Saturday, January 24, 2009
Language Arts Vignettes group a 650pm
View the NCTE/IRA vignettes at your level in the pdf standards handbook and then post entries on Class Blog for your group:1)propose “meaty” fat questions to discuss,2) make connections to your teaching and work with students, and 3) Please respond to two of your classmates’s entries in your study group.4) Consider how what you have learned from this book might support the work of your integrated language arts unit
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6 comments:
Discussion Questions-
1. When doing a read aloud or shared reading activity with your students; how do you have your student's demonstrate their learning? How do you document their success or difficulty in an area?
2. What are some ways you incorporate a student's primary language or culture in your reading and writing lessons?
3. In first grade, in what ways do you include a “research” project that covers cross-curricular information?
Connections to Teaching-
-Similar to the teacher in Vignette 1, I also created a chart with the help of my class that includes our strategies to solve a tricky word. When the chart was complete I shrunk the chart down to a bookmark size, so the students could use it during reader’s workshop. It is also a helpful reminder for my students during partner reading, where they can use it to act as the “teacher,” guiding their partner through the strategies to solve a difficult word.
- Unlike the teachers in several of the Vignettes, I use a “turn and talk” strategy for most of my whole class discussions. This strategy is successful because I am able to walk around and listen to each pair as they share their response to the question. It provides an opportunity for each student in my class to participate by sharing their ideas with their partner.
- In Vignette 2, the teacher had the students act out their story in order to completely understand how to revise and edit their work. Using the writer’s workshop model, I frequently use this strategy. I will have my students work independently or with a partner to role play, which helps revise their work.
- The student in Vignette 7 reminded me of a student I had my first year of teaching, yet much younger. I now take an interest inventory before each unit to understand my students’ learner profile, interests and needs during the unit.
In response to your first discussion question, Kim, I do something very similar to you. I have my students do think-pair-share. This allows me to listen to the discussion that they have with their partner, and also to ask specific students to share their discussion with the whole class. I can usually tell how they are doing with an objective based on the discussions that I hear.
I also agree that a cross-curricular research project can be very difficult for first grade, mostly because there are so few texts that they can read independently. It is difficult enough to find even one text on a topic that is readable, let alone several. I would guess that technology that could be used to help students gather information without reading, but I'm not sure how.
In response to the vignettes, there were several things that stuck out to me. First, I noticed in Vignette 7 that the teacher engages in the students in metacognition...thinking about their thinking. It is only in the past few years that I have really used this in first grade, and I have found it so useful. I especially like to use it when talking about decoding strategies. Getting the students to recognize what strategies they are using and why they are using them has become such a powerful tool for me.
I noticed in several vignettes the power of peers when learning. It seems to much more powerful when peers offer ideas or advice than when it comes from a teacher. I try to utilize this power more and more. I engage my students in writing partnerships to help each writer see their writing through a readers' perspective. I have students critique each other's answers after think-pair-share questions. I understand the power of hearing this from a peer. But sometimes I find this difficult. In the writing partnerships, for example, how can I trust that a students' writing partner is giving constructive criticism that will really help that student improve his/her writing? A teacher loses some control when using peers to help students learn. What is the balance?
I also noticed a theme across several vignettes of a focus on the student and his/her preferences and interests. Kim, you touched on this when you talked about the interest inventory you give your studets. It seemed like in several of the vignettes, the students were working on a project of their own choosing, or a least on a topic of their choosing. Allowing students to bring their interests into their learning is another meaningful way to increase motivation. I do this during my writer's workshop time and DEAR time, but am always looking for other ways for students to bring their personalities, interests, and learning preferences into what they are doing.
