A Cool Reader's Theater Website!

http://www.fictionteachers.com/classroomtheater/theater.html

Fun Fluency!

I really enjoyed this week's readings on fluency. I was particularly interested in the fourth component of fluency in Deeney's article: prosody. Deeney states, "Prosody refers to a reader's ability to read smoothly, with appropriate phrasing and expression. When I read this section of the article, I was instantly reminded of what I liked about Rasinski's article. He suggests that passages read aloud as a performance are a great tool for improving reading fluency. Certainly this type of text (a dialogue or speech) would also help achieve the prosody (expressive tone, inflection, rhythm) that Deeney finds so imperative to being fluent. I love this idea of using performance texts because I am taking Drama and Storytelling in Teaching as one of my graduate elective courses. I knew that class actions and reader's theaters were very useful for building confidence, but learning that they also promote fluency has made them so much more meaningful to me. I love that improving fluency can be fun!!

I have thought long and hard about the relationship between prosody and comprehension, and  it's like the chicken and the egg of fluency. Seriously, which one comes first?

Source: oneextradegree.blogspot.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

Don't Equate Difference with Deficit

One of the many ideas addressed by the position statement article was the concept of  learning English as a second language. Not only is learning English a challenge for the student, but it can often be a struggle for the teacher of this student as well. The article states the need for teachers and parents working together to "help children strengthen and preserve their home language and culture while acquiring skills needed to participate in the shared culture of the school." According to the article, studies show that a strong foundation in the mother language will greatly benefit the success of the child in the second language ( in this case, English). Parents can really help their children if they put a strong emphasis on learning to speak and read fluently, regardless of the language.

It also addresses the tendency for teachers to confuse deficit and difference in the case of a non-English student. "Competence is not tied to any particular language, dialect, or culture."  I feel like this is so true; while they may be at a disadvantage now, with the right instruction, their ability to communicate in multiple languages really gives them the potential to thrive. We as teachers can not misinterpret their struggle with the new language as a lack of intellect.  Instead, in what ways can we help English-learning students?

Here is one great example of an ESL tool!

Emergent Literacy

In this week's readings, I found the doing away with "Letter of the Week" very innovative. Kindergarten has always struck me as a very intimidating grade to teach. Kindergarten teachers have such a great responsibility to really lay down the foundation for literacy in young children. After reading Letting Go of "Letter of the Week," I discovered that providing daily opportunities for children to write (as recommended in Learning to Read and Write: Developmentally Appropriate Practices for Young Children),  can be as simple as allowing journal time and integrating list-making into centers. This way, even free/play time is educational.  I was also blown away by the notion of letting Kindergartners "write" in whichever form they know how to write (ie. drawings, scribbles, letters). Allowing this type of expression seems like a very positive way to encourage writing at all levels in the classroom. Certainly this would eliminate some teasing in the classroom and inspire ownership of the child's work.