Recent Changes

For Learning Topic One August 28-September 10
1) Please review the National Reading Panel "Put Reading First" Report. Please post your response to this document, from the first bullet in the course module to the wiki. Please read and respond to at least one of your peers work after you have reviewed their response.
{MeredithS_LiteracyProposal.docx}
2) The second bullet refers to the toolkit you will be building during this course. As you build your toolkit please post a bi-weekly (every other week) update to the wiki on the materials you have in your kit (if they are electronic you can post them if they are not you can describe them). Along with an update on your toolkit please post a brief reflection on your field work-how is it going? what have you been able to practice? what questions do you have? etc. This will be a recurring assignment updated to the wiki every two weeks!
3) The third bullet refers to the Shaywitz book. Please post your two column notes to the wiki. Again, please read and respond to one peer.
{MeredithS_DoubleEntryJournal.docx}
Thanks Starlit, I don't know why this is so hard to do but at least this works!
{Two Column Notes- Dick.docx}

Topic 8
http://www.cde.state.co.us/
http://www.cde.state.co.us/action/CBLA/index.htm
http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeassess/index_assess.html
http://eweb.psdschools.org/DocumentLibrary/downloads/Curriculum/Elementary_Literacy/CBLA_and_DRA2/ILP_06-07.pdf
First of all, I really felt like this course has helped me learn some valuable techniques to teach reading and writing. I really enjoyed reading the chapters from The Voice of Reason. I felt like the research-based information gave me a strong base for lesson planning. During my observations, I was fortunate to be in classrooms where the instructors really let me get involved. One of the fourth grade instructors allowed me to create reading stations for the students to work on when they had finished their work. I found myself reflecting frequently on the research I had read about in The Voice of Reason when determining what activities would be most helpful to the students.
One thing that I learned that I need to work on is administering a running record. The assessment seems so simple, but trying to remember all of the different symbols while keeping up with a student's reading can be difficult! I think that over the break, I am going to practice with my niece (I am so thankful to be an aunt!), so that when I start student teaching I will be a lot more comfortable with the symbols used.
I was fortunate to observe students begin to practice for the CSAP. One thing that I think is really important when preparing students for the CSAP is to get them used to the language that is used to ask questions. I was really surprised at some of the words that are used in CSAP directions and questions (especially for 3rd graders!). Many of the students would have done better on the practice tests, but they did not understand what they questions were asking. They didn't have the vocabulary! Another thing that seems to be important is that students need to understand how to create a strong summary. Since summaries are great for helping students comprehend what they read, having students practice writing summaries of what they are reading would be really beneficial to their scores on the CSAP.
{Writing Samples.pdf}
I have included three new writing samples from a fourth grade classroom. The first sample is from the lowest reading group, the second sample is from the mid-range reading group, and the third sample is from the advanced reading group. The first two samples are from ESL students. One thing that I noticed about all three samples is that all of the students wrote with a lot of voice. I feel like I can hear them telling me their stories. I alsofelt like all of the samples demonstrated a need for spelling instruction.
For the first sample, I thought that it was great that she tried to include dialogue in her story. Dialogue is a great way to make a story much more interesting. I would recommend that the next steps be to work on punctuation, particularly commas and quotation marks.
In the second sample, I thought that his description of the thoughts and feelings he experienced on the first snow storm of the year was creative. My next steps for him would be to read his work out loud when editing, to hear where the sentences are not fluid. I would also recommend further instruction on commas and quotation marks.
For the third sample, I felt like his ideas were well-developed. I think that he gave great reasons for choosing those particular super powers. I also felt his sentences were fairly fluid. I would recommend instruction to help this students recognize when he has written run-on sentences. I would probably ask him to read his work aloud when editing, so that he could hear the natural breaks in the sentences. I think that he could also use instruction on how to use commas within his writing.
