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!