Practicum Reflection #4

Today was my last day in the classroom, which is very sad! However, I did observe one last reading and writing lesson. During reading, the teacher re-read a nonfiction story called “Two Lands, One Heart”. The selection the students read was only a part of the actual book. Before the students read, the teacher reviewed the vocabulary and genre of the selection. The teacher then read the story aloud, completing a DRTA as she read. I helped a student follow along with the reading because he got easily distracted. After the story was read, the students began working on their writing assignment. They were writing post cards to friends in other countries. The teacher emphasized their use of punctuation, elaboration, and detail. When the students completed the activity, they edited their peers post cards.

I have enjoyed all of my experiences at Glen Alpine and I am sad I have to leave!

Practicum Reflection #3

On Monday, the students completed a reading log on Amelia Earhart. One question students struggled with was one that asked the students to identify the main events throughout the book. Most of the students had different answers, however; the teacher accepted the student’s answers as long as they supported their answers with details from the book. After the students finished their reading logs, they took the accelerated reader tests for the book.

On Wednesday, I followed one of my students to his EC reading class. This particular student is at a first grade reading level and during his class time he completed many tasks we have learned about in RE 3030. For example, the student began by echo reading a short story. He then read the story allowed using finger pointing. Throughout the book, the student was told to recognize words with a long i vowel. He encountered -ight, -y, and iCe words. Next, the teacher presented flashcards to the student. On the flashcards there was single letters and digraphs. For the letters, the student had to name the letter and pronounce its sound. For the digraphs, the student had to name the digraph, pronounce its sound, and say a word that included the digraph. The teacher indicated that this particular system of teaching was called the Wilson system. I have never heard of this system but it seemed to benefit the student greatly!

Practicum Reflection #2

On Monday the students continued with their usual schedules, first starting with writing, then moving into reading groups, then later reading silently. In their reading groups they finished reading Amelia Earhart. As they read I continued to perform a DRTA, asking questions after every couple of pages. My reading group consists of all boys, so they seemed to be captivated by the discussion of airplanes. When we finished the book, the students began to work on a worksheet that focused on characters, setting, plot, etc. The class seemed to struggle at first, but were successful after they were encouraged to use their books. The students seemed to do a good job answering the factual questions, however, they seemed to struggle with the more creative thinking questions.

On Wednesday, the entire fourth grade took their 9 week standardized tests. The students had to read several passages and answer questions. The passages varied including short stories, recipes, and a play. Hopefully next week I will find out how the students did on the test. During the day I also got to perform my WRI assignment with a student. The teacher reported that this student was a good reader, so I wanted to see what grade level she would reach before reaching frustration level. I found that she actually reached the eighth grade level without even reaching the frustration level. I would be interested to somehow do the study with the entire class to see where all of the students are categorized. Every day I learn more and more about the students in my classroom and I can’t wait to get back in the classroom with them next week!

Practicum Reflection #1

Curt Assignment 2

1. What grade is Curt in?

third grade.

2. What was the flash score for words at: first-grade level? second-grade level? third-grade level?

first grade- 75%

second grade- 50%

third grade- 20%

3. What was the accuracy score at: 1-2 level? 2-1 level? 2-2 level?

1-2 level= 98%

2-1 level= 97%

2-2 level= 90%

4. What was the rate score at: 1-2 level? 2-1 level? 2-2 level?

1-2 level= 68 wpm

2-1 level= 65 wpm

2-2 level= 44 wpm

5. What was the percentage correct score for: first-grade words? second-grade words?

First grade= 60%

Second grade= 0%

Consider the following expected scores, then compare those expectations to the scores Curt produced. With the Word Recognition Test, flash scores are generally interpreted as follows: 90-100% indicates Independent Level; 60-85% indicates Instruction Level; Below 50% indicates Frustration Level.

With oral reading accuracy, scores are generally interpreted as follows: 98-100% indicates Independent Level; 95-97% indicates Instruction Level; Below 92%   indicates Frustration Level.

With oral reading rate, expected grade-level ranges are as follows:

Grade–Words per minute

1^st–45-85

2^nd–80-120

3^rd–95-135

With spelling scores, around 50% correct indicates Instruction Level.

6. Which grade-level flash score is the best choice for Instruction Level? (*Note: 92-94% accuracy is marginal; take a close look at Rate.)

