Sunday, February 22, 2015
Week 5 Reading
Since I have only been a substitute teacher, and that was ages ago, the only experience that I have with working with a struggling reader has been tutoring Liv. I only started working with her around the beginning of this course, so we are still getting to know each other and trying to find the right books for her. I can say that I have had trouble finding books that are written on her level that are of high interest. She is reading on about a second grade level but should be in fourth grade, so most books don't hold her interest. I took her to the local library to check out some books that we selected together. She wasn't interested in the picture books that I selected but wanted to read the chapter books that the rest of her friends were reading. We ended up compromising and I checked out four picture books that I thought she would like and I let her select one chapter book. When we started reading the books, she chose to try the chapter book first. She only made it through two pages before she became so frustrated that she cried. I told her that we would have to work up to chapter books once we figured out which strategies would help her the best. Since then, she has made some progress but is still not quite ready to read chapter books. I know it is extremely frustrating for her, but I keep telling her that we will get there.
Week 5 Activity
Yangsook Choi was born in Seoul, Korea and moved to the United States in 1991 in order to attend art school. When she graduated from an MFA program in New York she had already received a contract to write her first book The Sun Girl and the Moon Boy, a retelling of a Korean folktale. Since then she has written and illustrated many more books including The Name Jar, Behind the Mask, and Peach Heaven. Her books have received several awards, including the International Reading Association's Children's Book Award and the Skipping Stones Award. Chicago Public Library has deemed her books as the "Best of the Best" and have been selected by PBS Reading Rainbow.
The Name Jar is a story about a young girl named Unhei who moves to America from Korea and is anxious to fit in at her new school. She decides that she wants an American name after some kids on the bus teased her, so when she first introduces herself to her class she tells them that she will have a name by the end of the week. The other students decide to put names in a jar for her to choose from. By the end of the week, Unhei is ready to introduce herself and choose her name.
This book has such a great message in it, and is the right level for Liv. It has multidimensional characters, interesting language, visual appeal, multiple opportunities for connections, and has great multicultural representation. The author conveys her message in a unique way and students will think about their names in a new way. I think Liv will relate to this book because everyone has something about themselves that they don't like and everyone wants to fit in.
Sunday, February 15, 2015
Week 4 Activity and Reading
My Portrait of Liv
Liv is very motivated, she loves to read and constantly tells me she wants to be a better reader. She often says she is "stupid" because she can't read well and I have to remind her that everyone has strengths and weaknesses, we just have to work harder if something doesn't come as easily to us as to others. She is very determined to become a better reader and works so hard during our tutoring sessions. She reads very slowly, often whisper-reading the word before she reads it out loud to me and points to each word as she reads. I can see her forming the words quietly and when she is sure that she has it right she will say it out loud. When she knows that she is wrong, she shakes her head and tries again. It takes us a very long time to get through a level 1 or level 2 book and I have determined that she is reading on about a second grade level, even though she is in third grade and was held back in kindergarten (technically she should be a fourth grader).
Liv struggles with decoding and fluency. She is very skilled in phonemic awareness, her problems are all visual and while she has not been officially diagnosed with dyslexia she has had several educators tell her that she has it. She is a master of comprehension even though it takes her a long time to read, and I often don't feel that she is focused. Someone recently told me that dyslexic children seem like they aren't focused when they are, in fact, over-focused. Liv and I have been experimenting with different strategies to figure out what helps her the most with her decoding issues.
My goals for Liv are:
Liv is very motivated, she loves to read and constantly tells me she wants to be a better reader. She often says she is "stupid" because she can't read well and I have to remind her that everyone has strengths and weaknesses, we just have to work harder if something doesn't come as easily to us as to others. She is very determined to become a better reader and works so hard during our tutoring sessions. She reads very slowly, often whisper-reading the word before she reads it out loud to me and points to each word as she reads. I can see her forming the words quietly and when she is sure that she has it right she will say it out loud. When she knows that she is wrong, she shakes her head and tries again. It takes us a very long time to get through a level 1 or level 2 book and I have determined that she is reading on about a second grade level, even though she is in third grade and was held back in kindergarten (technically she should be a fourth grader).
