e-books in the classroom

I really enjoyed the article on e-books.  I think we are living in a real transitional period between traditional texts and e-books.  The size and weight of these devices is getting smaller and lighter.  Just think of all the things you can do on a phone that even a few years ago weren’t available.   New generations of students will expect to use technology.  My 3 year old nephew knows how to use his father’s iphone and get into his games.  I can only imagine that in two years when he starts school, he will expect to use technology on a regular basis. He might not even know or understand that he has that expectation but he will be so used to using technology that it is almost as if he will need it to learn.

I like the possibility of using e-books in the classroom.  I think there is a lot of potential to customize a reading program without a lot of additional work for a teacher.    In Digital Readers: The Next Chapter in E-Book Reading and Response, Lotta Larson looks at the potential use of e-books in the classroom.    Ms. Larson states that 

“because e-books can be presented in an individualized format, students with special needs (Ell, visually impaired, struggling readers) may benefit from the additional text available from the use of electronic texts."

My school has a nice reading room but imagine being able to access almost any text without having to have huge storage space.    With a few clicks on the keyboard, a teacher could select texts to meet each student’s needs and interests.  For young readers, it is especially important to select texts that are of interest to them so they want to continue to explore new books.

Another aspect of the e-books that makes them enjoyable is that readers can make themselves comfortable while they read.  During my D.E.A.R. time, my students love to plop themselves on pillows around the room.    When they are using the computer to access a program like Pair-It, they have to stay seated in a chair at the computer.  The e-readers would allow them to have the same experience of finding a comfortable spot to enjoy their reading. 

The downside to the e-books is that they could further highlight the disparity in resources in a school system.  I can imagine that if in a few years e-books are available for the classroom, they will be found in the schools in the more affluent neighborhoods, at least at first.  Hopefully, the cost will continue to come down as the technology improves so e-books can be made available to all students.

References:

Larson, L.  The Reading Teacher, 6491) pp 15 - 22

New Uses for Technology

A few days after our discussion on technology based classroom assessments, I saw a really interesting segment on the local Fox News.  In the segment, the reporter profiled Nantucket Elementary School in Crofton, Maryland, a school that is using a device called a SMART notebook bracelet to send assignments, reading material, and long-term projects back and forth between home and school.  The SMART notebook bracelet is an electronic bracelet that comes with a 2GB hard drive within the band.  Selling for only $50, it is a relatively inexpensive way for a student to take information to and from school.  

The bracelet unsnaps and plugs into the USB port of any computer.  I think this is a great use of technology.  Technology should be used to make our lives easier and more convenient.  Imagine a child who struggles with copying down homework from the board every day.  He/she can download the assignment and will never be at home without an assignment again. 

Children today are very tech savvy and to keep them engaged in learning we need to come up with meaningful ways to use technology.    With the SMART band, students can crate power points, interactive projects, and other more engaging learning tools.  The developer of the SMART band calls the device a Digital Portfolio.   The student can save work on the band for the entire quarter and then give the device to the teacher to review and grade periodically.

The potential downside of the bracelet is that it assumes each student has access to a computer.  In these tight financial times, educators cannot assume such access.  The question becomes does the school system provide the computers for each student.  This could be become a major issue that prevents widespread use of the bands.

The bracelet is in the pilot phase so it will be interesting to see the long range results. We need to make sure we are not using technology just for the sake of using technology.  The SMART band notebook however seems to have real benefits for student learning.

References:

Retrieved from:www.myfoxdc.com/.../md-students-have-schoolwork-on-the-go-with-smart-bracelets-110410  

Information on the SMART Notebook bracelet,

http://smarttech.com/us/Solutions/Education+Solutions/Products+for+education/Software/SMART+Notebook+collaborative+learning+software/SMART+Notebook+SE+collaborative+learning+software 

 

Building Vocabulary

Chapter 7 in Literacy for the 21^st Century focuses on building student’s vocabulary.  As an early childhood teacher, this is an extremely important part of our daily learning.    I really enjoyed learning about some of the different ways to teach students vocabulary.  In my class, I have used word posters on a regular basis.  I found that asking the student to define the word, draw the word, and then use it in a sentence really helps the student master the word.    When I first introduced word posters last year, the students groaned and said it was too hard.  After completing the word posters for a few weeks, the kids really enjoyed them and started to look forward to completing them.  

