"CONNECTION!"

I absolutely loved reading the article titled, "Kindergartners Can Do It, Too! Comprehension Strategies for Early Readers." In this article, Gregory and Cahill discussed the benefits of explicit reading comprehension instruction for kindergartners. Previously, explicit teaching of reading comprehension techniques and inference did not occur at the primary grade level. Gregory and Cahill cite research indicating that kindergartners are in fact capable of absorbing and applying explicit comprehension instruction.

This article elaborates on techniques employed by a Kindergarten teacher that actively engage students and foster reading comprehension. Ms. Hope instructed her students to employ different hand signals to indicate how they are making meaning out of the story being read to them. If a student makes the letter "C" with his hands, Ms. Hope knows that this particular student has a connection to the content of the book. If a student makes the letter "V" with his hands, Ms. Hope knows that this student has created a "mind movie" or visualization from the text. If a student wiggles his index finger up and down, Ms. Hope knows that this student has a question about the text.

Reading about these hand signals was so much fun for me because I actually got to witness these hand signals being put to use during a classroom observation. Actually, the teacher I observed employed many of the techniques proposed in this article.

Source

For my Reading Inquiry project, I observed a first grade classroom. The teacher read the book, "Officer Buckle and Gloria," by Peggy Rathmann. I was delighted to witness such student enthusiasm about this Caldecott winning book. Students were reaching their little hands as high as they could go, eager for the teacher to call on them to share their connections or mind movies. Most students wanted to share connections. These connections really seemed to make the text and illustrations more meaningful and relevant to the students. Each child was desperate to share a little tid-bit about his or her own dog.

I am grateful to have had the opportunity to observe these comprehension strategies in a natural context. I can't believe how effective these practices seemed to be! The fact that kindergartners and first graders can grasp concepts such as schema and inference is impressive. Student application of this knowledge to help them understand texts more deeply and comprehensively is even more impressive.

Kindergartners and first-graders are so smart!

How can teachers encourage students to offer connections and mind movies without having to ignore some students due to lack of time?  Unfortunately, there is probably not enough time within a school day for each student to share connections.  During my observation, I realized that some students seemed discouraged when they were not called on to share. 

Also, can you think of any other ways that students could interact with the text in such a way that promotes comprehension?  Specifically, can you think of any other practices that could facilitate inference?

Fluency

The three dimensions of fluency include accuracy in decoding, automatic processing, and prosodic reading.  Accuracy in decoding refers to a student's ability to sounds out words correctly.  Automatic processing refers to a student's ability to process the text in order to make meaning out of it.  Prosodic reading refers to student's ability to read with expression, make use of punctuation, and emphasize important words.

Here is an image that explains fluency:

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this article written by Timothy Rasinski.  Every wednesday, I tutor a third grade boy who is significantly below grade level in reading and I will add that English is his second language.  This article resonated with me because I feel that fluency is the aspect of reading that he struggles with most.

He reads in a monotone voice.  He doesn't observe punctuation marks.  He doesn't read with expression.  He doesn't read with intonation.  While he also struggles with decoding, I feel that his fluency deficit is really holding him back.  I know that he his lack of expression illustrates his lack of understanding of character emotion or suspense within the story.  I often ask him comprehension questions and ask him what emotions he thinks that the characters might be experiencing.  I feel that my inquiries have helped him somewhat with his comprehension and engagement of the text.

However, I desperately want him to read fluently with expression.  I think that he would enjoy the story so much more if he could really get a feel for the book's tone.

After reading this article, I think I am going to approach reading with him a little differently.  I might actually read some sentences first, exaggerating expression and punctuation.  I will then have him read after me and encourage him to read with similar expression.  I am excited to implement this strategy!  Hopefully he will develop into a more fluent, more engaged young reader.

Because the child I tutor also struggles with decoding and automatic processing, what strategy might I implement to address his deficits in all three dimensions: accuracy in decoding, automatic processing, and prosodic reading???

Also, once he is able to mirror my prosodic reading, how can I transition into helping him independently master prosodic reading?  How can I help him understand which words to emphasize or when to use an "excited" voice versus and "anxious" voice, for example.

More on Making Words

I really enjoyed the article, "Enhancing the invented spelling-decoding connection."  Authors Cunningham and Cunningham clarified much of my confusion concerning invented spelling in this article.  The authors emphasized the relationship between invented spelling tendencies and improvements in a child's phonetic knowledge.

While I read about and blogged about Making Words activities last week, this article, also focused on Making Words, added to my understanding of the benefits of this manipulative.  This reading also provided me with a more detailed, comprehensive understanding of what goes into planning and executing a Making Words lesson.  

The authors discussed the importance of including a discussion on spelling patterns and rhyming patterns within each Making Words lesson.  Teachers must explicitly discuss spelling patterns and rhyming patterns to develop children's learning abilities.  Before this course, I was unaware of the significance of explicit, direct instruction when it comes to teaching children to read.  These readings have enlightened me and I now know that I, as a future teacher, must provide this direct instruction in my lesson plans.  It is imperative that children realize these relationships between words in order to grow as readers.    

The authors noted that Making Words activities are fast-past as children catch on quickly and are eager to discover the long word.  I feel like sometimes, during fast-paced lessons, children can get lost.  How do teachers ensure that all students are following along with the lesson?

How can teachers keep the focus on recognizing spelling patterns, ryhming patterns, and letter combinations if children are distracted by the sole task of discovering the long word?