pedagogy + catalogue = resources for all to use

“Creating Robust Vocabulary” by Isabel L. Beck, Margaret G. McKeown, and Linda Kucan

Tyler — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:09:13 +0000

Beck et al. describes three tiers of vocabulary.

1. Tier One: the words in this category are basic, regular words that most children do not need instruction to learn. Words include “house”, “car”, “eyes”.

2. Tier Two: words in this category are the most useful, cna be widely applied in contexts and subjects, and are the most useful for instruction.

3. Tier Three: words that are rare and apply to specific domains. Words include photosynthesis, clarinet, and automaticity.

I believe that Beck et al. expand in their article different good strategies in order to teach vocabulary to students. I especially liked how they emphasized that vocabulary knowledge is related to comprehension because the two concepts cannot be separated in reading instruction.

McKeown, I. L., Kucan, M. G., & Beck, L. (2008). Creating Robust Vocabulary: Frequently Asked Questions and Extended Examples. New York: Guilford Publications.

“Scaffolding students’ comprehension of text” by Kathleen F. Clark and Michael F. Graves

Tyler — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:02:01 +0000

A clearly-written article about the successful and key impacts of scaffolding within the classroom, Clark and Graves expand on three general types of scaffolding in order to improve students’ comprehension.

1. Moment-to-moment verbal scaffolding

In this type of scaffolding, the teacher is to prompt students, ask probing questions, and elaborate student responses in the course of instruction.

2. Instructional frameworks that foster content learning

Questioning the Author
Scaffolded Reading Experience (prereading, during reading, and postreading)

3. Instructional procedures for teaching reading comprehension strategies

Direct Explanation of Comprehension Strategies
Reciprocal Teaching (questioning, summarizing, clarifying, and predicting)

Overall, this article is a great resource and a refresher on the concept of scaffolding.

Clark, K., & Graves, M. (2005) Scaffolding children’s comprehension of text. The Reading Teacher, 58 (6), 570-580.

“Reading Lessons from Proust and the Squid” by Maryanne Wolf

Tyler — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:52:01 +0000

In the first chapter of Proust and the Squid, aside from exposing the reader to the various topics that will occur throughout her book, Tufts literacy expert and author Maryanne Wolf emphasizes several points that she deems crucial in the comprehension of the complexities of reading. Wolf’s discussion expands from the two dimensions of the reading brain’s development to how the reading brain had already existing components which were recycled in order to accommodate a novel cognitive process, and to how the reading capacity causes us to reach beyond the known to form new thoughts.

As discussed in class and in the opening paragraphs of this chapter, we realize that reading is indeed an incredible invention—to put concrete letters to spoken words—and Wolf underscores that the brain was also incredible with its versatility in accepting the imprints of new connections needed to enhance reading, then a completely new intellectual function. Wolf highlights the two dimensions of the reading brain that were crucial in its development: the personal-intellectual and the biological.

I must admit that I was partial to Wolf’s portrayal of reading as a visual system in addition to a cognitive process. As a Deaf person and a heavy visual learner, I recognize Wolf’s perspective on the complexities of reading, and how it is not just the comprehension of words on a page, but to connect to the words and stretch the words beyond the intended purpose. I feel that lively discourse and deep inspiration is the true essence of reading.

First chapter from: Maryanne, W. (2007). Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain. New York: Harper.

“The Case for Informational Text” by Nell K. Duke

Tyler — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:49:05 +0000

An advocate for including informational text in the classroom, professor Nell Duke, in her article, “The Case for Informational Text,” promotes the idea that informational text and fiction text should be used and perceived equally in the classroom. Duke mentions that teachers should increase student access to and time with informational text within lessons taught.

The author suggests that we increase access to informational text for younger readers by including new components in the classroom, increasing home-school connections, and reading informational text aloud. She mentions that the classroom library should include more nonfiction text, and as a result, students will read more nonfiction text during their independent reading time.

I believe that these suggestions in order to include more informational text in the classroom are great and I am already thinking of many ideas of how to incorporate nonfiction in high school English as well as other content areas. I especially like the idea of reading aloud from nonfiction books because students will appreciate the variety of materials being shared and several reading activities can be applied as well, such as K-W-L.

Duke, Nell K. (2004). The Case for Informational Text. Educational Leadership. March 2004, 40-44.

“The New Literacies” by Donald J. Leu, Jr.

Tyler — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:46:37 +0000

In his article, “The New Literacies”, noted professor at the University of Connecticut, Donald Leu, expands on the idea of the new literacies that students and teachers alike face in today’s ever-changing society. Leu discusses several points about how the so-called new literacies have a great impact on current education and it is important to have a flexible curriculum in the classroom.

The new literacies as mentioned in Leu’s article include, but are not limited to:

e-mail
web browsing
videoconferencing
multimedia composing
media viewing (Youtube, etc)

As for my future teaching aspirations in the high or middle school English classroom, I definitely will incorporate the new literacies in my lessons, transfer assignments, and projects. I feel that students are more motivated when they absorb technology in their work, and in addition, they will be more prepared for the “real world” if they are already exposed to heavy technology in grade school. Plus, I feel that technology is fun to play with and to learn with.

