Book Talk 1

Maria and I showed you in in class! We can;t get it to upload! Sorry!

Book Talk 2

Chapter 15 in Wk

The part I found interesting in chapter 15 is, "never doubt that teachers constantly look to research, to practice, to experience to know how best to help students who struggle."

The reason I liked this the best is because a good teacher never stops trying or stops learning themselves. Whenever I do become a teacher I want to be like this, I want my students to know I care for them and want them to succeed. A good teacher does everything in their power to help a struggling reader or learner over all. Also, a good teacher in some way or another, tells their students this. We want our students to succeed especially since we have succeeded. I had a lot of great teachers in my life and I strive to be like them. I want all of my students to succeed and become great readers and learners and we never stop trying.

Chapter 13 in WK

Giving students plenty of opportunities in the classroom to participate is very important. That's why I found these ways of participation important for the classroom: "they have the opportunity for personal reflection that hey can choose to share with no one or perhaps only with me, they have the opportunity for small group discussion with others whom they choose, and they have the opportunity to speak up in the large group setting."

I think this is important because first as teachers, we want to know what our students are thinking because that helps us know whether or not they understand. Also, having all these different kinds of opportunities gives every kind of student a way to participate. Some students don't like to participate in large group discussions but will in a smaller group discussion. I know when I was younger I didn't like the larger group discussions because I didn't want to feel dumb in front of my peers. Also, there are also those students who love being the center of attention so they will definitely participate in the large group discussions. Finally, having students write journals is a great way for feedback without having them share to anyone but the teacher. This clearly gives every student the confidence to share what they know.

Chapter 12 in WK

The part I found interesting in chapter 12 were the suggestions for improving spelling. More specifically I found the first one, spelling word walls, the best suggestion. "Post a list of spelling demons that all students are required to spell correctly at all times."

I know when I was growing up I wasn't necessarily a bad speller however there were some words, more common words, that I had trouble with. For example, I had trouble with the simple word meant, February, piece and grammar. However, if I had a word wall to look at to help me with the words then I would not have had as much trouble. Also, if these word walls are up teachers need to make sure to use these words in the classroom. That way the students come in contact with these words more often. I think these word walls would be very helpful in a classroom and help students learn how to spell the more easy words more quickly.

Book Chat

I found the book chat over Kid Houdini very overwhelming. It was really hard to get in all your questions if any. Also, it was obvious that not everyone knew all of the rules so that made it hard to get everything done. However, besides that, the book chat was interesting. The author seemed very laid back and easy to talk to. He also seemed very interested in talking to us so that made it easier to talk to him. He did manage to answer all my questions I think. I also think most of the questions that were asked were very interesting and made the time go by fast. I would definitely do this again but only if everyone knew what was going on and knew all of the rules. It is a very good idea.

Chapter 11 in WK

In chapter 11 I found a whole section very interesting. I found the suggestion number 9, teaching prefixes, suffixes and root words, interesting. 

The reason I liked this part is because vocabulary is a huge part of students and their recognition of words. As long students know what these words mean they will have an easier time recognizing the word. Also, teaching the prefixes and suffixes helps them see how word meaning can change with just a couple of letters added onto the word. After they can recognize the root word and you add a prefix or a suffix, many students have trouble with the word. However, if they can recognize the root word first then they should be able to recognize the word with a prefix or suffix added. The word form is an easy word to recognize for most students but when the word changes to informational it can be hard for a student to recognize and say this word. Finally, teaching how the prefixes and suffixes change the meaning will ultimately help them recognize these words. 

Chapter 10 in WK

The part in chapter that I found interesting was on reading automaticity. The definition of reading automaticity is a reader's ability to recognize words without conscious decoding. The quote I found interesting that goes along with this definition was, it's important to remember that students don't develop automaticity via decoding but rather through repeated exposure to a word they can decode." 

