Continuing Section 2 - In the last part of this section, the authors sum up a lot of what we have already learned in this course. Teachers need to conference with their students and provide instruction based on their observations in a variety of methods. whole groups, small groups, pairs, and one-on-one. Also, something that Miller and Moss talk about to an extent is classroom libraries and varieties of text. Actually they support Fountas and Pinell's claim that a classroom library should have "between 300 and 600 titles." Wow! Miller and Moss also speak the level of texts that students should be reading during IR time. They note that may independent texts are not the best. That actually students may benefit more from more difficult texts. Finally, the authors examine the idea that this cannot be done without the proper tools and support. Students needs incentive programs in order to want to strive to make progress and read more. They also need a variety of text to choose from. However, the key lies within the teachers. Teachers need ongoing professional development in order to continue to help their students.
Not being a classroom teacher, I do not know the struggle of stocking a classroom library, but I do know that our literacy coach has worked really hard to get materials for our teachers to use and stock their libraries with. So, this is something that other people are taking note of as well. I also truly enjoyed the notion that not all instruction has to come in whole group. This is something that I think general education teachers have gotten hung up on with the mandated 90 minute ELA block. They feel that they have to teach that mini lesson to the whole group, and they also feel that workshop needs to take place in the same manner and structure every day. I have worked closely with Marilyn Friend over the course of the past two years, and she states that for students with learning disabilities, this cannot be the case. I would think that this would be the same for a heterogeneous group of students regardless. So, it was nice to see some validation in that. We need to be more flexible during that 90 minute block and our teaching methods so that we can reach every student every day!
Hi Whitney,
ReplyDeleteI am glad that this chapter helped provide a context for the importance of not only quantity of books in a well stocked classroom library, but also the quality of books and especially, the element of student choice. I know as a resource teacher you teach students on a wide variety of grade levels and reading levels and may not have your own classroom, especially when you are pushing into other teacher's classrooms during intervention. I am wondering if it is possible to provide students some structured choice within your one on one and within your small group reading instruction. I know we have to use an evidence based curriculum with our students who have IEPs and with your LLI curriculum I am wondering if you could choose two or three books and allow students to choose which one they want to read that you can use. Sometimes that little element of choice can make a big difference in student motivation and willingness to apply the strategies and skills we are teaching them.
Like you, I advocate for small group instruction as part of the 90 minute block so our students have opportunities for support for their whole group instruction and also for their independent application of the reading strategies and support they are given.
Sincerely,
Dawn
I agree with you on providing some choice to help my students have some ownership of their reading, and that is a great idea. I will definitely try to utilize that tool this school year.
ReplyDeleteI think where we miss the mark on the whole group instruction thing, is that not all students need the same thing. We can get our curriculum taught in many ways, and when there is an incredibly diverse group, small group is the way to go. Especially if you have two teachers in the room.