Topic 7
Technology & Writing
http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED517052.pdf
http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/07/18/technology-a-key-tool-in-writing-instruction/
http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/07/18/technology-a-key-tool-in-writing-instruction/print/
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/reading/li300.htm
http://etcjournal.com/2011/06/17/whither-writing-instruction-in-the-21st-century/
Ways to use technology in writing instruction:
Comic book software - I observed this being used at a private school and it was really neat. The students planned their story and then used difital cameras to take pictures of themselves and classmates acting out the stories. The students then imported the photos into the comic book software, arranged the photos out onto templates and then added dialogue. The kids had so much fun writing their comic books.
Blogs
Wikis
Powerpoint Presentations /Prezi
Exchange Writing - Students work on writing and research projects with students from other schools.
Writing Samples
http://educationnorthwest.org/traits
{MeredithS_WritingSamples.pdf} {Rubric.pdf}
Both writing samples are from a fourth grade writing class. The writing samples are part of a 15 minute quick write at the beginning of class. The prompt was: If you could have any super power, what would it be and why?
Writing Sample #1
Word Choice: 4
Sentence Fluency: 3
Conventions: 3
Ideas: 4
Organization: 5
Voice: 5
I felt that this writer had an interesting and unique idea for a super power. There was a clear introduction and conclusion, but I felt the conclusion could have been a little bit more interesting. I also felt more details could have been given about why the writer would have enjoyed just being himself as a superpower. There were some issues with sentence fluency. There was definitely a rhythm to the sentences, but there were a few errors with missing words and verb tenses that interrupted the flow of the writing. I also felt that the writer could have used more variety in how the sentences were written to address the prompt. I would encourage the student to read their work out loud to try and hear some of the errors. I would also encourage the student to anticipate questions the reader might have after reading his work and add details to address those questions. If needed he could ask a friend to read his writing and help him think of questions a reader might have after reading the piece.
Writing Sample #2
Word Choice: 1
Sentence Fluency: 1
Conventions: 2
Ideas: 3
Organization: 1
Voice: 1
This writer, I feel, needs a lot of support. First of all, I felt this writer's strength was their ability to address the prompt and stay on topic. I noticed that while her sentences began with and, every sentence was capitalized and punctuated properly. The first thing that I would probably have this writer work on as a next step is adding details.I would probably teach the student a simple graphic organizer that they could use as a part of their pre-writing process to help add details to their stories. I would probably also work with the student on different ways that we can start sentences in order to give her writing a little variety and spice.
Topic 6
Comprehension
comprised of two skills: vocabulary and reasoning
It is not a natural process. Students must be taught self-monitoring techniques employ 'fix-up' strategies to correct their understanding.
Cooperative learning is a powerful and effective tool in teaching comprehension.
Graphic organizers used during and after reading help focus a reader's attention to structural elements in the text.
Identification of the content and how it is organized helps students to hold better memory representations of the story.
Teaching students to generate questions while reading improves student comprehension andhelps them read with a purpose.
Summarizing encourages students to pay closer attention and reread the text. this can help students identify what they did and didn't understand.
Multiple strategies should be taught, but not too many. With strategies, quality prevails over quantity.
Vocabulary Development
A learner must know a word orally in order to be able to make letter-sound correspondences to it in printed material. The student will not be able to understand the meaning of the word without oral knowledge.
Oral vocabulary is most important when a beginning reader transitions from oral to written forms. Reading vocabulary is most important to a skilled reader.
Both direct, explicit instruction and learning from context are important to help readers develop the size of their vocabulary.
Vocabulary words should be encountered frequently and in a variety of contexts.
Target words are kind of like Goldilocks. They shouldn't be high or low frequency words. They should occur just often enough to be useful in reading.
Students need to know what is expected of them in a vocabulary task. If they are struggling, then they may need to have the task explained in a new way.
Vocabulary instruction should
occur in groups
involve active, engaging tasks
incorporate multimedia
be direct
Fluency
To be considered fluent a child should read
without too many miscues
at a reasonable rate
read with enough expression to sound like language
Sometimes, a child can read accurately, but not comprehend. More frequently, a child with poor fluency will also have poor comprehension.
