Final Reflection

 After learning about the different areas of literacy throughout this semester, there were many things that I learned that surprised me. For example, one thing I learned about that was present a few times in our earlier deeper dive articles was the importance of those early literacy experiences. I did not realize that hearing stories and having conversations with family members in the home is an important part of literacy development. I just assumed before reading these articles that if a child did not grow up with a lot of books in the home, then they didn't have the literacy skills they needed to be successful. I know realize that family experiences and traditions such as storytelling and conversations hold just as much value in literacy development and should be considered important. The articles proved that children could develop their literacy skills and not only learn to read but excel at it with these family experiences and exposure to print. 

Another thing I learned that I found interesting was about word learning strategies, which I was not familiar with before. In my own experience, I learned to memorize words and definitions by using a dictionary. After reading Tompkins and the Graves, et. al, article, both authors gave many ideas of how to teach word learning strategies that can help students become independent word learners. One example that Graves gave about using word learning strategies is to have a discussion with your students on how the strategies are working for them, what they think of the strategy, and how they might use it in the future. I found this very important and something that I have not been doing in my classroom but would like to start. A lot of times, teachers teach students strategies but don' ask them how it is going or if it is working for them. This gives the students an opportunity to voice their ideas and opinions and to be involved in the process. I also learned a lot about figurative meaning and literal meaning and how I could use these strategies from Tompkins with students in my own classroom. Tompkins also gave the idea of a word map where you can learn many things about the structure of the word, the meaning, and the related words. This is something I have recently used in my ELA block with a group of students, and it has been very helpful, productive and motivating for the students. I have found that they really like exploring a word in this way, rather than just learning the meaning of the word. 

I am grateful for all the new literacy strategies I have learned in various areas the many areas of literacy development. I want to continue to look into these strategies and use them more often in my classroom a well as keep in mind Muhammad's four pillars of Literacy and how to incorporate them into lessons giving students choices, accessing their background knowledge, and using authentic lessons and collaboration in order for students to be successful. 

Bless, Address, and Press, Adeline's Entry #7

 Adeline wrote her Entry #7 about fluency. One thing she brought up in this post was that it is important to let students choose their own books that they are interested in. She pointed out that not only will it help with their reading stamina, but it will also keep them engaged more. This was a great point she made. I see this every day during my ELA block. When I give my students options or let them choose a book, they are more likely to participate and be engaged in the reading. In the past I have just randomly selected texts for the students and often times if they weren't interested, it would cause them to either shut down or have a behavior. I have learned more about them since the beginning of this school year and have adjusted my book selection choices in order to keep them engaged and mostly just hoping it will get them to want to come to my center and read with me. 

I also liked how she talked about how students often spend too much cognitive energy on decoding words and are unable to know the meaning of what they read. I see this a lot when students are given new texts about a topic they are unfamiliar with. I agree that background knowledge is important so that the students have an idea of what they are reading about. I see this when I have students reading a new level text for them at their frustrational level. Once they are done reading the text, they have trouble explaining the main idea and details that they read. I like how Adeline shared that she has struggled finding the meaning of what she read. Like Adeline, I have had a hard time comprehending some of the readings I have had to do for college classes. Sometimes I like to do a quick book walk with my students to give them an idea of what they might be reading about. We go through some of the pages, look at the pictures and have a quick conversation about what might be in the story. I find that this can help the students to understand the meaning.

# 9 Expanding Vocabulary and Word Learning Strategies

 After reading Chapter 7 in Tompkins on Expanding Academic Vocabulary, and the Graves, et al. article on Word Learning Strategies, there were many things I learned that I could be doing in my own classroom to expand student's vocabulary. One thing I would like to try with some of my "on grade level" students is a word study. In Tompkins, the author talks about how memorizing the definition of one word is not enough, and that in order to develop full word knowledge, the students need to learn more about the word. I would like to start doing this in not only my word work center, but in my reading, AIS groups as well. For AIS reading time, the students in my group are working on vocabulary and comprehension, as well as finding the main idea and key details. I think the word study concept would fit into this time well because the students could learn more about the words, they are seeing in all content areas. They could also use their new knowledge about words in their writing. I really liked how Tompkins gave the example of the word "brave" coming from "bravo" in Italian. It shows where the word comes, from, its' meaning and how it is used.

Another strategy I liked from the Tompkins text was the dramatizing of words. I think having the students act out words from a text they are reading is a great way to get them to understand the meaning as well as keep them engaged in the activity. For out read aloud, my class is currently reading The One and Only Ivan. by Katherine Applegate. I think this time would be a great opportunity for the students to act out the feelings and actions of the characters in the story. 

In the Graves, et al. article, one thing I thought was important regarding the word learning instruction was the balanced strategy instruction. The author recommends an approach where you discuss with your students how the strategy is working for them, what they think of it thus far, and when and how they can use it in the future. I really liked this idea because I am realizing that while I do give students strategies to help them learn words and expand their vocabulary, I do not often stop and ask them how it is working for them. I think it is important to get the student's input and be able to support them in future word learning instruction.

Bless, Address, and Press: Literacy Blog #8: Amanda Fox's Entry #4.

 After reading through my peers' blogs, one that really stood out to me was blog entry number 4 by Amanda Fox. Amanda Fox FA22 601 Literacy Blog (amandafoxfa22litblog.blogspot.com) Her entry really resonated with me that week because she talks about how it is important as an educator to focus on what the students can do and not what they are unable to do. I found this idea important because the students I work with need opportunity and resources in order to be successful, and most of the time I need to meet them where they are at. I do focus on their level of need or goals in each area (Math, reading, writing); however, I do not try to get them to do something that they have been struggling with. This is true not only in academics, but in behavior management as well. When a student is having a hard time, sometimes I have to address them from where they are at. For example, they might be laying on the floor out in the hallway. I might then decide to bring an activity out in the hall and have them work out there until they are ready to come back to the classroom or are back at baseline. 

