Reader's Workshop Pedagogical Process

“The more you read, the more things you know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” This is how Dr. Seuss thought of reading, and I think of it in much the same way. Literacy is everywhere and influences us every day, therefore, it plays a major part in each of our lives. I believe that reading is an interactive activity in which learning happens, or as Clay (2001) defines it, “…a message-getting, problem-solving activity” (p. 1). Reading is the process through which one reads information and from doing so, constructs meaning about the material. The more exposure and practice one has with reading, the more knowledge one gains. In this paper, I will begin by discussing my own personal educational philosophy, then continue by stating and explaining four of my beliefs about the reading process and the research that is found to support each of them before sharing the remaining questions I have about literacy. I am an existentialist, and a strong supporter of a balanced literacy approach. My beliefs about literacy come from these foundations and perspectives that I embrace. For students to be successful in their literacy development, I believe that identity acceptance in the classroom is crucial, instruction for all students must be differentiated, direct and explicit instruction is at times necessary, and vocabulary is a significant component in the ‘Big Five’ of children’s literacy development.

(Counselors Affecting Reading Everyday). My plan would involve developing one-on-one counseling sessions where the students would start off by taking a learning style inventory as well as a reading interest inventory. The purpose of the learning style inventory would be to help the students as well as their teachers to understand how each individual child learns and processes information. The reading interest inventory would serve the purpose of helping the students to find a particular type of text that they may enjoy reading. Upon completion of the learning style inventory and reading interest inventory, the students would begin meeting with the counselor to receive one-on-one reading opportunities using books that students self-select based on their interest. This one-on-one meeting will serve to meet the needs of those students who stated that they did not have anyone at home to read with. The students will utilize the school’s Accelerated Reading program to take quizzes on the books they read with the counselor. After earning their first five Accelerated Reading points, a book will be purchased for the student based on their interest. This incentive plan will serve as a means to provide personal books for those students that do not own any as well as attempting to help them to get over the fear or taking reading tests. During these weekly meetings, the counselor will provide a variety of reading text (based on student

To assist students to “read with purpose and anticipation,” Vacca et al. (2014, p. 173) suggests, in their book Content Area Reading: Literacy and Learning Across the Curriculum, that teachers need to “create an instructional context” that activates their students’ “prior knowledge” and helps them to become interested in a lesson. Throughout chapter six, “Activating Prior Knowledge and Interest,” Vacca et al. (2014, pp. 172-173) explain instructional strategies that can lead students to “read with purpose and anticipation.” This chapter presents the reader with a plethora of instructional strategies and means for applying them, along with example for real educators. As I journeyed through this chapter, I discovered many instructional strategies,

It was a joy to watch Alex continue to make great strides in his reading this past semester, making a conscious effort to apply all of the reading skills and strategies introduced in class to his independent reading. Alex’s daily adhesive notes demonstrated his fine analytical

The children are pulled from a pool of elementary school students who file for free or reduced school lunch. The organization contacts a child’s school and turns an unused classroom into a new environment full of Reading Partners staff and resources used to help the children learn. The staff is made up of volunteers from areas all around the school that give“weekly one-on-one literacy tutoring using [an] evidence-based curriculum, [or] a series of structured lesson plans”. The lesson plans are customized depending on the child’s age, so that younger children are given instruction that is easier to understand and learn from (“Partners in

The artifact that demonstrates the type of reading program I want in my future classroom is the book “Don’t Laugh At Me” by Steve Seskin, Allen Shamblin and Glin Dibley, and the song that goes with it. This book is a great resource to create an inclusive learning environment in the classroom which is essential for any program to be successful. Our classrooms are very diversified, with students belonging to different cultures, traditions, beliefs and backgrounds, as well as having different abilities, learning styles and needs. This book emphasizes on the fact that we all are different and have different strengths and weaknesses. When developing a reading program in the class, teachers should understand that students have varying needs, and hence they should adapt the instruction to meet those specific needs.

The shared book reading program is a teacher-directed literacy program designed to allow the educator the opportunity to model developing comprehension, alphabetics, and general reading achievement skills. The program aligns with the CCSS in that is focuses on the development of comprehension, alphabetics, and general reading skills. Furthermore, the program’s flexible design allows the teacher to utlize formative assessment to create targeted lessons focused on group and individual achievement (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2012).. Additionally, teachers are encouraged to use open-ended questions as well as student’s background knowledge to engage leaners during the lesson. The program encourages the use of quality trade literature

Most of the other students in her 2nd grade classroom are able to read classroom text and complete work independently. They also read books for enjoyment on their own. The reading time in her classroom consists of a block during which the teacher works with small groups and the children are expected to work quite independently when they are not working directly with the teacher. The class uses a trade book format and this is utilized across the curriculum. Students are provided with short skills building lessons in large and small groups. Most of the time spent during explicit reading instruction is targeted to helping students develop reading fluency.

