Tuesday, June 23, 2009

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.

27 comments:

  1. Leah Pells
    June 23rd-2009
    Blog entry: Comprehension
    Once again a very useful and practical class. It is overall what I enjoy most about this class, is the fact that each class we are such active learners, for myself anyway, I retain so much more information this way.
    I enjoyed the lesson strategies at the start of the class. It was helpful to almost “diagnose” the reading problem of the child. In my learning disabilities class we are soon going to be tutoring a child who is struggling in reading. We have been given no information about our student, so in a way it was really great to hear so many strategies for struggling readers at different grade levels. It gave me so many ideas of what could have or is going wrong for the struggling reader. I realize that a child who struggles in reading might not just be delayed, but it could be an environmental issue as well. If they are not receiving support at home, or have been exposed to very little print. It is going to be crucial as a teacher to really find out what is going on before making any assumptions about a reading disability.
    The second half of the class with the comprehension strategies for before, during and after the lesson were great as well. The textbook has been excellent for teachable ideas and is easy to read and understand. It was nice to leave class with a list of possible strategies for teaching comprehension, before, during and after. I know when I did my practicum in a grade 3 class we did a novel study, and I had one student who was reading quite well, but when we did the group work to discuss the chapters, I could see that he did not necessarily understand what he was reading. I believe I did not do enough before the chapter reading to help him with information of what the story was about or ways to understand the story. It would have been great to do our 404 semester before our 405 practicum. But it is still great to have these strategies now for when we are TOC-ing in the fall.
    Thanks for a great class everyone.
    Congratulations Crystal on your new job!! Yeah!
    Cheers,
    Leah

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  2. The opening activity with case studies demonstrated different problems a child might have when reading and comprehension. I really enjoyed how we went through each problem and had a discussion about the problems. This enabled me to look at different problems students may encounter and what are some ways the teacher may do to help the child, sometimes it may involve personal issues or physical issues. A teacher needs to be prepared and know what they need to do to help the child. This makes me think, that a teacher is not only a person that teaches, but is a person that is responsible for many different issues. One philosophy I always keep in mind is that, As a teacher I am like a chameleon that changes into different position including a communicator, a disciplinarian, a decision maker, a conveyor of information, an evaluator, a counselor, a role-model, and other roles depending on a particular situation. Each of these roles requires me to constantly revaluate my methods of teaching and adopt new strategies to approach different situations.

    I feel that comprehension is the most important part of reading, when I child comprehends it would increase future prior knowledge; they will be able to identify different perspectives of the story. For example, what is the author’s purpose, what is the setting, and evaluating the content in the passages. This all involves advance critical thinking strategies that would enhance comprehension in reading. Sue thoroughly examined the importance of comprehension clearly. The comprehension lesson activities offered some great ideas that would cover, before, during and after strategies. All the groups presented very creative ideas that would enable students to engage and attract different students with differentiated learning needs. Another useful class, many ideas to add to my teacher’s tool box now. Thanks all!

    Cheers,
    Mable

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  3. I really enjoyed last night’s class, especially when we all shared our lesson plan ideas from the Highlight’s Magazines. Everyone had such creative ways to teach reading and I’m finding myself coming out of every class with a few more ideas to put in my ‘teaching arsenal!’

    Listening to all the lesson ideas I was taken back to some of my own experiences as a student – grade 4 in particular stands out. I remember reading countless stories out of the rainbow reader and then having to answer comprehension question after comprehension question. “Who was the main character? Why did Bobby steal the gumball? What was the lesson of the story......” I’m so glad that ‘reading comprehension’ has moved on from this type of activity. If we are going to get students engaged and motivated to read we have to have exciting and creative ways to get them to interact with the reading. I understand that comprehension activities, like the one I mentioned, have their place, but if they are used consistently and routinely it makes reading boring and less enjoyable.

    The case studies we looked at were also really interesting and it was useful to discuss the possible problems that students may have when it comes to reading. It is so important to look beyond what the students accomplished, or didn’t accomplish, in that moment and take into account things such as family/home life, past experiences, emotional state, health etc. This activity really made me think back to my practicum to asses whether I considered other reasons, besides a students’ ability, that could be causing their difficulties.

