Week 7 Assignment 2 and 3

Assignment 2 

1. How can you ensure that your struggling readers have access to texts they can easily read?

            Some schools have libraries of many different types and reading level books in each classroom. This provides all levels of readers something to read. If a 3^rd grader who reads at a 2^nd grade level has some 2^nd grade books to read, they will be able to read much more than they would be able to with 3^rd grade or higher books. 

2. How can you foster a learning environment in which students have many opportunities to practice reading?

            A good way to foster a learning environment with plenty of reading opportunities is by balancing the types of instruction offered in the class. A class where there is whole class instruction, small group  instruction, and side by side instruction will generally have higher achieving readers than classes that are dominated by whole group instruction. 

3. Describe ways in which you can model fluent reading in your classroom throughout the day. 

            Modeling fluent reading in the classroom starts with teachers simply reading with fluency.  As teachers read, it is important that they make a point to acknowledge good reading techniques like intonation and expression at appropriate moments. While students may hear a teacher reading with expression, they may not acknowledge it until it is pointed out to them.

Assignment 3

 

1. Explain the three levels of words and how you can use word levels to decide which words to teach.

Tier 1 words are words that students automatically know and do not need to be told like “bed” and “look”. Tier 2 words are words that are more complicate dlike “freeway” and “democracy”. Tier 3 are words that are specialized to a certain subject like biology and should be taught by a biology teacher and not by an English teacher.

2. How do you teach your students to "chunk" words as a strategy for decoding unfamiliar words? When do you provide this instruction?

          

           If a word is too complicated for a student, they can cover up the front and back of the word and focus on reading the middle of the word. Once they get the middle, they can focus on reading the front and back of the word. Once students can read all chunks of the word, they can then begin piecing the chunks together. This instruction is useful when students reach a word that they have the ability to read, but need a little extra help figuring out how to read it. 

3. Based on Professor Allington's comments and the classroom examples, what are some ways you might foster word study in your classroom?

           

          A great way to foster word study is by adding a small number of words each week to students’ vocabulary from the materials they are covering.  Instead of having separate vocabulary or spelling lessons, students can learn new words through a book or story they are reading.