Summary of learning
THE DAILY FIVE
This is a program that many schools are adopting to incorporate all forms of literacy into the classroom. The Principles of the Daily Five are:
Read to self: Reading regularly books that interest you is the best way to practice and improve.
Work on Writing: Just like reading the best way to improve writing is doing it in some form every single day.
Partner Reading: This is a great way to improve on fluency, understanding, and hearing your own voice when sharing with your partner.
Word Work: This enables students to increase comprehension of words while reading.
Listen to Reading: Also read to your students, this allows students to hear what words should sound like, fluency, expression, and give student's confidence to read in front of others.
Another important aspect of "The Daily Five" is the ideas of I PICK to help students choose books to read.
I- I look at a book, browse through book from front to back reading short portions.
P- Purpose, Determine why you would read the book, what is spiking your interest, or what could you learn.
I- Interest, Does the book really interest you?
C- Comprehend, Do you understand what you are reading?
K- Know almost all the words, is the vocabulary beyond you or just a challenge?
TEACHING STRATEGIES- PROMOTING LITERACY
Here are some Teaching Strategies that peaked my interest and wish to incorporate in my classroom:
Jigsaw: This strategy requires students to be part of two groups, the Home Group and Expert Group. Students become experts on one topic with their Home Group. They then mix with other students that became experts on different topics to create the Expert Group. Students then take turns teaching their topic to their fellow students.
RAFT Writing: This strategy allows students to become an expert on a particular topic and then write about it from a different perspective.
R- Role (Who is the writer? What is the role of the writer?)
A - Audience (Who are you writing to?)
F - Format (What format is the writing in?)
T - Topic (What are you writing on?)
Reader's Theatre: Students present a text by practicing it first and then dramatizing it to the whole class. The script can be developed by the Teacher, students, or can be simply acting out a picture book. It allows students to read text more fluently and revisit the content that they are performing.
Word Scavenger Hunts: Allows students to explore both kinds of word knowledge, definitional and contextual. The hunt starts by identifying the key terms that should be found. You then split students into groups and outline what tools can be used to find definitions to words. The Scavenger Hunt can take place over a class period, day, or even a week. Students should share their findings with the class when the Scavenger Hunt is over.
KWL: This strategy allows student's to set personal goals to get them thinking about a new topic and then reflecting on what they learned.
K- What do you know?
W - What do you want to know?
L - What have you learned?
WRITING
Writing should be part of your everyday classroom routine in a variety of ways. Here are just some ways I aim to use writing daily in the classroom:
Blogging: Blogging can be a simple easy way for students to daily reflect on what they learnt. Since blogging is online it can then be easily accessed not only by you, but by parents, and other students and teachers in your school.
Word Walls: Creating a word wall can be a great way for students to learn new vocabulary, help them with spelling, and give an easy overview of words learnt in the classroom over the school year.
Assessment and Feedback: We have discussed a lot about how important it is for students to participate in peer and personal assessment and feedback. It gives them ownership in their learning and allows them to motivate themselves to do better rather than it always being up to you as the Teacher.
5 Stages of Writing: 1) Pre-Writing 2) Drafting 3) Revising 4) Editing 5) Publishing. Writing can be a daunting task for some students, splitting up the writing into small phases helps students organize their thoughts and create a piece that they can be proud of.
READING
Reading is so important to get your students excited about and want to read daily.
There are two kinds of reading:
Efferent:
- to learn about the world around them
- to locate information
- to read charts, graphs, maps and diagrams
- to see interrelationships among pieces of information
Aesthetic:
- to comprehend by creating personal meaning for themselves
- purpose is to enjoy the text
Understanding these two kinds of reading and trying to foster what it is that interests your students to read is a very important goal for all Teachers to strive for.
EARLY LITERACY
How did you learn to read? I learnt to read by both my Mom and Dad reading to me before bed. As they would read they would point out certain words and help me sound them out, or even get me to read portions of the story I had memorized since I read my favorite books so many times.
There are many ways to teach students to read and the beginning years of school are so vital for students to learn the basics of reading so that if they are struggling it can be dealt with earlier rather than later. Here are some basic strategies of how to teach students to read:
Phonemes: This is the smallest unit of sound in a spoken word. There are about 31 to 44 phonemes in the English language. This is an important skill that Pre-Schooler, Kindergarten, and Grade 1 students should learn so they can start to unpack how to read.
Syllables Clapping: A great pre-reading skill that allows students to clap out the syllables of the word so that they can break it up a bit. Show students the word and put a dot behind the word so that they can see how many times they will need to clap. This allows students to see the syllables, here the syllables, and clap out the syllables all at the same time. A great way to introduce this technique is starting with students's names.
Words Stretch: Taking a word and stretching and exaggerating all the sounds to allow students to be able to sound out the word to read it. It may also be useful to physicalize this strategy by stretching your body with your students as you are stretching the word.
ex) Truck: Trrrrr.....uuuuuuu......ck
Paired Reading: Allowing students to read with one another is a great way for them to build confidence to read alone as they can help each other sound out words and work together rather than getting frustrated all alone. Paired reading can be done with other fellow classmates, parents, siblings, or friends.
