Pin it to Teach it
Content Area Literacies Blog (LLED 3530)
Textbook: Tovanni, C. (2004). Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?: Content Comprehension, Grades 6-12. Stenhouse Publishers: Portland, ME.
April 16, 2014
Goodbye for Now Until We Meet Again…
With only a week and a half left in the semester all of the projects and assignments are coming to a close. Even though this class may end I do hope to continue blogging about what I use and experience in my student teaching next year. I won’t make any promises, but I hope to let you know how my incorporating of content literacy in my lessons goes.
Am I scared? Not really, just nervous about the obstacles I know I will face. But I’m excited and still motivated to do the best I can. I know I won’t be an expert my first year and that it will be very exhausting, but with the skills I have learned I’m hoping that even when I’m tired I’ve still reached my students through processes that work. I still don’t know how I am going to decide what is most important to teach and what is the least so that at the end when we run out of time the not so important stuff is what was left out. I feel like through my student teaching next year I will be able to figure out the teacher’s process and either do it the way they did or base my reasoning off of it somehow.
I can’t wait to build my classroom and lessons through Pinterest. You don’t understand how much it has grown since this course has begun. I have boards for every subject, my classroom, and teacher ideas. I will use what I can next year without taking over my student teaching classroom too much, but I will also figure out what I can use on my own once I’m out in the world on my own. I really hope that I have inspired you to collect ideas on your own in whatever way works best for you. Pinterest may not be appealing for you, but using this tool has opened up my eyes to so many different ideas that I really recommend that every teacher have some type of collection device.
I just hope that through the content literacy skills I have learned that I can incorporate them into my class and really teach my students to read, write, discuss, and listen to the best of their ability. I want to teach them skills they will use for a lifetime that really help them and not just for a couple days in my class. I really feel like my reading comprehension and discussion skills have improved during this class so I really trust them. I plan on keeping my Tovani book and going back to it when I need ideas or guidance. She struggled, but look at what she could do with those students! It’s incredible!
“Content literacy” meant nothing to me over 3 months ago and now I think it is one of the most important concepts in teaching no matter what subject you teach. I was skeptical, but I really learned a lot about myself during this course. Reading, writing, talking, and listening skills are so important and I can’t wait to see how this next generation of teachers decides to focus on these skills with our students at stake!
I really enjoyed these past 13 weeks of blogging and I hope you have enjoyed reading my thoughts and ideas. Now I’m off and hope to see you soon in the teaching world!
Sincerely,
Pin It To Teach It
February 23, 2023
Talks & Tests
Not all assignments need to be individual. We’ve learned how much students gain from class discussions and in chapter 7 of Tovani we read about the importance of small group discussions. But I think that small group discussions can be even better! The only downside to these is that you have to monitor the discussions so that they don’t get off topic and waste time. I feel like if a small assignment or task is assigned to the group then they have a real goal to reach by working together on the topic. Examples that I can think of are like the ones in this chapter such as the questions sheet and quote explanation sheet. By allowing my students to work in small groups where I can’t be in charge or lead them it is showing them that they have the power to lead their own discussions. This can build so many skills without them even knowing. I would start off all of their discussions with a question or statement and then they can go off on their own in any direction they please. Then the worksheet or assignment they have to complete would have the same number of parts are the people in the group so that a rule can be that each person has to start off one part of the assignment so that they can also begin discussions and not just comment when all of the opinions are actually said.
I plan to build the groups myself so that I can move the kids around. This will make sure that they don’t get in a normal routine and they will learn the different skills that others use without even knowing. They will grow as individuals by expressing their own opinions and taking in others’ without judgment while also learning the information. I want to be able to walk around and have them feel comfortable with be just jumping in. I hope that through the feedback that I provide them that they can develop their strategies through each discussion we have. I hope to have one per week on the topics we are learning about.
On the following website there are tips for teaching students how to participate in group discussions:
Then as move on to chapter 8 (lots to cover this week) we learn about how to assess our students. I personally am not a good test taker. I had to try really hard in school to do well. High school was not a breeze for me like it was for so many people I am now in college with. I really loved when teachers would assess our learning in different ways. I want to build on assessments and really utilize the different ways that I can check to see what my students have learned. I even feel like giving options is a good thing. Like if they want to take a test they can or they can give a class presentation. I can’t decide if I want to assess unit by unit or build upon their knowledge each time. I know a lot of kids get frustrated when teachers build instead of move on, but I really feel like you learn the information better that way. Plus if you’re really learning it then it shouldn’t be a problem.
Final Project Preview:
I am in a group of 4 for the project, Two of us are doing one subject and the other two will do another. With my partner we are doing social studies. We plan to make a booklet or pamphlet with a variety of reading strategies that we would use as social studies teachers. The strategies will defined and we will label what type of learners will best benefit from each of the strategies. We want to reach all of the learning types if possible.
