After Class Twelve - last class!

Thanks for a great wind up to the semester -- it was wonderful to hear all the ideas. It's been an amazing class!

I wish you all the best in your future teaching and studies.

Enjoy your summer break -- you've earned it!!

After Class Eleven

Blogging is now optional -- that must mean it's the end of the semester. I actually will be missing this class quite a bit. It's been a wonderful semester.

I would just like to post a few reminders for this week.

All the reflections and blogs should be submitted now. And next week is our Literacy Fair. Please bring in two of your best ideas to share with the class. This can be a great lesson plan you've seen, a game, activity, a poster you've made, puppets, a book that was particularly of interest to a class, and so on. We will go round the room and each have about five minutes to describe/discuss what the items are about. This is a great opportunity to add to your teaching bag all the best ideas your classmates have. Also, please bring to class the first article we read, "In Pursuit of an Illusion" by Duffy. Stay cool....

After Class Ten

Today we had five wonderful Reading Lesson Presentations. Many thanks to the presenters. For today's blog, please give feedback on the lessons to each group (see prompts below). A reminder for presenters, please e-mail me your Reflection by next Monday, July 20. Also, the blogs/reading logs are due on July 20 -- you should have ten entries. Please e-mail the blogs in one attachment. The end is coming fast -- hang in there!

Group One

Scott, Mikki, Sharon & Lynea - Word families & music

Group Two

Mable, Janaya, Julia & Tessa - extracting information from texts

Group Three

Krista, Darcy & Jacqueline - Shakespearean language

Group Four

Deepa, Reema & Ashlea - Creative writing

Group Five

Tania, Ashok & Brandt - Visualization

After Class Nine

Many thanks to all our presenters -- we were treated to many good lessons. For today's blog, please complete two tasks. First, on this prompt, share the title of your paper and your thesis statement (or a brief description of your paper). Students with similar interests can contact one another. Second, please post some feedback in each of the group presentation prompts below. You can comment on what you liked about the lessons, what you found interesting, ask questions and share what you may have seen in other classrooms related to the activities.Just a reminder: for those who presented today, please send your Lesson plans as soon as possible. Also, your 1-2 page (double-spaced) Reflection is due next Thursday.Finally, this week's topic was "Assessment". Please fill in the handout and we will go over the activities next week.

Group One

Action Phonics - Phonemic Awareness

Leah, Heidi & Jennifer

Group Two

Twisted Nursery Rhymes - Humpty Dumpty

Rose, Lisa & Crystal

Group Three

Readers Theater - Goldilocks & Three Bears

Devon, Lejla & Tracy

Group Four

"Pitch Lake - Trinidad" KWL

Kelly, Alanna, Deanna & Kerri

After Class Eight

Thanks for getting your papers in on time. I'm looking forward to reading them. This week we opened with a writing exercise to build confidence in writers and create a positive experience. As our textbooks says, writing is much more complicated than reading and it is important to make all writers feel successful and energized in order to go through the different stages of writing. We also added more activities to our tool kit, this time around teaching writing. Lastly, we had time in groups. The Lesson Presentations start next week. There will be time in between groups to set up any materials and/or arrange the room. Can't wait to see them!

After Class Seven

**REMINDER** Papers are due next week, June 29.
We started class with a look at some hypothetical situations and tried to diagnose the causes of possible reading problems. The focus of this class was "Comprehension" and we examined activities in the Before, During and After phases of lessons that would add to this. We applied this knowledge in lessons that we created from Highlights Magazines. Last, we formed groups for the Reading Lesson Presentations. Please bring what you have so far to class next week and we will have time to work in groups again. Enjoy the warmer weather.

After Class Six

Thanks to everyone for sharing their favourite work of children's literature. Some were familiar and others will be worth looking into. Please include the title and author of the book you presented on your entry for this week.
We started off with a Round Robin review game that helps bring the class together, activates prior knowledge and improves comprehension.
Lastly, our thanks to Pearson Canada publishers for generously providing us with a new textbook that will interest all kinds of readers. We analyzed what a good reading program might have and brainstormed some lessons. The image (above) is from a talented artist who illustrates fairy tales. Have a look at his website: http://www.scottgustafson.com/
Enjoy your week.

