Spelling- Chapter 12

I never liked taking spelling tests in school, so this chapter was very fascinating. I think learning about the different stages of spelling development are interesting. Students do learn to spell little by little. They must strengthen one skill or level before they can strengthen the next. All the while, they have no idea how much they are really learning.

Many interesting ways to teach spelling were introduced in the chapter. Word walls are one of the ways to teach spelling. The first time I saw a word wall, I was a bit confused. I did not understand why we put all of the words students need to learn on a wall so that they could copy all of the words. Now, I realize that it is a good strategy because they are able to see the words and copy them as they try to use them in their writing. Instead of simply memorizing words, they are learning them using them.

Have you seen any effecting methods to teach spelling used in your Tuesday Experience?

Poetry

I always hated poetry! When a teacher said "poetry unit," it meant "Barbara is going to get a very poor grade." I do not remember learning anything about poetry until late middle school, at which point I was told my poems were not creative enough. How can someone else judge my creativity? My creativity! I felt like I was being compared to the other studnets in my class. Some of my peers could write amazing poems, and their poems always received an 'A.' I always spent a lot of time reading and writing my poems, carefully choosing words and trying to make my poems fit the formula, but teachers did not recognize that.

Chapter 11 in Tompkins did not focus on creativity, but rather playing with words and forms of poetry. Page 387 describes three questions that should be asked in order to assess the studetns work:

• Has the student experimented with the poetic form presented in the minilesson?
• Has the student used the process approach in writing, revising, and editing the poem?
• Has the student used wordplay or another poetic device in the poem?

These are three great questions to ask. These questions do not focus on creativity, but rather on the students trying to use what they have been taught. Not all students will be good at writing poetry, especially if they are discouraged. It is more important to me that my students play with words and write something that they think is good, rather than worrying that I will never be impressed with their work because some students are better at writing poetry. How do you think students poetry should be assessed? Do you agree with this, or is creativity important?

Cubing

While reading chapter 10 in Tompkins, I came across an interesting idea: cubing. When cubing, the students pick a science or social studies topic. The class is then divided into six groups. Each group write about the topic with a different purpose. There are six categories to write about- description, comparison, association, analysis, application, and argumentation. After the students have had an opportunity to write about the topic from their angle, they share with the class, and then revise and edit their work together. The final copies are attached to a cube or box, which is then displayed.

I thought this was a really interesting and fun activity. I have never seen or heard of anything like this before. Has any one seen this used in a classroom? If so, what are the students' reactions to the idea?

Lions, and Tigers, and Bears...

Ok, so I didn't see lions and tigers, but I did see bears this weekend! I started my break by visiting the National Zoo in Washington D.C. It was an amazing experience! There was so much to see and do! I just wish I had more time to spend at the zoo. When I think of the zoo, the first thing I think of is animals, never the written word. There was writing everywhere! There was information about each animal, not just right at that exhibit, but all around. The information was written so that even younger children can understand the material. At the bear exhibit, there was a short feeding demonstration, during which they gave out a lot of information about the bears, where they live, and why this type may be extinct in the next 50 years! The speaker was speaking in a way in which a teacher would talk to a group of elementary school students. Everything at the zoo was very engaging, and I was able to make connections to almost every chapter of Tompkins. I had a great time, and I am hope I will be able to figure out how to post pictures over the next couple of days.

Teaching Critical Listening

While reading chapter 7 about listening, I thought the section on critical listening was particularly interesting. Critical listening can be taught by examining television commercials and advertisements. This is something that I never would have thought to do. I do not normally think of television as having some sort of educational value, and commercials are generally annoying. After reading that section, I realized that you can learn from commercials. We have to listen to what is being said, and then analyze what was said, as well as the images. By analyzing both parts, a lot can be learned about emotions and attitudes presented in the commercial, as well as what the company is really trying to say. It would be interesting to hear what students have to say after listening to different commercials for useful products, and compare that to what they get from commercials about toys. It is common to hear about critical reading, but I have never heard anyone say anything about critical listening.

Personal Writing

The chapter on personal writing was very interesting. Right in the beginning, the authors asked the question, "Should teachers provide topics for reading log entries?" (page 177). This is something that I have always wondered. My answer is sometimes. I think it is important for students to be able to respond and write about something that interests them. They need room for creativity. They need a some freedom. If they are not reading about something important to them, they might not have much to say, but there might be something that one student can connect to and not others. I want my students to be able to write about something that they can relate to or something that they find interesting. At the same time, topics should be provided frequently. At some point, if a student does not immediately think of something to write about, they need some guidance. Have specific topics to write about can guide students to write something, instead of having nothing to say. It can also keep them a little more focused and on topic than if they can always write anything. Questions should not be too specific, but something to guide students and help them develop and idea or opinion. I think it is important to have a balance between the two. Sometimes students should be allowed to respond to whatever they want, and other times they should have guiding questions.

