of reading, and I now can see how being able to read in his or her native language will benefit an ESL student, because in any language, readers will learn how to decode, analyze, participate within and use the text.

Another example from the text that showcased the importance of prior knowledge, was the paragraph about doing laundry. Although the paragraph is easy to read, it becomes a guessing game to figure out what the purpose of the text is, without knowledge of its title. This just goes to show that everyone can have trouble decoding text and finding meaning, even in their own native language.

Although, I already saw a great importance for bringing culture into the classroom and celebrating children's similarities and differences, this chapter showed me how important cultural texts can be as well. By reading texts from a variety of different cultural backgrounds, students are not only being exposed to different traditions and ways of life, but it will also be more comforting to the ESL students who can feel confident reading a text that they can relate to using their prior knowledge. In turn, this will help to enhance the learning community as a whole, and it will serve as meaningful learning for all students.

Assimilating and Accommodating

My article is entitled From assimilation to accommodation: a developmental framework for integrating digital technologies into literacy research and instruction by David Reinking and Linda Labbo. As we are all familiar with the two words, assimilation and accommodation, the Reinking and Labbo addresses that these two words play an important role in the processes of bringing in new forms of literacy, aside from print literacy. According to the two authors, assimilation is the process where we accept new information and try to combine the new information with our existing knowledge without any changes. On the other hand, accommodation is referred as the process of changing existing knowledge to fit new information. Reinking and Labbo emphasize these two words because there are many different ways that literacy could be taught and learned, especially using digitals and technologies in literacy. They address the difference and importance of assimilating technology and accommodating technology. Nowadays, technologies are used in the classrooms as important teaching and learning tools. But the article states that “literacy educators have, for the most part, tended to see new digital technologies first as a novelty (or nuisance) and gradually as a potentially useful tool for refining or extending what they have done all along (112).” Now, knowing that digital technologies are useful tools in teaching, many educators have been abusing it. They have focused too much on using digital technologies that they are not assimilated but actually accommodated into learning. An example that Reinking and Labbo mention is the computer, especially in literacy. The computer, like drill-and-practice computer games and word processing, should be assimilated into lessons, so that they become more like a “reward” after completing their assigned materials. But, students and teachers rely too much on it that learning literacy through books, prints, writing, and reading, has been changed to using computers as the main source.

The article pinpoints important issues that are occurring today on assimilating and accommodating technology into our teaching and learning. But most importantly, the focus should be on technology as a reference tool and an additional learning tool, rather than relying too much and changing the existing structures, thinking that it is attracting and helpful to students. On the other hand, I think it is also important to consider the various technologies and “assimilate” it into the classrooms rather than ignoring the changes going on. Teachers should be “up-to-date” but also need to be wise in deciphering what to assimilate and what to accommodate.

Think-aloud

My article this week was entitled Teaching online comprehension strategies using think-alouds by Angel Kymes. In the article, Kymes addressed many similarities and differences between print and online texts as well as the benefits of read-alouds. Read-alouds are defined as "a technique by which the individual voices her or his thoughts during the performance of a task." (pg. 493) The article introduces the topic of think-alouds as a form of assessment. Ideally, a think-aloud can demonstrate to the teacher the mental process of the student performing the think-aloud. While the think-aloud has benefits for the teacher in terms of assessment, it optimally has benefits for the student as well. "Use of the think-aloud will benefit students by showing them that reading is a meaning-making process, involves the use of strategy, and is a skill that can be developed through sharing with other and individual self-reflection (Wilhelm)." (pg. 496)

While the read-aloud concept sounds beneficial to all involved, I am still apprehensive about how to conduct a read-aloud. The article states several times that modeling and scaffolding must occur by the part of the teacher before the students should be asked to attempt a read-aloud, however I feel as though I would need to watch someone model a read-aloud before I can fully grasp this concept. Throughout reading the article, I could not think of a single example where I have witnessed a read-aloud in text or online format. I think that this lack of prior knowledge may be a large reason as to why this concept does not make much sense to me.

All in all, I think the goal of the read-aloud is to raise awareness in the students of how they read and how they process the information. The article states that, "teaching students to regulate their learning is a 'long-term endeavor requiring modeling and explanation of mature thought embedded in an extensive practice of doing interesting and authentic tasks with appropriate scaffolding'." (pg. 498) I do think that students should learn to regulate their learning, and I think that the concept of a read-aloud would be one way to teach students to achieve this goal.

