Literacy Across the Curriculum
If a child is going to grow into a truly special adult – someone who thinks, considers other points of view, has an open mind, and possesses the ability to discuss great ideas with other people – a love of reading is an essential foundation. -- Rafe Esquith
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Part 1 Reading has always been a way for me to connect to the outside world. Growing up in a traditional Chinese family, my first memory of reading probably was falling asleep in my dad’s arms, hearing him closing those Classic Chinese literatures and being delivered back to my bed. I was never interested in those heavy Old Testament-like books. They don’t even have female characters in those books! Even though I didn’t enjoy the books my dad read to me, I still grew up with the habit of holding a book and reading every night. Later on, when I started to select my own books in 3rd grade, I would stay overnight under my covers to read Anderson fairytales, building my collection of Balzac, Hugo and Tolstoy. Because I was not allowed to watch TV at home, all those foreign books became the only and most exciting channel to the outside world. One year I won a school reading prize, and I was invited to the biggest bookshop in Shanghai to select new books for our school library. My second memory was an adventurous reading, The Catcher in the Rye, (which is a controversial novel focused on teenage rebellion) when I was 14 years old. I don’t necessarily remember anything about this book. All I can remember was my dad’s angry face, he grabbed my book and tore it into pieces. Reading has always been like an adventure to me. I could travel back to Soviet Union tonight if I wanted to. As I was growing to be the same curious young woman, I found out there are many shortcuts I could take to learn about the world. Is there a reason that I read less and less? I never thought about this question until I started writing this paper. Is reading the subtitles while watching foreign movies the same as reading a foreign novel? Is reading Wikipedia the same? Sadly no.
I believe reading is not just gaining new information, but a deep interaction with the text in order to build connections to readers’ own lives. Like how I was imagining myself to be Alice and wonders where this rabbit hole is going to take me. In the book, Strategies that Work, the authors point out, “Reading encompasses both decoding and the making of meaning” (Harvey & Gouduis, 2007, p.13). In some way, reading is how we stay in contact with almost everything around us. It’s happening everyday and everywhere. An active reader doesn’t stay on the surface of words, but he/she will think while reading. Gamrath (2015) sums up six thinking strategies that can be applied in reading. They are making connections, asking questions, making inferences, visualizing, determining what’s important, summarizing/synthesizing. Being an educator is different from being a parent. You are not just simply reading an interesting book to the children, you are also teaching them to read, write, and think, preparing them to be problem solvers out in the world. In a way, reading is more than a subject, it is about developing their love for reading, thinking, and understanding the world around them. I was especially touched by those two students holding the book, The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn, and sobbing in Rafe’s class. It must be a powerful moment for them to gain understanding and compassion for a fictional character. I can’t agree more with Esquith’s (2007) statement in his book, “If a child is going to grow into a truly special adult – someone who thinks, considers other points of view, has an open mind, and possesses the ability to discuss great ideas with other people – a love of reading is an essential foundation” (p.33). Reading was and still is the way I see the world. To help children to be a life-long leaner, it is essential to teach children reading in the classroom. |
Part 2
During my three-week internship at Alton Middle School, one of the most frustrated things was that, in the same classroom students are at different reading and writing levels. Some can read accurately, but do not comprehend what he/she reads. Some do know the words, yet are not able to pronounce them correctly. Reading is big part of the social studies component. It was impossible to get everyone on the same page when all the students were at varied literacy levels. I believe a balanced literacy program is using different literacy strategies to develop a skillful reader who is a master in Literacy CAFE which stands for Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expand vocabulary (Broere, 2015)
What I learned the most from this class on balanced literacy is the practical framework that is given to design a balanced literacy program. Because it covers all the skills students possibly need, they are flexible and applicable to meet both the whole class and individual needs. According to Gamrath’s modeling lesson, the common seven components are Reading aloud, Shared Reading, Guided Reading, Independent Reading, Choice Reading, Language Experience, and Writing (2015). From reading books, watching videos, and being in the classrooms, I observe that a balanced literacy program can be delivered and presented in many different ways, depending on classroom size, teachers’ preferences, class time and reading levels. But of all the balanced literacy components, I believe the most important one is to create a program that is engaging and meaningful. Teachers must foster joy and purposefulness for reading. Children will not become a strong life-long reader if they don’t enjoy the experience or see the value of it. Esquith (2007) argues, “I have never seen district reading objectives in which the words joy, passion, or excitement top the list. I think they should” (p.32). It is not easy to convince the next generation, who are growing up in a digital driven society, the value of reading. I don't believe children who never read books for pleasure are doing so because they don’t love books, but because they probably are lacking adult guidance and never had an opportunity to be exposed to the good books. A classroom teacher, can play a huge role in helping children develop their love for reading and become a proficient reader.
