Entry 11. Final Reflection

Throughout the semester, we have taken the time to dive deeper into different elements of literacy. Not only did we discuss the various elements and their definition, but we also discussed what these elements mean for students beyond their skill and how we can support students development. Prior to our class discussions, I understood the importance of automaticity (or so I thought). Automaticity was important because it allowed students to read effortlessly and fluently. But, what I was missing in my understanding is why. Through our readings and deeper dive discussions, I learned about the relationship between fluency and comprehension. While I understood these two elements separately, I was unaware of their interaction. As readers, we have a set amount of cognitive energy available. If we need to use that cognitive energy to break down words and decode them, we take up a majority of this cognitive energy leaving only a small amount to work towards comprehending the text (Rasinski, 2014). Therefore, if you can't automatically recognize words and read them, you will struggle to comprehend what you're trying to read. This concept creating a whole new understanding of automaticity, fluency, and comprehension. 

Coming into the course, I had had previous discussions on background knowledge and how it can affect students learning and understanding. However, once again, I didn't realize how deeply background information affected students literacy. We have all heard the statistics about how students from low income families have less background knowledge and therefore will struggle more in school. One thing I learned in this class and from the article by Kucer (2015) is that all students have background knowledge and it is up to the teacher to help the student use that to their advantage. For example, if a student is learning English as a second language, one might assume that they dint have much background knowledge in English. However, these students have an understanding of language and a set of rules that help them communicate. These understandings and rules from a previous language can be used to create understanding and rules in English too. This is something I had never considered before. 

While there are ways to use students background knowledge, sometimes students do simply lack it, and this can affect more than just their understanding of a topic. For example, in a class activity we discussed how different letters and letter combinations can create many different sounds. This can greatly complicate things for English language learners. Not only are there many ways to make the same sounds, but some letters in the English alphabet make different sounds than in the other alphabets. This difference in background knowledge can create difficulties when ELLs try to spell or sound out words.

Looking back over the past 11 entries, I can see how my blog helped deepen my understanding. These blogs required me to not only sit and reflect on what we were learning, but by making me type out my response I had to organize my thoughts. This time to organize helped me notice gaps in my understandings in topics. It also helped me notice new aspects that simply reading and comprehending didn't prompt me to realize. Overall, the blogs helped me deepen my understanding and also now provide me with quick glimpses to my journey of understanding literacy more deeply.

References

Rasinski, T. (2014). Fluency matters. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 7(1), 3–12.

Entry 10. Blessing and Addressing Amanda C.

Amanda C. wrote her 9th entry on expanding her students vocabulary through various word learning strategies. One strategy Amanda mentioned that she really liked from Tompkins was doing a word study to help her students become aware of the origins of different words. Not only are the different origins of words really interesting to know, but so are the different forms the word has taken throughout time, like the word "brave" as Amanda mentioned. I agree that her students could benefit from this not only by helping them learn more about the words and therefore increasing their vocabulary, but also by increasing their interest and motivation for learning about more words. This activity can create a lot of excitement and drive to find different words and their cool histories. Additionally, another beneficial thing that can come from word studies is seeing the words used in various contexts. This can help deepen their understanding beyond the definition.

I also think that Amanda's ideas regarding dramatizing words and having students act out words from a book deserves blessing. This could greatly help students have a physical meaning to the word and deepen their understadning. To further this, I think pausing to have students act out the answer to a question can help check for their comprehension for what they're reading. For example, pausing after reading about a stressful situation for a character and asking the students to act out how they think the character is feeling, can give you a visual of if they understand the vocabulary and/or if they were ale to comprehend what was read.

Entry 9. English Learners' Vocabulary

 While reading the article by Graves et. al. (2017), it touched quickly on English learners and building their English vocabularies. For these English learners, and even all other students, "vocabulary knowledge is a powerful factor underlying reading proficiency and influences both word recognition and comprehension" (Graves et. al., 2017, p. 533). This also related to our topic on fluency, where we learned about the importance of automaticity and how quickly recognizing words without having to work to decode them can help students read faster and preserve cognitive energy that can then be used to comprehend what is being read (Rasinski, 2014). This is important to note for ELs because word recognition will not only help expand their vocabulary, but also aid in their fluency and comprehension.

Additionally, Graves et. al. (2017) found through their study comparing their Word Learning Strategies to a control group that "the WLS group made substantial gains, whereas the control group made virtually none, and English learners made larger gains than English-only students" (p.535). While I had expected a positive outcome from the incorporation of WLS in the classroom curriculum, I was not expecting such a significant larger effect for those learning to speak English. I think that perhaps part of the reason for this is one of the focuses of the WLS curriculum and how it is taught. For example, the curriculum focuses on teaching the strategy of using word parts such as prefixes (Graves et. al., 2017). Many prefixes can be derived from other languages, and therefore ELs are able to build on their previous understanding from their native language to decode English. Additionally, I think the incorporation of slowly increasing the students responsibility of using strategies also can greatly help ELs. I think that this method of instruction helps build confidence within the students, creating and increasing motivation to learn more and employ more strategies. 

References

Graves, M. F., Schneider, S., & Ringstaff, C. (2017). Empowering students with word-learning strategies: Teach a child to fish. The Reading Teacher, 71(5), 533–543. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1644

Rasinski, T. (2014). Fluency matters. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 7(1), 3–12.

Entry 8. Blessing and Addressing Lida's Entry 6

A classmate's entry that I really enjoyed reading was Lida's entry #6. In her entry, she discussed the importance of meaningful print in the classroom. While reading the Gerde e. al. (2016) article I had several of the same thoughts as Lida. However, there were a few things that Lida mentioned that expanded some of my learning and understanding of the topic. One thing she addressed was the importance of labeling things in your classroom, such as writing "light switch" by the lights, or "computer" on the computer. However, simply doing this is not enough. Lida pointed out the importance of not assuming that all of your students understand. It is important to point at the words when helping students discover these labels so that they understand that we read the words not the picture. As a building sub, I spend a lot of time in UPK and kindergarten classrooms. I have began to keep this in mind when helping them read simple sentences, books, or things around the classroom. I think that when students can point and say what a label is it can be easy to assume they are reading the words, however this helped me realize that it is important to check if students are engaging in word recognition or object recognition. 

Another part of Lida's entry I found important was when she discussed decorating the classroom and providing/creating meaningful print. She discusses how sometimes teachers use chart paper to create meaningful print for a specific lesson and then this print is no longer used or referred to. This caused me to consider how I might use and create print but ensure that my students are able to utilize the resource. I wonder if designating a specific space in a classroom for referencing information could be beneficial for students. This way, when students find themselves stuck, they know exactly where to look in the classroom. Perhaps a teacher could create a math sections, ELA section, and a science section to ensure that students are receiving the meaningful print they need. I also think that I could be really beneficial to allow students to make their own meaningful print. For example, perhaps for review a the end of a math lesson/unit students could make their own important notes sheet where they list important rules, reminders, and facts. This way, students have a personalized poster or sheet with meaningful text to help them succeed. This would also allow the teacher to see what students are struggling most with.

Lida's closing remarks on her future working with ELL students also has several great points that can be carried into a general classroom as well. As I touched on earlier, inviting students to participate in the creation of meaningful print can help incorporate their identity and previous experiences as well. 

References

Gerde, H, K., Goetsch, M. E., & Bingham, G.E. (2016). Using print in the environment to promote early writing. The Reading Teacher, 70(3), 283-293. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1508