Blog 3 Edn319-800--Learning Styles and Research--Crystal Martinez

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Crystal Martinez

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EDN340---Blog Entry 3

Childhood Reading Memories

I have pictures of myself at age 2 and 3 holding cardboard cut outs with words like “kite” and “book”. According to my mother, I knew the whole key board at age 2 (she was a computer trainer back in the 90’s DOS days). I remember the first book I studied to read myself was a pink book called “c-a-t spells cat”. My mom bought it for me some months before I started school. It had pages about other things too, among them a cow, an apple, and a dog. By the time, I started kindergarten I could read that book by myself, and knew many sight words. However, in elementary school, the teachers never really pushed us to read much until first grade. In kindergarten, we were just studying letter identification and sound. Some kids, like myself, were reading, but it wasn’t a requirement. In my first grade class, I guess after we were assessed, we had reading centers. During this time, I remember seeing classmates working with the leveled readers like the 1-4 reading levels now required to pass kindergarten. When they were working in small groups, one with a teacher, one with an assistant, I was in the “read to self” group. I could just pick any book from our class room reading corner and read to myself. I remember we read a few books as a class, the large print kind, and then would have a follow-up activity, often some type of craft thing. In 2^nd grade, the teacher did class readings with chapter books like “Junie B. Jones” and “Amber Brown is not a Crayon”. In other grades I also remember frequent whole class readings. Our homework or after reading work would usually consist of vocabulary and questions.

Phonemic Awareness vs. Phonic Instruction

Phonemic awareness usually comes soon around the time children understand the alphabetic principle, which is understanding that words are formed by letters and letters make sounds. Developing phonemic awareness is hearing the sounds that make up words, like the end sounds, beginning sounds, and noticing words rhyming. Phonemic awareness does not mean children are seeing the words, just hearing the sounds, and in fact it can come with eyes closed. Phonic instruction requires the child see the words and letters in print. Phonic instruction is teaching the children the relationship between letters (graphemes) and sounds (phonemes). Children learn to “sound out” their words. Combined with other types of word study, phonics help improve spelling skills. Phonic study alone is not learning to read, and is most effective when used with other reading instruction. Even though both phonemic awareness and phonic instruction focus on the individual letter sounds in a word, one is only hearing those sounds, and the other is understanding the relationship between the written letter and the sound.

How/Why do we Implement Word Study?

The main purpose of our word study activities is to help the children develop a deeper understanding of the way written words work. Incorporating frequent word study activities in the classroom will help students notice common patterns and conventions in our written language and increase their knowledge of individual words (increase their sight word knowledge). One helpful way to develop their knowledge of different sounds and words is through various sorting activities. During a sound sort, we may examine the different sounds of “I”, with starting words “win” and “line”, and then file other words in its corresponding category. Other common types of sorts used in classroom word study are picture sorts and word sorts. In a word sort, children examine the different spellings of a word that sounds the same, like “hair” and “hare”. We also have meaning sorts, where we discuss in detail the different meanings of words being sorted. In the classroom, we have a routine of word study activities. We get into small groups, one group at least is teacher directed, and we keep it short and simple, no more than about 30 minutes a day in word study. Word study is a very gradual process, and can “come to” different students at different time. Spending too much time a day on word study, or introducing too many word study words, can cause the brain to overload, and not remember many of them at all.  As we learn new words, we add them to our word wall. The word wall is great because it stays up all the time. As students are writing, they can go check the spelling of a word on the word wall.

Word sorts facilitate student’s spelling and reading skills.

Sorting is a great way to help children learn to make sense of words and the written language in general. At first, as beginning readers, children learn about beginning sounds while sorting pictures, later when they are transitional readers, sorting by vowel patterns is most helpful. In middle school, they sort prefixes, affixes, and syllables, and then in high school, sort by Latin root words. They will progress in knowledge and the way they look at words. Sorting gives students an opportunity to form their own ideas and generalizations about the English language system. Instead of just memorizing a specified list of spelling words, word sorts help children see the rules and common patterns in many words. They can apply learned knowledge of rules and patterns in their writing, spelling, and reading.

Links to elementary word sort videos

A concept sort in an ELL classroom-- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWqbYKf72tc

In a concept sort, first choose 10-15 important words from a text, then ask students to sort the words into 2 or more meaningful groups. In this video, the 2 concepts are animal sounds and animal movements. In this video, teacher assigns students to work in small groups. While groups are working together, teacher walks around observing and helping groups when needed. Concept sorts can be done in groups, as a class, or as individual work. They are especially helpful for ELL students.

A picture sort in a kindergarten classroom-  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZO9A1TUVTE

                Before beginning the sort, teacher discusses with class, the 2 letters they are working with, an “m” from their previous week’s studies, and a “t” from their current week’s studies. Before they stick any pictures under either letter on the board, teacher brainstorms with class words that start with “m” and words that start with “t”. This is a teacher-directed sort in a whole-class lesson setting. After she holds up each picture, she asks students who know which side it belongs on, to raise a “quiet hand”. Then that student stands up and sticks it under the correct letter.  