Writing Analysis

Over the past couple weeks, I have learned a lot about analyzing student writing. The most important thing that I realized is that the appearance of a students' work does not mean it is good or bad. At first glance, a writing sample might look like the student is developing their writing, but it is just because their handwriting is neat. Teachers put a lot of emphasis on neat handwriting, which is important, but the content, word variety, sentence structure, and other aspects of writing are more important. It is nice to be able to easily read a students' work, but they might not be able to use multi-syllabic words. It is more important to me that students can take a risk with their writing and use more challenging words.

When I was in elementary school, I think I was probably similar to Chelsea, in terms of writing style. I would use words that I already knew how to spell, and I did not take risks. This is reflected in my writing today. I do not have a strong vocabulary, and I have to struggle to use different words. I wish my teachers realized this and helped to develop my vocabulary, because even though I had nice handwriting, the writing had a lot of room for improvement.

Developing as Teachers

Even though we are only a few weeks into the semester, I have already learned a lot. I remember the first time I was introduced to literature circles, that I can remember, when I was in middle school. I never understood the point of literature circles. It seemed like a waste of time, becuase everyone completed a very specific task, and no one paid attention to their peers when they were talking about their work. We also never got to choose the books, they were always assigned to us. The activities were there, but we were never taught how to act in literature circles, so they were almost completely worthless. From our readings, it finally makes sense as to why they made us participate in literature circles. I hope that I will help students see the value of participating in literature circles, unlike some of my teachers.

In my Tuesday Experience classroom, I have seen a lot of math and science, and less language arts than expected. I have seen the students work of poetry. They were working on describing things. They looked at a plant, and tried to think of what it reminded them of. They then wrote a short poem to describe the object. It was really interesting becaue they had so many different ideas. There was a lot of freedom in the assignment, because they could write what they wanted in any form of poetry. They are now starting to work on preparing for the CMTs. It seems like the 5th grade teachers at Whiting Lane are not as focused on CMT prep as teachers in other schools. They are just now starting to review, when other classes were reviewing for a few weeks. The emphasis is definitely on inquiry based learning, and not always teaching to the test. I can only hope that I will be able to teach in a school that agrees with this idea, because I would get bored always teaching to the test. The students in this classroom are very interested in their learnig because they have such a huge role in what they learn.

Are they boys or girls?

As I continued reading The Girl with the Brown Crayon, the students made many interesting discoveries about Leo Leoni and his stories. The students brought up gender. They wanted to know if the characters were girls or boys. As I was reading and learning about the stories, I never once stopped to consider the gender of the characters, yet a group of students in kindergarten absolutely had to know. When they realized that all of the characters in the stories they have already read were boys, they wanted to know the gender of the characters in the rest of the stories. They searched until they found one in which the main character was a girl. At such a young age, they already knew there was something wrong with the stories they were reading. Girls were excluded. They probably would not be able to understand why all of the characters were boys for a few years, but they knew that it should be different. I am amazed at the level at which these students are able to think. They are critical thinkers and do not accept anything at face value. They always want to know more.

Introduction to Vivian and Reeny

When I teach reading, I want to be just like Paley. Paley walked into her classroom, and paid attention to what interested her students. She realized that her students were fascinated in Leo Leoni's stories, and she saw that she could use them the entire year. Activities were created based on the stories, so it was one large unit. I can only imagine how difficult it was to try to create a large unit of lesson plans. Creating a unit for just a couple weeks is a very difficult taks, never mind trying to have an idea for the entire school year (t-s). Paley probably faced a lot of opposition when she informed others that she was focusing on one author all year, but it would be an experience unlike any other for the students. I can only imagine how much the students would be able to learn from all of the stories of this one author. It was a very bold choice.

I also though it was interesting how well she knew her students, and how well the students knew each other. This is clear from the story about Oliver and his pictures. Paley knew that he would eventually get very scared and start yelling because something seeminly little would happen. She also knew that he would hide in a little spot until he was feeling better. The students knew this as well. Everyone was very accepting of Oliver and his loud tendancies. I can only hope that my classroom will be similar to Paley's in the sense that the students can accept each other and be comfortable working together.

Reading and Writing Workshops

Reading and writing workshops are very similar. In both workshops, students are allowed to make their own decision. They are allowed to choose a book to read in reading workshops, and they can pick a topic to write about in writing workshops. This way, students are able to take ownership for their work because it is what they wanted to do. In both situations, teachers should teach workshop procedures so that students know and understand what they should be working on during the period. Teachers should also have minilessons during workshop time. Topics for minilessons should relate to concepts, skills, and strategies that students should use when reading or writing. Topics can also be chosen based on observations of students and questions they may have during the class. In both workshops, teachers should also conference with students. This allows teachers to talk to students about what they are reading or writing. They can help clarify any questions they may have, as well as individually help them improve their skills because you are looking at their work specifically, not just addressing the class as a whole. I like the idea of reading and writing workshops because it gives students options and they are more likely to enjoy what they chose to do over what they are told to do. I think these workshops should definitely be used in classrooms.