Word Families and Paint Chips

Clark's article about techniques teachers can use when helping readers sound words out was extremely helpful. The article also reminded me of strategies my past teachers had used on me as an elementary school student. I was reminded about "word families" and how helpful referring to them while reading was. It's a great way to associate particular letter groupings with the sounds they make. It's also a helpful way to break a word into pieces, sound each piece out, and then put each piece together again to make a word. I found an exercise that would be very helpful to students and something I will use in my future classroom. 

Source

Will you emphasize "word families" in your future classroom?

What are some fun activities that can incorporate "word families?"

Literacy in Young Children

In the joint position statement, it's made clear that the single most important way to improve a young child's literacy is reading aloud to them. In order for this activity to improve their literacy, children need to be active participants in the reading as well as comfortable and secure with the choice in book. Great ways to enhance the experience is to ask questions, describe the pictures, predict what's going to happen next, and retell the story. As an early reader I remember my parents reading stories aloud to me and then retelling it back to them. I think that because my parents enjoyed reading aloud to me I was fully prepared to learn how to read in kindergarten.

I really enjoyed reading "Letting Go of 'Letter of the Week.'" I found it interesting to read all of the strategies that the teachers incorporated into the kindergarten classroom. I really loved that on the first day the teacher asked if the students could read and then introduced to them logos such as McDonalds and M&M's. That exercise got the kids excited about reading and raised their confidence.

The article about phonemic awareness explained how important poems, songs, chants, and nursery rhymes are to young children. These types of literature contribute highly to young children's sensitivity to sound structure. In elementary school I remember always singing songs and favoring rhyming books. My favorite were always Dr. Seuss books because they rhymed and were always goofy.

Do you remember your parents or teachers reading aloud to you?

What were your favorite rhyming books to read as a child? As an adult?

Keeping Up With The Joneses

The article "The Jones Family's Culture of Literacy" emphasizes the importance of family involvement in a student's literacy. The Jones family is made up of African American women who know the importance of literacy and have raised their family with that in mind. This article made me think about what my family did to help me excel at reading and writing. As a child I remember my parents writing notes to each other, Mom writing grocery and to-do lists, reading for pleasure, and writing checks. Observing them doing these things increased my desire to be literate so I could join their world of letters and words. What are some things vivid in your childhood that promoted your reading and writing skills?

In Chapter 3 of Classrooms That Work, one thing I found interesting is the importance of labels inside and outside of the classroom. In the preschool classroom that I work at, everything is labeled and children are encouraged to refer to the labels. This taught me that my classroom needs to be print-rich and filled with labels so children are encouraged to read throughout the day. What are some ways that your teachers have encouraged you to read?

Exemplary Teachers

"What I've Learned About Effective Reading Instruction" emphasized the importance of exemplary teachers in the classroom. One point I found very interesting is the need for teachers to give students options. When students are reading something they enjoy and are interested in, they are found to become much more successful readers. My favorite language arts teachers in the past had always given students choices on what books to read each day and always gave us a lot of reading time. What is a good amount of time to spend reading in the classroom each day? Classrooms That Work addressed the importance of reading aloud to the class, another fond memory of mine from elementary school. Read aloud is a great way to start class discussions and go over things like comprehension, main ideas, and details.