What have you seen in language arts/reading instruction?

This week I did not find much difference from last week.  Each morning, the students from reading groups.  In these groups, students will read and do follow-up activities based on the book they have read.  Also, for about 15 minutes students work on their phonics.  This is a new program for me; I have never seen it in any other school I have been in.  This program has students write the word that the teacher says.  Then they are to mark the word.  For example in the work, students should put an x at the bottom of the o because it is a vowel.  Then, students should arch the because it makes one sound.  Each afternoon, students still work on various stories.

What have you taught in your internship?

This week I taught site words to a group of students during Reading Groups in the morning.  The students were reading a book called Families.  Before, they read the book we went over some words that would appear in the books.  We went through them about 3 or 4 times.  This really helped the students become familiar with these words and they were able to read them easily. 

Comment on any interesting things that you have noticed about your school, the teachers, the students, or the curriculum.

I really liked how the teacher had the students read the site words so that they would become more familiar with the words.  They would not be able to move onto the book if they did not know the words.  This is a very good technique for students.

This week I did not find much difference from last week.  Each morning, the students from reading groups.  In these groups, students will read and do follow-up activities based on the book they have read.  Also, for about 15 minutes students work on their phonics.  This is a new program for me; I have never seen it in any other school I have been in.  This program has students write the word that the teacher says.  Then they are to mark the word.  For example in the work, students should put an x at the bottom of the o because it is a vowel.  Then, students should arch the because it makes one sound.  Each afternoon, students still work on various stories.

What have you taught in your internship?

Each day I will go around and monitor what the students are doing.  If they have spelled a word wrong, I will ask them to sound at the word, providing a little help.  Mostly, the interns make sure that the students are on task.  Almost every day, I will help the students improving their stories.

Comment on any interesting things that you have noticed about your school, the teachers, the students, or the curriculum.

One the teachers I worked with in my reading group, would just tell the student the word when they did not know what it is.  I think that in order to learn the word, students need to sound out the word that way they will know how to spell the word.  However, sometimes a teacher will have to just tell the student what the word is.

Each day the students spend an hour in reading groups.  During this time, the students practice reading and also learning how words are pronounced and formed.  After they have read, students do activities in which relate to the book they just read.  Also, for about 20 mins. students work on stories they have been working on all week.  Students raise their hands and one of the interns or the teacher goes around and proofread the students stories.

What have you taught in your internship?

The interns mainly just observe but on Tuesday morning, we were asked to lead our own reading group.  During this time, we read a story and did activities.  The students would ask us for the answer but we did not provide them.  We made the students think for themselves.

Comment on any interesting things that you have noticed about your school, the teachers, the students, or the curriculum.

One thing I found interesting was the students know what blends and digraphs are.  I remember when I was in elementary school, I did not learn this.  The staff at North Wilkesboro Elementary School are all very friendly.  The teacher that I work with is very nice and very helpful.

• Accuracy in Word Decoding – Readers must be able to sound out the words in a text with minimal errors.  To determine proficiency in decoding connected text, calculate the percentage of words a reader can accurately decode on grade-level material.
• Automatic Processing - Readers need to expend as little mental effort as possible in the decoding aspect of reading so that they can use their finite cognitive resources for meaning making.  Teachers can normally assess automaticity in decoding by looking at the student’s reading rate.
• Prosodic Reading - The reader must parse the text into syntactically and semantically appropriate units.  The best way to assess prosodic reading is to listen to a student read a grade-level passage and to then judge the quality of the reading using a rubric that scores a student on the elements of smoothness and pace.

2.    Rasinski refers to fluency as a “bridge” between decoding and comprehension. What does he mean by the “bridge” metaphor?

Rasinski is referring to the fact that one must be able to decode words into meaning which will lead to comprehension of the text.  The bridge is the steps that need to be taken in order to move beyond decoding to comprehension which will lead to a person being fluent. 
3.    What instructional methods does Rasinski suggest for students with difficulties in automatic and prosodic reading?