April 02, 2014
Reviewing My Peers’ Views on Content Literacy
This week we got the chance to read our classmates’ blogs and pick out the quotes that caught our eye! I love doing this and finding my favorite things! So to get started I have attached a quote from 5 blogs and the link to each so that if anything catches your eye you can go explore!
“One of my philosophies as a future educator is to foster up independent learners. I want my students to be able to leave my classroom with the necessary support to think, inquire, and investigate for themselves.”
I love this! I don’t just want to teach my students random information and then pass them onto the next grade. No! I want them to be engaged in my classroom and really enjoy the process of learning! I think teaching is all about the skills you give to your students! Through my education, student teaching, and years to come I hope to develop different strategies and skills (that work) to teach my students that will really help them with their reading and writing!
“I don’t know if my definition of ‘content literacy’ has changed however my view of the importance of it has most definitely changed. A little over three weeks ago I did not even know why I was in this class and now I am finding myself transforming into a strong advocate for reading, writing, speaking and listening in every classroom.”
When I was told I had to take this class I was so confused of why because I am a science and social studies education major. I was like I’m not language arts for a reason! But a few weeks into the class I really began to understand the importance of teaching content literacy in every classroom. I see how important reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills are in every day life even as a junior in college. These are the skills our students need help on. Yes the content we teach is important, but being able to contribute or even lead a group discussion is so much more important for them to know than the parts of a flower. BUT the great thing is you can teach these skills and the information together! Hitting two birds with one stone is the way to go!
“As long as the reading pertains to the class, and as long as the students are making connections, they can choose the reading at their reading level or one that challenges them the perfect amount.”
As I have preached about it is so pointless to give a student a piece of difficult text when they can’t comprehend it! I want my students to be able to come to me (or vice versa) and be able to ask for help when they don’t understand a text! I want to build their reading levels. We’re not super heroes, we can’t fly to the top of the mountain, we have to climb up step by step to get there! I’m so excited to be able to help my struggling and advanced readers grow!
“Teachers should be providing countless number of assisted texts, giving assignments that will further their thinking on the material, and allowing time for students to ask questions and make sense of the text with the teachers’ assistance. Students do not become independent readers independently, they need the help of the teacher and other sources to achieve this goal.”
I support this entire quote, but my favorite part was about the fact that students don’t become independent readers independently! I want my students to take homes their texts, read them, and break them down with the skills that help them the most. Then I want them to come back to class and discuss with me. This will both gain and affirm their understanding! This will be positive for both them and I! I cannot wait to help break down the text with them as they learn to lead discussions. I hope by winter break of every school year I am able to come back and not be the one leading the text discussions. That will let me know if I have done my job.
“Curiosity is a sign of engagement. If a student is curious about your content, then they must be thinking about your content and are exploring the areas that interest them because they want to, not because you are asking them to.”
I hope that each student that passes through my class is curious in my room at multiple times during the year! I don’t expect them to want to know about everything I have to teach. But they will learn so much about themselves when they find information or material that really touches them! I love learning about people and relationships. Now as an adult those are things that are important to me. By learning about the relationships and different people in history I grew as a person myself. I want them to grow as people who want to find what they love about the world!
I hope you have gotten as much out of this as I have! Let me know if you have anything to add! I would love to hear your thoughts too!
March 26, 2014
Give Time for Thinking
This week I read chapter 6 in “Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?” by Cris Tovani. The chapter was titled “Holding Thinking to Remember and Reuse”. I think kids really struggle with reading something and then having to remember what it was about, especially when you make them read out loud. I really liked the strategies that Tovani used to help the kids remember what they thought as they read.
Tovani suggested assigning the kids a reading and having them make a certain number of thoughts in the margins (or with sticky notes). This got the kids to put their ideas down and be able to remember them. She taught them this strategy using a picture that they were able to tell us their thoughts on and then she gave them a small piece of writing. They were told to put their thoughts, questions, or the main ideas. Whatever they chose was important. By doing this the students can better comprehend the material because they are having to pick out from a paragraph their favorite or most important idea which gives them the power.
The chapter also introduced multiple graphic organizers one can use to remember what they think.
In the first organizer the students are told to record the title, new vocabulary words, bold print, and graphics. Then they can make a graphic showing how these features in the text connect to each other. The second was a three column organizer that had the three titles: “question I asked that I can answer after reading the article”, “Question my teacher could answer if I asked”, and “Question I can answer myself by inferring”. Then below each was the question and answer. The final graphic organizer of ideas is one we know very well the double entry diary. This is once again where in the left column they write the “quote and page number” and in the second column they can either make a “connection (this reminds me of…)”, ask a “question (I wonder…)”, or show “confusion (I don’t understand…)”.