After Class Five

Yesterday in class we watched a video, "What Children Need in Order to Read", narrated by Marilyn Jager Adams. If you would like to see this video again, it was borrowed from Langara College.
We were also able to update our activity sheets to include what teachers can do to advance reading fluency.
Lastly, we discussed the controversial issue of sex segregation in schools, either by grade or by subject. Research reported in The Vancouver Sun, "Men Teaching Boys" suggests elementary aged boys may do better in reading and writing if taught separately by men. Other research has shown similar results for high school females in math and science classes. However, other reading experts assert that the gender of the teacher doesn't matter as long as students' interests and needs are being met. Are the academic advantages worth it? What about the importance of socializing students, especially in preparation for the workplace? This issue isn't likely to be resolved soon. Have a great week.

After Class Four

Great class yesterday! We are working well and getting through a lot of key ideas in teaching reading. Our list of activities is growing for each of the stages of learning to read. We put this list into practice and created a vocabulary lesson that allowed for differentiation, or making the lesson multilevel-- we incorporated other stages of reading into the lesson without breaking the flow of the main lesson. In this way we could continue to teach struggling readers at their level as well as challenge advanced readers. We also read a case study on "Nathan" and how researchers involved him in his understanding of miscues, which helped advance his reading skills. Lastly, I'm including the link to RAZ Kids (image) that allows students to record their voices. There is a free trial if you want to check it out. Here is the link: http://www.raz-kids.com/
Keep working on those papers and feel free to send me outlines/drafts. Stay cool!

After Class Three

In this class we covered some of the most important strategies for teaching reading in the early stages. We applied some of this knowledge in looking at children's magazines and creating impromptu reading lessons. We discussed some aspects of designing a lesson and everyone was able to put together worthwhile activities that were multilevel and flexible. Great work everyone!

As promised, here's the Hinky Pinky website: http://www.beavton.k12.or.us/jacob_wismer/leahy/2001/hinkypinky/hinkypinky.htm You can also have a look at our class website for many more links to sites dedicated to particular areas of reading: http://www.sfu.ca/~smbarber/resource.htm
For homework, please read Chapter Five in CMCM and the handout, Chapter 13 in R&P. Please fill in the other handout, and match stages of reading with activities (front side of paper). You can look through the readings and fill in concrete activities. Next time we will share what we've found. Also, you can send me a rough description of your topic for your paper in the next couple of weeks. I will look at drafts anytime before the due date, June 29. Lastly, please bring your textbook to class next time. See you next Monday.

After Class Two

Hello,

In class yesterday we discussed Emergent Literacy and how children learn phonemic awareness, which prepares them for phonics. We also surveyed a variety of children's books and found out how they could be used in reading instruction.

Just a reminder: there is no class next week (Victoria Day). Please read Chapter 4 in our textbook (CMCM) and the three chapters in the handout --Rasinski, Timothy and Padak, Nancy(2001). From Phonics to Fluency. (Chapters 4,5, & 6) Together these four chapters are critical for understanding how children begin to read. Especially note the activities that match each of the stages. We will be talking about this next class and making some charts. Please bring your textbook and the handout to class next time.

Have a great long weekend. See you May 25th.

After Class One

Hi Everyone!

Very nice to meet you yesterday and I feel we have a strong class. This week we are just getting used to the blog, so try to post an introduction and we'll see how it goes. Open a Microsoft Word document on your computer and label your comments by date. Then copy and paste into the blog. To post on today's prompt, just click on the "comments" link below. You should be able to see a box and you can post into that. Remember to hit "post comment" and then you will see your text added to the others.

For homework this week, please read Chapters 1 & 2 from our textbook and familiarize yourself with the course syllabus. See you next week!

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