One strategy that I haven’t tried yet is dramatizing the words.  I think this sounds like a really fun way to teach young kids about new words.   Some of the kids in my class this year are real hams and I think they would get a kick out of this.  This would also appeal to the bodily kinesthetic learners in my class.

I think word chains would be a good way to teach my students social studies and science words.  In using a word chain, a student writes words that would come before and after the specified word in a chain.  I think this is a great way for students to make connections between words and help them have more meaning.  This is yet another strategey that points to the benefits of an integrated curriculum.

I’m excited about trying new ways to expand the vocabulary of my first grade class.  They are learning so much, so fast, it is really amazing to see their progress in just one quarter of school.

References:

 Tompkins, G.E. (2010). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach (5th ed.). Boston, MA:  Pearson Education, Inc.

Concept –Oriented Reading Instruction

I came across this article on Reading Rockets, my new favorite web site, while looking for articles on comprehension.  Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI) teaches children comprehension skills through the integration of science and reading.  I know that next year we’ll be using the MCPS integrated curriculum and this seems to be a strategy that supports an integrated curriculum.

The aim of CORI is to:

1. increase student’s reading comprehension in grades 3 – 5 by increasing their reading engagement

2. increase students’ knowledge of life science in the domain of environmental science

3. increase student’s motivation to read with an emphasis on motivation, self efficacy, perceived autonomy, social interaction, and mastery goals in reading. 

The article outlines the various strategies used in the CORI intervention.  I really liked the fact that activities are differentiated so all levels of readers can be challenged.    Daily lessons were comprised of fluency activities, mini lessons on comprehension strategies, guided reading, and independent work.  These are the typical components of a standard literacy block but the difference is in the types of reading materials that are used.    The majority of the reading materials in CORI are informational texts.  These are supplemented with novels, poetry books, and story books.   I have not seen the integrated curriculum yet but I imagine it has a similar structure.

A big component of CORI is motivational support.  There are several motivational practices that are central to COI, including relevance, choice, collaboration, self-efficacy support, and thematic units.  We have learned a lot in class about the importance of motivation and self-efficacy in promoting learning. The article provided some good suggestions on how to implement motivational support in my classroom.

The article speaks to the benefits of focusing on a theme.  When students focus on one theme, they are given the opportunity to become experts on a topic. This helps them make the connection that reading, and specifically comprehending what they read, is the key to expanding their knowledge in all areas. It also helps to build their self-confidence and improve motivation.

It seems that integration is a new theme in education, or maybe it is just new for me.  From what I have read and the things I have tried in my own classroom, integration certainly seems to make learning more interesting and engaging for young learners.   For me, the challenge lies in finding enough materials to make the integration effective and interesting.  I look forward to seeing the new curriculum and trying it out in my classroom next year. 

References:

Retrieved from www.readingrockets.org  Excerpted with author's permission from Guthrie, J. T., McRae, A., & Klauda, S. L. (2007). Contributions of Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction to knowledge about interventions for motivations in reading. Educational Psychologist, 42, 237 - 250.

Motivating Struggling Readers

Continuing on this week’s theme of motivation, I found a great article on the Reading Rockets site (www.readingrockets.org) about motivation.  Specifically, the article focuses on motivating older students who are poor readers.  We are learning, and research shows, that better students read more.  For teachers, strong readers are easy to keep motivated.  These students already love to read and I have found they usually have no problem finding numerous books they want to read.  The challenge for us is to find a way to reach those kids who struggle to read and therefore are not as likely to find books that interest them.  How do we help them to find books that are at their reading level and that are interesting to them?

The article highlights a significant problem for struggling older elementary students.  These students must find books that are at a reading level appropriate for them but that will not be considered babyish by themselves or their peers.  In other words, the books must have simple vocabulary and shorter sentences but should also contain plots that are interesting for a 10,11 or 12 year old reader.    A third grade struggling reader does not want to read a book about bunnies and butterflies.  The reader will be bored by the pictures and the plot.    The authors use a term, “high interest/low vocabulary” or "hi/lo" texts to describe books appropriate for struggling older readers.    Rog and Kropp provide a list of supports that can be provided to struggling readers so the text will be interesting and with an appropriate readability index.