All of these organizers are so helpful to all readers, both developing and experts. By teaching these skills and using them repeatedly in the classroom the students can learn which ones they like and which ones work best for them! This is just another way to help them remember and comprehend what they are reading!
February 23, 2023
Diversity in Content Literacy
I am in an education society at my university for early childhood and middle grades majors. Tonight we had a speaker come to talk about diversity. I wasn’t excited at first because that word has been drilled into my mind so much over the past two years that I feel like there is almost nothing left that I haven’t already heard. Well tonight was different. Dr.Love was amazing and she is even doing a Ted Talk tomorrow which engaged me immediately when she said that (I love Ted Talks).
Dr.Love began by telling us that she teaches about Hip Hop. She doesn’t teach her students how to sing or rap or dance. She teaches the importance of it in engaging African American students with their education. She gave us this example:
“When you are in a class of third graders and you ask one student how their day has been what happens? The one student answers, but if you look almost all of the other students’ hands are up because they want to tell you about their day. They aren’t listening to the first student because they are only thinking about themselves. In Hip Hop when in a rap circle (correct me if that’s wrong) they don’t raise their hands when it is their turn. They listen to one another and feel it when it is their turn to add their thoughts to the circle. If we could get our third graders and all students in general to listen to one another and add onto each thought instead of just disregarding what is being said they would gain so much knowledge and skill over time!”
I was blown away! It’s so true! This made me think about content literacy. If the students would think about what they hear and read they can build off of that and really comprehend what they learn! The discussions and papers they write would be so much more in depth rather than each person just saying their opinions and not building off of them. Individual opinions are so important, but I feel like in my own classes the best discussions I have gained information from were the ones built off of what each student in the class was saying. One giant built upon idea will stick way better in a student’s head over twenty individual ideas!
Other Thoughts on Education:
I also have four other points to make that I learned about from Dr.Love, but they don’t exactly relate to the major point I talked about below in Blog 9.
First, she showed us STEM which is science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. But then the word STEAM appeared on the board. She added the A which stands for Art! Of course this got me excited because I think that is sooooo important. Expressing creativity and learning about different avenues of learning besides reading and writing is important!
Second, she talked about the first time that African American students see themselves in social studies. She said that the first people they learn about that look like them are slaves and that really brings kids down. If that’s the FIRST thing they see of course they aren’t going to be interested! That is so sad and not motivating at all! You have to tell them about the leaders in slavery and the positive aspects that came from it! School is all about learning about yourself and when it is presented in a negative form you don’t want to learn that!!!
Next, Dr.Love mentioned co-teaching with the students. She said that by having your students individually teach the class after you have then they can relate to it more. The kids have connections to one another that you as a teacher just don’t have with them. The students can show each other how to understand it from their point of view which will help them, but also help you to understand how to better your teaching skills to their needs! This also builds on their learning because teaching someone something is the best way to show that you know it and it builds their public speaking skills!
Finally, relationships was the final point she had for us. Students are more engaged and care more when they can see that you care about them! You can’t fake them. She told us that students can tell when you don’t really care. I hated when teachers were just there for the job. I want to individually know each of my students! I felt like I knew them really well and it made me realize that I will be able to do that in the future too!
Education is changing and I’m learning what is most important and it’s not just the standards! I am so excited to be a teacher!!!
March 04, 2014
Building Content Literacy
When you build anything you start at the bottom and go up from there. You can’t start at the top because there is nothing to support it. It will just crash! All of the energy you spent building it would have been a total waste.
That is how I feel about children who are not on the level they should be on. Teachers don’t always see it that way. You see I believe in helping children grow, I don’t want them to fail. By giving them an assignment or reading especially that is too difficult for them they will not be able to figure it out, will become discouraged, and have wasted their time.
We should test each student when they come into our class for content literacy knowledge through reading and writing. Based off of this we will know how to individually help them. Yes I know this sounds like a lot of work and you wonder how I will have time for it, but sometimes you have to make time for what is most important.
It doesn’t matter if they read Huckleberry Finn for Mark Twain’s famous writing style and because it is a classic American novel. It matters that our children’s reading comprehension is being strengthened and that they understand the different aspects of literature/language arts. If they can learn those same aspects through a book like Finn that can build on their reading levels then THAT is what is important!
For example, choosing the right book for you is so important when you are wanting to improve your reading level! This chart visually shows how to know whether your choice of literature is too hard, too easy, or just right!
Now moving on to what I found on Pinterest this week!