Rasinski used assisted readings and repeated readings to help develop automaticity and prosodic reading.  Students need to hear what fluent reading sounds like and how fluent readers interpret text with their voices.  Hearing fluent reading is not the same as being a fluent reader.  Assisted readings can help.  After reading a passage to students, the students should follow along silently and then aloud, as a group.  Sometimes fluent readers were pained with students who were having difficulty with reading.  At other times, students would silently read while listening to a fluent rendering fluency and comprehension. Research shows that repeated readings lead not only to improvement in reading the passage but also to improvement in decoding, reading rate, prosodic reading, and comprehension of passages that the reader has not previously seen.  The teacher plays a key role in developing prosodic reading skills by modeling prosodic reading in classroom read-aloud sessions and then discussing the specific oral interpretation that he or she chose. 
4.    Multidimensional Fluency Scale (MFS) is used to measure prosodic quality of oral reading. List components of the MFS and describe briefly what each refers to (p. 49).

• Expression and Volume-

-1.Reads words as if simply to get them out.  LIttle sense of trying to make text sound like natural language.  Tends to read in a quiet voice.

-2. Begins to use voice to make text sound like a natural language in some in areas of the text but not in others.  Focus remains largely on pronouncing the words.  Still reads in a quiet voice.

-3. Makes text sound like natural language throughout the better part of the passage.  Occasionally slips into expressionless reading.  Voice volume is generally appropriate throughout the text.

-4. Reads with good expression and enthusiasm throughout the text.  Varies expression and volume to match his or her interpretation of the passage.

• Phrasing

-1. Reads in monotone with little sense of phrase boundaries; frequently reads word-by-word.

-2. Frequently reads in two- and three-words phrases, giving the impression of choppy reading; improper stress and intonation fail to mark ends of sentences and clauses.

-3. Reads with a mixture of run-ons, mid-sentence pauses for breath, and some choppiness; reasonable stress and intonation.

-4. Generally reads with good phrasing, mostly in clause and sentence units, with adequate attention to expression.

• Smoothness

-1. Makes frequent extended pauses, hesitations, false starts, sound-outs, repetitions, and/or multiple attempts.

-2. Experiences several “rough spots: in text where extended pauses or hesitations are more frequent and disruptive.

-3. Occasionally breaks smooth rhythm because of difficulties with specific words and/or structures.

-4.  Generally reads smoothly with some breaks, but resolves word and structure difficulties quickly, usually through self-correction.

• Pace

-1. Reads slowly and laboriously.

-2. Reads moderately slowly.

-3. Reads with an uneven mixture of fast and slow pace.

-4.  Consistently reads at conventional pace; appropriate rate throughout reading.

Curt is an 8-year-old third grader.

2. What was the flash score for words at: first-grade level? second-grade level? third-grade level?

• First-Grade Level: 75%
• Second-Grade Level: 50%
• Third-Grade Level: 20%

3. What was the accuracy score at: 1-2 level? 2-1 level? 2-2 level?

• 1-2 Level: 97%
• 2-1 Level: 90%
• 2-2 Level: 84%

4. What was the rate score at: 1-2 level? 2-1 level? 2-2 level?

• 1-2 Level: 65 words per minute
• 2-1 Level: 44 words per minute
• 2-2 Level: 36 words per minute

5. What was the percentage correct score for: first-grade words? second-grade words?

Curt spelled six out of the ten first grade words correctly.  However, he spelt all of the  second-grade words incorrectly. 

6. Which grade-level flash score is the best choice for Instruction Level? (*Note: 92-94% accuracy is marginal; take a close look at Rate.)

The best grade-level for Instruction Level would be in the first grade.  Curt would be a first grade reader.  60%-85% accuracy is marginal when it comes to flash words.  Curt scored a 75% when it came to flash words.  Therefore, he would be a first grade reader.

7. Which grade-level accuracy score is the best choice for Instruction Level?

Grade-level accuracy scores for Instruction Level for the first-grade range from 95-97%.  Curt performed at a 97% accuracy level.  He is still at a first-grade level.

8. What do Curt’s rate scores indicate about his grade-level reading? Where is he instructional according to rate?

Curt’s rate scores indicate that he is at a first grade reading level.  He is reading 68 words per minute.  At first grade, a student should be reading between 45 and 85 words per minute.  Therefore, I concluded that Curt is at a first grade reading level.