The reason I liked this is because right now I am working with one student in reading and whenever she cannot decode a word, it does disrupt fluency. However, just sounding the word out every time it comes up does not help, it only disrupts fluency every other time as well. Therefore, overexposing students to a word they cannot automatically decode is really the only way to help them do this. Exposing a student at least 10 times to a word is said to help them finally recognize the word without disrupting the fluency. I know this works because I have done this with my student and once they see the word multiple times they also have more confidence when reading a word. 

CHapter 9 in WK

The part I found interesting in chapter was "using graphic organizers is a good idea to learn new vocabulary words." 

The reason I found this to be a good idea is because using a graphic organizer is great way to be organized when learning new vocabulary words. It is helpful for students to learn in this way because it is very visual. It also is a more fun way to learn new vocabulary words. One way I used this when working with a student was picking out words I thought they wouldn't know then helping them figure out what they mean and how to say them. Knowing exactly how to say the words helped her figure out what the words really meant. Finally, graphic organizers help with vocabulary by helping all learning styles. It helps with visual learners and learners who need to write things down. Also, this could be done with partners which could help learners with different needs. Graphic organizers are a great way to learn vocabulary words for every kind of student. 

Chapter 8 in WK

The part in chapter 8 that I liked the best was, "summarizing a short story or a novel appears to be too overwhelming for many students, who either offer nothing or restate everything in the story."

The reason I thought this was interesting is because many students do have trouble with this. It is hard for many students to pick out the important events that happen in a story and then put into a separate paragraph. However, there is a good way to teach this. The way I would teach summarizing is by modeling first. I would read them a short story then pick out the important events for them. Then I would have them create the paragraph. Next, I would have them read a short story with a partner, have them pick out the important events together then write the paragraph together. Finally I would have them do this individually so I knew whether or not they understood summarizing. Summarizing is a hard task to complete for many students however there are many good ways to teach this. Modeling is a great way to teach and show the students how to this correctly. That is why I found this quote from the chapter interesting. 

Chapter 7 in WK

The part in chapter 7 that I liked the most was the very beginning. Many readers don't understand how to make it make sense in their head. The quote that goes along with is "What they don't observe are all the times good readers reread a passage or a sentence, all the times they ask themselves, "What is going on here?"" 

I liked this because teachers know what good readers do for the most part because we read. We know what we're thinking and how we are good readers. Therefore, we know what our students who are good readers are doing. We need to teach them the basics like inference and talking or thinking about it on their heads as they read. As teachers, we can help them do this. We can do it aloud for them or put them in small groups. All good readers and struggling reading know who the good readers are. However, most of them cannot point out why they are good readers. This is when we need to come in and help them figure that out. 

Chapter 6 in WK

The part in chapter 6 that I liked was about the KWL chart and how it is used. The quote I found most interesting was That's what comprehension really is: linking the unknown to the known." 

This part of the chapter tells us how we are supposed to do a KWL chart correctly. This quote goes perfectly with a chart like this because that's what it is doing. It is linking the unknown to the known and that is how students learn how to read. They learn to use personal experiences with books they are reading to help them make sense of what they are reading. If students can do this then they will enjoy their reading much more and maybe even have a good time doing it. If the KWL chart is used it activates their thinking and they also know a little bit about what the book might be about. Therefore, they our goal is to get them interested into the book and have them actually want to read the book, instead of just having too. Linking the known to the unknown doesn't have to be hard but we must do this in order to activate our students thinking as well as, hopefully, getting them to read more.  

Chapter 5 in WK

The one statement I found interesting in Chapter 5 of When Kids Can't Read was, "At least once a day, read aloud a short passage and think aloud your inferences." Chapter 5 was all about learning to make an inference and how to show students how to do this. 

I found this helpful for me because no matter what, reading aloud is very important for students. First, it opens up the door to different genres and the students could be interested in different genres, they just don't know it. Also, since the chapter was about making inferences then thinking inferences aloud is very important. It is important because many students don't know how to do this correctly and doing it aloud shows them how to. Also, doing this once a day gives them multiple examples in inferences in different genres and different books. Hopefully, after showing the students how to inference then they will begin to do it when they are reading by themselves. 

