Vocabulary, Vocabulary, Vocabulary!
I love listening to younger children make up their own words or changing the meaning of words. My 3 year old nephew, Blake, told me one day that he was getting antsy. I have no clue where he has heard someone say "antsy" but he knew the meaning. We were playing disc golf and he was tired of walking so he said "Can we go home, I'm getting antsy." My other nephew, Jacob, said, "Daddy, Blakey has ants on him." HA! Don't you just love kids. This is just one story out of many where the boys have came up with their own definition.
The use of vocabulary is explained in Chapter . Vocabulary plays a major role in reading. If students do not understand the vocabulary or meaning of words they read, they will struggle with comprehension. Vocabulary should be taught in many different ways. I remember having vocabulary test when I was younger. We would be given a list of like ten words with the definitions. The words came from our weekly story. Other than reading the words in the story, we never used the words. Every Friday, we had a vocab test. I honestly do not recall any words or any other activities we did with the vocabulary. Maybe this is why my vocabulary is not up to par. This chapter talks about word walls and making children retain vocabulary. I know at North Forrest the students do word walls. Each week every class is given around 5 words for the word wall. On Monday, they write the words down and do activities with the words all week. On Friday, the words are then posted onto the wall. I believe if students could experience a word first hand or have visuals, they will get a better understanding of the word.
Questions:
What are some ways teachers can get students involved in learning vocabulary?
How can we tell if students are actually learning words and not just memorizing them for the test? I know I just memorized them when I was younger.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Fisher and Frey
Chpt. 1- Ensuring All Students Read, Write, and Think:
This chapter states that we will be using language to comprehend the content. Stated in the chapter, students not only struggle with expository text but older students struggle with narrative texts. This is because the students nedd to know the background knowledge on the content. Students need to be aware ot the complex literacy devices. I believe I struggled with this in highschool because I was not taught how to recognize these devices. Therefore, I had difficulty understanding reading materials such as Hamlet in highschool. Developing comprehension in the classroom is a key for students to become successful. It is not how fast a child reads that matters, it is if they comprehend the material they read. If a child can't comprehend what was read, then they are getting nothing out of reading. We are to teach them strategies they can use to learn how to comprehend.
There are many structures for literacy development. Think-pair-share allows students to think and share answers before having a class discussion. This allows more students to answer aloud after getting peers opinions. I have personally used Jigsaw in Dr. Hanna's class and I feel that it was a success. Each member of the group was required to read a section of the text then share with the rest of the group members. This ensures that you know your content and can teach/share it. Chapter 1 focuses on what to expect from the rest of the book.
Chpt. 8- Powerful Pens: Writing to Learn with Adolescents:
Writing to learn differs from learning to write. You learn to write your whole life but writing to learn allows students to question and state what they already know about a topic. Declarative knowledge is the easiest to teach. It is simply just stating facts and names. Procedural knowledge is applying one's knowledge on a topic and conditional knowledge is why something is done. There are many strategies teachers can engage students in to help them become better writers. These strategies will enhance students writing and help students learn through writing. I enjoyed reading the different writing prompts. These are great examples of how teachers can have the students write in class. RAFT is also an interesting writing assignment that allows students to write to learn by using a specific format to state facts. Writing to learn in math allows students to think how to solve an answer. Students write down how they think to get an answer. This involves higher order thinking. This chapter explains why it is important to write to learn and not just write.
This chapter states that we will be using language to comprehend the content. Stated in the chapter, students not only struggle with expository text but older students struggle with narrative texts. This is because the students nedd to know the background knowledge on the content. Students need to be aware ot the complex literacy devices. I believe I struggled with this in highschool because I was not taught how to recognize these devices. Therefore, I had difficulty understanding reading materials such as Hamlet in highschool. Developing comprehension in the classroom is a key for students to become successful. It is not how fast a child reads that matters, it is if they comprehend the material they read. If a child can't comprehend what was read, then they are getting nothing out of reading. We are to teach them strategies they can use to learn how to comprehend.
There are many structures for literacy development. Think-pair-share allows students to think and share answers before having a class discussion. This allows more students to answer aloud after getting peers opinions. I have personally used Jigsaw in Dr. Hanna's class and I feel that it was a success. Each member of the group was required to read a section of the text then share with the rest of the group members. This ensures that you know your content and can teach/share it. Chapter 1 focuses on what to expect from the rest of the book.