9. What do Curt’s spelling scores indicate about his Instruction Level?

Curt got six out of ten first-grade spelling words correct.  However, he got all the second-grade spelling words wrong.  Curt’s errors showed characteristics of both the Letter-Name and Within-Word Pattern stages of development.  He represented short vowels conventionally and showed good knowledge of consonant clusters.  There are characteristics of a speller at Within-Word Patter Stage.  However, Curt reverted tot he Letter-Name stage when he failed to mark long vowels in several words. Curt’s spelling reveled a sound but still-developing grasp of one-syllable word patterns that is in the line with his late-first- to early-second-grade word recognition ability.

10. Put all of these scores together, and what do they indicate Curt’s reading level to be?

These assessment results indicate that Curt is a late-first-grade to early-second-grade reader.  He possesses a solid base of first-grade word knowledge, although there is some question as to how fully he ahs automatized this knowledge.  A lack of word recognition automaticity may, in face, be contributing to this child’s slow, potentially debilitating, word-by-word reading style.

 Comprehension of informational texts requires accessing accurate, relevant knowledge, managing mental processes during reading within the confines of a limited working memory, and constructing a coherent mental representation through pruning and organizational processes.

 2. Specify the effect that background knowledge may have on constructing mental representations from informational text. Why should teachers be concerned about activating prior knowledge?

The evidence currently indicates that young children rely heavily on background knowledge in their interactions with text.  Mediations that prompts young readers to activate relevant background information is an important support, but teachers must be sensitive to dialogue indicating that children may be relying on inaccurate or irrelevant prior knowledge.  Ideally, instruction should help children learn touse their prior knowledge of both content and genre to effectively make specific connections to text.  Discussion plays a critical role in exposing inadequate or inaccurate prior knowledge and in scaffolding the meaning construction process of novice readers.

3. What are the three instructional approaches that can be used to help primary-grade students comprehend informational text? Describe their common (p. 365) and distinctive features (p. 363-5).

All three approaches are structures, teacher-facilitated social interactions, focused on increasing students’ comprehension of text.  All three approaches engage students in generating purposeful predictions based on prior knowledge and informational text features, such as pictures, tables of contents, and headings.  The commonalities in all three approaches are an emphasis on reader engagement and social mediation, activation of relevant prior knowledge, and anticipation of what information might be likely to be included in a text.

•  Picture Walk – Conversations occur as the teacher and students preview each page or few pages of a new book, before reading.  The pictures are used as a catalyst for a discussion of what the book is likely to be about.  Two or three vocabulary words are explicitly introduced during the picture walk.  Aimed at promoting fluency and comprehension, the picture walk is used flexibly and in response to students’ needs and the challenges of a particular text.
• Know-Want to Learn-Learn - The KWL techniques enables teachers to assess the prior knowledge of students and to help students develop their own purposes for reading expository text.  KWL is a process during which the teacher generates a discussion about a text topic and uses a chart or worksheet to record student’s statements about what they know (K), want to learn (W), and, after reading, what they learned (L).
• Directed Reading-Thinking Activity - DRTA is an instructional framework that views reading as a problem-solving process best accomplished in a social context.  The teacher’s role is to select an instructional level text, divide the text into meaningful sections, and facilitate discussion of each section of text.  Students are responsible for establishing their own purposes for reading, generating predictions, justifying those predictions, independently reading the text, and verifying or revising predictions based on evaluations of information in the text during the teacher-led discussion of each section.

4. What is the purpose of the experimental study reported?

 The purpose of this study was to explore how the PW, KWL, and DRTA might influence developmental reading abilities and content acquisition when used with informational text in the primary reading group context.  The focus of the investigation was on the ways the difference in instructional approach influenced the construction outcomes with novice readers.

5. Who were the subjects?

 The participants were 31 second-grade students in two demographically similar schools, in the same school district, in a midsize Midwest city.  There were 25 African-Americans, 3 European-Americans, 1 Latino, and 2 Asian/Pacific Islanders.  Of the participants, there were 16 boys and 15 girls.  Teachers recommended students from their classes who had an instructional reading level three to six months below grade level.