Chapter 4 in WK

The part in chapter 4 of When Kids Can't Read that I found interesting was the Minilessons. It said: "Minilessons are short, focused lessons that can be delivered to the entire class or a portion of the class. The purpose of the minilesson is to clarify something or to provide information about something that students need to be applying in that days work."

The reason I found this a good part of the chapter is because every teacher uses minilessons in some way or another. Some students need more help with literacy terms and for example explaining a simile. First a teacher should always explicitly teach what a simile is and then if a student still does not understand then teach a minilesson over the subject. An easy way of doing this is just giving the student an example of a simile and maybe having them point out one in a story they are reading. It would only take about 5 minutes and hopefully the student would understand it afterwards. The minilesson is a very useful tool in the classroom. It helps teachers teach students either in a whole group or independently. Also, it is a quick way to get an easier lesson across to the students. 

Chapter 3 in WK

The sentence I found interesting in chapter 3 is,"Reading is a social process, an interactive activity, one in which readers create meaning through transactions-interactions-with the text, their prior knowledge, the context, and other readers."

I found this interesting because this is how we need to teach our students how to read. Enabling students to interact with one another after reading helps them understand what happens in the book better. Using literature circles is a good way of doing this. It also gives the students opinions about the book whether they like it or not. Also, the students need to have some prior knowledge to understand what they are reading. For example, they need to know about the holocaust and what happened to understand Number the Stars. This helps the students actually have interactions with the text and keeps them interested in the book. Finally, I completely agree with how reading is a social process. Students ultimately learn from each other and with the teacher being a guide in this process, they will become better readers. 

Chapter 2 in WK

"In fact, what I want to do is teach them how to struggle with a text, how to develop the patience and stamina to stick with a text, how to figure out on their own what is separating them from success with the text, and what they should do to fix it."

I completely agree with this sentence in chapter 2. Many teachers are trying all the wrong things when they try to "teach" their students how to read. However, we need to be teaching them that struggling with a text is okay and everyone, no matter how good of a reader you are, struggles with different texts. Teachers need to let their students read to give them the stamina to read longer and better texts. Finally, this will eventually lead the students to having that stamina and giving them the opportunity to enjoy different texts, without having to struggle through them. 

Literature Circles

When we did the literature circle over Oddly Normal, I really enjoyed actually talking about the book. However, I did not really like reading the book. I have always enjoyed literature circles but this time it was not as fun for me because I did not like the book. In our circle, most of the students did not like the book so we talked mostly about what we did not like in the book. The literature circle experience itself, I feel, is a good idea. It opens up students minds to what they read in the books and lets them give their opinions about the books. Also, it lets each student hear the different opinions about the books. This is a very good idea when the students are reading books that are hard to understand. Literature circles are very good experiences for adolescents in school.

Chapter 2 and 3 in BK

Chapter 2
"By middle school, students are on the threshold of a cognitive explosion, building capicity for more complex thinking that will continue to develop through young adulthood."

This was important to me because having good teachers is the only way this can truly happen. They help the students build this capacity to their fullest and keep the students interested in doing this. Also, this helps them in the future as well. It does this by expanding their thinking and helps them be the most successful that they can be.

Chapter 3
"Heath's study of three groups within an Appalachian town found that the differences in language patterns and expectations affected school success."

This was important to me because many school do not believe in being culturally different. They do not believe this will help them be more successful however, this study proves that it does. Even at Texas Tech, there was a study done with the seniors. They concluded that it did not matter to them if the school was culturally different or not. Also, many thought that it could be a bad thing if it was. The only way to connect to every students needs is to acknowledge every students cultural. If this is done, then each student will feel important and will hopefully want to go to school and learn.

