Okay, Barb, I was even skeptical. But you have made a believer out of me.
Last week, before the start of Literacy Time (ten minutes set aside for silent reading--don't get me started), I asked my Journalism students to assist me in my assignment. Some laid their heads down on their desks, others leaned on their backpack or a stack of books. But the amazing part is that they all listened! They loved it--even asked if I would do it again. One girl said she couldn't remember the last time someone had read a story to her.
So, my reflection on the assignment....oops! Guess that was it. The first book I read was The Trellis and the Seed by Jan Karon. Nice pictures (I passed the book around after I had finished.) It's an encouragement-style story. Next week I plan to read another book--Higher on the Door by James Stevenson. I will do this to teach memoir writing. I really don't have to teach vocabulary--the books are pretty simple and my kids are pretty smart--but the discussions are nice. I hope to do this once a week...until I run out of books or ideas!
High Schoolers need a break from all the chaos. Sitting in their desks listening to a Read Aloud probably helped them more than you will ever know. Picture books are fun, basic, and easy to understand. For a struggling reader novels are much more difficult to understand. Currently in elementary we use Read Alouds to teach vocabulary through novels giving me a chance to teach literary terms and content vocabulary. Onomatopoeia is always their favorite to learn! Read Alouds in elementary school help me to better teach by using expressive language. According to Kindle's article, "Vocabulary Development During Read Alouds: Examining the Instructional Sequence," read alouds allow students an opportunity to build oral language, which is essential in early literacy, develop vocabulary (for young readers), and serve as a means of vocabulary aquistion (for older readers). In the article, Kindle reveals nine strategies that teachers use in teaching students through Read Alouds: Questioning is the most common method employed by teachers, followed by providing definitions, synonyms, examples from experience or intratextual, making a clarification, extension, labeling, using imagery, morphemic analysis, or using multiple strategies. Nevertheless Read Alouds are beneficial for students especially when using the strategies described in Kindle's article.
ReplyDeleteAmy Grace, you and Doc have made me even more of a believer in the power of blogging to respond to articles and integrate theory and practice. It is amazing how much more information is used when you can reflect on it (inadvertently completing an assignment!) and peruse other refrlections, books, websites in the course of responding. The multiple syntheses and application of information across classes and people is amazing.
ReplyDeleteI cannot believe you had questions...you are the guru of all things and inspire everyone. I don't always saythank you for your support and help but...thank you. I know your students are well versed in everything from critical thinking to art projects. You allow such creativity in your class room(i don't think you even realize it).
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