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  5. Announcments:)

    Obama when choosing his running mate put the news on twitter. So, I have done the same with this news. And I put it on my blog (panjabitractor.blogspot.com) first for my avid readers(moviegoers).

    I will be teaching in India for a year and maybe more. For more info refer to my blog at panjabitractor.blogspot.com

    Reading:

    Group work is always interesting. It is really good how quickly we as a class can create solid lesson ideas. My group struggled at first in creating a lesson on Comprehension. You can say we had a hard time comprehending each others ideas(lol). I believe this is because I think me and Tan have done many things from Adrienne Grears Reading Power. For us its easy to know what each other is talking about. For someone who is not aware of this type of program it can be confusing to understand. But it helps to see if people understand it because as implementers of any program we need to be able to easily explain our strategies and program of choice. Also, seeing how and what others use in their classrooms have also helped me learn different types of tricks and ideas.

    Working on my Essay like most of you.

    Sue has looked it over. I still think it can be better but my goal is to write a solid paper. I have a hard time with Essays. I enjoy doing more of unstructured style writing for some reason. I am not sure if the essay is truly going to turn out the way I want it to. But I still have time and I am sure it will turn out okay. I am not going for exceptional just something I can refer back to and reflect on some more in the future. I think I am a good writer and communicator but sometimes the pressure of writing well structured essays can be difficult for me.

    Those are my thoughts for this week. If I think of some more I will write back. God Bless :),

    p.s. Deepa I totally agree with your comments that “It is so important to look beyond what the students accomplished, or didn’t accomplish, in that moment and take into account things such as family/home life, past experiences, emotional state, health etc.”

    Ashok K.

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  6. I really liked the Highlights Magazine! I am pretty sure that it was my first time seeing it, and so I was amazed at how many different activities there are in the magazines. I was also really impressed at the number of different ideas being shared by the class on possible ways to use the magazines.

    I also really enjoyed doing the “problem diagnosis” activity that we did in small groups. It always seems to be a difficult task to apply the knowledge learned in a class, and so it felt good to know that if I was presented with a student with one of these problems, that I might actually know what to do with him/her! I have been thinking about that a lot, because with looking at different job openings in districts around the province, many districts are looking for someone with the Learning Disabilities minor that I will be getting as of the end of this semester. To know that I might have actually learned something valuable through my courses this semester is a very comforting thing!

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  7. Hi all,

    Like Ashok, I'm also worried about my paper. I spend a lot of time going back and forth between ideas and thoughts that I often lose the focus between what's in my head and what gets typed!

    Anyways, I think last night's class activity of case studies was helpful and informative. In the education realm, kids are often labeled so quickly that they don't have a chance to speak for themselves (ie: behavior problems, anger issues, learning disabled) What I found interesting during the case studies was the array of reasons why a student may act in a particular manner. There are so many elements that affect youth and young kids, and as a teacher, we might only see or know about a handful of these. I was reminded of one student during my recent practicum. *Jon* was a gr.12 student who was prone to angry outbursts, not afraid to toss a chair in class to show his frustration. In the staffroom, it seemed that any teacher who spoke of him said the same thing: he's angry, he's a bad kid, he hates school, etc. Well, he had a trusting relationship with my sa, and ended up spilling his recent life events with her: his parents had left him (17yrs old) and his younger brother (13yrs)and gone to the States ... and weren't coming back. No word as to why, with no money and very little food. Jon had to work a graveyard shift in order to make money so he could buy food for his brother, and pay rent, bills, etc. He was so upset at school most of the time because he was starving. He hadn't eaten, and just found it too hard to focus on any subject, let alone sit down and read a book. Now the teachers who didnt' know this, would often say that he was rebellious, angry ,and mad at the world. However, here was a kid who just needed his parents and some food. It was heartbreaking. It just goes to show you that there are so many things happening in kids' lives that we cannot put a 'label' on them and assume that we know what is going on.

