Chapter 3 blog

It's hard to imagine that a person with such fluent reading could do so little or no comprehending of what has just been read. Comprehending involves thinking, rather than just reading words and decoding print as the book says. Learning is built off of what we already know and what we can relate to. Reading as a kid, I would always try to imagine a picture in my head since I am a visual learner. It's funny how our minds work- we take something in and try to make a connection to something we already know about or might have heard about. We make the attempt to attach meaning to what we think and is important. If you cannot make any connections with the context, you are probably having a hard time understanding what is being read. It is very important that teachers make reading and comprehending a part of students' everyday lives. We must know what the students are interested in learning and try and match their interests as best as possible (still meeting TEKS). Scaffolding is a tremendous method to student independence- students build skills so that they know what to do if someone weren't there to help them. We want students to build their vocabulary as much as possible. I, like most, enjoy aesthetic reading as opposed to efferent reading. We must find text that is suitable and age-appropriate for our children to read. Activating prior knowledge is the first key to comprehending. This is how the real life connections are made. Guided reading, reinforcing concepts and promoting critical thinking and response are all wonderful ways of building comprehension. Learning is about effective questioning, not just answers. Different students will be on different levels of comprehending. This is known through careful assessment of the students to see how well they are reading and comprehending. Re-tellings and reflections are a crucial part of comprehension because it tells the teacher what the student learned about the reading. When students write in journals or write letters, they are learning. We need to expose students to wonderful literary works.

Chapter 2

I think it's very important to start exposing children to other cultures and ethnicities at a young age. Children need to see that there isn't just one way of living, one way of eating, one way of learning, etc... Students must understand that it's not only one color that makes a painting (for example) successful- each color has its unique purpose but wouldn't be anything without the others. Everyone must come together, like colors, and acknowledge each other to make the big picture look good. The more we know about other cultures and practices (surface and deep), the less we will tend to focus on our differences. There is so much to be learned all over the world, but the first step is acceptance. The truth is that, even within our own cultures, we have differences. The perfect example is eating at a friend's house and having different table rules. So the objective becomes clear- learn how to accept as many different ways of living as possible. Easier said than done! Students from other countries must adjust not only to a new school, but a new school culture as well. Most of these students have their backs against the wall to begin with, which is why many of them never get the chance to graduate. Not only do they miss out on graduating, chances are that any dreams they might've had have been shot. Sadly to say, it's not only today's students that need to pratice accepting other cultures, but the teachers as well. They tend not to show minorities the attention that they need. I like the idea of labeling major items in your classroom with different languages- or atleast the ones that might be spoken in that class, or at a child's household. Therefore, there is good chance, these days, that all the children in these types of classrooms are learning spanish, german, and chinese/japanese. Parents must encourage their children that it is awesome learning about other cultures. What would this world be like if all 6 billion of us worked M-F, bbq'd on saturday, and went to church on sunday? That spells B-O-R-I-N-G! That's like coloring a rainbow with only a brown marker available. Teachers must have a wide variety of literature available in their classrooms- meaningful literature. There must be books about the little Indian girl, or the foriegn exchange student from Asia, or the African-American boy going to school. As I was walking through Target over the weekend, I happend to pass by the literature stand. To my surprise, there were a lot of books that were culturally relevant to many, and not just Dora. These are fabulous ways of getting students to want to learn about other cultures. Let them become bests friends with a book of that sort, and they will look forward to other books that have similar themes. In the end, the bottom line is that all children deserve an equal opportunity to read and understand the idea of great cultures all over the world. Accpetance within the education system is the responsibility of students, teachers, staff, and parents.

Author Profile Websites

Some people may have the a lot of the same websites, but I tried to look for a few that no one else would have. Here are a few websites that have helped me out so far with my researches. The first one is www.childrenslit.com. Most the of authors listed on this website have their own websites. The authors that have their own websites also have a complete booklist. The next site a stumbled upon was helpful in getting to know the author's personal life a little better. If you log onto www.bethanyroberts.com/childrensbookauthors.htm, you can find a biography on most authors. If you read about an author, the light bulb in your head will go off the next time you run across that name. At www.underdown.org/topsites.htm, there is a list of several children's book authors. The good thing about this website is that it has a brief description of an author's website before you actually click on it. At www.teachersfirst.com/100books.cfm, you can find the 100 books selected by the National Education Association in 1999. I realize that this was a decade ago, but most of the books should still be acceptable. The thing I liked is that you can break authors down into age-group categories and says that name of the story and the authors. The last one I visited was the easiest website to use. At www.education.com/topic/childrens-book-authors/, you can browse children's literature authors by age, grade, or topic. It also gives real advice to teachers on what kind of emotions are running through your child's mind, what their social lives should be like, and how their school and academics should be going. They have this information for all the grades. There are FAQ's (frequently asked questions) from parents and trust me, these are probably the same questions that we wonder every day when we're around kids.

Chapter 1

Sweet! I finally recieved my books and was able to read Chapter 1. I like how in the text, it really emphasizes the importance of having various types and genres of literature. This is a crucial part when teaching literature because as the book says, the good teachers install a love of learning and a love for literature. If more kids have a choice on what they want to read, I believe more students would want to read. I want to make sure my classroom is flourishing with wonderful literature. Comfortable spots and areas in the classroom is another vital element because it tells the children that learning is important and fun. If teachers just tell the children to pull out their textbook at their desks and start reading, half of the kids won't read anything. However, I think that if the students have a choice of which type of literature they want to read, as well as have a comfortable spot to go to (i.e. magic carpet, beanbag, pillow), they will have a great time reading. The students need to understand that reading is a part of everyday life. At a young age, most don't appreciate gaining knowledge. They don't realize that reading is knowledge. Students should be asked to read several times throughout the day, as well as jot down what they've read about. Getting students to want to read is obviously the greatest challenge, and the book agrees. This is where I believe that the passion and commitment of a teacher comes into action. The students will be able to tell how much the teacher enjoys reading by the way the teacher carries themselves about reading (spoken and body language). Teaching students to want to read is very important. There could be extreme disappointment later on in life if the child doesn't like to read. By the way, I do believe that all children can learn! "Teachers" that think otherwise are simply lazy, and should be called something else. I agree that as long as someone is alive and breathing, that individual is learning every day. No one person in this world knows it all. There are just people that know more than others. Most of the time, these are the people that enjoy reading almost anything. I enjoyed reading about the Ohio State University Model. This is simply everything a child needs to do to become a successful reader. In theory, I think it's a wonderful model. Once the teacher finds a great collection of books for their children, yet another challenge is incorporating them in with the lesson. This is where creativity needs to be at its best. Students need to ask difficult and open-ended questions. Teachers need to make sure that praise and feedback is given to the students. Positive feedback should outweigh the negative, but we all know this is easier said than done.