From the three-week internship at Alton Middle School, I can firmly say that reading does not only happen in a language-art classroom. I observe vocabulary learning in a Science classroom. I witnessed reading aloud, independent/group reading and modeled/shared/independent writing happening in every Social Studies class. If I am a middle school history teacher, a typical day in a 7th grade classroom will start with a mini-lesson on today’s topic; by explaining the material, I will be able to keep everyone on the same page. I will not depend solely on our history book, but instead, use primary and secondary sources to help students understand deeply what was like to live in that period of time. The second part of the class will be used as reading and writing sessions. At the beginning of the school year, I will spend plenty of time modeling different ways of engaging in reading and writing in a balanced literacy program, such as what does it mean to make the connections of “text to self, text to text, text to world” (Gamrath, 2015) What is expected during buddy reading and shared writing? If there are a group of struggling readers/writters or ESL students, I will put them in one group and work together with them. Another strategy Esquith(2007) points out is that to have students read books that match their reading levels. Everyday I would assign homework to read books on the list that I created at the beginning of each unit. Those books are related to the part of history we are learning and they will be required to write a book report. Students would be encouraged to come and do their homework during the lunch break or after school with me. I love Esquith’s idea of starting a book club and will adapt that in my own classroom.
What I learned the most from this class on balanced literacy is the practical framework that is given to design a balanced literacy program. Because it covers all the skills students possibly need, they are flexible and applicable to meet both the whole class and individual needs. According to Gamrath’s modeling lesson, the common seven components are Reading aloud, Shared Reading, Guided Reading, Independent Reading, Choice Reading, Language Experience, and Writing (2015). From reading books, watching videos, and being in the classrooms, I observe that a balanced literacy program can be delivered and presented in many different ways, depending on classroom size, teachers’ preferences, class time and reading levels. But of all the balanced literacy components, I believe the most important one is to create a program that is engaging and meaningful. Teachers must foster joy and purposefulness for reading. Children will not become a strong life-long reader if they don’t enjoy the experience or see the value of it. Esquith (2007) argues, “I have never seen district reading objectives in which the words joy, passion, or excitement top the list. I think they should” (p.32). It is not easy to convince the next generation, who are growing up in a digital driven society, the value of reading. I don't believe children who never read books for pleasure are doing so because they don’t love books, but because they probably are lacking adult guidance and never had an opportunity to be exposed to the good books. A classroom teacher, can play a huge role in helping children develop their love for reading and become a proficient reader.
From the three-week internship at Alton Middle School, I can firmly say that reading does not only happen in a language-art classroom. I observe vocabulary learning in a Science classroom. I witnessed reading aloud, independent/group reading and modeled/shared/independent writing happening in every Social Studies class. If I am a middle school history teacher, a typical day in a 7th grade classroom will start with a mini-lesson on today’s topic; by explaining the material, I will be able to keep everyone on the same page. I will not depend solely on our history book, but instead, use primary and secondary sources to help students understand deeply what was like to live in that period of time. The second part of the class will be used as reading and writing sessions. At the beginning of the school year, I will spend plenty of time modeling different ways of engaging in reading and writing in a balanced literacy program, such as what does it mean to make the connections of “text to self, text to text, text to world” (Gamrath, 2015) What is expected during buddy reading and shared writing? If there are a group of struggling readers/writters or ESL students, I will put them in one group and work together with them. Another strategy Esquith(2007) points out is that to have students read books that match their reading levels. Everyday I would assign homework to read books on the list that I created at the beginning of each unit. Those books are related to the part of history we are learning and they will be required to write a book report. Students would be encouraged to come and do their homework during the lunch break or after school with me. I love Esquith’s idea of starting a book club and will adapt that in my own classroom.
Much of our responsibility when teaching reading is to make what is implicit, explicit. Explicit instruction means that we show learners how we think when we read. "Strategies that Work"
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Part 3“Do you like reading books?”
