Chapter 3: Prior knowledge: Activating and developing concepts and vocabulary
It is important for a teacher to help the students access their prior knowledge before giving more knowledge. In most cases, students do not bother getting back to their background knowledge since they always think it is not important. In order for students to activate and develop prior knowledge, the teacher has to employ numerous strategies. Some of these strategies are discussed below.
1. Three Step Interview. This strategy employs a cooperative organization that is aimed at helping the students personalize their learning. It helps the students to listen and to respect the opinions of others. It is achieved when teacher groups the students in pairs, one being the interviewee the other the interviewer. Through these conversations, students will be able easily to synthesize and analyze new knowledge.
2. Walk Around Survey. Teacher states the subject then asks the students to move around the class conversing with their colleagues. Through this strategy, students are able to share their information on the subject to be studied and to discover what their colleagues know. This strategy is aimed at activating the students’ background information through movements and conversations.
3. Think-Pair-Share. In this case, a teacher asks a question that is interrelated to the issue under study, then gives students time to think about it. Then, the students pair up to share their views and lastly the groups share a main idea with the rest of the class. This strategy will help to involve students in their prior knowledge of the subject.
4. Two Minute Talks. Here, the teacher groups the students then ask them to share with their partners what they know about the topic to be studied by brainstorming. It helps students to form the basis of knowledge as they get ready to learn new concepts. This strategy helps the teacher to activate prior knowledge and emphasize on student learning on the subject under study.
5. Talking Drawings; this is an approach used to activate and evaluate the knowledge level of a student on a topic. Prior knowledge is activated by allowing students to make graphic representation of a concept already learned.
6. The First Word approach is a strategy used to activate students’ knowledge of a concept, idea or a skill. It involves the analysis of words and creating related sentences to enable students to gain deeper understanding of the meaning.
Chapter 5: Beginning Literacy
Dear parents, I feel encouraged to share with you about the learning programs at kindergarten level. First I appreciate you for taking your precious time to be here on this ostentatious occasion of orientation. I feel confident that you ready to support your children in every way, and you desire the best for them. I wish to highlight a few things about the foundational skills that are a prerequisite for successful learning of these newly admitted children. To begin with, I wish to mention that at this level of learning, decoding is a basic concept that acts as the core of learning at kindergarten. Decoding is essential, and the children need to be equipped with this knowledge.
As parents, it is prudent that you beware what we teach your children. Mine is to inform you that we will be teaching decoding. Reading is paramount in comprehension. However, the learner needs to have skills for systematic decoding to lay the foundation for understanding comprehension. It is for this reason that we accord a high degree of significance on teaching decoding at this stage. This concept will be taught by focusing on six essential elements that are useful in beginning reading. For beginners, there are six critical elements that are useful to develop decoding concept. We will teach six core concepts for beginning reading:
Have you ever known that talking to your children helps in expanding their vocabulary and develop fundamental knowledge? Your children will become more curious about the world if they develop oral language. We will teach your children this concept to instill social communication skills.
You need to understand that at early stages of development, more words are used in written language than in spoken language to boost the understanding of children. The knowledge of phonology is very vital. It helps learners to understand the use of various sounds to create particular meaning. Phonological awareness is, thus, ideal for your children.
It is important to note that your children need to be able to put down in writing what they hear or what they say. We will, therefore, expose the children to print concept to enable them to write.
As you are aware, there are letter of the alphabets. These letters, however, may not be pronounced as they sound when read ordinarily. Letter-sound association will, therefore, be taught to the children to enable them develop correct pronunciations.
The climax of decoding concept will be the teaching of a way to think about words. Learners need to acquire special skills to help them think about words. We will, therefore, teach the children this concept through an expository approach.