Oral reading accuracy affects comprehension mostly in first and second grades and drops to nearly zero in third grade.
Reading rate is strongly associated with comprehension throughout elementary grades.
To increase fluency, a student must learn to recognize words within a written text, rather than isolated, in order to improve comprehension.
Round robin reading is much less effective than other instructional methods for increasing fluency.
Reading the same text repeatedly improves fluency.
{Retell Form.pdf}
The student that I administered a retell to is in the third grade and is one of the more proficient readers in her class. She is a second-language learner and speaks Arabic as her primary language. The book that she retold for me was a book that she had read during independent reading time. She shared with me that she had not engaged in any pre-reading strategies before beginning to read. The majority of her answers she was able to answer unaided, but frequently the information was either incorrect or not very detailed. With some aid she was able to identify the setting of the book (which is something they had been working on in class). She was able to identify some aspects of the plot, but only after some prompting. She also needed some prompting to identify how the problem and solution of the story. She was able to create a personal connection to the story unaided.She was also able to state vaguely what she felt the author's purpose was.
The main problem that this student seemed to have was recalling what happened in the story and the sequence of events. Many aspects of a retell are dependent on remembering what was just read and she appeared to have a considerable amount of difficulty with that. Once she received some help, she remembered bits and pieces but not enough to really be able to understand a lot of what happened in the story. This class has also been working on summaries and she has been having difficulty with that too. As a next step, I would definitely encourage this student to use pre-reading strategies to help guide her reading. One strategy I would recommend would be to make predictions about what will happen in the story. I would probably also encourage her to use a graphic organizer while she reads to help her notice the details and provide a visual of how these details are organized in the story. I really liked the organizer on pg. 131 of the Cooper text and would probably encourage her to use an organizer like that.
Topic 5
Since my teacher uses a running record to assess fluency, I did some research online and found a few assessments from other states that I though might be useful.
{Fluency Assessment Tools.pdf} {fluency_research.pdf} {ReadingAssessment.pdf}
Here is the link to my presentation!
http://prezi.com/8jcgoqrlyhyc/hierarchical-linear-arrays-and-neurological-impress-method/
Topic 4
I observed a teacher going over cvvc words with a student in a second grade classroom. First, she administered an assessment to determine which vowel combinations she had difficulty with. The assessment consisted of the student reading a list of words within a vowel family. As the student read the word, if it was incorrect the teacher would write down how the student read the word. If a student self-corrected, this was notated. If the student got some of the sounds correctly, the teacher would circle those sounds. Ex. coach, but said church - the ending -ch would be circled. The assessment covered 'ea', 'ow', 'oa', an 'ai' words. When discussing these word families with the student, the teacher told her "When two vowels go walking, the first one is talking." I thought this was a pretty neat mnemonic. Next, the teacher used some sound cards to help the student learn some difficult sounds in words. As she said the sounds, she told the student to pay attention to her mouth and how her mouth formed the sounds. She then had the student imitate her. She then said words that used those sounds, so the student could see how the sounds worked within words.
http://oregonreadingfirst.uoregon.edu/inst_curr_review_si.html
http://english.glendale.cc.ca.us/phonics.rules.html
http://www.cloudworld.co.uk/english-spelling-rules.htm
http://www.readingonline.org/articles/handbook/templeton/index.html
{ReadingMnemonics.pdf} {MeredithS_COREphonics.pdf} {Stages_of_Orthographic_Development_handout.doc}
Topic 3
http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/about.html#
This site shows how sounds are formed in the mouth for both English and Spanish.
http://reading.uoregon.edu/big_ideas/pa/index.php
This site discusses the concepts and research, instructional strategies & assessments for phonemic awareness.
.