A word sort in a first-grade classroom- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjgUx7zSX14

                I really like the disclosures and explanations the teacher gives to viewer before beginning this video, and how she specifically shows the standards fitting her main points. She explains that the small groups for this activity have been determined by her assessments at the beginning of the year showing what word sounds/concepts each student needs to work on. In this example, she sorts out and explains words with silent sounds to a small group. The students are sorting words like “gnat” and “know”.

EDN319--Blog 2

Fat City Video

• What was your reaction to the video? What part of the video impacted you the most and why?

          The first thing I noticed at the start of the video is that he uses the words "learning disabled child", and even "mentally retarded". However, I can tell the video is dated before these terms were considered politically incorrect or offensive. That's not really the point, but it stuck out to me because of last module's discussion. Even though the adults were in a "learning workshop", you could tell from their faces, the one being called on was not amused, but everyone else was. I was surprised about seeing their reactions. These were mostly professional adults, aware they were participating in some type of learning demonstration, but even under these circumstances, you could tell the discomfort on their faces was genuine. If being called out like that on the spot has that kind of effect on adults without learning disabilities, imagine the effect on a child. I know when I was in school this was common place, if the teacher thought someone wasn't paying attention, their name would be called next. In my daughter's classrooms, and in classes I have observed, I have seen this happen in some classrooms, but not in most, as was the case in my school days. Hopefully teachers are being educated this is not beneficial to students, causes them embarrassment, and sometimes emotional issues. I have known this is not the way to teach a student with disabilities, or any student at all for that matter. Embarrassing a student in front of their peers, for not paying attention, or as a form of punishment is something I really dislike. I read a story in the paper about some parent making her kid wear a sign. I thought to myself, no matter what a child does, what kind of parent or teacher thinks giving other people reasons to ridicule a child can be beneficial in any way. 

• Describe 3 points that Dr. Lavoie made that were new to you or provided a good reminder.

1. Never "blame" the child, they are not intentionally struggling in school just to give teacher difficulties. Many children with disabilities are labeled as being "lazy" by teachers and often parents too, who feel their child is just unwilling to do their work. When a teacher or parent uses sarcasm directed at a child with disabilities, saying things like "hey are you deaf?", this does not help children, it just creates victims. In fact often comments like these, especially in front of other students, can have a negative impact on this student for a very long time and stay in their mind even into adulthood.
2. Putting a child with disabilities "on the spot" in class, asking a question when they seem to not be paying attention, is really not very beneficial for their learning. In fact, they may even know the correct answer, but the anxiety of being caught off guard in front of the entire class prevents them from being able to answer correctly. - 
3. Oftentimes, the biggest difference in learning, for students with learning disabilities versus students without learning disabilities, is in language processing times. When a student without disabilities is asked a question, they are immediately processing an answer to the question. However, a student with learning disabilities may have to process the question just asked before even thinking about an answer. This does not mean their intelligence is inferior, just their brain processes information differently, so they may need more time to form an answer.--I was not aware of the reasons that cause a student to have "learning disabilities", which really are not actually "disabilities", just differences in mental processes needed for learning. 

• Identify at least 3 strategies that you, as a teacher, can implement in your future classroom for students who experience frustration, anxiety, and tension.   

1. I will allow students with disabilities more time to complete class work and test. Wait an extra minute before calling on raised hands, giving these students more time to consider their answers, and raise their hands too. If their hand is not up do not call on them. 

2. I will be considerate of all the diverse learning styles and processing speeds of my students. I will try to make learning more personal and focused on the individual student. Even though I will be planning lessons to teach the entire class, I will make adjustments on individual student's learning plans to best suit them.  I will be willing to demonstrate a lesson in a variety of different ways, as many as I need to make sure all students understand. If some of my students are struggling, or even one student is struggling, I will need to find another way to teach it to those students. 

3. I will demonstrate an optimistic attitude towards all of my student's learning, showing them I believe in their abilities. This kind of attitude will build their self esteem, not destroy it. Correcting student's wrong answers must be done tactfully, not emphasizing that they are wrong, but showing them how to get the correct answer. Usually after showing them the way to get the correct answer, they will change their previous answer without teacher having to say they were wrong.   

Misunderstood Minds

• Did the simulations help you better understand a disability in each of the areas? How?