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  8. Comprehension is an important component of reading, and readers are actively thinking about what they are reading. Comprehension is not only part of the language arts program, but across a variety of different subjects. For example, when students are reading a story, they need to understand the Story Map; the same goes for when students are reading a textbook about the weather. In order for students to be successful they need to be able to understand what it is that they are reading and this takes a lot of practice. However, I have noticed during my practicum that students who are extremely good readers sometimes have a difficult time focusing on something if they are reading a book or text that does not interest them. Therefore, it is important for teachers to continually advise students to pick books that they enjoy or that may interest them. Also, having a variety of different books in the classroom is also helpful. When students understand or like what they are reading, comprehension comes much easier. In the other hand when they are reading something that is unfamiliar to them they may have a harder time understanding what they are reading and thus need to focus on it a lot more. It is important for teachers to come up with creative and fun lessons about how to guide and support children’s comprehension. Also having a before, during, and after component is something that each lesson plan should have. For ever lesson that I taught I had a hook, a culminating activity, and closure, which is the same thing as we did today. I think that the first 5 minutes of the lesson are so important, and if all students are not engaged right then, many of them get lost during the lesson. Activities such as ‘Think/Pair/Share’ or KWL or even introduce the vocabulary that are important for that lesson are great activities to begin a lesson with. In the middle, have an activity where all students are engaged in, Carousal or Expert Groups are fun activities that will include different types of learners. I used both of these with my grade fours and they worked very well. Lastly it is important to tell the students again what the purpose was for the lesson and have students discuss in pairs and then as a whole class what they learned during the lesson. I remember my FA’s always told us how important it is to tell students ‘why’ they are learning something at the beginning of the lesson.

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  9. June 24, 2009 After Class Seven
    I enjoyed the case studies we looked at to start off the class. I found it a useful exercise to look at what “other” influences and factors might be affecting students reading and writing performance and abilities. One thing I have noticed in my own children is that having their eyes checked in grade one or two and getting glasses helped them out immensly. Also it is important to remember that children have good and bad days just as adults do, more sometimes because they have to deal with adults who don’t treat them the way they want to be treated a lot of the time. That being said it is important to realized and remember (which is sometimes the hardest thing) that what students are displaying is not necessarily their best work. For example, I am writing and posting this at 12:30 am and I am sure that it is not my best work and yet here I am doing it and sending it in because of all the other pressures in my life.
    The second thing I really appreciated about class this week is that Sue gave us time to work on the group presentations in class. I found it to be an incredibly considerate and respectful thing to include in her lesson plan. I have found that throughout this semester I have looked forward to Sue’s lessons as an shining example of what to do, and what kind of teacher to be. So thank you Sue, and to everyone else – I can’t wait to see your presentations… they promise to be very exciting and engaging.

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  10. It was nice to be put into our groups yesterday and begin to hash out the beginnings of a reading lesson. These lessons that each group does will be great to watch, everyone will benefit from the amount of ideas that will be generated and discussed over the next few weeks, I have used many ideas from this project the first time in the classroom over the past two years.

    The highlights magazine, even though they were put together well, eye catching and informative were a little too simple for high school students. I would be interested to know if there is an appropriate level magazine out there for junior high school students. Any suggestions?

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  11. First let me just say, what a blast from the past it was to look over all of the Highlights magazines. I remember much time spent waiting in my doctor’s office with these magazines. It’s funny how I now look at them with much different eyes. If our student’s only knew how much learning can happen where reading is involved. Although it’s nice that reading doesn’t always seem like learning and is often just plain fun! Are these magazines still available? I’d love to get my hands on some of them, they were bursting with ideas for reading lessons. This class has helped teach me to be much more aware of things in my everyday life that can be used as lessons. With the ways that this class whips up such amazing lessons, it has inspired me to be on the look out. And to have the confidence to know that I am able to see and build lessons in these fairly quickly shows that I’m learning and growing.
    The other thing I wanted to comment on is the example of the Before/During/After model that Sue has used several times now. I guess the beauty of repetition is that if you don’t “get” something the first time, there’s always another opportunity. This class really solidified the usefulness of this strategy. I think I often put most of my focus on the “during” part and as a result the before and after get glossed over. But without the before part, students may not be really ready to receive what I am teaching. And without the after part, students may not fully internalize what we have just learned. After all, a meat patty without the bun and all the fixings isn’t a full hamburger now is it? I’d like to offer the full meal deal…

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  12. I always thought of comprehension as students being able to answer a bunch of questions at the end of the story, but after reading the chapter, it's great to know that there are many ways to check for comprehension. I think it may be more beneficial to stop and chunk important ideas and record them rather than wait to the end. I think by chunking it, students are able to focus more and at the end of the story, they can review what they have written and recall everything rather than waiting til the end and having them try to remember what happened at the beginning of the story. I find that this is difficult for some students and especially for students who may have difficulties with retention.