Jigsaw Article

My article was entitled, “ Where Do You Want to go Today? Inquiry Based Learning and Technology Integration” by Owens, Hester and Teale. This was a great article because it focused on the importance of inquiry based learning for students, and how students should be encouraged to ask questions, given resources to help answer their questions and provided with examples of ways to present their findings in a way that will be meaningful to themselves and others.

Something important that I got out of this article was the importance of inquiry based learning not only for the students, but for teachers as well. As teachers we do not, nor do we need to pretend that we know everything. Teachers are lifelong learners, and through inquiry based learning projects students can teach the teachers something they might not have known before. This article gave examples of a classroom where each student formulated a question based on a topic of interest and through various outlets of technology and other resources (internet, PowerPoint, people, libraries, digital cameras, scanners, etc.) researched and answered their question and then constructed a meaningful way to use their information. Using what they learned, or putting it into action, was important because it gives meaning and purpose to their initial question. This displays the importance for students to ask questions, conduct experiments, interview people etc. because there is always something to be done with the answers they find. Students will benefit by learning something new and in turn, the classroom community will be enriched as students share their findings. I believe this also fosters intrinsic motivation because the students will likely be more excited to research a topic of their own interest to answer a question they have, over a question their teacher assigns them that the student might find no interest in. Inquiry based learning makes learning more meaningful so students can view it as something they want to do, rather than an obligation.

I remember in my eighth grade science class getting the opportunity to conduct a three-week scientific experiment on any topic we wanted to and the sheer fact that I could pick anything I wanted know more about was the reason I enjoyed the project so much. I was never a huge science fan growing up, but I do remember how much I enjoyed that project because I was in control of what I learned, and it was my privilege to teach my class more about my topic. I would like to see more inquiry based learning take place in my field placement, but so far I have really only seen teaching right out of the textbook. I think there could be far more meaningful learning taking place in my field placement if the students were encouraged to ask more questions and find answers using technology and the other resources the school has to offer.

Gibbons Ch. 1&2

For the reading this week, Gibbons chapters 1 and 2, we learned about 3 different views of learning (empty vessel, progressive, and collaborative), scaffolding, the importance of talking during learning, and group learning. While all of the information that I gathered from reading these two chapters was helpful and informative, the part I found most helpful was the information about group learning. More specifically, the explicit examples that were given about how to make instruction giving more descriptive and more comprehensible to all types of learners (especially ELLs). I had never thought about the importance of scaffolding instruction so that students can grasp the instructions in a variety of manners.
Although I did find the section on "Clear and Explicit Instructions..." very useful, the part I greatly appreciated was the explanations of many different activities that assist ELLs with two different types of comprehension (English language and academic). For example, the Find the Difference game was particularly interesting because I think it is a game that most students would find very entertaining and I also think that the game is a great way to address many ELL students' discomfort with speaking aloud in an academic situations. ("I can say what I want, but not for school work and strangers." pg. 1) By playing this game with a peer, I believe that most students who feel uncomfortable in typically "academic" situations would feel significantly more comfortable and in fact may not even feel as though they are learning at all.
In my field placement, I have learned the importance of working in groups, and this observation has been confirmed through this week's reading. I am working with a CT in a 2nd grade classroom at Rayla Elementary in Haslett. My CT has her class set up in 5 groups- in other words the children are seated around 5 circular tables and regularly work with the peers seated at his or her table. The children very much seem to enjoy working in groups and I have noticed that many of the children who find academics more challenging really bennefit from working in groups with students who are much more adept at academic challenges. I think this observation could also be applied to ELLs although we do not have any in my current field placement.
I look forward to gaining a new wealth of knowledge from this book! I am very interested to see the other ideas Gibbons has for successfully teaching ELLs in an integrated classroom.