Level 1-2- second half/late first grade would be best appropriate.

7. Which grade-level accuracy score is the best choice for Instruction Level?

Level 2-1- beginning second grade would be best appropriate.

8. What do Curt’s rate scores indicate about his grade-level reading? Where is he instructional according to rate?

Curt is below the third grade reading level. If a student’s flash score is at 50%, that indicates the level at which the student is at. Since Curt’s flash score is 50% for second grade, he is indicated as being at the second grade reading level.

9. What do Curt’s spelling scores indicate about his Instruction Level.

According to Curt’s untimed scores, he is at the second grade level. However, considering his flash score, he is at the late first grade reading level. Therefore, his instructional level is late first to early second grade.

10. Put all of these scores together, and what do they indicate Curt’s reading level to be?

These tests indicate that Curt is at a late first to early second reading level. Since his scores differed on the tests, they must be combined to find this reading level.

Rasinski (2004)

1.    What are the three dimensions of fluency? How can you assess each dimension?

The first dimension is accuracy in word decoding. Readers must be able to accurately sound out all of the words in a text, making only few errors. The second dimension is automatic processing. In this stage students need to use only a little of their focus on decoding, and the majority of their attention on the meanings of the words. The third dimension is prosodic reading. In this stage readers must break the text up into syntactical and semantically appropriate units. This means the students need to observe all punctuation, phrasing, and read at a reasonable pace.

2.    Rasinski refers to fluency as a “bridge” between decoding and comprehension. What does he mean by the “bridge” metaphor?

Rasinski is saying that decoding and comprehension do not immediately equal literacy success. Children must also be fluent in reading, because if they read text too slow, it will be hard for them to comprehend the text. Fluency is seen as the “bridge” that allows the children to read the text, while simultaneously comprehending the story.
3.    What instructional methods does Rasinski suggest for students with difficulties in automatic and prosodic reading?

Rasinksi used assisted reading and repeated readings to help students struggling with automatic and prosodic readings. These two approaches help students hear what fluent reading sounds like and how fluent readers interpret the text using their voices. In assisted reading, after the students hear the story, they follow along silently and then in a group. Students can also read stories with partners at their same reading level or with partners that are more fluent. Repeated readings lead to improvement in decoding, reading rate, prosodic reading, and comprehension of passages.

4.    Multidimensional Fluency Scale (MFS) is used to measure prosodic quality of oral reading. List components of the MFS and describe briefly what each refers to (p. 49).

Expression and Volume: this stage refers to how students read and use their voices to speak the words. This stage measures the students’ ability to make text sound like natural language.

Phrases: this measures the students’ ability to read a phrase, and how many times they break the phrase. Also, this measures students ability to notice punctuation and pauses for breath.

Smoothness: This measures the students ability to read text smoothly with good rhythm. It considers hesitations, false starts, multiple attempts, rough spots, etc.

Pace: this measure refers to the pace the students read the text. The highest level is for students to read at conversational rates.

Stahl (2008)

1. Describe in broad stokes the reading processes that take place during comprehension of informational text (p. 362, under Construction of Meaning and Concept Development with Informational Texts).

This requires accessing accurate, relevant knowledge, managing mental processes during reading, and constructing mental representation through “pruning and organizational processes”. These come through good instruction and guidance from the teacher. Also, explicit cognitive strategy instruction and social interaction are important for students to comprehend the text and develop the concepts. Students must rely on accurate background knowledge in order to accurately understand the text.

2. Specify the effect that background knowledge may have on constructing mental representations from informational text. Why should teachers be concerned about activating prior knowledge?

Since young children rely heavily on background knowledge, it is important to make sure their background knowledge is correct. Teachers must pay attention to the students’ dialogue to make sure they are relying on accurate prior knowledge. In one study, a classroom did interactive read-alouds, however, the students discussed their own experiences. This led to inaccurate representations of the text. Teachers should be concerned about activating prior knowledge because they never know if the knowledge is accurate or inaccurate information.

3. What are the three instructional approaches that can be used to help primary-grade students comprehend informational text? Describe their common (p. 365) and distinctive features (p. 363-5).

Picture walk is commonly used with leveled texts. These include small paperbacks that have been leveled using a narrow gradient readability scale. The pictures are used for discussion on what the book is likely to be about. Two to three vocabulary words are introduced in the picture walk. Children use their problem solving skills to figure out the words and their meanings.