    I am also very grateful for the sharing that we have done through out this class. The snowball idea is genius and I can see how this can get the more reluctant students to participate in the activity. When this idea was suggested, I could instantly see the reluctant non-participating students I encountered during my practicum and could envision them having a ball with this activity. It's great because I think it could be incorporated into most subjects and it is totally anonymous.

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  13. I enjoyed getting a chance to look at the "Highlights" magazines again-I grew up reading them while waiting in doctor's and dentist's offices. It was refreshing to see them again but through the lens of education. It reminded me how many things can be adapted into teaching tools and how many resources are all around us.

    I found the diagnosis activity to be very interesting. What I thought was the most revealing was that for most of our groups, the issue was not necessairily a learning disability or education issue. We had eyesight issues, social problems and other situation that bear on a student's ability to learn. There are so many factors that can influence students that do not occur in our classrooms and it was a good reminder for me, having been so immersed in the world of learning disabilities.

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  14. In discussing the before strategies for comprehension, Sue mentioned purpose. I believe that concept is so important for readers, especially reluctant readers, to help them provide a reason for them to read. It really helps bring the child’s thinking up a level because the connections can be made in the follow up. Purpose provides the roadmap the child can follow. I have read so much during school that could have been a lot more meaningful or internalized at a deeper level if a purpose was provided.


    I had fun building a comprehension lesson with others using the Highlights magazine. Together we came up with a creative idea to enhance comprehension. We used honeycombs to display the student’s knowledge of bees, the collaboration that occurred in planning the lesson made for a solid lesson, it was fun and more elaborate than we would have created planning alone. I also wanted to add that the magazines are an amazing tool to help engage students. The articles are short enough to sustain interest and there are some great pictures to look at. I can’t wait to incorporate them into my classroom for reading lessons.

    I wanted to share a resource that is useful in a classroom with multileveled reading abilities
    http://sciencetimes.ca
    This website is great because it provides recent articles to teachers about the environment, technology, science and society. The purpose in the article is to examine both sides of a particular argument and to help with comprehension for different reading abilities the article can be printed off at different reading levels. The articles are great to lead to a lot of other rich discussion.

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  15. Monday’s class was actually very helpful. There were many strategies discussed that I felt to be very helpful in improving a young readers comprehension (helps my comprehension when reading). I find it is very important to make connections with past knowledge or experiences when reading as it helps me remember what I read and put what I read into effect (discussions, papers, homework etc.).

    The Highlights magazines were pretty interesting and jammed full of a variety of information. It is amazing what you can make a lesson(s) up with and integrating the material with another subject. For example our reading was about a boy who felt invisible at school and after time eventually made friends. Our lesson used this story and integrated it with ideas on bullying (subject: personal planning, language arts)and created role playing, creative writing activities.

    My eyes are tired and my brain is shutting down, I need focused on finishing this paper,
    good luck ya’ll, see you on Monday!

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  16. Blogg 7: Comprehension
    I really found that charting out the different strategies to use before/during/after reading to be useful, it will serve as a quick reference for future planning. Thanks for sharing different strategies everyone; I am so using the snowball fight idea!!!
    The text does a great job of providing multiple examples of ways to use some of these familiar strategies, for example I would not have thought of using a KWL as a class activity only individual. Another little tip that seems to be common sense but as such may be forgotten is being clear about the purpose of the reading. This will help them see a point and gives the students a focus.
    Again great sample lesson ideas everyone, it is comforting to see good quality ideas generated so quickly from a simple magazine. I keep thinking I need this big “toolbox” of activities for when I am subbing but I am quickly realizing that good strategies such as the things we learned in module (think/pair/share, 4 corner defence etc.) can be applied to anything. My “toolbox” may consist of a couple tricks, a bag of dice, and one good magazine in my purse. Keep it simple!
    I am struggling to find time for my paper(s) at this point because there is so much to do with the kids end of year activities and lacrosse tournaments. But like Ashok said the goal is for a solid paper that will be useful to me when I refer back to it when I am teaching.
    Good luck finishing up your papers!!

