Reflection 8

In class today, we talked about a variety of topics. One thing that stood out to me is reading recovery. I have heard of it before, but I was never really sure what it was. Having an example shown to the class was very helpful so we could actually see how it works and what a reading recovery book looks like. I think the reading recovery program is great; however, I do see why some school systems do not have this program. It can be an extra expense that some schools just cannot afford to fund.

Another thing we discussed today is the stages of spelling development. I thought this was very interesting since I had never seen the stages before. I like how each stage is broken down and gives a typical age of children in those stages. In Stage 2, abbreviated spellings are typical of 5-7  year olds. I have seen kids write this way and I never realized that they are in this spelling development stage. The abbreviated spelling kind of reminds me of texting lingo. I think it is funny that we find ways to shorten words when we are texting, but I bet we actually used to use abbreviated spelling when we were in this stage of spelling development. It is just different way to look at it.

Our class also participated in a problem-based learning activity. We looked at an article on homework and shared our thoughts and feelings within our group to the rest of the class. It was also an attention-grabber to hear the thoughts of others on this now controversial topic.

I also think that learning about the cloze procedure is interesting. It seem like it would be very effective. I did the fill in the blanks example in the book and found that I got every word correct except two words. I thought that was kind of neat, and I am looking forward to assessing a child using this procedure.

Reflection 7

In class this past Monday, we went over a variety of things. A few things caught my interest such as sight words, descriptive words, and function words. I learned that the during the first couple weeks of school in a kindergarten classroom, the teacher usually only has the students name on the word wall. Their names are their first sight words. I think this is a good idea so not only can the students see all their classmates names, but they can go back later and connect other words to those names. For example, if a students name on the word wall is John, then kids can look at that name and say, "Oh yeah, job starts with a /j/ and /o/ like John does". I really liked talking about descriptive words, because adding descriptive words to a story can make a simple story into a great story. Descriptive words really grab the readers' attention and get them seeing the story in their heads.

We also talked about story starters. The article we read has some great tips for teaching about story starters. I also like when we got with a partner and made a vocabulary idea book. I think having the class put all our ideas into one book that we can all have a copy of is such a great idea. The book will be very useful for us when we become teachers. I really liked doing the Writer's Workshop first thing in the morning. I feel that when we do it at the end of the day, my mind is just focused on going home and not writing, so having writing time in the morning is better for me.

Reflection 6

In class yesterday, we finished up our interactive read-alouds. It was great to hear all the different stories everyone picked throughout this activity. I got to see a variety of post-reading activities that I could use for my classroom.
This past week, we read and learned about vocabulary. I really loved the book, Miss Allienous, that Rachel read to us to get us started on the topic of vocabulary. It was really good and I am going to look for it for my classroom. One thing I find very interesting in the vocabulary PowerPoint is where it says to not talk down to a child. That is something that I have heard people do, even when the child is in kindergarten or first grade and old enough to comprehend what you are saying. I learned that it is better to use "appropriate terminology and explain the meaning to the child". This will build the child's vocabulary because when they hear you say the word, then they are more likely to say it in conversation themselves. Another thing that I think is a great idea is to use vocabulary throughout all subjects. If students are surrounded by vocabulary then it will be easier for them to acquire.

Reflection 5

In class this past Monday, we listened to some more read alouds. I really liked the activity that Charli did with the train. I thought it was really cute the way she titled it "The Little Students That Could". I hope that I can use her idea for my own classroom one day because it makes a great decoration for the classroom walls. Everyone did a great job on their read alouds! The class also looked at handouts on schema and mental images and I found them to be very interesting. They have lots of samples of student's work which I think will be very helpful to refer to. Also, the charts that Rachel showed us gave me great ideas to use for read alouds I will do with my class.