Another thought that Amanda focused on in her entry was the idea of eliminating stressors for our students and focusing on trauma-informed care. This was also very important to me given the population of students I work with. Amanda brought up the importance of eliminating stressors for our students and trying to rewire their brains so that they can be successful. I found this idea crucial for students who have experienced trauma, and how it has an effect on their learning. Amanda mentioned how letting go of our biases, being trauma-informed, and culturally responsive can help our students learn to their full capacity. I connected with this comment because in my current position, the biggest tool I have in my toolbox is the relationships I build with my students. This also goes along with knowing your students well. I believe that these tools can help teachers overcome many obstacles they may experience with their students. I think Amanda's comment about being informed and letting go of biases can help to create meaningful relationships, experiences, and teaching opportunities for the students. 

Amanda's entry touched on what I think are the most important attributes of being a teacher are. Knowing your students and their needs, building relationships, and letting go of all biases and being culturally responsive. I think her entry was well written because she mentioned some of the most important ways teachers can help their students to be successful. 

#7 Prompt

 For my deeper dive next week, I focused on learning to spell. One area in this topic of controversy is spelling instruction. In Tompkins (2022), it states that: "Many teachers question the usefulness of spelling tests because research on invented spelling suggests that spelling is best learned through reading and writing. In addition, teachers complain that lists of spelling words are unrelated to the words students are reading and writing and that the 30 minutes of valuable instructional time spent each day in completing spelling activities is excessive." I found this statement interesting because the students in my class complete spelling activities throughout the week and I have noticed that in their writing, they have had less errors since the beginning of the year. For my ELA block, I have three centers. One is for guided reading, one is a technology center, and the third one is a word work center, where the students are given a word list from Words Their Way each week and a word work packet with various activities to complete using their word list. Before they start their word work packet, they are given a mini lesson on the word sorts that they are working on. At the end of the week the students take a spelling test, and based on their score, they are given a different list of words for the next week. I believe these activities are helpful in getting the students engaged in the work to begin with, as well as recognizing the words and being able to spell them correctly. With the student population that I have, it isn't always easy to get the students motivated to do spelling work. Therefore, engaging activities with their word lists are very helpful. Some of the activities that the students do are roll and write, rainbow words, stamp words, silly sentences, and tic tac toe words, just to name a few, and I have seen some more "buy in" since I updated the activities. The book also states that the number of misspellings increases in grades 1 through 4. It doesn't mention 5th grade which is what I teach. I would be interested to see the research with fifth graders on this. I also have students participating in daily reading and writing activities, which Tompkins says will make them conventional spellers. I just found it interesting that the text wants the students to use only the study strategy. I wonder if the researchers considered this strategy as the only option regarding students with disabilities or severe emotional disturbances like the ones I work with. It would be difficult to only use this strategy for my students. 

#6 Phonemic Awareness

 Learning about phonemic awareness this week was very informative to me because I have to start using some of the instruction during my ELA centers. For one of my ELA centers, the students get a word list for the week and a word work packet where they complete multiple activities with their words throughout the week. Then, at the end of the week, they have to take a spelling test on those words. After meeting with the literacy specialist at my school, he informed me that I need to be sure to do some phonemic awareness mini lessons with the students before they start working on their word lists. He did give me some resources to explore for teaching the students the difference in sounds, such as the short and long /i/ sound. 

The Yopp article came at the perfect time, as it gives examples of phonemic awareness instruction. To be honest, since I have started teaching this school year, this was the first time I was given any direction in regard to teaching phonemic awareness. One quote that I thought was important from the Yopp article was: "phonemic awareness activities will not be helpful unless they can be placed in a context of real reading and writing. Furthermore, teachers must recognize that while sensitivity to the sound basis of language supports literacy development, it is also an outcome of literacy experiences." (Yopp & Yopp, 2000). I thought this was informative given that I am learning how to teach phonemic awareness in my classroom. I also wonder how often teachers are doing this kind of instruction. I think it is true that it is only one part of a bigger concept of literacy. One thing that I feel is disappointing as a new teacher is that I haven't been given many resources up until now on how to teach phonemic awareness. Most of the teachers I work with do ELA centers that consist of word work, guided reading, and a technology station. I definitely will start incorporating mini lessons of phonemic awareness into my ELA centers moving forward. 

According to the Yopp article, a good amount of time should be spent on teaching phonemic awareness. While the article did not recommend how much time exactly should be spent on this, they do mention how it can vary among different types of learners. Also, it is the quality that should be focused on. 

Midpoint check in

 Dear Dr. Jones,

So far, I think this semester is going well. I was somewhat surprised by the format of our classes, but I do enjoy our deeper dive discussions. I think our conversations about culturally responsive teaching is so informative. I didn't realize that our literacy class would be based on the culturally responsive framework, but I am glad it is. I am very familiar with Goldie Muhammad's book and am happy to read more articles regarding the same topic. One thing I am worried about is when I do my deeper dive and lead the discussion. I think I am capable; I am just worried about the sheet we have to create the week before we present. 

One thing that I struggled with was the literacy autobiography. I had a hard time remembering many events from such a young age and tried to use what I could remember, which was not much. So, I pulled from the few moments I could recall and tried to connect that with the readings. I think this class is a lot like some of my other graduate classes in that we are connecting our practice to being culturally responsive. I really like how we learn about culturally relevant texts because I can use this information and apply it when building my classroom library. 

I am looking forward to the second half of the semester and the rest of our small group discussions. I really enjoy our group and look forward to class each week.

Amanda