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  17. Blog 7

    Today’s class was about compression in reading. Comprehension of text is not only important for reading, but the skill applies to all aspects of life and education. It is important to explore the different problems a child might have or develop when it comes to reading and comprehension. As a teacher we must be ready to take on the physical, emotional and educational issues a student may be experiencing. Teachers need to mold into what the child needs, that means a teacher is different things to different students.

    While working on my paper, I am learning allot about different reading strategies and how to implement them. I am really enjoying the Balanced Literacy model for reading because I feel this model allows for many points of entry for readers and is set up to ensure success for everyone. Comprehension is the most important part of reading as it will prompt readers to enjoy reading and become enthusiastic readers. If a reader has to no clue what is going on, they won’t want to read.

    Teachers need to foster and grow good readers by modeling and implementing good strategies. As I learned through my practicum some things work and others don’t, but you have to keep trying. I can not wait to take the knowledge I have gained through this semester and apply it to the classroom. I believe that a good teacher never stops trying to be better…….never becomes complacent with one strategy……….and never expects students to perform a skill that the teacher has not yet herself successfully modeled.

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  18. June 22, 2009
    Today’s lesson about reading comprehension strategy was valuable. Activating prior knowledge before introducing a reading passage is an important step for children to develop good comprehension during reading. Personally, I like KWL strategy when I introduce non-fiction books. During my long practicum, I tried KWL when teaching penguins. Children were very engaged in responding to the questions such as what do you already know about penguins? what do you want to know about penguins? and what did you learn about penguins?. After I gave many lessons on penguins, I had children think what they had learned. I wrote their responses on big posters and shared ideas with them. Children loved this strategy.

    Also, I like reading comprehension strategies that we talked about during the class such as role play, sketch to stretch, snow ball fighting, and writing their own story. I was amazed at a variety of strategies we came up with during the class. One of our classmates talked about snowball fighting for vocabulary practice. It sounded very fun! I want to try this snow ball fighting strategy in the future. I think role play might be also an interesting comprehension strategy for reading. Thanks for everyone’s contribution of useful ideas of comprehension teaching activities.

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  19. I am having trouble posting...trying this test post.
    Jennifer

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  20. Week 7 Post
    Sorry all - I am away at my daughter Michaela's Middle School Leaving Ceremony. I have spoken about both my children as avid readers - they have been read to even before they were born. For her gift, I bought her "Oh The Places You Will Go" - it just seemed to fit perfectly after all the discussion we have had - thanks for the inspiration!
    See you next week,
    Jennifer (Proud Mom of the Valedictorian)

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  21. Scott wrote:
    The activity with Highlights magazine was pretty cool. I was amazed by the lessons we were able to put together in only a few minutes – this gives me hope that my lesson planning will get better as I move to 405 and beyond.

    Chapter 7 presented a lot of lesson ideas I was familiar with, however it presented them in a way that gave me new insight into how they can and should be used. I liked that it branched into other subjects, such as socials & science, where comprehension seems to be sorely lacking for many students. The emphasis on remembering the purpose of the lesson and making this clear to the students before and during the lesson.

    One thing that really stood out for me was the warning given about forming “coaching groups”. The idea that we should be sure that although struggling students should spend more time with extra instruction, the groups should change often and should include stronger students so “the coaching group will not see itself or be seen by others as the ‘dumb readers’”. As someone who grew up in the “low” groups, I wish my teachers had used this kind of strategy. The list of “do’s” for partner reading is valuable – it seems to all be common sense, but I’ll be sure to refer to this section when I plan for partner reading in a class.

    I have really enjoyed working on my Essay for this class. I think I could spend several more weeks looking in to my topic (digital media and literacy) and it has changed how I will look at teaching and course content in the future.

    Thanks J

    Scott.