Chpt. 8- Powerful Pens: Writing to Learn with Adolescents:
Writing to learn differs from learning to write. You learn to write your whole life but writing to learn allows students to question and state what they already know about a topic. Declarative knowledge is the easiest to teach. It is simply just stating facts and names. Procedural knowledge is applying one's knowledge on a topic and conditional knowledge is why something is done. There are many strategies teachers can engage students in to help them become better writers. These strategies will enhance students writing and help students learn through writing. I enjoyed reading the different writing prompts. These are great examples of how teachers can have the students write in class. RAFT is also an interesting writing assignment that allows students to write to learn by using a specific format to state facts. Writing to learn in math allows students to think how to solve an answer. Students write down how they think to get an answer. This involves higher order thinking. This chapter explains why it is important to write to learn and not just write.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Blog 3
Design Thinking: This process is much like doing a science project. The students find a problem with something and want to know how to fix it. They brainstorm their ideas and have the teacher check over them to make sure they are not unreachable. Once the teacher guides them into finding something they can do research on, they begin to work. The students research material on the topic and find a solution. Then they practice presenting it before they go in front of a judge. Design thinking can happen in the classroom as well as with any issue someone may want to find the solution to. Betty Ray explained how this process can happen in the classroom and how parents or the community can be involved. Are we planning on doing a design thinking/research project in class?
Content Area Literacy: I never knew expository text use to not be in the classroom. I think when I was younger we had them in the classrooms and I know they have them now. The article stated that they were not in the classrooms in grades K-3 and once a child got to fourth grade they struggled with reading because content area literature was introduced. This is interesting to me because why would they introduce something so late when children learn the most in their first couple of years in school. I am pleased to see they have incorporated them into curriculum now because children do learn by reading and if they are exposed to expository text at an early age they will be able to gain more knowledge and comprehend better. I did not know that informational text motivated children to read until reading this article. After thinking about it, during clinicals last semester the students chose to read informational books way more than story books. The informational books were in their every day curriculum. They would have to read a text and write some facts they learned. This was a way of inhancing their comprehension.
Content Area Literacy: I never knew expository text use to not be in the classroom. I think when I was younger we had them in the classrooms and I know they have them now. The article stated that they were not in the classrooms in grades K-3 and once a child got to fourth grade they struggled with reading because content area literature was introduced. This is interesting to me because why would they introduce something so late when children learn the most in their first couple of years in school. I am pleased to see they have incorporated them into curriculum now because children do learn by reading and if they are exposed to expository text at an early age they will be able to gain more knowledge and comprehend better. I did not know that informational text motivated children to read until reading this article. After thinking about it, during clinicals last semester the students chose to read informational books way more than story books. The informational books were in their every day curriculum. They would have to read a text and write some facts they learned. This was a way of inhancing their comprehension.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Post 2
After reading Adrianne's and Brittlyn's post I found out that we all are interested in the Elizabethtown pen pal assignment. Like Adrianne myself, I am not much of a writer and I think this assignment might help me overcome my fears of teaching writing.
"Writing to learn across the curriculum" was an interesting article that included many different ways that writing can be used in the classroom. The most important idea from the passage is writing to learn instead of learning to write. Learning to write is simply just going over a topic to get a finished product. Writing to learn allows students to expand their knowledge on a topic, clarify what they already know and question themselves. When a teacher is giving a writing assignment, they can give the students a rubric to follow by. This will make the grading process easier and can be used as a self monitor for the students. More important ideas from the reading passage are the different strategies. The article list many different ways students can write to enhance their learning. Strategies that prepare students for reading allows students to activate their prior knowledge on a topic. What stood out to me was a statement about students needing frequent feedback from peers or teachers. It stated that this was important for the student's self esteem and image. Another thing that stood out was the creative writings. I hope to be able to use these one day in my own classroom. A question that I have about the article is, "Will we be using these strategies during clinicals?"
http://cir411mwspring2012.blogspot.com/
"Writing to learn across the curriculum" was an interesting article that included many different ways that writing can be used in the classroom. The most important idea from the passage is writing to learn instead of learning to write. Learning to write is simply just going over a topic to get a finished product. Writing to learn allows students to expand their knowledge on a topic, clarify what they already know and question themselves. When a teacher is giving a writing assignment, they can give the students a rubric to follow by. This will make the grading process easier and can be used as a self monitor for the students. More important ideas from the reading passage are the different strategies. The article list many different ways students can write to enhance their learning. Strategies that prepare students for reading allows students to activate their prior knowledge on a topic. What stood out to me was a statement about students needing frequent feedback from peers or teachers. It stated that this was important for the student's self esteem and image. Another thing that stood out was the creative writings. I hope to be able to use these one day in my own classroom. A question that I have about the article is, "Will we be using these strategies during clinicals?"