One of the things that really stuck out to me from the readings had to do with ELL learners. Cooper (2012) gives a brief overview of the stages that second langauge learners go through in order to acquire the skills necessary to engage in grade-level appropriate activities in the second langauge (p. 174). If an ELL student starts learning English in kindergarten and they follow Cooper's approximate timeline for acquisition, the students won't be on the same langauge level as native speakers until 7th grade at the earliest! This really made me realize how important it is that I provide quality instruction in my classroom, especially since I am in an area with a very high percentage of ELL students (and not just Hispani!). These students are already at an extreme disadvantage and if I don't provide quality instruction, they are that much more disadvantaged. The other thing that I found interesting was that "Ell's are still acquiring the English phonological system. Therefore, tests of phonemic awareness given in English, which is the students' second langauge, are not good indicators of their ability to use this process" (p. 175). Is this for ELL students at all levels of language acquisition, or is there a level of acquisition where this is no longer true? All of the ELL students in the classrooms that I have observed have phonemic awareness assessments administered to them in English. Is there a better way to do this, without administering the assessment in their native language?
This has been a really busy week for me in my field experience. I was able to administer a phonemic awareness (segmentation) and a letter-sound correspondance assessment for a ELL student. The assessment is attached as a PDF file below. This student did really well on the phonemic awareness (segmentation) assessment. He made 43 errors out of 52 phonemes. Except for three words the student clearly could hear that there were several sounds for each word. For these three words he bunched the final two sounds together, which accounted for 6 of the errors. The student showed a little difficulty determining the sound that a /y/ makes at the end of a word. The student also had difficulty determining the /ow/ sound in town and also what the /ea/ sound is in fear. For the letter-sound correspondance assessment, the student only missed 5 out of 55. He had difficulty with /p/ and /q/ and /b/ and /d/, which is common among ELL students. The student also seemed to have a little difficulty in figuring out when a vowel should be long or short. For a next step, I would probably have this student read books with words that had a lot of words with /p/ /q/ /b/ and /d/. I would also probably work with the student with cvvc words.
I was also able to lead the read-aloud session that the 3rd grade class I am observing has everyday. They read a chapter out of The Night of the Twisters each day. I followed my cooperating teacher's example and would pause and ask questions about what the characters might be feeling, have them make predictions, and helped the students make connections to the story with themselves. It was kind of funny though, because the chapter we read was all about how the wind was blowing really hard and causing things to move. That afternoon the wind was whipping leaves and trash around the schoolyard and the students panicked a little, thinking it might be a twister. Other than that, I think that it went really well. The students were eager to share their thoughts and were really into the story. I also was able to hold some writing conferences with students who had finished revising and thought they might be ready to publish. I think that this is one of my favorite things to do. I really enjoy hearing the students' stories and I love that lightbulb moment some of them have when, for example, they realize where they need to use periods. There was also a student that was having a really bad day, because students were teasing her and she was able to find some catharsis through the writing process. I was really proud of her, because she is a struggling student and she was able to write a very fluent piece about what happened and her feelings.
{Phonemic Assessment.pdf} {MeredithS_PhonemicActivity.docx}
Topic 2
From the readings this week there was one statement made by Cooper (2009) that seems so obvious, but in reality seems like such a difficult accomplishment. She says, "The best way to address reading problems is to prevent them from occurring by providing good instruction" (p. 357). I think what makes this such a hard thing to accomplish in a classroom is the subjective nature of "good teaching." Just because one method works with one child, doesn't mean that it will work with every child. So, what exactly is good teaching? I have been fortunate to be able to observe some really amazing teachers so far. One of the things that I have noticed is that they are constantly assessing their students abilities and they only focus on one step at a time. The children know exactly what their strengths are and what their next step to improve is. They work hard on their reading and writing - one step at a time. These teachers also know that they must be flexible in their instruction.