Chapter 6: Intermediate Grades and Middle School: Decoding, Vocabulary and Meaning
Successful reading of comprehension is highly embedded on the knowledge of vocabulary. Understanding word meaning in the passage is very significant in understanding a comprehension. In fact, the relationship between reading comprehension and the knowledge of vocabulary is strong and indisputable (Cooper, Kiger, Robinson, & Slansky, 2011). It is noteworthy that there is no single approach of teaching word vocabulary. Some of the strategies that can be used to teach vocabulary and enhance independent reading among students include:
i. Selecting most important words to teach
At every level of the student base, the teacher need to choose words that are relevant at the students’ level. It is important to note that learners with low lexical skills perceive almost all words to be technical. The teacher should, therefore, select only words that are appropriate at the student’s level. The rationale for selecting the appropriate words to teach is guided by the selection of words that present new concept, the words need to be generative and no need to accessorize.
ii. Using appropriate dictionary for heterogeneous class
The teacher need to guide the learners on how to look up for the meanings of challenging words from the dictionary and how such words can be used in sentence construction.
iii. Increasing amount of independent reading
Encouraging learners to do a lot of independent reading gives the learners a chance to interact with several new challenging words. Exposing them to frequent independent reading will help improve vocabulary skills.
iv. List-Group-Label
This strategy involves brainstorming designated to enable students to identify what they know about the concept and the words that are related to a known concept while simultaneously eliciting analysis and critical thinking.
v. Word analysis approach
This approach involves breaking of words to its root meaning or etymology. It also involves the understating of the use of prefixes and suffixes added to a word that may alter its usual meaning.
Chapter 9: Helping Struggling Readers
Response to intervention is a process that can be utilized by schools to help children who struggle both academically and behaviorally (Cooper, Kiger, Robinson, & Slansky, 2011). It involves early or timely identification and support of learners with academic and behavior needs. This approach is embedded on the understanding that there are possibilities that a child’s struggles in academics or behavior may be attributed to inadequacies in instruction or the curriculum he/she is exposed to currently or that he/she had been exposed to in the past.
In implementing RTI, learners at higher risks of poor learning outcomes are identified, their progress monitor provides them with evidence-based interventions and modifying the interventions guided by the students’ responsiveness. Children with academic and behavioral struggles can be identified through perpetual poor performance manifestations class, careful observation of absurd overt behavior by the teacher and the parents. The process is a multi-tier process. Once the struggling learners are identified, they are provided with interventions that can help accelerate their rate of learning. The services can be provided by various personnel such as teachers, special educators and specialists. The length or period taken while administering the intervention services to the identified students depends on the response of the individual students.
Nevertheless, a successful RTI requires that the following elements be effectively implemented with thoroughness; high quality scientifically based classroom instruction, consistent student assessment of progress in response to the initiative, incorporation of tiered instruction and parental involvement. The initiative involves three tiers:
• High quality classroom instruction, screening and group interventions involves the provision of high quality instruction to all students identified. Periodic screening is done to identify those that need additional support.
• Targeted intervention involves the provision of more intensive instruction to students who seem not to respond well to the Tier 1.
• Intensive interventions and comprehensive evaluation is the highest level of interventions. Individualized intensive intervention is given to meet the skill deficit of individual students.
Chapter 11: Assessment/ Evaluation in the Comprehensive Balanced Literacy Classroom
Despite the fact that Balanced Literacy Programs have been widely accepted and are being practiced in most education systems today, the suitable methods and benefits of assessment and evaluation remain debatable. There are diverse opinions on assessment and evaluation (Cooper, Kiger, Robinson, & Slansky, 2011). Some teachers prefer the traditional model of assessment where students are graded depending on their knowledge of the material on the test. Others prefer the day-to-day evaluation and assessment which is a modern method and can be used for instructional purposes.The day-to-day assessment and evaluation is important in a number of ways as discussed below.
• Day-to-day assessment provides information that is used to modify teaching and learning. Day-to-day assessment gives students decisive feedback that helps to promote their learning and growth. This modern model of assessment enables them to be more responsible and to be more answerable for their learning.
• It promotes the academic progress of students. Day-to-day assessment helps students to improve on their academic work as they are able to get instant and effective feedback. This assessment helps to boost the confidence of the students, therefore, promoting their success in academic work.
• It helps students to understand their expectations and meet their goals. Through day-to-day assessment and evaluation students are able to get several chances to practice a number of concepts and skills learnt. Through this teacher can get feedback on whether the set learning objectives have been achieved.
References
Cooper, J. D., Kiger, N. D., Robinson, M. D., & Slansky, J. A. (2011). Literacy: Helping Students Construct Meaning, 8th Edition. Boston: Cengage Learning .