I want my students to realize that as they read they should be thinking and not just skimming the words. They should be using the text as evidence to understand the text! I found this chart about the different ways they can be thinking as they read and I would love to have them write in their reading response journals once a week using this. Summarize, question, connect, infer, visualize, and predict are all important strategies that are helpful to good readers!
I also want them to write. Write, write, and write. Like there’s no tomorrow. I want them to be so fantastic at writing when they leave my class that they will be so prepared for the next year! I plan to give writing topics or a list of topics and allow them to choose which of the above they want to write. I think if I had them all keep a checklist of which ones they have done, then they get to be in charge of what they write and all of them will be eventually completed. I think this is a great way to give them freedom by also teaching them important content literacy skills.
My final note for today is something I don’t always touch on. Speaking and listening are so important and are always in need of practice especially at that age. Through the above beach ball activity they can practice knowing how they want to answer questions about different texts while also listening to the answers other students give about texts. This will build onto their understanding greatly. Discussion is great for younger students to learn early because participating in discussions later on should be easy and comfortable and not hard or scary to do.
I’m shocked that I’m saying this, but I can totally see and support the teaching of content literacy in every content area! I cannot wait to plan my lessons around this and to help my students become better readers, writers, speakers, and listeners.
February 20, 2014
My Text Set on Food Webs
This is the first text set I have ever created and I really enjoyed putting together the sources I wanted to use! I chose a question about food webs. Which organism in the food web receives the least amount of energy from the producers? I found two videos, an article, a powerpoint, a book of poems, and a document full of worksheets to complete my text set for my students!
“The Magic School Bus: Gets Eaten” Video
The video provides valuable information on the connections between animals and how energy is transferred. This is a great video to engage and explain the different levels in a food web and food chain. I would probably do this about halfway through when they start to loose focus of the topic.
“Food Web Concept and Applications" Article
This is a longer article that I would have my student break down and take notes from. I think it will challenge their reading skills while also help them to learn more in depth information about food webs and the relationships organisms have with one another when it comes to energy transfer.
"Food Chains and Webs” Document/Notes/Worksheets
These are great notes on food webs and other vocabulary related to this unit. It comes with great notes, worksheets, and questions to continue the understanding of the topic. I would definitely use these for my class, but I would break them down into power point form for the students to take better notes with so that it is not too overwhelming.
“What’s for Dinner?” Book of poems
I would use this book twice a day in my class to both start and end the lesson. Each page of the book contains a poem and a graphic of ‘who eats what’. I would have them explain to me what each living thing is in relation to one another in the food chain so that they could practice and understand.
“Food Chains, Food Webs, Energy Pyramid in Ecosystems” Video
This video is mainly informative and less entertaining, but it gives a lot more facts and information that can be taken down as their notes on food webs. It explains the different levels of living things which includes producer, consumers, scavengers, herbivores, decomposer and ends with a predator.
“Food Chains/Webs” Powerpoint
This is a great powerpoint of notes for my students to go over together. This would be better for older grades such as seventh or eighth, especially because of the amount and difficulty of the reading material. I would have them take notes and discuss from each slide.
This is the question that I based my text set off of! This is a sample test question I found for my middle school biology class. It includes knowledge, comprehension, and application. I also love that it includes a diagram for them to visualize. If this is at the end of the semester on a final exam this would maybe help to trigger their memory. It will also help them to solve the problem.
February 19, 2014
“Just Right” Texts
This week we read chapter 4 from Tovani this week. It was about the transition of textbooks to different types of text that are more appropriate for those struggling readers that are not at grade level.
The materials are usually above their grade level, concepts are introduced too quickly, too many vocab words that they won’t get a chance to use, and not much background knowledge on the topic. I want them to be engaged in the text and make sure they have the actual potential to understand. I love the word perseverance (weird I know), but I want to encourage them to persevere!
I want them to actually understand the concepts many events share. I want to give them accessible texts of many different reading levels. The texts will be based on their interests and what they already know. They need to practice with texts there are at a good difficulty level for them! Or they will get nothing out of it!
I also believe in alternative assignments. It really bothered me in the book when the teacher didn’t want to give the student an alternate assignment. I love that they are called companion pieces. The plot points and themes are similar, but the texts are easier to understand which is so important for struggling readers!
I can’t wait to have text sets for each unit of study in my classroom! They will gain a broad perspective and an in depth sense of subject matter. The texts will be different genres, lengths, and formats. Connecting each of the readings together whether they are poems or letters or articles will be a skill that they will use forever!
As a struggling reader even today I know how much I would have appreciated having accessible texts that could have helped me to practice my reading comprehension skills so I definitely support this teaching practice in schools today.
