Saturday, February 20

The Hudson et al. article about dyslexia and brain research tells us that, "Without intense intervention, low motivation may develop as students try to avoid a difficult and painful task. (p. 512)" As I read about differences in brain activity among students with RD, I am reminded that students who have been identified with some kind a reading disability really need to be informed about how they "simply process language differently than their peers. (p. 512)" These students may experience tremendous emotional burdens because they struggle where their peers do not. If we can tell them that "research shows..." that their reading may be improved with some good hard work (the intervention), they may be more motivated to do what needs to be done. Even teachers need to hear, "research shows...", in order to gain more confidence in helping individual students. Educators need to know that intervention can't wait because of paperwork or getting the "right" number of approvals.

This ties in with the Mesmer et al. article which urges more immediate interventions. The RTI approach steers educators away from the discrepancy model for identifying students with disabilities; supporters of RTI claim that it would resolve the problem of "waiting to fail." As stated above, motivation for these struggling learners is already waning. The longer they have to wait for some support, the likelier it is that the "failure" factor increases. Ann Van Cotthem's blog about RTI supports my understanding as well. We would all like to know that it is possible for all students to have quality learning opportunities in schools.

I am hopeful that as more brain research makes its way towards the "powers that be, we will eliminate the time "spent admiring the student's reading problem" and get on with helping those students achieve success in learning and in life.

Friday, February 12

I was glad that Regie Routman devoted an entire chapter to creating an "outstanding" classroom library--bravo! Throughout my observations of various classrooms this past year at my placement schools, I have to say my first impressions often entail whether or not I see an inviting reading area in the classroom. Some have "it;" some are sorely lacking. In Gladwell's book, Outliers, and in other research about determining the success of young students, we learn that the presence or availability of books in homes is one of the key factors. Some homes simply do not have a lot of books lying about; some families don't take their kids to the public libraries. The classroom may be the primary place some kids have access to books. I have lots of fond memories of books as a child, and I can recall the joy of being faced with a plethora of books and knowing I had freedom to choose what I wanted to read. The library was this way for me, and so were many classrooms. Literacy and language are so crucial to all other subjects at school; it's no wonder that this should be a visible, accessible part of students' learning environment.

I liked Routman's suggestion that kids help set up the classroom library so they have ownership and so they can jointly become excited about all the possiblities! I also agree that we should not accentuate leveled reading with distinct labeling, etc. Choice is so very important to young readers. If a teacher can help kids understand how to pick "just-right" books, there should be no need for categorizing by level. And let's hear it for offering magazines and comic books! I grew up on comic books well before I became an avid reader of "real" literature. Parents mostly agree--just get my kid into books somehow...whether it's Captain Underpants, Walter the Farting Dog, Twilight, or Sports Illustrated...interest in reading is gradual--sometimes painstakingly slow. Written text is abundant all around us; let's expose kids to the variety and hook them into reading by letting them steer the way.

February 6, 2010

Routman and Cooper were oh-so-similar with their strategies to help with comprehension, I wanted to see who published their list first…it was Regie Routman (2003). Cooper et al. published their article about helping students construct meaning in 2009. Their list was nearly identical to Routman’s. It’s a great menu of options for helping our students.

For myself, being the dreamer that I am, I need to highlight or take notes while I read school books or articles. Otherwise, I nearly always need to go back and re-read to grasp key material. And, like kids, it helps if I have some questions to reflect on while I read.

In my 6th grade class, the teacher creates a weekly organizer for students. It provides kids with daily assigned reading and questions about that reading; most questions pertain in some way to their understanding of the text and relate to several of the items in our strategies lists (e.g. prediction, making connections, identifying main ideas). This has worked very well since the start of the year. It makes reading more manageable for the students by breaking it down into sections. The teacher also provides extensions for kids who work ahead.

I like Cooper’s addition of “evaluating” as a strategy. I think this is another important component of a student’s understanding of their reading by requiring them to make judgments about what they read. By letting kids express opinions about their learning, we are saying that we value their opinions and the life histories that they bring to the group and as individuals. Evaluating is also important as it helps develop students’ critical thinking.

March 12: In responding to Cara Byrne's blog I was drawn to re-reading my own blog here about comprehension. Cara wrote about the value in informal reading conferences. The one-on-one approach is idea for working with students to determine personal reading goals. However, while you (the teacher) are trying to meet with individuals, we also need to have students work on different strategies in reading which will highlight where they might need further assistance. For me--it is the reading packets. They become a great source of conversation when meeting with individuals. We can sit together (teacher and student), read through their responses, and talk about where their strengths and their struggles lie!