Something that I will use in my future practice is doing reading strategies with my students. when students are in the younger grades shared reading is very important. It is very important for the reason that it helps students to learn how to read. They are reading with the teacher and they will become familiar with the words. Shared reading is something that should be constantly. I would also have Specific literacy routines that helps the students out. From the video it was learned that the teacher Ms. Purlsey lets her students pick different reading choices during reader’s workshop. This is important for the reason that we want our students to become independent. By giving our students choices it can help to pick stuff on their own. Rather than depending on the teacher to pick something for them. Something else that would help me out in my future practice is having my students read for a purpose. I want my students to be able learn that from reading they will acquire something new. And lastly something that will help my future practice is conducting assessments on my students. By having assessments will show the progression of my students. It can also show me different things that I can assist my students with to make them more successful in life. With assessments it is needed in order to help students

One of the first steps in helping a struggling reader is to be able to reach out and assist the areas where they are lacking. One way a teacher can assist is to help the students discover and set reading goals for themselves. Having a reading goal can help the students have a purpose for reading. Some students may need motivation and a reason to read if the ease of reading isn’t there for them. Having a goal may help these students feel the sense of reading has a purpose. Trying new procedures and having organizational strategies can be beneficial to teachers when helping students achieve their reading goals. Michael Opitz and Michael Ford have found organizational strategies to be successful when implemented in the classroom as part of the reading strategy. According to Michael Opitz and Michael Ford, “when teachers are able to expand the way they think and use Guided Reading it will help the students become more successful at reading.” (Hillman, 2002). The concerns from Opitz and Ford are as follows: 1. Roles and Goals; 2. Assessment and Grouping; 3. Texts; 4. Instruction; and 5. Organization and Management.”

The tragedy of my experience in elementary school is that the reading program I participated in set out to make me and my peers active readers, but distracted us too much with material gain to teach us the skills it intended to impart. Because of this, it took me a long time to understand that reading is an exchange, and that how I read each novel affects me much more deeply than the amount I have

The authors decipher the most useful 15 principals that will help guide reading instruction for educators. For example, Principal 13 is the process of encouraging self-direction and self- monitoring. The authors clarify how good readers are able to decide when they don’t understand a passage, and are able to figure out ways to better decipher the material. It is evident that principal 13 is extremely important for us as educators to use when teaching our students. Self-direction, and self-monitoring are important because they help teach the reader that it’s okay to not understand what they have read. It pushes them to reevaluate what they read, make inferences, and figure out a way to break down the passage on their own in order to better understand it. This is important for the students as they grow because they’ll be able to read difficult passages, and self-direct themselves to decode it. Furthermore, Principal 13 teaches readers how to go on, and figure it out themselves, to ultimately expand their cognitive thinking. Even for adults, there are readings that may need to be broken down for them to better understand. When, and if taught Principal 13 as a child, they can clue in on that skill they learned, and break down the difficult parts of the reading. In conclusion, Principal 13 is important for overall student growth as a

The model that was discussed in chapter eight was the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model of reading. This approach uses appropriate texts that meet the student's language needs, either in their first or second language, and multiple strategies to gradually build student's reading abilities, from beginner readers to independent readers. Some of the early strategies are Read-Alouds and Shared Reading, where teachers read aloud to students and then gradually work toward the task of students sharing some of the reading.

My philosophy of literacy is centered on providing a learning environment rich in authentic literature, instruction that is engaging, fun, and balanced, collaborative, and also involving families in the child’s education. My ultimate goal of literacy instruction is to help children become lifelong readers and writers by providing the skills necessary to comprehend, construct, and make meaning of text, speak, and write. (Torgesen, 2002). According to the National Reading Panel, there are five essential components that must be taught in effective reading programs: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. (Reading Horizons). According to Konza (2014), reading instruction should be changed to six foundational reading elements, adding oral language and early literacy. I also believe that early literacy should be

My teaching philosophy is based on the belief that students should be presented with many opportunities to read, be able to construct meaning from their experiences with literature and think critically about it. It is important that I be an effective teacher by emphasizing higher-order meaning construction more than lower-ordered skills, maximizing reading opportunities, integrating reading and writing with multiple subject areas and providing opportunities to discuss what was read (Cunningham, 2011, pg. 2). In my classroom, I want to acknowledge and support each student as an individual learner, engage the students’ interest and demonstrate the relevance of reading and writing to their lives, participate as a fellow learner with students and promote critical thinking and creativity. I will encourage students to develop and share their own responses in class discussions and writing assignments. I will attempt to promote the students’ personal involvement with course activities and assignments in order to create enthusiastic, independent readers. I will give each student personal attention and become acquainted with his/her educational needs. My goal is to get students to function competently and independently at their literary level by supplying them with information, models from which they can apply new concepts and skills training. A literacy foundation should be built, followed by developing fluency, teaching phonics and spelling patterns, building vivid, vital and