“Not really.” “You can borrow this book tonight, if you want.” “No. I don’t want to bring it home. I will lose it anyway.” This was a conversation I had with one of my students at reading intervention, after we had been reading a book together for two days. Everyone whose reading level is below the grade level has to work on an online program called “Reading Plus” during this period. It’s a data-driven program that helps developing and struggling readers increase their CAFE skills when reading independently. Even though it isn’t something I would choose for my classroom, I have to admit it had some perks and is effective if students put time and effort into it. According to my students, they found themselves reading faster and being able to focus longer, and they were excited to move to the next level. But most of them also expressed that their motivation behind working on Reading Plus was to reach their grade level so that they could go back to recess and be with their friends. My cooperating teacher Mr. Stark spent 6 years teaching language art before moving to the social studies department two years ago. That is probably the reason why he put so much emphasis on reading aloud and academic writing in his history class. His normal class usually started with writing/typing WIW (walking in work), and sometimes was followed by peer editing and sharing. Most of the students were capable of giving each other constructive feedback. Afterwards, students take turns reading the textbook out loud. I wasn’t sure if that was the best way of obtaining information. So I did an experiment to see if the way they read had an impact on their comprehension. I gave each class the same reading assessment and question. The first class read in groups, the second class read silently a whole class, and the third class read the usual way – taking turns reading aloud. I found the third class was the most time efficient and picked up the most information over all. As you probably could guess, short spans of concentration and external distractions were the two biggest obstacles in their reading. Besides read aloud, I didn’t observe any other methods of reading in the classroom. I believe students need to be challenged and guided in reading. In the book, Strategies that Work, the authors state, “Much of our responsibility when teaching reading is to make what is implicit, explicit. Explicit instruction means that we show learners how we think when we read” (p.20). Teaching children how to read, to understand, and to think is like teaching them how to fish, instead of feeding them the fish. Even though reading aloud seems to be the most efficient way for this classroom to obtain information, there should be more guided reading and opportunities to read as a group and independently. Another thing I would do differently in my own classroom is not rely as heavily on the textbook. Let’s face it. It’s as heavy as the bricks. No one loves to read them, including the teacher. I believe the textbook should be used as a way to gain historical background knowledge. To develop a love for history, the reading needs to come from other sources. I was surprised to find plenty of good resources both in the library and online relating to the Revolutionary War at different reading levels. |
Part 4
Reading played the biggest role in both of my lesson plans. During the first lesson, we used a picture book, George Vs. George, to reintroduce the Revolutionary War. I adopted a jigsaw activity to engage the students in reading, brought stickers to motivate them and a worksheet to help them reflect after the reading. At the second lesson, we read an article on “Who joins ISIS” and wrote down new things we learned about this group. Of course, not all of them successfully stayed on task. Part of the reason was that they hadn’t built the habit of reading and didn’t value it. To teach reading doesn’t happen overnight. It takes work, practice and love. But I believe that the love of reading and the desire to know more about the world is already planted in each of us.
Here are a few findings I will practice in both my own reading and teaching.
Metacognitive Thinking is the key to teaching children to read and think. To become an active reader, he/she needs to develop the skills of being aware of his/her own thinking and use different strategies when he/she reads. Harvey and Grouduis (2007) gave two examples. First, Amanda notices she can understand more as a reader when she makes pictures in her head. Second, Jonathan discovered that he was constantly thinking and guessing during reading and asks questions is a good way to engage in reading and deepen his reading (p.25). The best way to explain metacognition to children is to show them how do you think, instead of telling them what to think. It can be embedded in shared reading and guided reading. Shared reading usually is a mini-lesson at the beginning of the class that focuses on one specific concept. Guided reading is a small group of students reading and working through the same text together. Teachers give instructions and feedbacks based on individual’s needs. Often those students who need to improve on the same area are in the same group. Esquith (2007) also mentions, when playing a CD book in the classroom, a good teacher doesn’t take break. He/she will stop the CD at intervals, asking questions and checking for understanding (p.35). That’s a great example of teachers using those teachable moments to demonstrate metacognition.
Make Reading Personal is the most important step for children to love reading. As Harvey and Gouduis (2007) proclaims, “When we apply our background knowledge as we read, we guide students to make connections between their experiences, their knowledge about the word, and the text they read. Connecting what readers know to new information is the core of learning and understanding” (p.17). When the students start to connect their life to what they are reading, then they start to think critically and openly about the world around them. I think as a teacher, we should encourage them to make connections by getting to know them, providing more background information and selecting the right books for them. Esquith (2007) also supports this statement, “Young people who read for pleasure are able to make connections with the world around them and eventually grow to understand themselves on levels they never thought possible” (p.42).