Yes, they did help me better understand disabilities. I do not have any disabilities myself, so even though I truly want to help students with disabilities, I can't say I know what they're going through. The visual one made me dizzy, and it was impossible to read the passage. Even though I got last 2 questions right, I guessed the most logical answer on number 2, I didn't remember it from the reading. On number 3, I never got to reading that part of the passage either, but in between the screen going in and out, I saw the word "hill" somewhere in the passage. The auditory video really got on my nerves too, especially when the speaker continued on even though everyone was talking. I made it to the 3rd step, after that I missed several steps until the last two after teacher "quieted class", and by that time it was too late. I was not able to focus on math problems long enough to work through them, or write them down. 

• As you were going through the simulations, were there things you wished you had (e.g., more time) or that you could do (e.g., refer to your notes) that would help you? If so, what were they?

During the visual simulation, I wished I had more time to actually read the passage before the screen would start blinking. At the end, when the screen was white, I sat a few seconds expecting it to flash back on screen. In the auditory test I just wanted everyone to be quiet so I could hear the teacher. I also wished the teacher would have slowed down, and repeated the steps I missed when everyone was talking. She knew they were all being loud, that's why she quieted the class. She should have repeated it for those that couldn't hear over their rude classmates. In the attention simulation, I just wanted to be able to write the problems down and work through them, but I was not able to. 

• Given what you this week and your participation in the activities, list and describe at least four supports or accommodations you could provide to students in your classroom who have difficulties with learning, motivation, attention, and/or memory. 

1. Learning-- Using visual supporters has been proven especially helpful when working with young children with disabilities, in particular those with autism spectrum disorder. Children with autism often "think in pictures", and many children with other disabilities are visual learners as well. Commonly used visual aids are real objects (tangible things they can relate to material), photographs, line drawing programs, charts, and maps. 

2. Attention-- A tip for helping children with learning disabilities improve reading and keep their interest, is allowing them to seek out books they are interested in. Whether it is sports, fashion, or a favorite animal, making time for children to read books they truly want to read, is a great way to keep children with a short attention span engaged. Of course they will pay attention and stay on task if they are reading about something they want to know about. Also, keep an open mind on reading materials, it doesn't necessarily need to be a book, to keep children's attention. Reading is every where, in magazines, advertisements, even the school lunch menu. 

3. Memory-- A great way to help children with memory disabilities is to provide them with flashcards on everything. From multiplication tables to vocabulary words,  practicing with flashcards is a great strategy for memorization. 

4. Motivation-- A great way to help children stay motivated to continue learning is by using positive motivators. Successful completion of work, staying on task, and doing one's best should be rewarded. Some rewards may include letting children grab a "prize" from the surprise box, which probably contains small little things kids love, or perhaps the students could choose their own classroom chore that day, instead of being assigned. The reward may be a something fun for the entire class like and ice cream party. Of course larger rewards are now earned in a day, but after several days or maybe even weeks. 

• What effect does your participation in these simulations have on you as a future teacher?

As I said before, I don't have any disabilities myself, so even with my heart in the right place, I can't truly understand what it is like to have disabilities. These short activities provided some insight into what that would be like. If I had experienced any of those disabilities in real life, I would have a lot of trouble in school myself 

3. Visual supports assist students with Autism in various situations and settings, and there are many different kinds of visual supports to aide in many different situations
   

Flash Cards- Using flashcards is a great strategy for helping children with autism especially those with communication and language problems. Flash cards teach new vocabulary, and expand communication for students with autism. These cards could be used for vocabulary/spelling words of the week, practicing addition and subtraction, and even communication. Students with autism can benefit greatly from using flash cards. Expanding their vocabulary, seeing a visual representation of words they may not have comprehended otherwise, and just increasing their means of communication are some of the many benefits. Interesting pictures on the cards make cards more fun for children, helping them stay engaged and on task. Flash cards are often used by students without disabilities as well, on a variety of topics. They are especially helpful for studying words, or any material that just needs to be memorized. In my last required college English course, I myself used flash cards as an adult to ensure I would remember vocabulary words. 

EDN340 Blog 2 Post

Hi EDN 340!

Here is my link to the shared reading/read aloud blog.

https://us2-broadcast.officeapps.live.com/m/Broadcast.aspx?Fi=295f82a28e872da1%5Fbd11bb7e%2D6593%2D4c25%2D9910%2D7acd2201e157%2Dasync%2Edocx

             Read aloud is when one adult reads a book to one child, or a group of children, while they listen. Most exposure to read aloud must come from home, starting from baby hood on through middle school. Reading aloud and sharing the world of books, is the single most important thing a parent can do to assure their child will be a lifelong reader. By a lifelong reader, I mean someone who does not only read for assignments at school, but for pleasure on their own free time. I was surprised to find out that by 12^th grade only 19% of students read on their free time. During read aloud parents can share books with their children, discuss the book, and farther develop their child’s reading skills. Even though the children are not reading the book themselves, they are looking at the words, and learning new vocabulary. The books chosen for read aloud do not necessarily need to be on the child’s reading level. Most of the time children can comprehend a level much higher than they can read on their own. Unfortunately, after children reach middle school, most parents stop sharing books with them, assuming they will read on their own. Read aloud does not directly teach children to read, but it shows children reading is something we do for pleasure. It is not a dreaded “hard and boring” skill we only use for school, but something we look forward to. For read aloud, children can choose books that really interest them, and parents can share their own personal favorites. Also, when a child sees their own parent reading for fun, even if not reading to the child, it instills the thought that this is something everyone enjoys, adults too. They will naturally want to learn a skill that will help them unlock the fun of books on their own, if they see reading in this perspective, and are frequently exposed to good books.