Liv struggles with decoding and fluency. She is very skilled in phonemic awareness, her problems are all visual and while she has not been officially diagnosed with dyslexia she has had several educators tell her that she has it. She is a master of comprehension even though it takes her a long time to read, and I often don't feel that she is focused. Someone recently told me that dyslexic children seem like they aren't focused when they are, in fact, over-focused. Liv and I have been experimenting with different strategies to figure out what helps her the most with her decoding issues.
My goals for Liv are:
- Make a personal connection to an important feeling in the story. Tell about a time in your own life when you have had the same feeling. (C1-b)
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language. (A5-a)
- Which part of the story do you think was most important? Use information from the story to explain why you chose that part. (C2-a)
I think that the book Fireflies by Julie Brinckloe would be an appropriate book for Liv. It includes two of the goals that I set for her along with several other objectives that would be appropriate for Liv.
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Week 3 Reading
After reading the introduction and skimming through the table of contents, I am very excited about "That's a Great Answer." I like that she has included information about CCSS since most teachers, especially those of us who haven't been in the classroom in a long time, need more resources about them. I am most excited about part 2 of this book, particularly the answer frames that are accompanied by lessons, objectives and examples. Perhaps the most useful resource in this book is the bibliography at the end which lists a great number of book (I had to peek!) along with objectives and to match each book. I also enjoyed reading the introduction and found this book to be easy to follow without being bland at all. I don't have any concerns, in fact this is probably one of the few books that I will actually keep rather than sell back when I am finished with the course!
Week 3 Reading assignment
Today I let Liv pick a book to read so that I could take a running record. She chose a Lalaloopsy book called School Day!. I only kept a running record for the first five pages but we did finish the book. Liv did quite well with this book but she did have several self-corrections as she normally does. There was a total of 154 words and Liv had 7 mistakes, resulting in a score of 95% accuracy. She also had 7 self-corrections, resulting in a self-correction rate of 1:2. Liv was more nervous than usual since I was writing while she was reading.
I noticed that Liv fidgets and looks around when she is unsure of a word and when she can't figure it out she gets visibly upset. There were only three words that she couldn't figure out: mysterious, secret and laughed. She had several self-corrections including the words invented, favorite, lessons, Misty, Flowerpetal, wasn't, and she. She repeated an entire sentence four times in order to figure out the words invented and favorite. She kept looking at me for help, but didn't ask because I told her that I wasn't allowed to help her unless she really got stuck. She was so excited when she finally figured out invented and favorite, which were both in the same sentence.
Liv also sounds each word out in a whisper before she says them out loud. She will shake her head no when she knows that she is wrong. There were several words that she had to sound out multiple times before she actually read them to me. I didn't include these in self-corrections because she wasn't reading. I have learned to give Liv all the time she needs in order to build her confidence. She definitely shows her emotions in her facial expressions and I can tell that she gets disappointed in herself when she gets words wrong. I just keep encouraging her and telling her how great she is doing and that everyone makes mistakes. I am very pleased with the progress she is making and hope that her confidence continues to improve!
I noticed that Liv fidgets and looks around when she is unsure of a word and when she can't figure it out she gets visibly upset. There were only three words that she couldn't figure out: mysterious, secret and laughed. She had several self-corrections including the words invented, favorite, lessons, Misty, Flowerpetal, wasn't, and she. She repeated an entire sentence four times in order to figure out the words invented and favorite. She kept looking at me for help, but didn't ask because I told her that I wasn't allowed to help her unless she really got stuck. She was so excited when she finally figured out invented and favorite, which were both in the same sentence.
Liv also sounds each word out in a whisper before she says them out loud. She will shake her head no when she knows that she is wrong. There were several words that she had to sound out multiple times before she actually read them to me. I didn't include these in self-corrections because she wasn't reading. I have learned to give Liv all the time she needs in order to build her confidence. She definitely shows her emotions in her facial expressions and I can tell that she gets disappointed in herself when she gets words wrong. I just keep encouraging her and telling her how great she is doing and that everyone makes mistakes. I am very pleased with the progress she is making and hope that her confidence continues to improve!
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Week 2 Reading Assignment
How Standardized Test Shape and Limit Student Learning
This article discusses the negative aspects of standardized testing and the limitations that they place on teachers as well as students. Standardized testing causes teachers to lose valuable instruction time while they focus on institutional tasks. Teachers are expected to teach students the regular curriculum as well as prepare them to take standardized tests. Due to the addition of these tasks, there are important areas of education that are no longer included in school such as art, music, foreign languages and even social studies on the elementary level.