6. Describe the reading materials used during the intervention.

For each lesson, informational texts on topics that were likely to be familiar to second-grade students were used.  The texts addressed science topics that had been taught to the students in their first- or second- grade science curriculum as part of the state science content standards.  The specific sequence of topics for each group during both cycle was: spiders, the moon, how water changes form, and insects.

7. How long did the experiment last?

 Data was gathered over a 10 week period, conducting two four-week periods of intervention within the time frame.  Following two days of individual level, Stahl conducted a 45-minute orientation session with each group.  There were 12 days of intervention in each cycle.  Each group received each treatment for three days, with data being collected only on the third day.  On the day following the conclusion of the intervention cycle, Stahl interviewed students about the comprehension strategies and instructional preferences.

 8. What were the experimental conditions?

 One day afer screening, but before interventions, a 45-minute orientation session was held with each group.  This orientation was conducted to practice logistical routines such as management procedures, scheduling confirmation, and assessment task.  Each day, the same book was introduced to all the children for a total of 12 text selections during the intervention.  assessment was conducted on Day 3, so the treatments were tested using four different texts.

 9. Describe the procedures specific to the Picture Walk, KWL, DRTA, and the Control Group conditions.

•  Picture Walk - Stahl presented a brief overview of the text.  They engaged in an interactive discussion about the book as they worked through the book page-by-page, talking about the pictures, the text structure, and the student’s prior knowledge, and formulating predictions based on that information. 
• KWL- The group made a KWL chart together.  After the topic was introduced, the children discussed the topic.  Their input was written on the chart in the Know column.  The next day, each child wrote what he or she knew on a personal KWL chart before it was shared and written on the group chart.  Next, the children categorized the recorded information.  The next step was for the children to generate questions about the topic.  Before generating questions that were places int he “What I Want to Learn” column, Stahl provided the same brief overview of the book that the other groups received.  Their questions and “want to learn” statements were recorded on the group chart each day.  After reading, there was a discussion by considering whether the text had   provided answers to any student questions.  If it was, then it was recorded in the “What I Learned” column.  Then they discussed other new learning and recorded it on the group chart. 
• DRTA- Before reading, the students formulated and justified predictions about the text-based on the title, cover, prior knowledge, and if available, table of contents.  Students predicted for a two-page or three-page section of text.  After reading each section of text, a brief discussion was held to verify predictions for the next section of text based on the discussion about the text, pictures, and headings.  At the conclusion of the entire text, discussion was minimal about the overall text.
• Noninstructional control condition- The children had the opportunity to read the same informational texts that were read in the intervention conditions.  Before reading, Stahl presented the same brief overview of the text that had been provided to the treatment groups.  Then the children independently mumble read the new text.  Independent reading was always followed by drawing a picture and/or writing about something they would like to share with the group based on the text.

10. What measures were used to determine the relative effectiveness of the treatments? Describe the measures briefly.

•  Vocabulary Recognition Task (VRT)- Evaluate entry-level vocabulary, whether vocabulary gains were occurring, and whether any of the treatments was superior in helping children become familiar with the content vocabulary.
• Maze- The maze task was a multiple-choice close modification.  It was a timed, group-administered task.  The original text read by the students was reprinted after the deletion of 10 content words.  The score on the maze task was the number of correct responses.
• Free Recall- Each child provided a free recall of the day’s text.  Students responded to the prompt, “Please tell me everything you can remember about the book.  Also tell me anything the book made you think  of.”  The answers were written on  the code sheet and scored.
• Cued Recall- After the free recall, each child was asked to answer three explicit and three implicit questions based on that day’s text.  First, the items were scored as correct or incorrect as a measure of general comprehension.  Both correct and partially correct items were scored as correct.  Next, a four point scale was used to produce weighted scores for each answer.
• Post-intervention Interview- At the conclusion of each research cycle, individual strategy interviews with the students int hat cycle.  The questions surveyed three types of strategy knowledge declarative (what the strategies were), procedural (how to perform the strategies), and conditional knowledge (when and why the strategies are useful).

11. Which treatment(s) were found to be more effective in increasing students’ vocabulary knowledge and maze performance (p. 381)?