                Shared reading occurs in classrooms, with the teacher reading to one student, a small group, or an entire class. During shared reading, the teacher guides class through a book, often a large print classroom editions. The class may read along with the teacher out loud the entire story, the teacher may read some parts and then insinuate for class to read all together others, or the teacher may be reading a book to the class and stopping frequently to discuss with class. Before beginning the book, teachers will usually point out things like the title, cover, back, author, and illustrator. The discussions may be about characters, plot, settings, or sequences of events, and sometimes just talking about what was read to make sure all students comprehend. Shared reading can be very beneficial for helping struggling readers, while ensuring they all feel successful by providing help to the entire group, and increasing sight word knowledge/fluency for the entire class. Although shared reading is very beneficial in the classroom, it cannot be the only exposure to reading children experience. Reading aloud at home with parents daily, in addition to shared reading at school, are the best ways to assure a student become an avid reader.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OG2Q6pPQYw---   This short video gives some really good tips about how to make the most of read aloud with your child. Things like identifying the title, and asking them to make predictions will get them engaged. Throughout the book, it is a good idea to stop and kind of re[cap] what was just read every few pages or so. Children are easily distracted, and this will ensure they are following along and comprehending. In a very short amount of time, it gives parents and teachers some very good tips on reading aloud.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu3QH9AJn0s--   This video is of a teacher practicing shared reading with either a pre-k or kindergarten class. The teacher in this video stops on every page to ask questions. After the class reads a sentence together “I am yellow. I am a banana”, she asks “does anyone know what this letter is?”. “What sound does it make?”  She doesn’t call on any kids that don’t want to answer, however most of them raise their hands on every question.

   It’s funny just day before yesterday I was having this exact conversation with my mom about the benefits of read aloud. I am lucky to say, I was exposed to books at home from a very early age. My mother read bed time stories to me when I was a baby, through about 6^th grade. By the time, she stopped reading to me, I was already an enthusiastic reader. The library was walking distance from my house in downtown Cary, and I went there all the time, in summer especially. Back then older children could still walk a few blocks alone, without parents worrying CPS will be called by neighbors. When I started kindergarten at age 4 (cutoff date was in October back then), I already knew how to read simple books. Because kindergarteners were not expected to read, my teachers were very impressed, especially with my vocabulary (according to mom). She continued reading to me all through elementary. My favorites were historical fiction. In the 3^rd grade, I remember my mom reading my “A Little Princess” by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I remember she read me “Christy”, which was a young adult novel, in the 4^th grade, after I saw the movie. I also loved Goosebumps, Junie B., and in 4^th and 5^th grade the “Dear America” series were my favorites. My mom did not enjoy reading “The Babysitters Club”, and I knew it, so I always read those on my own. Today I still love books and use my library card almost every two weeks. My favorites are still historical fiction, and now historical non-fiction, and non-fiction about real people and issues in society. In my kindergarten classroom, teacher would read aloud big print books to class like Clifford and Eric Carle books, since we weren’t expected to be reading along.

   I think in first grade I started experiencing some shared reading settings at school, but especially in 2^nd grade. I remember in first grade our class reading a book together about a cow and a bed, and skiddle dee doo. In 2^nd grade, I remember the teacher shared reading the first book in the Junie B. Jones series, and we had many discussions and assignments based off it. I was bored because I had already read the book, even though I liked it. In 5^th grade, I remember us doing shared reading, and having students take turns reading a page aloud to class. This was very embarrassing for some students. I remember one boy couldn’t even get through easy words like “locker” and “house”, which I’m sure did not significantly improve any reading levels enough to make it worthwhile to humiliate these students. (One could see it on their faces). Thankfully, for me, this wasn’t a problem, and I could read the books selected for my class, about as good as the teacher. In fact, I was selected as the narrator for my 5^th grade Christmas production. I didn’t get a pretty costume, like the girl that played Santa Lucia, but I had more speaking lines than any other student in my grade.

  I know for a fact that reading aloud frequently at home makes a kid enjoy books. Reading, words, and writing in general have always came easy to me, because it is something I enjoy, and was exposed to from an early age. I read to my own children, as much as my mother read to me. I hope they too will enjoy finding all the worlds of knowledge in books.