I am currently in an Elementary classroom where the students are starting to learn the basics of literature. To start of each day my CT writes a morning announcements on the board explaining the main points of the upcoming day, once she is done the whole class reads the announcement together and then one by one they will come up and circle either a letter or a word that they recognize. At the beginning of the school year they were all expected to circle single letter but as the year has progressed some of them have learned new words. One way my CT includes literature in her classroom is by reading to the whole class on the carpet. She has used multiple strategies while doing this. One way was that she would read page by page and ask the class what they thought would come next and why. Another strategy is when she goes through a whole picture book without reading any of the words and then asks the class what they thought went on in the story based on the illustrations. I have also seen her take a book that they had previously read a week or two ago and ask them what they remembered about the story, then she would break down the book page by page letting the students come up with as many thoughts as they can for that particular book.
Each week they learn a new letter to the alphabet and each letter has a name for it, for example, Benny Bear and Silly Sally. Along with each letter is a book, for example, "The B Book", each page has an object that starts with that letter and has a short sentence to go along with it. The first time they go over a letter my CT helps read the book for them and then the rest of the week they are expected to read it to themselves as my CT goes around individually to see how each student is doing.
I think that my CT does a pretty good job of incorporating literacy into her curriculum. One thing that I noticed that she hasn't incorporated is sensative subjects. In my classroom there are eleven students, ten of which are white and one black and they are all from the Lansing school district. In my classroom there seems to be an issue with students getting upset when they don't get what they want. Incorporating a text such as "Freedom Summers", like in the article, "Out of the Box: Critical Literacy in a First-Grade Classroom: page 5" the students were able to realize how people were treated and wondered why some people thought they were better than others. The teacher wrote how this became an eye opener for most of her students and she immediately noticed how they started to treat each other with more respect. I think that by incorporating books that deal with sensitive issues will only help the students become better people but at the same time it will help them think outside the box when it comes to there literacy.
When I read the Langer article I found many similarities between this reading and my CT's approach to literacy. Langer wants the students to think as much into the readings as they can which in return will make them more interested in literacy. I also believe that starting at a young age such as Kindergarten will help the students understand the importance of literature. Using envisionments, which are what Langer describes as, "the students understanding of a text" go beyond what they initially think. It is the teachers job to expand the students thinking. This can expand from what they understand at a certain point in the text, what they think is going to happen next, why they think that is going to happen next, how their thoughts have changed throughout the text, ect. I have seen my CT use some of the steps that Langer uses but not to the extent that Langer wants them to be used. I think that the more you push your students thinking the better off they will be.
Literacy is a big part in the early childhood curriculum. I work in a Kindergarten classroom in downtown Lansing. Literacy is integrated into all other subjects. To introduce other subjects we usually use books. We will read a book at large group and go over any questions or misconceptions children may have. After that we will do an assignment or an activity.
ReplyDeleteSince I now volunteer from 9am-11am, this is when their quiet time reading it. They started out reading by themselves at their desk. As they accomplished this act they were able to move around the room to different areas. Now at this point they are allowed to read with a partner. The rules are that one student has a book and reading and the other one does not have a book and is listening. When the students are not acting up and not listening to the rules my CT will pause their quiet reading session and make them report to the carpet.
Once all the students are at the carpet, my CT using strategies to help the students understand the rules of reading and listening. The two strategies I have noticed are using the students to model good and bad actions and using stuffed animals to model too. Use model shows that the students are to hold the book right side up, go from front to back, and try to read pictures and words on each page.
After talking with my CT she has told me all the students are at their level or reading for kindergarten and some are excelling. Everyday the students read sentences as a group with words they are learning for the week. They have to say the words, circle them, and look at them. Last week my students did two work sheets that had the words involved in it. Each week a word will be at the writing table for the students to trace, color on, and write. Last weeks word was can, and I saw a student make a “can” book.
In the article by Leland it describes critical literacy in the first grade. I agree that critical thinking should be brought up in the early stage of childhood. Students need to be bale to look outside the box and see a big picture. Some topics it talked about are racism, war, and culture. This is just bringing up different diversities with in the classroom. Also I believe it is good to partake in an anti-bias curriculum. Students are beginning to understand that girls wear pink and boys wear boy, they also need to understand that girls can be police officers and boys can be nurses. By saying “police officer” instead of “policeman”, is just one way to contribute.
Books help map the interest of students and give them a reference of thought. Having pictures and words on critical thinking can help intrigue and interest the students. Also if students are introduced these critical issues at a young age it will help them build their understanding to grow and experience more in the world.
For my field placement this year I have been placed in a kindergarten classroom. In my experience thus far, literacy is a huge component of the class. Outside of specific instruction in the area, the children are encouraged to read whenever there is down time. For example, when the students first come into the classroom, it is expected that they put their belongings away and go get a book to read quietly at the carpet. If the students work on an activity on their own, they generally are expected to go read quietly when they finish. I think that this not only teaches the students that reading can be fun, but also gets them into the habit of reading frequently.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to individual reading, the students have daily lessons in literacy. The CT, who we will call Mrs. Smith for the purposes of this blog, reads stories aloud and creates a verbal lesson based on the book. The classroom also follows "Reading Street" which is an elementary reading instruction program that has been adopted by the school. This program incorporates both reading and comprehension.
While most of Mrs. Smith's choices in reading material are based upon the reading street program, she chooses some based on personal preference. I haven not yet noticed any reading material based on controversial topics for the lessons, but she does have a variety of reading topics for the children's choice reading.
Personally, I love how Mrs. Smith incorporates reading into her classroom. She treats it as a fun topic and constantly encourages the children to read. I understand that it is easy to say now, without parents' concerns on my mind, but I would like to incorporate more controversial material in open discussion in my classroom. I feel that it is important to begin addressing this topics early on so that the students can create their own opinions and act based on these.
She also chooses mostly picture books to read with the students. This allows the children to pick up on the structure of genres and other concepts that they may miss if they concentrate only on decoding words.