My thoughts/connections in regards to previous questions:
Reading through Kim and Joy’s questions has really activated my schema and helped me make even more connections to the vignettes. Where do I begin? In response to the first question, regarding students’ participation during a read aloud or shared reading exercise, I also have my students participate by think-pair-share. As Joy mentioned, this is a great way to have student start thinking about their response, then share their thoughts with a friend. By doing so I am able to observe students conversions as I listen in to several different discussions a day. I am also able to provide my assistance to students who may be having difficulties demonstrating higher-level thinking. And of course as every first grade teacher knows … this takes many days (via mini lessons) to show students and model how T-P-S works and what we expect students to do. Another pairing activity that also works well is turn and talk, which I believe has the same agenda as T-P-S, however, does not reinforce the thinking part.
As for incorporating students’ primary language and culture into our daily reading and writing lessons, I try to do a lot of this, as many of my students are Hispanic and have moved from Mexico or Puerto Rico. Students also have a strong cultural background and have a lot of knowledge about his/her culture. One way that I incorporate language into our daily lessons is through a variety of books. Thankfully, my district does understand the importance of balance and we have many valuable resources available. Students also write about their special holidays they celebrate during writer’s workshop.
Research! I find that first graders love to do research; however, this is one area that I do not focus on as much as others. I feel that there is so much that we already have to cover in 180 days that is much more valuable to students. For instance, my number one goal is for students to love school and love reading. However, this year students have had a keen interest in learning new information about animals, planets, presidents, etc. Through technology, I show the students how I research to find information online and we often use the computers to research topics of interest.
Thus, even though the students are not doing the research themselves (as Joy said, they’re not actually reading … though, 5% of my class can read research material that I find), they are actively participating (and watching) during this process. For example, during our unit on animal habitats, I showed students several videos online (YouTube does have some really great educational clips!) that had animals in their natural habitat. We also researched via web video how animals begin their process of hibernation. This is my first year that I have really relied on the internet for educational clips that support our science and social studies curriculum. In addition, our computer teacher also tries to incorporate research topics based on our units of study … this is always a great addition!
In response to Joy’s question on, “what is the balance?” What a great question … as I also feel the same way! I think we always try new ways in order to meet the wide range of students’ needs, however, I sometime think that even though we may have these great lessons and strategies, students will learn regardless of our efforts. Writing has always been one of my weaknesses and thus an area that I always try to improve in, especially when it comes to teaching my students about the writing process. I also find it very difficult to have writing partnerships, when in reality; do students really know how to give constructive criticism? Again, through modeling I try to demonstrate what good partnerships should look like, however, most often students share their writing pieces then say, “I like how you added detail” or “you did to elaborate.”
Honestly, how is this going to help them? Even though I do want my students to work together, I feel I do most of the conferences and provide students with areas they need to work on as well as positive comments. As for the balance, I there must be one …
My personal connections and questions:
Reading through the vignettes did provide a lot of insight of what is expected of elementary teachers and how we must use the standards to effectively meet the needs of our students. Vignette 1 demonstrates one area that I feel I am very strong in. Through phonics instruction and guided-reading groups, students demonstrate his/her understand of strategies that help them decode unknown words and understand the story. Through daily modeling on strategies and the importance of them, I feel students can finally think about their thinking, just as Joy said. Once students demonstrate metacognition, I know that students truly are becoming an active member of their learning. I believe it is crucial for first-grade teachers to effectively teach strategies.
Vignette 2 discussed ways drama can be a tool for writing. I often have my students retell a story through movement, as they love acting! Through drama, I have seen my students successfully demonstrate understand of a story’s purpose and accurately retell what they have read. By having students role-play I feel it strengthens their understanding of the story and helps them identify the feelings of the characters. In addition to using drama in reading and writing, I also have students “act-out” their weekly vocabulary words. In addition to our picture cards and context learning of the word, this is another great visual to help students learn a new word and be able to apply it.
After reading vignette 5 I still had some questions regarding inventive spelling. As a first-grade teacher, how do we know when we should correct students’ spelling verse when we should allow them to be creative and expressive?