Perhaps the teachers who are the most affected by standardized testing are the ELA teachers. Standardized tests are generally multiple choice, which causes ELA teachers to focus less on writing and more on the literary skills which are measure on standardized tests. ELA teachers are limited to the types of writing assignments they can assign due to time restraints placed on them by standardized testing. ELA teachers simply don't have the time to teach the writing process and the purposes for writing.
Students are affected because they have been told time and time again how important these tests are. Students who do not do well on these tests lose interest in learning and doubt their own abilities. These tests limit what students learn and can have a negative effect when the results don't match the student's actual abilities. When students are placed categories, it can even lead to failure to graduate.
I agree with the article in that too much emphasis is placed on standardized tests. One end of the year test should not determine a teacher's ability to teach, nor should it determine if a student is proficient. Many circumstances can affect the outcome of standardized tests, therefore to say that because a student didn't do well on that test that they are not learning what they should be is wrong. What if the student is sick the day of testing? What if the student is a poor test taker, but an otherwise excellent student? What if the student is only struggling in reading, but because of this they do poorly on the rest of the test? Also, it is stressed to us that each student is an individual and that they all learn differently. How is judging every single student with the same test treating them as an individual?
Since I have only been a substitute teacher, I have no personal experience with teaching what is on standardized tests. I have taken many tests, and have always been an excellent test taker. I was always an excellent student through elementary, middle and high school, which my test scores reflected. One of my friends and classmates was also an excellent student throughout school, however she had panic attacks when she took standardized tests. That caused her to not do as well as she could have, so her test scores did not match her ability. While she knew that the panic attacks were the problem, her test scores always affected her attitude about learning. She didn't feel like she should try so hard to make good grades when schools were judging her by her test scores.
I believe that standardized testing is necessary to be sure that students are in fact improving each year, but I don't feel that we should place so much emphasis on them. I also think that teachers should not have to take time out of their curriculum in order to teach what is on them, which causes students to lose valuable learning time. Teachers should be trusted to be teaching students what they are supposed to, not forced to spoon-feed information from a test. In summary, I believe that while we need standardized testing it should not be the determining factor of whether teachers are doing their jobs effectively or if students are learning.
This article discusses the negative aspects of standardized testing and the limitations that they place on teachers as well as students. Standardized testing causes teachers to lose valuable instruction time while they focus on institutional tasks. Teachers are expected to teach students the regular curriculum as well as prepare them to take standardized tests. Due to the addition of these tasks, there are important areas of education that are no longer included in school such as art, music, foreign languages and even social studies on the elementary level.
Perhaps the teachers who are the most affected by standardized testing are the ELA teachers. Standardized tests are generally multiple choice, which causes ELA teachers to focus less on writing and more on the literary skills which are measure on standardized tests. ELA teachers are limited to the types of writing assignments they can assign due to time restraints placed on them by standardized testing. ELA teachers simply don't have the time to teach the writing process and the purposes for writing.
Students are affected because they have been told time and time again how important these tests are. Students who do not do well on these tests lose interest in learning and doubt their own abilities. These tests limit what students learn and can have a negative effect when the results don't match the student's actual abilities. When students are placed categories, it can even lead to failure to graduate.
I agree with the article in that too much emphasis is placed on standardized tests. One end of the year test should not determine a teacher's ability to teach, nor should it determine if a student is proficient. Many circumstances can affect the outcome of standardized tests, therefore to say that because a student didn't do well on that test that they are not learning what they should be is wrong. What if the student is sick the day of testing? What if the student is a poor test taker, but an otherwise excellent student? What if the student is only struggling in reading, but because of this they do poorly on the rest of the test? Also, it is stressed to us that each student is an individual and that they all learn differently. How is judging every single student with the same test treating them as an individual?
Since I have only been a substitute teacher, I have no personal experience with teaching what is on standardized tests. I have taken many tests, and have always been an excellent test taker. I was always an excellent student through elementary, middle and high school, which my test scores reflected. One of my friends and classmates was also an excellent student throughout school, however she had panic attacks when she took standardized tests. That caused her to not do as well as she could have, so her test scores did not match her ability. While she knew that the panic attacks were the problem, her test scores always affected her attitude about learning. She didn't feel like she should try so hard to make good grades when schools were judging her by her test scores.