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  22. Comprehension strategies are essential to show students throughout their educational experience. I can honestly say I don’t recall ever being taught strategies to assist my comprehension skills while growing up. This lack of experience for me is probably why I struggled as a reader in school. Especially in other subjects that have a tremendous amount of vocabulary, like science and social studies. I always remember picking books to read, that had a movie I could watch, when I would have to write book reports. I even recall writing a book report in grade 5 or 6, but writing what was on the back of the book as the one page report I had to write. I struggled with reading in school and truly believe if I was taught comprehension strategies I would have succeeded and enjoyed reading.

    I had the opportunity to use the KWL strategy in my grade 5/6 split for a career and health lesson I was teaching. The focus for the lesson was communicable diseases; the title itself was a huge word for these students to understand. Once I explained what a communicable disease was the students were able to write down some common diseases they knew; like AIDS and HIV. Many students wrote out great questions for the section, what I want to know. We had a great discussion after the lesson and the students really seemed to like using this strategy.

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  23. This class was very informative. I liked analyzing the case studies that Sue presented us with in groups. I believe that the application of what we are reading, comprehension wise, to a real life situation is a key to understanding the big concepts. I found it interesting how the assessment changed depending on the age and developmental level of the student. With a grade five or six student, I would not have initially considered their physical and emotional development as well as hormonal shifts and mood swings. I found myself mainly considering their confidence level, interaction with peers, and background (family wise). It was nice to be able to hear everyone’s thoughts because it added more to my understanding of how to assess and help struggling readers.

    Creating the comprehension strategy lessons, I saw how important the “before” aspect contributed to the overall development and flow of the lesson. To assess prior knowledge and involve students in creating new knowledge helps construct a base for the rest of their learning and gives them a sense of ownership and engagement. To generate interest and curiosity in the subject or concept is to translate a sense of ownership from the teacher to the class. Students’ curiosity is then translated into a focus on the concepts in the lesson and perhaps a greater knowledge of the concepts. I also found it interesting that Sue underlined the idea of repeating the purpose or following the purpose up at the end of the lesson. It is essential that students see the meaning behind what they are studying and why it is an important part of their overall learning. Restating the purpose at the end of the lesson can tie strings together in your unit and reveal a running theme or idea that interlaces its way through. This running concept shows students that concepts build on each other like a step ladder, you have to climb each step before you get to the top.

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  25. I found last week’s class to be filled with great ideas. Discussing the case studies that Sue passed around was very interesting. It really opened my eyes to look at a child’s behaviour with all aspects in mind, not just reading or writing ability. Too often, a student’s lack of understanding or focus in measured as a disability. However, as Sue pointed out, it could be due to many other factors such as something that is occurring in the student’s home life, or even an emotional or physical issue. As teachers, we need to be open to look at all areas of a child’s life before we make judgments or assumptions.

    It was great to hear all the comprehension ideas everyone one had using the Highlights Magazines. I remember reading them as a child. My favourite section use to be the pictures where you had to find all the hidden objects. Magazines are a great resource to have in the classroom and to teach students of another source of reading. There are so many different things included in the magazine like activities and reading material. Students are bound to find something they like and are interested in.

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  26. Blog #7 June 29, 2009
    I was so wrapped up in the essay I almost forgot to blog! Two things stood out for me after last week’s class. First of all, I thought there was some good discussions around the case studies. Talking about different things that can affect learning was a good reminder on how social, emotional, and physical issues can have an impact on the intellect and on learning. The second thing that came up within my project group was how important it is to have a purpose when creating a lesson plan. I know that may seem obvious, but I think sometimes teachers can get caught up in something that looks good or will be really fun, without having a clear objective. In our group we are going to read through the Grade two Language Arts PLO’s before choosing an activity for our assignment. This will help to direct a fairly open ended assignment.

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  27. Comprehension seems to be a missing link in not just reading but also life in general for this younger generation seems to be missing comprehension about others and society. Is it a ‘me’ issue? Are we facing an epidemic of the next generation missing a piece? I keep hoping not. Meanwhile, all we can do as educators is to teach the foundational skills for children to build on. We have been discussing that each step decoding, morphemes, strategies, fluency, comprehension, etc. are built one on top of the other. When one brick in weak or absent, the literary wall for reading cannot be built up, eventually, exposing the weak areas that topple over. We discussed some of the cases where a well liked child was able to scoot by for some time before his lack of reading skills was exposed. I had heard of people getting through high school without being able to read and doubted that could be possible....maybe not?

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