Ongoing assessment and monitoring is another important element. One thing that really stood out to me while watching Rick’s reading workshop was how he carried a notebook and kept track of everyone's reading performance throughout the whole class. Students had their own reading logs and set reading goals everyday. It’s not realistic to have each student’s performance sheet on hand in a larger classroom. So ongoing assessment will be a great way to continue monitoring students’ growth. It can be a daily journal, book report, or a summary of an article read in the class. The teacher should be aware of individuals' needs and keep checking the students' understanding in what they are reading, as well as giving feedback for what they have to share, will be beneficial in developing a balanced literacy program.
I believe a balanced literacy program is not only measured by different standardized tests. It serves as a tool to help students become a proficient reader and writer, so they can fully enjoy the “laughter and tears” of reading. As Esquith (2007) says, “Reading is not a subject. Reading is a foundation of life, an activity that people who are engaged with the world do all the time” (p.33). If I have my own classroom, I would make the effort to building a solid and balanced foundation of reading in those children, even when standardized tests, television, and the Internet keep telling me it’s impossible. I believe it’s possible and worth all the hours and efforts.
Here are a few findings I will practice in both my own reading and teaching.
Metacognitive Thinking is the key to teaching children to read and think. To become an active reader, he/she needs to develop the skills of being aware of his/her own thinking and use different strategies when he/she reads. Harvey and Grouduis (2007) gave two examples. First, Amanda notices she can understand more as a reader when she makes pictures in her head. Second, Jonathan discovered that he was constantly thinking and guessing during reading and asks questions is a good way to engage in reading and deepen his reading (p.25). The best way to explain metacognition to children is to show them how do you think, instead of telling them what to think. It can be embedded in shared reading and guided reading. Shared reading usually is a mini-lesson at the beginning of the class that focuses on one specific concept. Guided reading is a small group of students reading and working through the same text together. Teachers give instructions and feedbacks based on individual’s needs. Often those students who need to improve on the same area are in the same group. Esquith (2007) also mentions, when playing a CD book in the classroom, a good teacher doesn’t take break. He/she will stop the CD at intervals, asking questions and checking for understanding (p.35). That’s a great example of teachers using those teachable moments to demonstrate metacognition.
Make Reading Personal is the most important step for children to love reading. As Harvey and Gouduis (2007) proclaims, “When we apply our background knowledge as we read, we guide students to make connections between their experiences, their knowledge about the word, and the text they read. Connecting what readers know to new information is the core of learning and understanding” (p.17). When the students start to connect their life to what they are reading, then they start to think critically and openly about the world around them. I think as a teacher, we should encourage them to make connections by getting to know them, providing more background information and selecting the right books for them. Esquith (2007) also supports this statement, “Young people who read for pleasure are able to make connections with the world around them and eventually grow to understand themselves on levels they never thought possible” (p.42).
Ongoing assessment and monitoring is another important element. One thing that really stood out to me while watching Rick’s reading workshop was how he carried a notebook and kept track of everyone's reading performance throughout the whole class. Students had their own reading logs and set reading goals everyday. It’s not realistic to have each student’s performance sheet on hand in a larger classroom. So ongoing assessment will be a great way to continue monitoring students’ growth. It can be a daily journal, book report, or a summary of an article read in the class. The teacher should be aware of individuals' needs and keep checking the students' understanding in what they are reading, as well as giving feedback for what they have to share, will be beneficial in developing a balanced literacy program.
I believe a balanced literacy program is not only measured by different standardized tests. It serves as a tool to help students become a proficient reader and writer, so they can fully enjoy the “laughter and tears” of reading. As Esquith (2007) says, “Reading is not a subject. Reading is a foundation of life, an activity that people who are engaged with the world do all the time” (p.33). If I have my own classroom, I would make the effort to building a solid and balanced foundation of reading in those children, even when standardized tests, television, and the Internet keep telling me it’s impossible. I believe it’s possible and worth all the hours and efforts.
Reference
Esquith, R. (2007). Teach like your hair's on fire. New York City, NY: Penguin Group.
Gamrath, N. (Presenter). (n.d.). Literacy Across the Curriculum [Speech].
Harvey, S., & Gouduis, A. (2007). Strategies that Work. Teaching Comprehension for Understanding and Engagement (2nd.). Portland, ME:
Stenhouse Publishers.
Broere, M. (2015). Literacy Package [class handout].
Esquith, R. (2007). Teach like your hair's on fire. New York City, NY: Penguin Group.
Gamrath, N. (Presenter). (n.d.). Literacy Across the Curriculum [Speech].
Harvey, S., & Gouduis, A. (2007). Strategies that Work. Teaching Comprehension for Understanding and Engagement (2nd.). Portland, ME:
Stenhouse Publishers.
Broere, M. (2015). Literacy Package [class handout].