Questioning is an essential aspect to learning. We are told almost every day to use metacognition with our students to ensure their complete understanding to a subject. These questions can be class discussions or silent questioning to themselves. A lot of teachers ask students if they have any questions orally as a class discussion. This can be both good and bad. The good part about asking and answering questions in whole-group discussion is that many students may have the same question, and this way, the teacher can answer them for everyone rather than having them wonder or ask individually. A reason why answering and asking questions orally may not be as effective is that students may be too shy to ask a question, so rather than asking they may just decide to figure it out on their own.
Questioning is also very effective when students ask themselves silently, especially while reading. When students are able to question text while reading, it gives them a purpose for finishing and comprehending that text in order to find out the answer. Questioning texts can also lead to researching other texts to find an answer. This gives students multiple opportunities to learn and seek out more information regarding a subject. Questioning does not come natural to all students, however, and teachers must be prepared to teach their students exactly how to question internally while reading.
Last year, I had the opportunity to teach about a comprehension strategy that this chapter talks about a great deal. ReQuest is a comprehension strategy in which higher-level thinking questions are exchanged between both students and teachers. This is an excellent way to get students more involved in questioning, feel more comfortable with questioning out loud, and allowing the teacher to model to the students exactly what type of questions they should be asking themselves while reading. I will definitely be using this and other strategies to encourage my students to question while reading. I do have a few questions though: Questioning is a hard concept to grasp at first, is there a grade where questioning instruction should begin? and what are some non-verbal ways that more shy students can practice questioning and still be assessed?
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Note-taking and Note-making
Prior to reading Chapter 7, I had never distinguished between note-taking and note-making. According to this chapter, note-taking occurs when students take notes from an oral source such as a lecture or movie. Note-making, however, occurs when students make notes from a written source. These differ because in note-taking, students usually only have one chance to get the information whereas in note-making, students can usually go back to the written source as often as needed. I definitely agree with this chapter in the fact that note-taking and note-making serve such a vital role in education, but are rarely "taught." Throughout Chapter 7, a variety of different note-taking and note-making options, as well as how to teach them, are described.
One of the methods I particularly liked was the one they suggested using in social studies. In this method, there are headings and subheadings, with bullet points and lists in order to organize all information together per chapter. I really like this idea because it organizes subpoints under a larger point that all has to do with the overall point. It makes finding information in notes easier, as well as the aesthetic appeal of it being so clean and to the point. I am very Type A in the fact that I like things to be very organized and put together. I do not like having notes in my margins or out of order. Because of this, I also agree with the book when it said that teachers should also organize their lectures to be easy to follow and take notes on. When I have to squeeze more notes into a subheading because a teacher flip flopped back to a previous subject, I get a little anxiety. I enjoy a well organized lecture, that transposes into well organized notes.
One of the methods I did not particularly like was the dictoglos method used in language arts. This method seems to take a great deal of time that is just not found in the average school day. I also find it unnecessary to have students believe they need to recreate their notes to be verbatim to what the teacher has said. This can cause anxiety to over-achievers, such as myself, and have students believe that making small, bulleted notes is not enough. Although I can see where this can help students pay attention to detail and block out distractions, I think it could backfire in the future.
I agree completely that note-taking and note-making should be taught in school, but I do have a few questions. One has to do with differentiated learning. As we can see through all of the blogs that will be posted, every student has their opinion as to what "good" note-taking is. How can note-taking be taught in a way that every student can benefit? and When should note-taking begin being taught?
One of the methods I particularly liked was the one they suggested using in social studies. In this method, there are headings and subheadings, with bullet points and lists in order to organize all information together per chapter. I really like this idea because it organizes subpoints under a larger point that all has to do with the overall point. It makes finding information in notes easier, as well as the aesthetic appeal of it being so clean and to the point. I am very Type A in the fact that I like things to be very organized and put together. I do not like having notes in my margins or out of order. Because of this, I also agree with the book when it said that teachers should also organize their lectures to be easy to follow and take notes on. When I have to squeeze more notes into a subheading because a teacher flip flopped back to a previous subject, I get a little anxiety. I enjoy a well organized lecture, that transposes into well organized notes.