I believe that standardized testing is necessary to be sure that students are in fact improving each year, but I don't feel that we should place so much emphasis on them. I also think that teachers should not have to take time out of their curriculum in order to teach what is on them, which causes students to lose valuable learning time. Teachers should be trusted to be teaching students what they are supposed to, not forced to spoon-feed information from a test. In summary, I believe that while we need standardized testing it should not be the determining factor of whether teachers are doing their jobs effectively or if students are learning.
Reading interview
Today I interviewed "Liv" who is a nine year old third grader. She is struggling with reading and receives help through Title I at school and I also tutor her twice a week. She has come a long way since I began working with her in October and is quickly picking up various strategies to help her decipher words. I chose to use the first reading interview option that was listed. Here are the answers to her questions:
Reading interview
What type of books do you like to read the most?
I like to read the Junie B. Jones books.
Tell me about some of the last books you read.
I just read a Pinkalicious book where she used up all her friend's paints and her friend was mad because Pinkalicious promised she wouldn't use them all. At the end, Pinkalicious bought her more pink paint and they were friends again.
I also read a book about Junie B. Jones where she is scared that she will look like her cousin Eld when she loses her teeth.
What do you like to read about?
I like to read about things that could really happen to me.
Do you have a favorite author? What do you like about that author?
Barbara Park is my favorite author because she writes books about a little girl who is like me. I think the things that happen in her books could happen to me.
Does anyone in your family read a lot? Who?
My cousins Stormy and Kelly and sometimes my sister but not really.
Who reads to you?
Ms. Lisa, the aid at school
Do you have books at your house?
yes, lots
Where do you like to read?
I like to read at home and with you(I tutor her)
Have you been to a library?
yes
What else can you read besides books?
lots of things, like magazines, menus, signs, things on a wall, words on clothes
Why is it important to know how to read?
If you couldn't, you wouldn't be able to learn. I couldn't be a nurse. There are lots of things you couldn't do like cook or order food at a restaurant.
Liv loves to read, but she struggles a lot. She understands the importance of reading and it broke my heart to see her cry when she told me she wasn't good at it. She works really hard to improve and quickly picks up the strategies that I am giving her, but tends to forget them at times. In my opinion, her main problem is focusing on what she is reading. I have noticed that even though I think she isn't comprehending what she is reading because of her focus issues, she always answers all my questions correctly at the end of our sessions. I am hoping that I will be able to help her more as I continue to work on my reading specialization.
Reading interview
What type of books do you like to read the most?
I like to read the Junie B. Jones books.
Tell me about some of the last books you read.
I just read a Pinkalicious book where she used up all her friend's paints and her friend was mad because Pinkalicious promised she wouldn't use them all. At the end, Pinkalicious bought her more pink paint and they were friends again.
I also read a book about Junie B. Jones where she is scared that she will look like her cousin Eld when she loses her teeth.
What do you like to read about?
I like to read about things that could really happen to me.
Do you have a favorite author? What do you like about that author?
Barbara Park is my favorite author because she writes books about a little girl who is like me. I think the things that happen in her books could happen to me.
Does anyone in your family read a lot? Who?
My cousins Stormy and Kelly and sometimes my sister but not really.
Who reads to you?
Ms. Lisa, the aid at school
Do you have books at your house?
yes, lots
Where do you like to read?
I like to read at home and with you(I tutor her)
Have you been to a library?
yes
What else can you read besides books?
lots of things, like magazines, menus, signs, things on a wall, words on clothes
Why is it important to know how to read?
If you couldn't, you wouldn't be able to learn. I couldn't be a nurse. There are lots of things you couldn't do like cook or order food at a restaurant.
Liv loves to read, but she struggles a lot. She understands the importance of reading and it broke my heart to see her cry when she told me she wasn't good at it. She works really hard to improve and quickly picks up the strategies that I am giving her, but tends to forget them at times. In my opinion, her main problem is focusing on what she is reading. I have noticed that even though I think she isn't comprehending what she is reading because of her focus issues, she always answers all my questions correctly at the end of our sessions. I am hoping that I will be able to help her more as I continue to work on my reading specialization.
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