I was able to administer a running record to a third grade student this past week. The student that I assessed tested into level G of the Mondo reading program, which is considered a first grade reading level. One thing that I learned from administering the test, is that I need to use my intuition on when to stop. Normally, a student reads approximately 100 words for the assessment, which I had the student do. However, the student had a lot of difficulties getting through all of those words. My cooperating teacher told me that when a student is struggling like that, it isn't necessary to have them read that many words from the text. The interesting thing about the running record is that while the student was obviously struggling with the text, his accuracy while still frustrational at 87.5%, was very close to the instructional level. One thing that I liked about the running record, is that you can also help identify where the student is having difficulties. This particular student was able to recognize beginnings of words, but had difficulty decoding the endings of words. Also, based on the words the student used when he wasn't sure what the word was, I was able to determine that he relied mostly on visual cues to guess what the word was. Based on all of this information, his next step is to start using the pictures in the text to also help him determine what the words are (thus helping to increase his comprehension of the meaning of what he is reading). The cooperating teacher also said that she is going to start working with him on word endings.
http://www.cde.state.co.us/RtI/LearnAboutRtI.htm
One of the nice things about this website is the RtI implementation handbook. It offers a lot of great information about the three tiers of intervention.
http://rti4success.org/
This site has tons of webinar videos about all of the different aspects of RtI. This is a great resource for becoming more familiar with the RtI process.
http://www.interventioncentral.org/
This is another RtI website. It offers access to professional development workshops, intervention ideas and a way to track RtI information digitally.
Topic 1
I spent this week observing a third grade classroom. This is the first classroom that I have observed where they used writing conferences. I have read about them in Graves' A Fresh Look at Writing" (which I absolutely loved!), but I had never been able to observe how they work in a real classroom. I was really impressed with how well it worked. The students really were responsible for their own writing processes and were excited about working on their writing. Students were working really hard to get to the publishing step and were excited to share their completed stories with the class. It was nice to see enthusiasm about writing! Mrs. Hallez was even kind enough to let me conference with a few students, which I really enjoyed. It did leave me with a couple of questions though. How do you know whether or not a student should be able to spell a word? Also, the students signed up for conferences after they had revised and felt they were ready to publish. Do you have any suggestions on pointing out a student's errors without overwhelming them? I was a little worried about being too critical.
http://www.members.shaw.ca/priscillatheroux/differentiating.html
This website is pretty neat! It offers information on a variety of teaching methods, teacher resources and ways to integrate technology.
http://www.sedl.org/reading/framework/research.html
I have actually used this website for other classes. A wonderful resource of articles on reading research.
Hall, T., Strangman, N., & Meyer, A. (2003). Differentiated instruction and implications for UDL implementation. Wakefield, MA: National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum. Retrieved September 2, 2011 from
http://aim.cast.org/learn/historyarchive/backgroundpapers/differentiated_instruction_udl
This article basically discusses how to implement Universal Design and differentiated instruction into the classroom. There are links at the end of the article to the references. Also, this website offers other articles on differentiation strategies.
http://www.teach-nology.com/tutorials/teaching/differentiate/
This is an easily understood article on ways to differentiate instruction.

http://www.cde.state.co.us/action/CBLA/index.htm
http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeassess/index_assess.html
http://eweb.psdschools.org/DocumentLibrary/downloads/Curriculum/Elementary_Literacy/CBLA_and_DRA2/ILP_06-07.pdf
First of all, I really felt like this course has helped me learn some valuable techniques to teach reading and writing. I really enjoyed reading the chapters from The Voice of Reason. I felt like the research-based information gave me a strong base for lesson planning. During my observations, I was fortunate to be in classrooms where the instructors really let me get involved. One of the fourth grade instructors allowed me to create reading stations for the students to work on when they had finished their work. I found myself reflecting frequently on the research I had read about in The Voice of Reason when determining what activities would be most helpful to the students.
One thing that I learned that I need to work on is administering a running record. The assessment seems so simple, but trying to remember all of the different symbols while keeping up with a student's reading can be difficult! I think that over the break, I am going to practice with my niece (I am so thankful to be an aunt!), so that when I start student teaching I will be a lot more comfortable with the symbols used.