One of the methods I did not particularly like was the dictoglos method used in language arts. This method seems to take a great deal of time that is just not found in the average school day. I also find it unnecessary to have students believe they need to recreate their notes to be verbatim to what the teacher has said. This can cause anxiety to over-achievers, such as myself, and have students believe that making small, bulleted notes is not enough. Although I can see where this can help students pay attention to detail and block out distractions, I think it could backfire in the future.
I agree completely that note-taking and note-making should be taught in school, but I do have a few questions. One has to do with differentiated learning. As we can see through all of the blogs that will be posted, every student has their opinion as to what "good" note-taking is. How can note-taking be taught in a way that every student can benefit? and When should note-taking begin being taught?
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Reading Aloud and Vocabulary Acquisition
In this weeks article, two researchers, Edna Greene Brabham and Carol Lynch-Brown, studied the effects of three different read-aloud strategies on the acquisition of vocabulary in first and third grade students. The three different read-aloud styles are "just reading," "performance," and "interactional." At first glance, I had a hunch that "just reading" would not be very effective. However, we have talked a great deal in class that read-alouds do help acquire vocabulary at any age and in any content area, so I was anxious to see what the authors had discovered.
I found that this lesson is very relatable to me as a pre-service teacher. When thinking of elementary education, it is fairly natural that one would assume read-alouds would be involved in the weekly curriculum. However, I feel that it is less known the read-alouds can be used for so much more than gaining a child's interest in reading (which is also important). This study highlights how effective read-alouds can be, especially when dealing with vocabulary. This is important for pre-service teachers to be aware of due to the fact that by simply manipulating the way that a book is read-aloud, the more effective that text will be to help the students understand more than just the plot. In the results, Brabham and Lynch-Brown found that just reading was the least effective, followed by performance, leaving interactional to be the most effective.
One thing I learned in the article that was interesting to me was that when a teacher stops to have class discussions throughout the story, the comprehension of the story is not compromised. This was good to know because I feel that in order for a book to be used effectively to its fullest, conversation should be a key component. However, the study was not technically conclusive on which read-aloud strategy was "best." So, my questions for these authors are: Although all of these strategies were not the best at vocabulary acquisition, are they good for other strategies in the classroom? and this study only included first and third graders, so how would these read-aloud styles work in adolescent students?
I found that this lesson is very relatable to me as a pre-service teacher. When thinking of elementary education, it is fairly natural that one would assume read-alouds would be involved in the weekly curriculum. However, I feel that it is less known the read-alouds can be used for so much more than gaining a child's interest in reading (which is also important). This study highlights how effective read-alouds can be, especially when dealing with vocabulary. This is important for pre-service teachers to be aware of due to the fact that by simply manipulating the way that a book is read-aloud, the more effective that text will be to help the students understand more than just the plot. In the results, Brabham and Lynch-Brown found that just reading was the least effective, followed by performance, leaving interactional to be the most effective.
One thing I learned in the article that was interesting to me was that when a teacher stops to have class discussions throughout the story, the comprehension of the story is not compromised. This was good to know because I feel that in order for a book to be used effectively to its fullest, conversation should be a key component. However, the study was not technically conclusive on which read-aloud strategy was "best." So, my questions for these authors are: Although all of these strategies were not the best at vocabulary acquisition, are they good for other strategies in the classroom? and this study only included first and third graders, so how would these read-aloud styles work in adolescent students?
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
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http://abigaillewisforeman.
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Sunday, September 16, 2012
Read-Alouds in Middle Schools
When educators think of read-alouds, middle school classes are seldom on their minds. However, as shown in the article Tapping the potential of teacher read-alouds in middle schools by Lettie K. Albright and Mary Ariail, it is shown that read-alouds can be just as effective in the middle school classrooms as in the elementary school classrooms. It had never occurred to me that reading aloud in middle schools would be beneficial to the students. As an educator, I might would think the students would feel as though I'm belittling them by reading aloud to them. However, this article has completely changed my mind.
