The Early Stages of Reading

In this weeks readings I noticed a common theme of looking at the early stages in which a child starts to develop the skills for reading and writing.  The idea that children learn a lot about literacy when they are very young is also a common theme.  We hear about how children see literacy throughout their lives even if they are not read to every night.  In some ways I find this reassuring to know that even children who are not read to constantly are still learning about reading before they go to school.

One of the readings this week focused on the importance of reading for a child and how early a child starts to learn about reading.  This was a joint article by the International Reading Association and National Association for the Education of Young Children, titled "Learning to Read and Write: Developmentally Appropriate Practices for Young Children."  It lays out various ways to help children build a foundation for reading, from babies to elementary school children.  I take away from this article that children come to school with a basic knowledge of literacy.  I also get the importance of exposing young children to literacy.

Another reading takes a similar approach to the above and focuses on two teachers that have started to teach their students to read and write by focusing on what they already know about reading instead of looking at them as non-readers.  'Letting Go of "The Letter of the Week,"' is an article written by two Pre-K and Kindergarten teachers that have tried the new approach in their classrooms.  I really enjoyed this article and the stance that it took on treating children as readers by their basic knowledge of literacy.  I feel that this would make children feel more important and confident, giving them an edge on learning to read.  It also seemed to get straight into reading instead of just reading over letter sounds for weeks before getting into words.

In the last reading for this week I learned about phonemic awareness.  Phonemic awareness was a term that I have often heard, but I honestly did not know the meaning of it.  Phonemic awareness is the concept of children being aware that their speech consists of a sequence of sounds that make up their words.  Yopp and Yopp focus on the importance of phonemic awareness and give multiple ideas for teaching children to phonemically aware of their language.  They stressed that it should be taught explicitly and with the goal of teaching it, not as just a part of another activity.  I really liked the idea of reading a book aloud to children with many rhymes and letting them catch on to the rhymes and predict what comes next.  This teaches them to think about the different sounds that make up words and what changes can make rhymes and different words with similar beginnings or endings.

I come away from these readings with an increased knowledge of the importance of early literacy for children and an appreciation for my parents and teachers for immersing me in environments that turned me into an independent reader and writer!

Does anyone remember learning to read in classrooms that focused on what the students already knew about reading?  I remember more of an approach of the children being non-readers when coming to school.  It would be really interesting to be in a classroom that focused on what the students knew and see how well they were able to adapt it into learning new words and ultimately learning to read and write well with it.

The Importance of a Literacy Foundation

Through today's readings we learn a lot about literacy foundations and how important they are in helping a child become a reader.  Through everyday activities a child can build a strong literacy foundation long before he or she starts to school.  By seeing adults reading and writing, being read to, seeing words on advertisements/television, and imitating story telling, children are given a foundation in their home in which they are able to see the importance and need of being literate.  From my own life I can see just how important my literacy foundation has been to my own life.  I saw my parents and brother reading long before I could read and saw how integral it was to life, in turn fuelling my desire to read.  If I would not have had this literacy foundation in my home life I do not believe I would have had the desire to read near as quickly as I did.

In the third chapter of Classrooms that Work we are given some great information on literacy foundations and ways to build a stronger foundation in children that come from homes without literacy at the forefront of their lives.  It seems as though the ways in which the author points out to build a strong literacy foundation in the classroom closely mimic the ways in which one can be built in the home.  Allowing children time to scribble and practice writing, reading to them, and showing them words allows for them to start to recognize important words before they even start to read on their own.  One of my favorite points made by the author was the suggestions of having many different types of writing utensils and materials available for children to practice on.  Children learn in different ways and I believe this would give more opportunities for some of them that maybe do not want to write on paper with a pencil the option to write using things that are not usually written on or with.  I especially liked the shaving cream on a table idea!

In reading about the Jones family in "The Jones Family's Culture of Literacy" by Amy Suzanne Johnson we are given a personalized view of a family that has made literacy an important part of their lives.  Much like my own family the children build their literacy foundations on seeing their parents and grandparents reading books, reading newspapers, writing letters, and paying bills.  It goes to show how activities that may not seem that important or unusual can really make an impact on a child's life and future as a reader.

After reading the various ways to build up children's literacy foundation in the classroom, I am curious as to whether or not anyone else has any ideas different from those of the author?

Reflecting on my own time in school I do not remember writing with anything other than pencils and crayons while learning to read and write.  This explains why I was so intrigued by the various ways in which the author suggested to let kids practice writing.  Does anyone remember being free to write in so many different ways in their early classrooms?  I think I would have liked writing much more if I would have been able to practice in so many different ways!


(Photo source: http://www.jmeacham.com/handwriting.htm)

Reflections on Classrooms That Work, Creating Readers, and Effective Reading Instruction

As I read this weeks required readings, I could not help but wonder about the ways in which my previous teachers made their classrooms work and turned their students into better readers.  When I get to thinking about what my teachers have done in the past I always wonder how I will be able to do the same thing in the future in my own classroom.  I believe these readings are really helpful with their strategies for helping children become good readers.

In the first two chapters of "Classrooms That Work" I found some really good points that I hope to be able to integrate into my future classrooms.  Some of the points that really stood out to me included integrating all of the subjects with reading and writing, managing classrooms well, and reading aloud.  I often think about this integration of subjects with each other in classrooms.  I know that often it seems to happen by accident, but by doing it purposefully it sounds as though it would be a great teaching tool that would "kill two birds with one stone" as some might say.  Classroom management is not only a good point made in the reading, but it is crucial.  Since I tend to be a very organized person I am very enthused about figuring out different ways of keeping my classroom and student organized.  Hearing how important that is makes me feel as though being an organized person is going to be of great help to myself.  Lastly, out of all of the points in the reading the one that stood out to me the most was the points made about reading aloud.  I used to love when my teachers would read aloud in the classroom.  As the reading said, I can think of at least three series of books that I read because a teacher read one of them to my class.  I cannot wait to read to my future classrooms and lead them into series that will interest and influence them.

The article on effective reading instruction by Richard Allington further emphasized some of the points from the other reading.  The main point that seemed to be standing out to me in both of these is the need to have multiple genres and times of reading material available in a classroom.  Not only this but there needs to be multiple books of different levels in the different genres so that different readers are able to find books that are fitting for them.  Looking back on my days in elementary school I cannot think of many classrooms that had this variety which makes me want to do a better job at implementing this into my classroom.

In closing, I am curious as to how many of my blog readers had similar experiences of picking up on book series' because of a teacher's read aloud?

Also, does anyone remember having classrooms with fully stocked reading centers, or was the library the only source of reading variety in your school?

A very organized classroom with a cozy reading center.

(Photo Credit: http://mrsriccaskindergarten.blogspot.com/)