http://www.cde.state.co.us/
http://www.cde.state.co.us/action/CBLA/index.htm
http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeassess/index_assess.html
First of all, I really felt like this course has helped me learn some valuable techniques to teach reading and writing. I really enjoyed reading the chapters from The Voice of Reason. I felt like the research-based information gave me a strong base for lesson planning. During my observations, I was fortunate to be in classrooms where the instructors really let me get involved. One of the fourth grade instructors allowed me to create reading stations for the students to work on when they had finished their work. I found myself reflecting frequently on the research I had read about in The Voice of Reason when determining what activities would be most helpful to the students.
One thing that I learned that I need to work on is administering a running record. The assessment seems so simple, but trying to remember all of the different symbols while keeping up with a student's reading can be difficult! I think that over the break, I am going to practice with my niece (I am so thankful to be an aunt!), so that when I start student teaching I will be a lot more comfortable with the symbols used.
the CSAP.
{Writing Samples.pdf}
spelling instruction.
For the first sample, I thought that it was great that she tried to include dialogue in her story. Dialogue is a great way to make a story much more interesting. I would recommend that the next steps be to work on punctuation, particularly commas and quotation marks.
In the second sample, I thought that his description of the thoughts and feelings he experienced on the first snow storm of the year was creative. My next steps for him would be to read his work out loud when editing, to hear where the sentences are not fluid. I would also recommend further instruction on commas and quotation marks.

Topic 8
...... http://www.cde.state.co.us/
http://www.cde.state.co.us/action/CBLA/index.htm
http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeassess/index_assess.html
First of all, I really felt like this course has helped me learn some valuable techniques to teach reading and writing. I really enjoyed reading the chapters from The Voice of Reason. I felt like the research-based information gave me a strong base for lesson planning. During my observations, I was fortunate to be in classrooms where the instructors really let me get involved. One of the fourth grade instructors allowed me to create reading stations for the students to work on when they had finished their work. I found myself reflecting frequently on the research I had read about in The Voice of Reason when determining what activities would be most helpful to the students.
One thing that I learned that I need to work on is administering a running record. The assessment seems so simple, but trying to remember all of the different symbols while keeping up with a student's reading can be difficult! I think that over the break, I am going to practice with my niece (I am so thankful to be an aunt!), so that when I start student teaching I will be a lot more comfortable with the symbols used.
I was fortunate to observe students begin to practice for the CSAP. One thing that I think is really important when preparing students for the CSAP is to get them used to the language that is used to ask questions. I was really surprised at some of the words that are used in CSAP directions and questions (especially for 3rd graders!). Many of the students would have done better on the practice tests, but they did not understand what they questions were asking. They didn't have the vocabulary! Another thing that seems to be important is that students need to understand how to create a strong summary. Since summaries are great for helping students comprehend what they read, having students practice writing summaries of what they are reading would be really beneficial to their scores on the CSAP.
{Writing Samples.pdf}
I have included three new writing samples from a fourth grade classroom. The first sample is from the lowest reading group, the second sample is from the mid-range reading group, and the third sample is from the advanced reading group. The first two samples are from ESL students. One thing that I noticed about all three samples is that all of the students wrote with a lot of voice. I feel like I can hear them telling me their stories. I alsofelt like all of the samples demonstrated a need for spelling instruction.
For the first sample, I thought that it was great that she tried to include dialogue in her story. Dialogue is a great way to make a story much more interesting. I would recommend that the next steps be to work on punctuation, particularly commas and quotation marks.
In the second sample, I thought that his description of the thoughts and feelings he experienced on the first snow storm of the year was creative. My next steps for him would be to read his work out loud when editing, to hear where the sentences are not fluid. I would also recommend further instruction on commas and quotation marks.
For the third sample, I felt like his ideas were well-developed. I think that he gave great reasons for choosing those particular super powers. I also felt his sentences were fairly fluid. I would recommend instruction to help this students recognize when he has written run-on sentences. I would probably ask him to read his work aloud when editing, so that he could hear the natural breaks in the sentences. I think that he could also use instruction on how to use commas within his writing.
Topic 7
Technology & Writing