February 19, 2014
When I Grow Up…
I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. There was a random time in high when I thought I wanted to do law or medicine, but we all go through the phase at one point or another. Kids are so happy and fun. They deserve someone who will help make school fun, enjoyable, and meaningful and I really think I can be the person to do that. I’ve always loved babysitting and shadowing the different teachers I have been with so I know that I enjoy the environment and work.
Some of my favorite people in the world have been my teachers. My ninth grade English teacher taught me what sarcasm was. I literally loved the way she talked. Through her personality I fell in love with the class and worked so hard to impress her and to get the most out of the class that I could. I really hope to be able to do that one day for someone.
You know what I hate? When I doubt my love for teaching and question if I could have done something better. When I tell myself that I’m not smart enough because I’m not a science or business major. Well you know what not everyone can be a doctor. There have to be educators and I know they don’t make the most or get a lot of credit, but I realized I don’t need or want that. I want to spend my days with kids who I can inspire and impact.
I have loved the two teachers I have shadowed for. They changed my life. I hope they know that they made me want to be a teacher. I can’t wait to send them a picture of my adorable classroom one day and say thank you.
On that note…the classroom…I will have the cutest room EVER. I literally cannot wait to decorate and organize. I have pinned SO many ideas of lesson planning and organizing!
Plus each day is something different. Isn’t that so amazing? I mean they are never going to act the same or say the same things every day. They’ll grow and change and I will get to be a part of that. I could cry!
I am so excited to be a part of the public education in this country and I cannot wait to have my first set of kids! I could talk about why I want to teach, how I feel about the curriculum, and all of those things, but I really want to just focus on what I am excited about because thinking about the things I have no control over can really get to a person.
When I grow up I want to be the best teacher!
February 12, 2014
Irritating Teachers Create Unproductive Students
So I never thought I would find an idea of a teacher that I absolutely hated, but I did and I want to share it with the world.
This science teacher believes in “Not answering students’ questions”.
I am in a science teaching methods class right now based around physcial science. I want to be the best science teacher I can be, but I can’t do that unless I understand the ideas and topics. Every time we ask questions we don’t get real answers and it is so frustrating because it just turns into a giant 20 minute discussion where I am even more confused than I was before AND there is still no known answer. When students have questions I understand wanting them to think on their own and building critical thinking skills, but they can’t do that if they don’t know what is going on. I believe in probing them with a question and helping them based on the answer they give you. If they seem even more confused then help them out, but if they caught on from your clue then you know asking a question was okay. But if we irritate and frustrate our students they will not enjoy coming into our classrooms and learning. I try to go into my physical science class open minded each time, but until they help us to understand the topics through answers and not questions I will be unmotivated and frustrated to learn the topic.
February 12, 2014
Text Connections
ELA in the Middle is a great blog of pictures showing the literacy ideas she uses in the classroom! I love her posters and boards she makes!
I really love this one about connecting the text to self, text, world, and media! This is a great way to engage the students in the reading which is what I think is most important! Once they feel connected to the text then they are more likely to understand it and remember it! Plus this is a great skill that can be used in every content area and through many years of schooling!
February 12, 2014
My Think Alouds:
This was one of my first think alouds with two different types of text. The first was a Social Studies text and the second a Math text.
This is what I did with my Social Studies text:
-I read the whole text from beginning to end while asking questions along the way
-I labeled to the best of my abilities the who, what, when, where, and why
-I underlined the main points of each paragraph which was especially hard for the longer ones
-I then realized that the whole first paragraph was actually just one sentence which was both confusing and frustrating
-I labeled the definitions, what was difficult such as the vocabulary and what was hard for me to understand.
This is what I did with my Math text:
-I circled all of the main headings
-I underlined all of the main points
-I labeled with words such as simplify the main points in one word summary
-I also noted that they need examples shown vertically and not just horizontally because math is usually vertical and easier for students to visualize
February 12, 2014
Thinking through your Reading, Writing, and Literacy
Reading and writing in the content areas:
I know this is a major topic right now for all teachers because they are extending the role of teaching literacy to all content areas. The podcast emphasized about five different ideas that I really liked. Here are my thoughts and her tips!
1) Structure and organization of information to help them organize their writing: This is so important to me because you can’t just give students a blank slate and expect them to know what to do. But if you teach specific avenues of organizing their thoughts and words they will have no problem going back to these organizational charts and making them work for them.
2) Tables and graphs: Read, Write, Revise. Those were the authors main points when it came to looking at difficult text. By teaching the students to make claims and support them with details of evidence they can practice their writing skills while also incorporating their reading, speaking and listening when they work with a partner.
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make claims and write evidence to support that claim
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look at data and make sense with partner
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write about data
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revise it and share it
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Quick write to be a building block skill (so important!)