I try to find a balance, but I still wonder if I am making the right choices …
I have some students who write very little during our writer’s workshop time because they are so focused on spelling each word correctly rather than just writing … on the other hand, I also have students who will write 3 pages, however, I may only be able to accurately decode and recognize a handful of words.
From reading this book, I have learned this will be a great support to use during my integrated language arts unit. In order to meet all students’ needs and educational standards, I know that a variety of instruction and strategies must be implemented. In order to design a powerful and successfully unit, I know I need to incorporate different literacy’s.
Joy, I also find it extremely beneficial to have my students discuss and think about the strategy they are using when decoding a difficult word. I teach several mini-lessons on this concept and have my higher level students spend time sharing how they came to a conclusion. I find it amazing once I see that change in their reading where they are self monitoring for a purpose.
Joy, I also completely agree with the second question you proposed. Even after modeling the appropriate way to act as a “helping hand” during partner time; I still find one or two groups that need extra guidance. During reading and writing partner share, my students are grouped with a peer on a similar academic level. However, during peer editing, I change the partnerships and base them on behavior and academic strengths, so my higher level students are able to guide their partner through the task. I have seen an increase in the success when I place the responsibility in solely the student’s hands.
As Jess stated, I also incorporate drama into most of my reading and writing lessons. Drama is a great way to have the students’ take their reading to the next level. Reader's Theatre is a strategy I use to strengthen my student's fluency. It not only allows them to role play the character's actions, but also provides them with the ability to take on the character's feelings and emotions through voice.
During our How-To writing unit, my students worked with their partners to act out each step of their non-fiction book. By adding drama into the workshop, they were able to see where the confusing parts were and could guide their partner with the appropriate alternative.
These vignettes and other material in the book will help guide me when I create my integrated language arts unit. I realize that I have to cover various information using different strategies, so each student can become successful. It will be helpful to have discussions with my peers about our classroom experiences. Using a combination of these sources, I feel my integrated unit will be a success.
It is somewhat reassuring to that I am not the only one struggling with creating purposeful partnerships. Our last writing unit focused on making our writing readable for others, and this was one area that their partnerships were helpful. Their partner could tell if the handwriting was poor or there wasn't spaces between words. Their partner could also usually tell if there weren't enough sounds represented to read the words. It was very concrete for them: either they could read it or they couldn't. But next we are moving into revision. How can I keep these partnerships going? I don't want to lose the momentum, but don't know how well they will work. I am afraid that if I rely on teacher modeling, the comments will be dry and less useful, like the ones that Jess mentioned. Maybe I need to realize that writing partners will not work in every unit.
Through both Joy’s and Kim’s comments, I have stirred up more questions. I absolutely agree with Kim and Joy, as I feel “helping hands” are a great way to engage student partnerships, however, I also have the same concern as Kim … there are several students who need additional assistance/guidance while completing their peer conversations. As mentioned before, I think peer editing is very difficult for students at any age, especially young students as ours. I believe it is our job, (as first-grade teachers) to teach students the foundation of reading and writing (math, science, etc.).
I think the only way we (teachers) can successfully use the role or partnerships is via extensive modeling of our expectations, practicing, and appropriate use. I have used partnerships in the past and I found that they have not been beneficial to my students. This past week (after our thoughtful discussions) I introduced a peer checklist, which is comprised of several must-dos for students in a group. This checklist not only provides students with a list of activities to check off, but more importantly identifies the key elements they should be working on in their group and it provides students with food for thought, as we know, they sometimes go off key. So yes, Joy, you’re not the only one struggling with creating successful partnerships. I think we need to continue modeling good writing and effective writing processes, if we are going to see student progress and become classroom authors.
To conclude our discussion on partnerships … are they really must or can be give and take the use of peer partnerships and focus more of student-teacher conferences. Yes, Joy, I don’t think they will work in every unit and I think that’s okay, as we know there are other effective teaching strategies.
Great ideas Kim and Joy, I enjoyed reading your thoughts. Not only have I gain insight, but have stirred up a few new ideas of my own! Thanks!
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