“These supports include:

• A compelling storyline and credible characters
• Topics and issues with which readers can make personal or emotional connections
• Supportive formatting that includes illustrations and appropriate text placement on the page (hyphenation is a problem for reluctant readers, line spacing is more important than type size, some type faces are more easily readable than others)
• Careful introduction and reinforcement of difficult vocabulary and concepts (no difficult word should be used only once, and every difficult word should be presented in such a way as to be sure its meaning is clear)
• Straightforward plot development (avoiding flashbacks, time shifts, and confusing changes in point of view)
• Simple sentence structures (the subject and predicate must be physically close to each other; subordinate clauses should follow the main clause, or be clearly set off by commas)”

To help these struggling readers find reading material that is of interest to them, we, as teachers, need to broaden our scope of materials.   Our class libraries should include lots of non-fiction texts, magazines, newspapers, even comic books.  I have noticed in my first grade class that the boys tend to gravitate toward my non-fiction books.  I have lots of books about animals, space, science and they seem to love these.   My low readers tend to pick these books during our D.E.A.R. time.   

Common sense tells us that when a reader is interested in a topic, he or she will be more motivated to continue reading.  This is especially true for struggling readers.  Teachers should make an effort to include hi/lo texts in their libraries.  Rog and Kropp provide a list of motivating factors for students.  I found it interesting that the last item on the list was “TV tie-in or promotion.”  Children are more likely to select a book based on peer recommendations or interest in a topic.  Teachers should consider making a class list of favorite books.   Kids will be motivated to read a book if other children say it is cool or a good book.  Another option would be to start a book club for struggling readers in the third, fourth, and fifth grade.   This will give them a chance to see what other students are reading and to get new ideas for books.

 It may take a little more effort, but if we can help older readers find reading materials that are interesting and appropriate for them, the pay off will be great.

References:

 Rog, L.  and Kropp , P. (2001).  Hooking Struggling Readers: Using Books They Can and Want to Read.  Reading Rockets. Retrived from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/374

How can I get my students to write more?

Chapter 6 of Literacy for the 21^st century deals with developing fluent readers and writers.  It was packed full of good ideas, in fact sometimes when I read these chapters I get a bit overwhelmed with all the techniques there are to try and use. I was drawn to the section on writing.  In my reading class, I have a great group of readers. Getting them to write, and write well (for first graders), has been a bit of a challenge.  

I really liked the idea of doing quickwriting.  In this process, students write quickly about what they know on a certain topic. The teacher corrects spelling of word walls but overall the focus is on getting the students to put their ideas down on paper. This week our theme is apples so I am going to try a quickwrite on apples.  I find that my students write one sentence and then stop and tell me they don’t know what else to write.  I am hoping the quickwrite will get them used to putting a lot of ideas down on paper.  

I couldn’t find any articles about quickwriting but I did find an interesting one on interactive writing in the classroom. Even though the article is old, the material that is presented is still relevant today.   In the article, the authors walk through the interactive writing process.  They discuss the importance of writing in building students  literacy.   In summary they state,

Interactive writing is an important part of the early literacy lesson framework because it provides so many opportunities to teach directly about language conventions, sense of story, types of writing, and concepts about print. These teaching moments do not follow a specified sequence but evolve from the teacher’s understanding of the students’ needs. The early literacy lesson framework blends independent problem solving, shared literacy experiences, and teacher instruction within a literacy-rich classroom.

I'm trying to find more ways to get my students writing this year. We will be doing more writing in our response journals and I'll have them do more writing during small group instruction.  Hopefully, my efforts will pay off.

References

Tompkins, G.E. (2010). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach (5th ed.). Boston, MA:         Pearson Education, Inc.

Button, K. Johnson, M. Furgerson, P. (1996). Interactive writing in a primary classroom.   The Reading Teacher    Retrieved from http://www.learner.org/libraries/readingk2/pdf/owen.pdf