 All intervention groups made vocabulary gains.  The finding demonstrates that the use of informational texts with novice readers does extend their vocabularies.  Both the PW and DRTA yielded statistically significant effects on the maze.  The page-by-page walk through of the text either before reading, as in the PW, or during reading, as in DRTA, seemed to promote a close reading that enabled students to identify words automatically and to facilitate higher scores on the timed maze task.

12. Students’ comprehension of the texts was greater under the DRTA condition than KWL and the control conditions. What do you think explains DRTA’s advantage over the KWL condition (p. 382)?

 Although the students in all four groups were monitored during mumble reading to be sure that they could read the text and were, in fact, reading the text, teacher guidance during the DRTA tended to direct the children’s attention to the important ideas and assist with difficult text concepts in a way that was not provided for in the other interventions.

13. It was found that the treatments did not differ in the quality and quantity of students’ retellings (p. 384). In other words, students were not differentially affected by the treatments in the way they integrated textual information with prior knowledge. What does this finding mean in terms of the different emphases employed by experience-based (KWL) vs. text-based (DRTA) treatments?

It was expected that KWL, an intervention that encourages, documents, and honors students’ experiences, would yield retellings that included more content or broader content that a text-based intervention such as the DRTA or PW.  Analyses did not reveal any significant differences by intervention for the number of total ideas recalled or differences in importation of outside information.

14. In light of the findings from this study, what conclusions can you draw about the role of teacher support in children’s construction of mental representations from informational text?

I learned what the importance of prior knowledge can have on a student’s understanding of reading.  If the prior knowledge is incorrect, then the teacher needs to correct that knowledge.  This could harm the students reading skills and reading comprehension.

Preliterate(Emergent) spellers write with scribbles, letter like form, or random letters that have no phonetic relationship to words they believe they are writing.  These readers read familiar books from memory using the pictures on each page to cue their recitation of the text.  During this stage, children lack an understanding of the alphabetic principle or show only the beginning of this understanding. 

2. How does a Letter Name-Alphabetic speller read and write?

The early letter name-alphabetic speller is a beginning reader who has moved from pretend reading to real reading and begun to use systematic letter sound matches to identify and shore words in memory.  Beginning readers initially have limited knowledge of letter sounds as they identify words by phonetic cues.  In the late letter name-alphabetic stage, the speller gains a more complete knowledge of letter sounds.  They will include, but often confuse, vowels in the words they write and read.  These students resemble Ehri’s full alphabetic readers who begin to use the entire letter string to decode and store sight words.  Readers in this stage continue to benefit from repeated readings of predictable texts, but also from the reading of text with many phonetically regular words. 

3. How does a Within Word Pattern speller read and write?

A speller moves into Within Word Pattern spelling stage when single letter-sound units are consolidated into patterns or larger chunks and other spelling regularities are internalized.  Students learn the letter sounds in the onset position.  This meaning they know the initial consonants, consonant blends, and consonant digraphs.  Short-vowel rimes are learned first with consonant blends in the context of simple word families or phonograms such as h-at, ch-at, or fl-at.  Once the rime unit is solidified as a chunk, students appear to use but confuse the various long-vowel patterns.  Students move from needing support materials and techniques to being able to pick from various texts and reading them independently.  With independent reading, students stop fingerpointing and read silently.  Writing and reading speeds increase significantly between the letter name-alphabetic stage and the transitional within word pattern stage.  

4. How does a Syllable and Affixes speller read and write?

Syllable and affix spellers read most texts with good accuracy and speed, both orally and silently.  Readers in this stage develop a repertoire of reading styles that reflects their experience in different genres.  Students who are in this stage of word knowledge like in writing persuasive essays, editorials, poetry, or their own versions of fantasy or realistic fiction.

5. How does a Derivational Relations speller read and write?

Derivational Relations speller have a broader experience base that allows them to choose among a variety of reading styles to suit the text and their purposes of reading.  They read according to their interests and needs and they seek to integrate their knowledge with the knowledge of others.  The same is true of their writing.  With practice, these spellers develop and master a variety of writing styles. 

6. What is the existing research evidence on the relationship between spelling and reading. Briefly describe research findings discussed on page 20.

