Week 7, Assignments 2 and 3: Video review

Assignment 2

How can you ensure that your struggling readers have access to texts they can easily read?

A teacher can build an extensive classroom library that includes varying text levels and a broad range of subjects and interests.  Students of all reading abilities will then be able to find texts at their appropriate level.  Another option is to work with the school’s librarian to identify texts to match the abilities of struggling readers.  The teacher can also encourage such students to visit the local public library to find books that they can read and bring them to class to share.

.

How can you foster a learning environment in which students have many opportunities to practice reading?

.

An extensive classroom library filled with books is not only a strong visual reminder that reading is important, its variety of subjects and text levels will foster a learning environment that encourages students to read.  Teachers can foster high success reading by including a range of books that students can capably read with fluency.  By including regular class time in each school day to read, the teachers will create a reading culture while providing opportunities for individual coaching and assessment.

Describe ways in which you can model fluent reading in your classroom throughout the day.

There are numerous techniques that teachers can use to model fluent reading including expressive read alouds so the students can understand how they should be reading on their own. During this activity, teachers can highlight subtleties in the text with inflection or motion and explain strategies to help with comprehending difficult or unfamiliar words and phrases.  Working with small groups and with individual students provides further opportunities to demonstrate fluent reading.  While working with students, teachers should be cautious about creating readers who expect feedback after each spoken word.  Instead, to promote better fluency and comprehension, teachers should wait until the end of sentences and paragraphs to correct errors.  This will develop non-interruptive reading where students will engage in self-monitoring and self-regulating.

Assignment 3

Explain the three levels of words and how you can use word levels to decide which words to teach.

Professor Allington states there are three types of words that children will encounter.  One type are familiar, high frequency words that are so common that students should already know and understand.  On the other scale of text complexity are technical or scientific words which also do not need to be taught since students will not likely encounter them.  The group of words in the middle of the complexity range is the one where teachers need to invest the majority of their instruction.  These words appear often in everyday life but are not common enough that children will fully comprehend them.  He used examples like “freeway”, “democracy”, and “hurricane”.  He also states that these words already exist in grade level literature that the children are reading so creating new sets of such vocabulary words are unnecessary.

How do you teach your students to "chunk" words as a strategy for decoding unfamiliar words? When do you provide this instruction?

Students can attempt to decode words with the teacher’s guidance or on their own by looking at the authors clues in the passage.  The unfamiliar word may even be defined in the text passage or can be defined with the context.  Teachers can also help students decode words by looking for familiar parts of that word.  Students will begin with big words then break each one into recognizable chunks or patterns before reforming the word into its whole.  While the youngest students will sound out unfamiliar words letter by letter, this chunking strategy helps older elementary grade students to develop a deeper vocabulary and gives them confidence to read more grade-appropriate text.

Based on Professor Allington's comments and the classroom examples, what are some ways you might foster word study in your classroom?

The video shows several teachers utilizing various techniques to build fluency among their students.  One teacher displays words on charts around the classroom and introduces new words each day.  She would discuss the words with the students and have them read text with those words to embed the new knowledge.  Another teacher works with small groups to help them identify new words with contextual clues.  He helped them figure out a word on their own by applying their knowledge of the meanings of familiar words in the passage. Professor Allington says that educators need to modify curriculum materials to meet students’ needs and interests.  Such relevancy increases the engagement level of the students which will likely enhance their ability to improve reading fluency and comprehension.