Know-Want to Learn-Learn is when the teacher guides discussion and records the students statements about what they know, what they want to learn, and what they learned (after reading).

Directed Reading-Thinking Activity is when the teacher selects a text and divides it into meaningful sections. The teacher facilitates discussion for each section. Students are encouraged to make predictions about the text and justify their predictions. Also, students are encouraged to independently read the text, and revise their predictions after participating in a teacher-led discussion.

4. What is the purpose of the experimental study reported?

The purpose of this study was to observe the picture walk, know-want to learn-learn, and directed reading, and see how they influence the developmental reading abilities of children. Also, it observed the ability for students to learn content when using informational texts.

5. Who were the subjects?

The subjects were 31 struggling second graders. These students were recommended by their teachers and were said to be 3-6 months behind their reading level. They were from a mid-size Midwest city.

6. Describe the reading materials used during the intervention.

The students were given three informational texts a week. These texts were all appropriate for second graders and were based around the same scientific topics.

7. How long did the experiment last?

The experiment lasted for ten weeks, with two four-week periods of intervention. There were twelve days of intervention in each cycle and three consecutive days during the four consecutive weeks. Data was taken on the third day.

8. What were the experimental conditions?

There were four groups that were assigned random orders of the treatment. Since Stahl conducted the experiment over two four week periods, groups 1-4 received treatment in the first period and groups 5-8 received treatment in the second period. At school A, sessions were held at a table in the hallway and at school B, sessions were held at a table in the schools kitchen (or a room shared with other teacher’s working with small groups of children).

9. Describe the procedures specific to the Picture Walk, KWL, DRTA, and the Control Group conditions.

PW- Students were first introduced to the book and given some background knowledge. The students then participated in an interactive picture walk in which they discuss the picture and make predictions. Students were introduced to a couple of vocabulary words during this process.

KWL- On Days 1 and 3, students created KWL charts. Children filled in the “know” column after they were told the topic. On days 2 and 3, students filled in their own personal charts, and then shared their information with the class. Then, the students collaborated  on questions they wanted to learn.

DRTA- The book was divided into sections. The students first made predictions about the book by observing the cover page, pictures, text, etc. Then the teacher read a few pages at a time and then had the students make further predictions. The teacher had the students verify/alter their predictions as the book was read.

Control- In this group students were given an overview of the information. Then the students mumble read the book and drew a picture or wrote something about the book after they read it.

10. What measures were used to determine the relative effectiveness of the treatments? Describe the measures briefly.

One of the measures was vocabulary recognition task. The task consisted of 25 words, 18 related to the content and 7 unrelated. Students circled the words they were able to read. Another task was the maze task. The original text read by the kids was reprinted after the deletion of ten words. This was a multiple-choice cloze modification and the score was the number of correct responses. Then, after their free recall, they were given three explicit and three implicit for the cued recall. At the end of the study, the students were interviewed and their responses were recorded.

11. Which treatment(s) were found to be more effective in increasing students’ vocabulary knowledge and maze performance (p. 381)?

Even though all treatments promoted the advancement of vocabulary, picture walk seemed to be the most effective. In addition, both the PW and DRTA yielded statistically significant effects on the maze. Both of these procedures were more effective than KWL or the control procedures in developing reading skills.

12. Students’ comprehension of the texts was greater under the DRTA condition than KWL and the control conditions. What do you think explains DRTA’s advantage over the KWL condition (p. 382)?

This was probably because in the DRTA, there was a lot of teacher guidance. The teacher was able to promote discussion and guide the comprehension of the students.

13. It was found that the treatments did not differ in the quality and quantity of students’ retellings (p. 384). In other words, students were not differentially affected by the treatments in the way they integrated textual information with prior knowledge. What does this finding mean in terms of the different emphases employed by experience-based (KWL) vs. text-based (DRTA) treatments?

This means that when you ask the student to re-call or re-tell the story, their prior knowledge does not have a lot of influence on their responses.

14. In light of the findings from this study, what conclusions can you draw about the role of teacher support in children’s construction of mental representations from informational text?

Teacher support is really important for students. Teachers must be aware of the students’ prior knowledge on the topic and make sure their prior knowledge is correct. Teachers must find ways to combine students prior knowledge and the topics in the book to create accurate mental representations for students.