3) Challenge: so many standards and not enough time. This is one of the main things I am worried about as a future teacher. How will I have enough time to teach all of the standards adequately while also making sure every student masters them? Also if I do have to go back and reteach how will I decide which standards are more important than others?
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need to deeply engage with standards
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what do you do if they don’t master the standard?
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if you reteach how do you decide what to give up
4) Research in science about a claim that they have ownership with (care about): I think this is both genius and obvious. Of course the students will be more engaged in topics that they pick and are interested in. Why haven’t we been doing this forever?
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driven by a student’s engagement you get more from the student
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move away from “everybody write about X”
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this will help them to engage them in the content and the task
5) Content writing: writing in different forms: I think this is obvious also because we are moving into such a digital revolution that it makes no sense at all not to use the resources we have and to teach them about technology and the different avenues of expressing their thoughts and work on content literacy.
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letters, digital stories, videos
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think outside the box (different avenues)
February 04, 2014
Pre-Reading in Every Content Area
Our Tovani (chapter 3) reading this week involved different types of texts and the different reading processes that come with each. For example in math and engineering classes they have to be able to read scales, comprehend directions and read word problems. While science teachers can teach how to read data, charts, graphs and tables.
Modeling Reading:
When giving a piece of literature to children it is best that they slow down their reading process to be able to understand it better. By slowing down, recording questions, and discussing the answers they are building on comprehension and knowledge of the text that they wouldn’t have had through just reading it through once. By pulling out the most interesting part of a book for your students to read before actually reading the whole book from beginning to end you are able to engage them in the text and teach them strategies, such as slowing down and asking questions which they can then use while reading on their own. Reading skills are used every day as we read such as deciding what is most important and recalling prior information, but we read so often that we sometimes look past these important skills that have become so mundane in our minds. Next time you read slow down and really think about the reading process and it will shock you how much more you learn!
Pre-reading activities:
Research has shown that pre-reading is almost more important than the actual reading and should take about 50% of the lesson. Preparing to read through any strategies helps the reader to connect the new information to prior knowledge that they have stored.
February 03, 2014
How Schools Kill Creativity
I found this on my search for a TED talk on literacy. It doesn’t exactly focus on literacy, but I love the main points that Ken Robinson made. Not all students are going to learn the same and if we try to make students be the same we are going to kill all of their creativity. At this rate a college degree will mean nothing in 30 years because everyone will have one. But if we encourage the arts our world will grow and flourish in a new direction! I am all for bringing out the creativity in children through education. This can both engage and inspire them to do great things and as a future teacher that is my goal!
One of my new favorite starters: Question cubes & Journal prompt sticks!
When they come into class they can decide which one they would like to participate in to assess them of what they read the night before or day before in class. The question cubes would be for those who like to work in groups and discuss. This would apply to the reading, listening, and speaking aspects of content literacy. The other option would be the journal prompt sticks which would allow them to use the reading and writing aspects while also getting to work alone. If I used this multiple times I would ask the students to not always do the same one so that they can practice all of their content literacy skills!
January 29, 2014
The Application of Content Literacy in the Math Classroom
At the school that I go to you can only choose two focused subject areas to study for the major. I chose science and social studies. But when I was with my mentor teacher last semester she informed me that she was language arts, but she teachers math and science. So I want to prepare myself as well as I can to be able to teach math and language arts.
CONTENT LITERACY (updated definition for this week): an application of strategies through reading, writing, speaking, and listening to use in the math classroom to work through different math units with more than just numbers and symbols.
Our reading this week was chapter 3 from Cris Tovani’s, “Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?”. I felt as though it focused more on math education so that is what I decided to research this week.
This chapter emphasized making sure that your students know that you also struggle with reading at times and that if I can get through it, so can they. I want to be able to offer them multiple strategies to use to get through reading different texts so that they can choose what works best for them. I plan on teaching one or two per week at the beginning of the school year and then making a poster for each one to have on the walls of my classroom. I’ve realized that even though you have so much to teach them and not very much time to do it in, you also have to make sure that they are getting out of education what they will use forever and will help them as they move on through their education. Working just on math and not thinking about content literacy will hurt all of your students. I plan on having students that are great at math and teaching content literacy will help them apply what they are good at to what they need to work on. While on the other hand if I teach these strategies of content literacy it will help those who aren’t so good at math, but are good at reading. I know how important reading is and they will too one day.
I found an article called “25 Reading Strategies that Work in Every Content Area.” I thought this applied to this week’s reading as well as my own major because I can be studying math and apply those strategies to my own subject areas as well. I loved the graphic below so I wanted to post it.
The author also added these to their list:
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Question the Text
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Stop!