Check out this link to see how a Professor from Minnesota State explains "Phonemic Awareness"
This is a program that many schools are adopting to incorporate all forms of literacy into the classroom. The Principles of the Daily Five are:
Read to self: Reading regularly books that interest you is the best way to practice and improve.
Work on Writing: Just like reading the best way to improve writing is doing it in some form every single day.
Partner Reading: This is a great way to improve on fluency, understanding, and hearing your own voice when sharing with your partner.
Word Work: This enables students to increase comprehension of words while reading.
Listen to Reading: Also read to your students, this allows students to hear what words should sound like, fluency, expression, and give student's confidence to read in front of others.
Another important aspect of "The Daily Five" is the ideas of I PICK to help students choose books to read.
I- I look at a book, browse through book from front to back reading short portions.
P- Purpose, Determine why you would read the book, what is spiking your interest, or what could you learn.
I- Interest, Does the book really interest you?
C- Comprehend, Do you understand what you are reading?
K- Know almost all the words, is the vocabulary beyond you or just a challenge?
TEACHING STRATEGIES- PROMOTING LITERACY
Here are some Teaching Strategies that peaked my interest and wish to incorporate in my classroom:
Jigsaw: This strategy requires students to be part of two groups, the Home Group and Expert Group. Students become experts on one topic with their Home Group. They then mix with other students that became experts on different topics to create the Expert Group. Students then take turns teaching their topic to their fellow students.
RAFT Writing: This strategy allows students to become an expert on a particular topic and then write about it from a different perspective.
R- Role (Who is the writer? What is the role of the writer?)
A - Audience (Who are you writing to?)
F - Format (What format is the writing in?)
T - Topic (What are you writing on?)
Reader's Theatre: Students present a text by practicing it first and then dramatizing it to the whole class. The script can be developed by the Teacher, students, or can be simply acting out a picture book. It allows students to read text more fluently and revisit the content that they are performing.
Word Scavenger Hunts: Allows students to explore both kinds of word knowledge, definitional and contextual. The hunt starts by identifying the key terms that should be found. You then split students into groups and outline what tools can be used to find definitions to words. The Scavenger Hunt can take place over a class period, day, or even a week. Students should share their findings with the class when the Scavenger Hunt is over.
KWL: This strategy allows student's to set personal goals to get them thinking about a new topic and then reflecting on what they learned.
K- What do you know?
W - What do you want to know?
L - What have you learned?
WRITING
Writing should be part of your everyday classroom routine in a variety of ways. Here are just some ways I aim to use writing daily in the classroom:
Blogging: Blogging can be a simple easy way for students to daily reflect on what they learnt. Since blogging is online it can then be easily accessed not only by you, but by parents, and other students and teachers in your school.
Word Walls: Creating a word wall can be a great way for students to learn new vocabulary, help them with spelling, and give an easy overview of words learnt in the classroom over the school year.
Assessment and Feedback: We have discussed a lot about how important it is for students to participate in peer and personal assessment and feedback. It gives them ownership in their learning and allows them to motivate themselves to do better rather than it always being up to you as the Teacher.
5 Stages of Writing: 1) Pre-Writing 2) Drafting 3) Revising 4) Editing 5) Publishing. Writing can be a daunting task for some students, splitting up the writing into small phases helps students organize their thoughts and create a piece that they can be proud of.
READING
Reading is so important to get your students excited about and want to read daily.
There are two kinds of reading:
Efferent:
- to learn about the world around them
- to locate information
- to read charts, graphs, maps and diagrams
- to see interrelationships among pieces of information
Aesthetic:
- to comprehend by creating personal meaning for themselves
- purpose is to enjoy the text
Understanding these two kinds of reading and trying to foster what it is that interests your students to read is a very important goal for all Teachers to strive for.
EARLY LITERACY
How did you learn to read? I learnt to read by both my Mom and Dad reading to me before bed. As they would read they would point out certain words and help me sound them out, or even get me to read portions of the story I had memorized since I read my favorite books so many times.
There are many ways to teach students to read and the beginning years of school are so vital for students to learn the basics of reading so that if they are struggling it can be dealt with earlier rather than later. Here are some basic strategies of how to teach students to read:
Phonemes: This is the smallest unit of sound in a spoken word. There are about 31 to 44 phonemes in the English language. This is an important skill that Pre-Schooler, Kindergarten, and Grade 1 students should learn so they can start to unpack how to read.
Syllables Clapping: A great pre-reading skill that allows students to clap out the syllables of the word so that they can break it up a bit. Show students the word and put a dot behind the word so that they can see how many times they will need to clap. This allows students to see the syllables, here the syllables, and clap out the syllables all at the same time. A great way to introduce this technique is starting with students's names.
Words Stretch: Taking a word and stretching and exaggerating all the sounds to allow students to be able to sound out the word to read it. It may also be useful to physicalize this strategy by stretching your body with your students as you are stretching the word.
ex) Truck: Trrrrr.....uuuuuuu......ck
Paired Reading: Allowing students to read with one another is a great way for them to build confidence to read alone as they can help each other sound out words and work together rather than getting frustrated all alone. Paired reading can be done with other fellow classmates, parents, siblings, or friends.
Check out this link to see how a Professor from Minnesota State explains "Phonemic Awareness"