http://cir411mwspring2012.blogspot.com/
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Introduction
Hello Everyone,
My name is Kayla Kirk and I am very ecstatic that this is our last semester of coursework. I will be even more ecstatic when I am in the classroom teaching. Ever since I can remember, I have always wanted to become a teacher. In the second grade, I participated in a school program where we had to dress up as what we wanted to be in the future. Guess what I was?? A TEACHER. The older I got my heart was leaning towards the medical field because I wanted to help people. As a senior in highschool, I participated in the Allied Health Program where we had to go to clinicals. While attending clinicals, I realized that I could not handle the needles, hospital smell, and the sick people. This is what influenced my ultimate decision to become a teacher. Even though I can not help people medically, I can help them mentally and with building their knowledge. My ideal grade is 2nd-4th grade. I believe these are my ideal grades because the students already have a routine and are willing to learn. I am excited to be able to teach the students science. I love science and hope to make it fun so the students will gain a love for it too. Science is full of hands-on experiments that I believe students will enjoy. The content area that I am nervous to teach is math. Math is not my strongest subject and as a child I got frustrated easily with math. Hopefully, the math class we are enrolled in this semester will enhance my confidence on teaching this subject.
Here's a little bit about myself. I am the youngest child of four, although I do have a twin brother he is still older than me be eight minutes. I am a family person. I have five nephews and two neices whom I love spending time with. I juggle two jobs and school, so I stay busy. My two jobs consist of working at Longhorn Steakhouse as a waitress and substitute teaching. I have been dating my bestfriend for over six years. Once we both graduate in December of 2012, we will be moving to Washington D.C for his career. We are excited, yet nervous to be moving away from our families.
While reading the syllabus it stated that we would learn ways to teach content information by using literacy practices. I believe this class will have a lot of writing involved including the blogs. I am confused on how the education majors in Elizabethtown will be able to view our blogfolios. Will we be sending them our web addresses? I think that the choice of having the service learning project or the blogfolio as a grade is a great idea. Being able to go to a local elementary school and work as a volunteer will allow us to have a different viewpoint of the classroom. I am looking forward to this class and learning more about teaching the older children in the middle school grades.
My name is Kayla Kirk and I am very ecstatic that this is our last semester of coursework. I will be even more ecstatic when I am in the classroom teaching. Ever since I can remember, I have always wanted to become a teacher. In the second grade, I participated in a school program where we had to dress up as what we wanted to be in the future. Guess what I was?? A TEACHER. The older I got my heart was leaning towards the medical field because I wanted to help people. As a senior in highschool, I participated in the Allied Health Program where we had to go to clinicals. While attending clinicals, I realized that I could not handle the needles, hospital smell, and the sick people. This is what influenced my ultimate decision to become a teacher. Even though I can not help people medically, I can help them mentally and with building their knowledge. My ideal grade is 2nd-4th grade. I believe these are my ideal grades because the students already have a routine and are willing to learn. I am excited to be able to teach the students science. I love science and hope to make it fun so the students will gain a love for it too. Science is full of hands-on experiments that I believe students will enjoy. The content area that I am nervous to teach is math. Math is not my strongest subject and as a child I got frustrated easily with math. Hopefully, the math class we are enrolled in this semester will enhance my confidence on teaching this subject.
Here's a little bit about myself. I am the youngest child of four, although I do have a twin brother he is still older than me be eight minutes. I am a family person. I have five nephews and two neices whom I love spending time with. I juggle two jobs and school, so I stay busy. My two jobs consist of working at Longhorn Steakhouse as a waitress and substitute teaching. I have been dating my bestfriend for over six years. Once we both graduate in December of 2012, we will be moving to Washington D.C for his career. We are excited, yet nervous to be moving away from our families.
While reading the syllabus it stated that we would learn ways to teach content information by using literacy practices. I believe this class will have a lot of writing involved including the blogs. I am confused on how the education majors in Elizabethtown will be able to view our blogfolios. Will we be sending them our web addresses? I think that the choice of having the service learning project or the blogfolio as a grade is a great idea. Being able to go to a local elementary school and work as a volunteer will allow us to have a different viewpoint of the classroom. I am looking forward to this class and learning more about teaching the older children in the middle school grades.
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