Week 2

I am placed in a first grade classroom where there are 23 students from 15 different countries. There are about 7 students who are pulled out from class to meet with an ESL teacher. Half of the students are good English speakers and can understand very well even though their first language is not English, but half of the students still struggle in speaking and listening. We even had a new student from Taiwan, a week ago, who speaks very little English but can understand. While reading through chapter 2, I noticed that there were many information related to what I have always struggled. One of the questions or struggles that I encountered when working with English Language Learners was how to encourage them to talk in class and mingle with other students. It was difficult to find solutions, but reading through chapter 2 helped me think about different ways I can set up a learning community that encourages ELLs to speak up in class. And one of the helpful solution chapter 2 mentions is group work. Group work, according to chapter 2, helps students in three different ways. First, group work increases input, which means that they hear more language than in other settings. Second, through more interaction with classroom peers, output is also increased. Third, language is used and heard in an appropriate way and meaningfully. A lot of teachers either ask ELLs to work alone or in pairs and not many teachers assign ELLs into groups. Most teachers pair ELLs with native speakers of English or those who can speak the ELL’s first language. This may help the ELL to progress in class assignments, but the student does not have the opportunity to hear more language and use the language; there are less input and output. Giving students the opportunity to talk and listen, input and output in language, is the best way to help students improve in learning the language. Group work gives students the opportunity to do so, and it also allows students to break down the barriers students have between native English speakers and ELLs.
When planning group work, I noticed that in-depth planning is necessary, and having a checklist could also be an organized and well-planned way of carrying out a group work. One of the top priorities when planning and carrying out group work is providing clear and explicit instructions. There are many ways to provide instructions, and as the book mentions, listening to directions is one of the most difficult task for ELLs. When I was teaching a science lesson in my field, I planned a lesson where the students had to do group work on weather. But one of the mistakes I have made while planning and carrying out the lesson was making the direction clear for all students to follow. The book talks about various ways to give instructions, like writing it on a card. But I only gave instructions verbally, so when I asked the groups to start working, they all had questions about what to do. It was a frustrating experience because each group member had a task to do, but they could not remember it. So everyone started to ask what they were assigned to do. Giving instructions verbally was not a good method to choose when half of the students are still English Language Learners. After the lesson, my CT gave me some ideas on how to make instructions clear and precise. And one method she mentioned was giving each student a number. Since there were only three members in each group, she asked me to assign students to either numbers 1, 2, or 3. Then on the board or a big piece of paper, write down the task for person #1, 2, and 3. When they are assigned to a number, the students can look at the board and read to themselves what their task is in their group. This makes instructions clear, and the students do not have to come to the teacher to repeat the directions or ask what they are assigned to do. I kind of felt embarrassed and frustrated, but it was a good learning experience for me. I have learned that group work and explicit instructions are intertwined, especially in a classroom where there are at least one English Language Learners.

Week 1_ Gibbons 1 & 2

I learned a lot of great information from the first two chapters of the Gibbons text. Chapter one taught me the importance of context and how it relates to language in general as well as the processes and struggles ESL students go through to adapt to a new language with a new set of rules for communicating within an implied/ expected context. There is a difference between being formally taught a language in school where the emphasis is on rules and grammar, to a social setting with close friends, or a professional business setting. The context is important to consider because certain behaviors and modifications of language are used depending on the setting and these rules are generally understood by both the speaker and the listener. I think this is important to keep in mind as a teacher because although an ESL student may be showing promise and confidence in the classroom, that doesn’t mean they are prepared or feel comfortable speaking in other situations where they are unsure of the context and its appropriate behavior. I have yet to encounter an ESL student in any of my placements but I knowing this will prepare me for my future encounters.

Another thing I learned from chapter one was the importance of scaffolding. Scaffolding is a term that deals with the amount of help a teacher or parent should give a student while they are learning to do something. Scaffolding is important in the situation noted above dealing with context, because by providing firm support while teaching an ESL student early on about how to interact with the context of the conversation in mind, eventually they will see what is acceptable and what is not. Modeling is a great tool that is used when one is learning language because by observing how one acts in certain settings and what form of language is used is a great way to learn. As teachers it is important for us to keep running records of our students so we can gauge progress and know where they are at in their learning. Running records and assessments can play a big role in scaffolding so the right amount of support is given until eventually, no help is needed and the student can do the work independently.

An important point I learned from chapter two is the importance group work has in helping ESL students. In group settings, the student is encouraged to share ideas with his or her peers and it is in an open environment where any opinions can be shared. Small groups provide a sense of security where an ESL student might feel more comfortable sharing unlike in a whole group situation and they are also a great place for an ESL student to experience language and see how it is spoken in the particular context. From my experiences thus far, I can see how beneficial group work can be, if it is done right, so I can imagine that it would be a successful way to help ESL students learn the English language.

These first two chapters were especially helpful to me because I have not yet had the privilege to work with an ESL student, but now I feel that I am better informed on ways to help them succeed in the English language. I know the importance of scaffolding and using group work as more than a collaboration tool, but also as a way to strengthen language.