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Monitor & Repair Understanding (While Reading)
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Paraphrase
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Annotate the Text
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Adjust Reading Rate
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Prioritize Information
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Use Graphic Notetaking
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Predict
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Set a Reader Purpose
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Text-connections (text-to-self, text-to-text, text-to-world)
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Skim
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SSQ (Stop, Summarize, Question)
I always learned the best in my math classes when my teacher would show us the “equation”, explain how to do it with notes, and then do practice problems with us until we felt comfortable. My best notes had graphics, paraphrasing, visualization, thinking aloud, and using prior knowledge. Those are all strategies that are useful for math and any other content area.
I would also keep a math journal or notebook for the notes we take in my class. I would help them to keep it organized and have checks to make sure it is being used well for each student.
My teacher has a list of blogs and I loved this post from “Yo: A Math Teacher’s blog.”
This is what a math classroom should be like (in the eyes of multiple classes of current math students). I want to make it fun, work together, and have LOTS of posters (which I already planned on having). I want to make the information understandable and also make my room inviting and enjoyable to come to each day!
My Pinterest find for today! I knew you were waiting for it. After learning about double entry diaries last week I wanted to find something for math that was very similar, but maybe a little more easier to use! I found a math interactive notebook! Like I stated above, if I ever teach math I will definitely use this strategy in my class. On Pinterest I found a blog to help with math note-taking. The blogger’s five points to include in the notebooks were tabs, glossary, pocket, FUN, and planning! She kept them so organized and fun just like she said! This can help the students learn the material, stay organized, go back to what they have previously learned, and to see it more than once (which is never a bad thing).
January 22, 2014
Science Literacy in the Classroom
While being in the mindset of a content literacy teacher this week I created a board on my Pinterest account all about it and began my pin-bingeing. It was fabulous! Here is my pin I want to share this week: For science there are a lot of complex vocabulary words or at least one or two major words per unit. So I found a link to “Word Maps”. These are nifty sheets where the student places the word in the middle then gives a definition, sentence, example, and picture! This would have been great for my fifth graders last semester. This can really help to open a lesson to engage the kids on the full concept of these words!
MY definition of content literacy (as of right now): the ability to effectively read, write, speak, and listen in every content area (math, science, and social studies).
As I read the reading for this week I decided to underline key points to start practicing my literacy skills on my own! We read chapters one and two from “Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?” by Cris Tovani.
This book is based on the perspective of a teacher and how they have decided to incorporate content literacy skills in their own classroom and helping their colleagues to do the same. Some of her tips from the reading include:
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Asking questions to make uninteresting material more interesting
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Having my students read great informational texts instead of always using a textbook
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Double-entry diaries and inner-voice sheets help to help them remember the text and reuse what they learned
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Fix-Up strategies
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Highlighting scientific terms
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Draw a picture to visualize and then reread the passages to verify the accuracy of your drawings
My favorite suggestion was the “So What?” box. In my English class last year my teach did this to help us with the readings we had to do to find the key points that we then used in our papers. She also said the question in class and in our individual meetings for our papers. It made me think more in depth about what I was writing and it truly helped me learn how to write better!
The author changed her definition of teaching content area reading to teaching how to remember and reuse the information we ask them to read. She also said, “Meaning arrives because we are purposefully engaged in thinking while we read.” I loved both of those statements and it made it so much easier for me to understand and to set goals for!
Podcast #1:
Dr. JoAnne Deshon was so refreshing to listen to and she definitely deserved that presidential award from the International reading association. She is a science teacher, which is what I plan to be, so it was so nice to hear specific and usable science literacy strategies that she loves to use in her own classrooms. I COMPLETELY agree with her belief that we should start with these strategies of literacy in science, math, and social studies early on! She recommended even using these in the first grade!
After last week’s readings I definitely plan on having a nonfiction classroom library. She recommended a read aloud for the class from a book that connects to the unit at the beginning, middle, or end. I would definitely open the unit with a nonfiction reading because she said you could read about a major misconception a lot of the students have and then follow that up with a lab or experiment to confront them with their misconception! I thought that was brilliant, engaging, and relevant to them!
There were her ideas and tips on other subjects:
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Writing: daily journals, lab notes, data tables (descriptions not just numbers), conclusions, class newspaper (at the end of a unit)
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Technology: Emails to another class, laptops, type notes to project on the wall for the class
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Professional development: graduate school for new teachers, goes in depth, not just a workshop
Dr.Deshon’s view on grad school gave me a whole new perspective on it. I’m planning on going right after my undergrad, but have heard a lot of negative feedback on doing it immediately before going into actual teaching. I just know that I wouldn’t be able to handle teaching and going to school at the same time so I know this is the right decision for me and I will deal with the hardships as they come. I really am glad that it is going to be both beneficial to me as a teacher and to my students.