There are many correlations between spelling and various measures of word recognition and decoding.  It has been found that practice at spelling helps reading more than practice at reading helps spelling.  Students’ spelling attempts also provide a powerful medium for predicting reading achievement.  Ehri found that students between first grade and college were asked to read and spell words and reported correlations ranging from .68 to .86.  It has been found that students who receive additional spelling instruction perform better on reading tasks such as oral reading, silent reading comprehension, and other reading related measures.  Research has shown that spelling inventory helps with students reading.

Curt is in both the Letter-Name and Within-Word Pattern stages.  He is in Letter-Name sometimes because he fails to make long vowels in words.  Curt is sometimes in Within-Word Pattern because he represents short vowels conventionally and shows good knowledge of consonant clusters.

2. Describe partner reading.

Partner reading is a safe, comfortable way to begin reading stories with a slow, word-by-word reader.  Partner reading often begins with a preview.  The student and tutor “walk through” the pictures on the first few pages.  The student tells of what might happen in the book by just seeing the pictures. The student and tutor then go back and read the story.  the key to partner reading is that the student and tutor alternate reading pages.

3. Which is harder for a student, partner reading or DRTA?

DRTA is harder for a student because the student has to make predictions about the story.  Also, the tutor is trying to get inside the mind of the student.  The tutor asks questions that deepened the thought of the student.  The student is doing all the reading, whereas in partner reading the tutor and student are reading together.

4. In planning a DRTA, what is important about selecting places to stop?

It helps the student keep their original predictions or make up a new prediction about the story.  “The eliciting of predictions  the child at various stopping points in the story is one type of guidance.”  Another type of guidance is to ask specific questions at the stopping points that check the child’s understanding of key information in the story. 

5.  In planning a DRTA, what is important about deciding questions to ask? What kind of questions? How many?

At each stopping point, one to two specific questions related to the story content will induce the child to attend to important information.  prediction questions are also helpful in that they require the student to synthesize the incoming information and make thoughtful predictions about what will happen next in the story.

This point of this article is to consider theory and evidence supporting the contribution and importance of word spellings for vocabulary and instruction.

2. Who were the subjects?

2nd and 5th graders were taught low-frequency nouns.

3. What were the experimental conditions?

Students rehearsed the pronunciations and meanings of the word over several trials.  During the initial study trial, the words were introduced.  All trials tested their recall of the words.  After each recall, correct responses were provided.  The meanings of words were taught through pictures, definitions, and multiple sentences containing the words and clarifying their meanings and use.  Trials continues all the students reached the maximum number of trials.

4. What did the treatment involve?

In the treatment condition, words were accompanied by spellings during study periods. Int he control condition, students learned spoken wordswithout spellings.

5. Which group (spelling-present vs. spelling-absent) gained more in vocabulary learning?  How were the groups’ recall of pronunciations affected by the treatment?

The group the had the spelling-present gained more in vocabulary learning.  It was easier for the recall of pronunciation when the spelling was seen than when it wasn’t seen.  This was true in both grades. 

6. Why do you think that fifth graders who were high on a word reading task benefited more from the spelling aids than their peers with less orthographic experience and knowledge, even though the two groups did not differ on receptive vocabulary knowledge?

I think it is because the students who were high on a word reading task could break apart the phonemes of a word.  Having the word spelled helped them with pronouncing the word.  Whereas, their peers with less orthographic experience needed more help breaking apart the word to pronounce the word.  These students do not always know the correct sound to each letter so it would be hard for them pronounce words that they cannot see or even if they did see the word.

7. What general conclusions were derived from the study findings by the authors? What implications were offered for vocabulary learning and instruction?

Students learned the pronunications and meanings of new vocabulary words better when they saw the word spelled out.  Students with stronger orthographic knowledge benefited more for seeing spellings then those students who had a weaker orthographic knowledge.  When students are exposed to the spellings of new vocabulary words, grapho-phonemic connections are activated.  This helps remembering words.  Spelling helps bond pronunciations in memory and secure pronunciations earlier during the course of learning.  When teachers encounter, pronounce, and explain new vocabulary words to their students, they should take time to display the spellings of the words.  When students encounter new vocabulary words in their independent reading, according to present findins, they should stop and not only figure out the meanings of the words but also decode and pronounce their spellings.