The Reading Process

When young children first learn to read there is that moment of magic when it just clicks. As teachers, we are responsible for helping a child reach this process. In Catching Readers Before they Fall, Pat Johnson and Katie Keier, discuss "earlier rather than later intervention". This is the idea that we are letting students fall behind in reading because we let them practice inappropriate reading behaviors.  In order for teachers to help students reach their fluency in reading, intervention must take place as soon as possible.
I think it is important that struggling readers are being taught by teachers who can realize that readers are not falling behind because they are not capable of learning, but because there is a lack of expectation. The first step towards intervention is setting a high expectation for students. Every student is capable of learning to read fluently.
Following that, it is important that teachers understand the reading process system. If the teacher is knowledgeable of when to model, prompt, and alter the level of support for the child the instruction can be a success.
One interesting idea I took from the reading, is how important read aloud and think aloud discussions are. That explicit modeling has a relationship to the ZPD (zone of proximal development) which eventually becomes part of the ZAD (zone of actual Development). When teachers are modeling how to predict, and make sense of the reading by reading fluently and showing students what they are thinking, it soon becomes natural for the student after observation and practice.
In conclusion, it is important for teachers to keep in mind that every student is capable of learning to read and it is up to us to set high expectations for our students.

Literacy Dig

After going on a "Literacy Dig" with fellow classmates to our local grocery store we discovered  different forms of literacy all around us. Starting at the entrance of the grocery store we noticed signs that directed customers to the "enter" and "exit" doors. near the entrance were newsletters, a community bulletin board, and advertisements. One observation our group made was the display of specific vocabulary words that related to the type of grocery store it was. For example, if you walked through the store you would spot words such as "eco", "organic", "local", "gluten-free", "recycled", "Vegan", "non-GMO",  "coop", etc.  We also noticed that not only do certain vocabulary words appear everywhere, but so does visual literacy. As a customer walks through sections of the grocery store such as the beverage isle, there are pictures on the drinks showing the flavor. Or, if a customer walks by the yogurt section he or she could distinguish the flavor yogurt by looking at the picture (displaying a picture of a fruit). This was an interesting observation to our group because we discussed how a young child who cannot read yet will still be able to apply his or her previous knowledge to distinguish the flavor yogurt or beverage without having to read. These visuals help young children learn vocabulary by matching the picture to the word after repeated exposure. After our trip to the community grocery store we realized how much literacy is exposed to children on a daily basis. Children are constantly learning different genres of literacy outside of school without even realizing it.  

After reading "The Donut House: Real World Literacy in an Urban Kindergarten Classroom " by Rebecca Powell and Nancy Davidson, I realized how real-world literacy can be applied to lessons in creative ways. As the article explains the difference between "schooled literacy" and "real-world literacy" it was evident to me that teachers can take any idea or business model from the real world and create engaging lessons with it. 

After spending time in a 2nd grade classroom last semester I witnessed what "schooled literacy"really was. It consisted of children talking during the lesson and squirming around on the carpet because they simply did not find the lesson interesting. While it can be challenging to think of creative lessons for students, it is easier than we think. If teachers incorporate activities, skills, and ideas that students will have to face in the real world, (for example learning what a business model looks like) it will benefit students in their future and prepare them to become successful adults. Not only do taking elements and ideas from the real world create an interesting and worthwhile lesson, but "schooled literacy" can also be incorporated. 

In conclusion, I noticed how you can use something like a community grocery store to develop creative lessons for literacy in schools. A teacher can use a model as simple as a grocery store and incorporate different genres of literacy with that. For example, students can learn how to write a grocery list, or write a dialogue that a person would typically hear in a grocery store. I believe that creative ideas such as "The Donut House" should be modeled in schools more often because while students are learning, they are also interested and excited to learn. 

First Post

I will be reading all about and observing different strategies of teaching and learning in literacy for the next couple of months. Literacy is all around us and used all around the world. Stay tuned for my future posts!