Chapter 14 in WK

One of the points the author made in this chapter at the beginning that I liked was the sentence, "I had to learn to think short." She said whenever she required a long book to read many of the students didn't like this so they just didn't like to read. Also, all the strategies under "Selling the Book to Students" was a very good part of the chapter.

I think this is very important because many students are intimidated by seeing very think or long books. It just doesn't look fun for them to read such a long book. Therefore, they may get a negative outlook on reading all together if a teacher always requires them to read long books because they'd rather read shorter one. This also ties into the fact of letting the students choose their own book to read. If this happens then the students, for the most part, will like to read because they get to read the things they are interested in. Also, in the chapter that included the strategies of getting your students to read different books was very important. It taught different ways of getting students to like to different genres using read aloud, creating book jackets and creating a good book box. Some other ways of getting students to read is taking them to the school library and plainly just knowing their interests. These strategies will help students learn how to read different things and expand their reading material.

Connecting Students to Culturally Relevant Texts Article

The one quote that really struck me as important to students to is:
"Another important reason for using culturally relevant texts is that they help students understand who they are."

The reason I found this very important is because as an adolescent, it is very important to find out who you are. This is the prime time when students are trying to figure out just that like who they should hang out with and what they like best. This is the time when adolescents have many dreams of what they might want to do when they grow up. My dream as an adolescent was to become a famous soccer star and start that out by playing at the University of North Carolina. Even though I'm not doing that I still had a dream to do so. But all of those dreams they do have lead up to what they will eventually be doing. Also, having different cultured books in the classroom also helps other students learn about the different students in their own classroom. This helps with discrimination and other subjects like that. This one sentence was very strong to me because every student needs to eventually figure out who they are to themselves.

Chapter 1 of BK

There have been many definitions of literacy in the past but one has stood out to many teachers. It is a complex, interactive process, using basic skills and advanced strategies to make meaning. It is also said that reading should be interactive and constructive and literacy has evolved to suit the demands of the United States' personal, social, economic and civic lives. Also, reading is said that it should be an engagement for students to be involved with when reading. However, only 15% of students in the United States are achieving higher levels of literacy which is the problem with the TAKs test. Students need to have a real world connection with reading or it won't be interesting to them and teachers can help with this since they are an important knowledge source themselves. Finally, the end result that is supposed to come out of a successful reader is an adult reader can read a variety of materials with ease and interest, can read for varying purposes and can read with comprehension even when the material is not easy nor interesting.

I agree with most of these things that are stated in the book however some them I disagree with. I do not agree with parts of the end result of a successful reader. For example, when it says they should be able to read with interest no matter what they are reading. I do not agree with this because no one will like everything they read and this doesn't make them a worse reader. Also, reading should be evolving around our students and nothing more. I do agree with the problem with TAKs because going through TAKs myself, it does not truly test whether or not the student is a good reader, it tests whether or not the student can read fast enough to get the simple answers at the end of the story. For example, one question might be what color shoes was the little boy wearing? This question does not match up with the definition that the book says is now the definition of literacy. This question does not give a meaning to the story in any way. Finally, teachers need to be giving students who need help in reading and only facilitate to the students who are on track. This will help those students in need maybe want to keep reading and read a variety of things if they are beginning to be more and more successful.

Literature CIrcles

On the website, literature circles are explained how they work. It explains that students are broken into small groups and within that same group they are able to choose their own reading material. Once they read the books, they discuss them with their groups and other groups. It also explains how the teacher is only a facilitator and not part of any group. 

I think this idea can be used in a positive way if it is done correctly. The students are able to learn about all different kinds of books that they may have not read. Also, they are able to hear other students' opinions about different books. After this, they can then decide if they want to themselves read the book so this strategy can really encourage more students to read different kinds of books. Literature circles also help the students become self motivated and helps them figure out how to teach themselves. The notes the students take during reading and after help them become better note takers which is a very good thing and being able to discuss a book thoroughly helps them grow as readers as well. Literature circles are a great way to help students read and keep reading in a fun way.