Her final comment was about a website that really influenced her while she was in grad school so I plan on visiting it soon!
January 15, 2014
My Beginning Thoughts on Context Literacy
I am a current upperclassman at a southern university in the United States. I am getting my bachelors degree in middle grades education with an emphasis on science and social studies. I will be doing my official final internship in a school next year and would like to gain some skills and ideas before jumping right in! You probably should know that I am IN LOVE with the website Pinterest. I have learned so much from it and hope to use it in my classroom a lot. I want to connect my love for it into my everyday lessons so that I always keep my students are the edge of their seats!
I am writing this blog for my class related to content literacy. I love the idea and can’t wait to write about my ideas and thoughts! I also would love to build a network of teachers to gain your insight and thoughts as I begin my journey into the world of teaching! I absolutely love children and cannot wait to spend every day with them! This is what I feel I was meant to do and I hope that through Pinterest, my education, and experiences I can do it!
I had never really thought about content literacy until this class. I’m developing an understanding for what it is while also trying to compile applicable practices that I can use in my class. Hopefully I can gain the understanding of it this semester through readings such as the ones I commented on below and through the assignments.
Content Area Literacy and Learning: Selected Sources for the 21st Century An Annotated Bibliography By: the NWP
I really like how the article emphasized reading and writing and gave resources for teachers to use to improve on teaching and lessons. They also separated the literacy into the three categories that I completely agree with. It was a little complex to understand at first, but the resources helped me to better understand. The NWP gives sources for specific subjects such as history, science, and math. There are also specific blogs for each classroom subject when it comes to reading strategies too. The bibliography also contained more broad sources such as books on general reading strategies for content areas and disciplinary literacy.
How important is teaching literacy in all content areas? By: Rebecca Alber
First of all, can I just start by saying how articles like this are my favorite! She organized the article perfectly so that I could understand the different components of literacy. When she began by giving these components a more understandable name of communication skills the idea actually clicked in my mind. As she listed the skills of listening, reading, writing, and speaking I felt like I actually knew what she was talking about before she even started.
My thoughts after reading the introduction: I realized that I want to be able to focus on these skills as a teacher, but the standards and content I’ve seen and worked with make it difficult to be able to get even that done in a class period. I want to learn the HOW strategies of teaching so that I can help them to apply these basic yet super important communication skills every day in class. I’m also afraid of becoming repetitive so I hope I can mix it up in the class without getting boring.
Then I read on…
Speaking: think-pair-share, elbow partner, shoulder share, and chunk and chew.
Writing: informal writing assignments: quick writes, stop and jots, one minute essays, and graffiti conversations. (I will definitely be looking into the National Writing Project. I also will find a writing process that I really understand and enjoy (that also has the support of my Language Arts teachers). Maybe I can do one writer’s workshop each unit? Then they can pick the topic they want to write about from the unit and grow from there!) (Also I am so excited to be able to try out a science journal.)
This article is so great at giving SPECIFIC ideas on how to practice these communication skills. I hate when professors want me to come up with the ideas. I know that in the long run I will be able to come up with things on my own, but as a student teacher I really want someone just to teach me how to do it so that I can practice.
Reading: previewing text, reading for a purpose, making predictions and connections, think alouds, and using graphic organizers. I also never thought of having a non-fiction classroom library! This would be awesome since I will be teaching science and social studies!
I cannot wait to plan lessons around reading, writing, interpreting, and presenting!!!
I also wanted to add the component of visuals which include print, videos, images, and diagrams. I always need to be able to see it to make sure that it is the same idea that I “see” in my head.
The comments were great and so supportive so I know that these four components of content literacy must be stressed and practiced in the classroom!
To Hope, New Teachers, and Re-awakenings By: educatedtodeath
I’m so sorry that the public school system made you so sad and upset. I’ve heard that a lot, but I also have seen great experiences come from it and I have been a part of those. So I want to go into teaching realistically. I don’t want to let it get me down even though I know there are days where it will. I hope then I can confide in friends, family, and bloggers for the advice I need to work through it.
When I left my student teaching last semester I cried. I cried twice actually. The first time was when my mentor teacher turned to me in the hallway and told me how much she appreciated me. She told me that she didn’t feel like she was doing anything for me (she’s very modest), but that she hoped it wasn’t a total waste. I laughed, and when I left that day I cried on the phone to my mom telling her how happy I was to be somewhere I can make a change. The students I worked with there (fifth grade) changed my life. I adore them and hope that one day I run into one of them too.
I got choked up reading the last paragraph of that post. Realizing once more that my dream is coming true and I really get to teach children. I am so excited for this semester and cannot wait to see what is in store!