One of the first types of text thought of when considering a read-aloud is generally a picture book, which is obviously too simple for a middle school students. However, there are many other texts that can be used as a read-aloud. One of my favorite options is to read small texts, such as newspaper articles, poems, or short stories. This way, students are able to be exposed to text that may be at a slightly higher reading level, and are able to understand the text with some support from the teacher. These smaller texts would also be texts that would interesting to the student.
I also think that reading small sections of the textbooks would be a good idea as well. Textbooks can be hard to comprehend, especially as a middle school student who has not been exposed to reading that type of text before. This also allows students to be able to focus more on the content of the text rather than focusing on pronouncing the words correctly. I do think, however, that reading text books aloud can cause students become uninterested after listening to a long section of intense expository text. Because of this, when text books are read aloud, the educator should ensure that the section of text is small enough that the class will continue to be actively engaged.
Questions:
1. What is an appropriate length of text to be read aloud to a middle school aged classroom?
2. If I am a teacher in a 6th grade classroom, what level should the read-aloud text be?
One of the first types of text thought of when considering a read-aloud is generally a picture book, which is obviously too simple for a middle school students. However, there are many other texts that can be used as a read-aloud. One of my favorite options is to read small texts, such as newspaper articles, poems, or short stories. This way, students are able to be exposed to text that may be at a slightly higher reading level, and are able to understand the text with some support from the teacher. These smaller texts would also be texts that would interesting to the student.
I also think that reading small sections of the textbooks would be a good idea as well. Textbooks can be hard to comprehend, especially as a middle school student who has not been exposed to reading that type of text before. This also allows students to be able to focus more on the content of the text rather than focusing on pronouncing the words correctly. I do think, however, that reading text books aloud can cause students become uninterested after listening to a long section of intense expository text. Because of this, when text books are read aloud, the educator should ensure that the section of text is small enough that the class will continue to be actively engaged.
Questions:
1. What is an appropriate length of text to be read aloud to a middle school aged classroom?
2. If I am a teacher in a 6th grade classroom, what level should the read-aloud text be?
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Writing to Learn
Differentiating between learning to write and writing to learn can be very difficult for some educators. Many subject teachers cannot see the purpose of writing in their classrooms because they believe that their students will write enough in their English classrooms. This cannot be far enough away from the truth. Writing to learn is not only useful in every subject area, but can almost be considered essential. Writing to learn ensures that students not only understand a subject, but have the depth of knowledge needed to write extensively about how and what they learned regarding that subject.
There are many different ways to incorporate writing to learn into any subject classroom. One that I liked in particular was using writing to help teach math found in Improving Adolescent Literacy. I was not every a math-minded student. I did not like not knowing WHY two plus two equalled four, for example. I think logically, which sometimes hindered my understanding of math. If I had a teacher that had my class play "Name that Math!" everyday before class, I may have excelled more. I also related to using the RAFT method, which can be incorporated into almost any subject matter. I can remember using this method when I was in school. Having to understand all of those points of view while writing helped me look at a subject from a variety of perspectives. This can also open students minds to other ideas. I also thought the idea of giving students outlines for their writing was a good idea. This helps scaffold the students into becoming independent writers later on, and helps the not-so-confident writers gain their footing.
Reading both the article and the chapter showed me how important writing can be in a classroom. Being able to write about a subject that has been taught shows incredible comprehension and depth. Writing to learn enforces the idea of teaching metacognition by having students write about what they are thinking throughout their learning process. This gives students a better awareness of how their mind is working while learning. I will definitely be using writing to learn in my own classroom.
Questions:
How can a lower elementary school teacher incorporate writing to learn with students who are just beginning to learn how to write?
What is a way that writing to learn could be used in the ELL classroom that would not be overwhelming to them?
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