Teachers as Readers: 1st big test

My first big test in school was the math regents exam, and I was in 8th grade at the time.  I remember completing test after test in that class (old regents exams).  I don't remember being nervous at the time, but I do remember feeling that it was a big deal.  I'm sure there were word problems on the test and remember being required to "show our work," but we were not required to explain any of the problems.  We just needed to provide the correct answer.

Learning Log: Chapter 4

There are several readability formulas that can be utilized to estimate the difficulty of a text (Vacca, Vacca, & Mraz, 2011).  I found the readability interesting to complete.  I was surprised that the text scored at the level it did.  I choose Recess at 20 Below by Cindy Lou Aillaud.  It scored at a 4th grade reading level.  I would have thought 1st or 2nd grade.  As a kindergarten teacher, I would use this book as a read aloud to work on comprehension and also integrate it into some of the content areas such as social studies and science.

Portfolios include a variety of significant pieces to assess students' work and progress (Vacca, Vacca, & Mraz, 2011).  Often I have utilized keeping portfolios for my students to gather assessments and show progress throughout the school year.  I am currently keeping a portfolio for my daughter as we home school this school year.  I like the idea of including self-evaluations or reflections as a part of the portfolio.

References 

Vacca, R.T., Vacca, J. L. & Mraz, M.  (2011). Content area reading: literacy and learning across

the  curriculum. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Teachers as Readers:Cultural and linguistic differences

As teachers we need to be responsive to our students' backgrounds, languages, and experiences.  The books, magazines and whatnot that I choose to read independently are ones of interest to me based on my own personal experiences.  For example, my daughter was born with a congenital heart defect and a few books I have read were written by authors who've written about their experiences as a parent with a child with a heart defect.  Many blogs I read are written by parents of children with heart defects.  I could not see myself choosing to read such texts if it weren't for the common fact that we both have children both with similar health issues.  While teaching in Alaska, many of the classrooms I taught in as a substitute teacher included reading books about Alaska (children, culture, state information, weather related, arctic animals, etc.).  Those books were very relevant to those particular children and those books definitely gained a lot of interest.  One year while teaching preschool (and currently with my daughter who I am homeschooling), we completed a project where we invited families (near and far) to write the class a letter or send a postcard telling us a little bit about where they live.  We received many postcards, travel brochures, letters, and other materials and the kids truly enjoyed and looked forward to reading these.  It was relevant to their backgrounds and in some cases their languages.

Learning Log: Chapter 3

Vacca, Vacca, & Mraz (2011) encouraged the use of labeling objects in a classroom in two or three languages.  My background is mainly teaching preschool and kindergarten.  In each of my classrooms, I had everything labelled and also posted a schedule.  I only ever recall labeling in English, but I can see the value in labeling in other languages as well.

References 

Vacca, R.T., Vacca, J. L. & Mraz, M.  (2011). Content area reading: literacy and learning across

the  curriculum. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Teachers as Readers: Reading Strategies

Reading strategies that I use to successfully complete an academic reading assignment and for writing papers include reading selectively, constructing, revising, and questioning the meanings made while reading, integrating prior knowledge with material in the text, reading different kinds of texts differently, attending closely to the setting and characters, frequently constructing and revising summaries of what has been read, and thinking about text before, during and after reading.  I could go on to include additional strategies.  In a way, it's hard to pick out the specific strategies that I use since I do them automatically the vast majority of the time.  In much of the professional texts that I choose to read or are assigned to read, I feel that I work a lot on constructing, revising, and questioning the meanings made while reading.  Often in magazines that I read, I have specific goals in mind (am I interested in learning how to make this or learning how to do this?) while deciding which articles I will read and which I won't bother with.  Some things I may read carefully in the magazines that I read, and other parts I can quickly read or skip over.  In the book I'm reading (The Vow: The True Events that Inspired the Movie by Dana Wilkerson, Kim Carpenter, Krickitt Carpenter), I have noticed that I have been paying close attention to the setting, characters, and that plot of the story and comparing it to the movie based on the book (I wish I had read the book first!).  There have been many similarities, but also huge differences between the book and the movie (both excellent but so very different at the same time).

Learning Log: Chapter 1

Vacca, Vacca, & Mraz (2011) discussed how "reading texts in a digital environment is not a linear activity."  I had never thoughts about how reading texts such as books tend to be done in a linear fashion while reading text online is rarely done as a linear activity.  It makes complete sense to me; I just had never thought of it in that way before.  I currently am homeschooling my daughter who is in kindergarten (combination of kindergarten and 1st grade material), and we have been working on integrating some of the new literacies into what she is learning this school year.  We haven't worked much on searching online, but I am planning on having her work on doing a research project soon and will be working on internet searching at that time.  I have let her work on the computer and she knows how to search for topics of interest to her (she's found several toys and games she wants me to buy her by searching online).

My daughter has been reading for a while now and currently reads at a 1st grade level.  While teaching her to read, I have modeled and explained different reading strategies to her such as decoding, proper phrasing and fluency, making meaning, making predictions, understanding new vocabulary, and so on.  Given the fact that my daughter is homeschooled, she receives plenty of one-on-one instruction and guidance.  She tells me that she loves to read and wants to read and learn to read even more so that she can learn more and more things.  I hope that she never looses that desire and drive and that she always finds reading an enjoyable experience that enriches her life.

References 

Vacca, R.T., Vacca, J. L. & Mraz, M.  (2011). Content area reading: literacy and learning across

the  curriculum. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Teachers as Readers: The Organizing Principle

According to Vacca, Vacca, and Mraz (2011) "All content area teachers play a critical role in helping students to think, learn, and communicate with texts" (p.1).

My background includes teaching preschool and kindergarten for the most part.  In the past, I have worked as a substitute teacher in grades kindergarten through 5th grade.  I mention this because I have never had to separate the subjects nor been considered a content area teacher.  For the most part, teachers in the younger grades expect to teach all the subjects and often those subjects overlap with each other.  One difference that I have noticed with the introduction of common core is that reading and writing is integrated even more than in the past, and as teachers, we are expected to guide students through learning to truly understand text.  It makes a lot of sense to me that all teachers, regardless of what they teach, play an imperative role in helping students to think, learn, and communicate with texts.

I have been reading a couple of magazines (cooking) and occasionally a book (The Vow: The True Events that Inspired the Movie by Dana Wilkerson, Kim Carpenter, Krickitt Carpenter).  One thing that I've noticed is that if a text is something I choose of interest or even if it's not something I choose but find interesting, I am more motivated to truly understand it and retain what I've learned.  Reflecting on my experiences of going to middle school, high school, and college, I have noticed a mix of teachers who appear to feel that it is their role to help students learn and understand texts while others see that as the role of the reading teacher only.



References

Vacca, R.T., Vacca, J. L. & Mraz, M.  (2011). Content area reading:  literacy and learning across 
           the  curriculum. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.