As a postscript, I feel that the idea of the new literacies is definitely parallel with another one of my passions: a greener Earth. More work on the computer, more interaction with my students online, and more creative use of technology all contribute to less paper use. Therefore, that is why I chose a blog for my instructional notebook, instead of copying everything and printing papers that I will glance upon a couple of times.

In addition, Leu has a great website about the New Literacies Research team at UCoon.

“The New Literacies: Research on Reading Instruction with the Internet” in S. J. Samuels and A. E. Farstrup (Eds.) What research has to say about reading instruction. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Mad Libs

Tyler — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 07:08:58 +0000

I’m a strong advocate for having fun in the English classroom.

One of my fondest memories in English class was in 6th grade when, on Fridays, Mr. Maltby would end every class with a rousing round of two or three Mad Libs. For those who don’t know what Mad Libs are, here’s a brief explanation, thanks to Wikipedia. It is a word game where one player prompts another for a list of words to substitute for blanks in a story; these word substitutions have a humorous effect when the resulting story is then read aloud.

Of course, teachers could opt for the lazy way out and get some official Mad Libs, readily avaible at the bookstore or at this link.

However, in order to gain the most benefit from Mad Libs, I think it’s a great idea for students to actually create their own Mad Libs. Mad Libs require knowledge of basic sentence structure, syntax, sentence elements (such as verbs, nouns, etc.), and are absolutely fun to make once students get the hang of it. I’m a big believer in having students create things themselves and seeing the application of what they created directly in the classroom, and Mad Libs is one great example.

Educational benefits aside, it’s one great way to start off the weekend!

David Wiesner!

Tyler — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 06:58:37 +0000

Beware of the inner book nerd coming out in this post.

I am in utter love with David Wiesner’s works. Mostly wordless picture books, Wiesner successfully weaves fascinating subjects with amazing art in his work. Indeed, it’s impossible to pick a favorite, but it’s a tie between Flotsam, Tuesday, and June 29, 1999. Well, I guess three books doesn’t really consistute a tie, but a general love of his books.

In addition, David Wiesner’s website, through the Houghton Mifflin Company, is a great resource and playground for teachers and students alike. Full of scans from the books, the website give you only a taste of what Wiesner’s books are like.

The reason why I like wordless picture books in general is because they have so much potential in the classroom of a middle- or high-schooler. Students could:

work together with a partner to come up with a play-by-play of the picture book
develop a story from one page of the picture book and combine it with other students’ stories
continue the ending of the picture book in either art or writing
create art projects or drama activities based on the picture book
develop their own story that involves anthropomorphic creatures (such as the frogs in Tuesday and the gargoyles in Night of the Gargoyles
create their own wordless picture book

As you can see, the options are endless! I won’t be surprised if you now have a new favorite author!

ReadWriteThink.org

Tyler — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 06:43:06 +0000

Sponsored by the National Council on Teaching English and the International Reading Assocation, ReadWriteThink.org is a great tool chock-ful of many creative and original lesson plans, information on national standards, and provides web resources and student materials.

If you’re an aspiring teacher looking for ideas to include reading and writing in your classroom, RWT can help you in your search.

Cartoon Time!

Tyler — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 06:30:45 +0000

Just for fun.

Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman

Tyler — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 06:29:08 +0000

I have always liked books/poetry/films that portray how a simple act of gratitude or kindness or randomness impact other people to do the same or something else. Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman, a Newbery Medal-Winning author, does just the same with a young Vietnamese girl planting lima bean seeds that her deceased grandmother was famous for growing in an abandoned lot in the middle of the city that people use for trash.

The book is only 69 pages long but the author packs a lot of emotional power in the story. There are thirteen characters with different stories, backgrounds, and reasons of why they are related to the garden, and Fleischman does a good job varying his writing style in order to fit the character of the current chapter. It is a moving story that presents multicultural urban life in both its negative and positive aspects. Each chapter is told in the first person by a different person who lives in that neighborhood of the makeshift garden.

Since there are thirteen characters in Seedfolks, it is practically impossible to actually expand on all for this paper, so I will go ahead and talk about the characters as a whole and how the book covers them all both conjointly and distinctly. I really enjoyed seeing past narrators through the new narrator’s eyes. Seeing Kim, the first character, and how she is being brought up in the next chapters and how she appears throughout the book was fascinating to see how everything is actually intertwined.

Several of my favorite characters include: Curtis, a teenager boy who tries to win a girl’s heart back by planting her favorite fruit/vegetable, tomatoes; Marciela, who is stuck in the garden as part of a program for pregnant teenage girls but discovers the true meaning of the garden eventually; Sam, an elderly man that seems to be modeled after the author himself; and Amir, who decided to start a harvest festival in the garden to great acclaim.

However, I did have some misgivings about this book. Seedfolks seems to be portrayed as a book for young kids in elementary school due to its colorful cover and small size, however it is mainly for young adults and older due to its sensitive nature of some characters. Therefore, the book is highly inappropriate for any child under seventh grade. Another negative aspect is that I still had questions and concerns about each character when the book ended. The book concludes the same way it starts, with a narrator’s story, and some strings are never tied up. This frustrated me as the reader.