Assessment

One thing I really liked that Cunningham addressed in her chapter about assessment is that assessment is part of daily life. Working with kids for several years I think the worst parts of assessment are the stigma surrounding it and it's political connotation. I've seen eight year olds in tears over studying for a state regulated test that the school puts a ton of emphasis on. These tests are seen as a way to see who is dumb and who is smart and not to ways to improve instruction and gauge comprehension. As teachers, not politicians, it is our responsibility to utilize assessment to better ourselves as educators and our students through understanding of strengths and weaknesses. As discussed in the reading this is when we are actually assessing students and not just giving tests.  I really like that she points out that even things like reading level help teacher's see how successful they are being as instructors. I also like that she talks about what to do after assessment, not just label students but use the information for effective instruction like guided reading. In my ELL class we've talked a lot about doing full reading profiles on students rather than just one assessment and labeling them:

Link: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/58828338855453613/
 How helpful would something like this be?! You could make one at the beginning of the year and the end. You would include all the information so you can see where there is improvement and struggles. Also, this would be super helpful as the child moves up in grades. Especially if they need special instructions like ESL or TPI's. It helps with knowing the student and making sure they are progressing.

Do you think you could use something like this?
What would be the advantages vs. disadvantages of doing such a thorough profile?

Guided Reading

 A good part of what we will do as teachers is set the foundation for reading in the future. In the article I evaluated it's stated that a child who is a struggling reader in 1st grade is 88% more likely to continue to struggle into 4th grade. My article focused on guided reading as a method of early intervention for readers moving towards fluency. Essentially if teacher's can incorporate guided reading into their classrooms they will more successfully be able to identify what students are struggling with, and provide important background knowledge that can help students with comprehension. We've learned that effective reading instruction is all about balance, guided reading is one effective way to insert reading instruction into the classroom a positive, timely, and most importantly effective manner. Guided reading is another way to meet varying instructional needs of students in the classroom.
Guided reading has 3 fundamental purposes:
1). Teach students to read increasingly difficult texts with understanding and fluency.
2). Construct meaning through problem solving strategies
3). Understand concepts and Ideas not previously encountered
Guided reading is a great way to promote better understanding for all readers. Many students will struggle with a text on their own but when they participate in guided reading are able to better interact with the text. These interactions can mean anything from vocabulary acquisition for struggling readers to clarification of complex ideas for the more advanced one. The verbalization of ideas and concepts helps bring every student to a similar level of understanding.

Activities like the one above are great for helping students get equal speaking time in their groups. They also challenge the student to use good reading strategies in order to retain enough information to answer the questions. Teachers especially in group activities must stay organized to make these lessons effectively work.

Charts like the one above help teachers stay organized and work it effectively.
How would use organize a guided reading lesson in your classroom?

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10643-006-0074-2

Vocabulary

Last Week

Comprehension Part 2

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