Our Literacy Crisis....
We have discussed the following topics for empowering our students with deep reading skills:
Oral Language
Early Literacy
Systematic & Explicit Phonics
Meaningful Read Alouds
Vocabulary Instruction
Reading Fluency
Reading Comprehension
Teaching Writing
Response to Intervention
Assessing Our Students
According to Cox Campus, there is a national illiteracy crisis with only 37% of 4th grade students entering with grade-level reading skills. Additionally, “we know that people with better literacy tend to have better social outcomes in terms of things like finding employment, being paid well, and being able to afford better food and housing. Not being able to read or write holds a person back throughout their life and they often become trapped in poverty or more likely to commit crime.
PROMPT: With reducing those percentages of negative outcomes for our school district and community in mind, which course was the most meaningful for you in your current grade level and content area? In your current role, what concerns do you have about effectively helping our students in danger?
CONGRATULATIONS! You have completed our Cox Campus/Science of Reading Professional Learning program for 2023/2024!!!
Specifically for our students, the facts about the impact of background knowledge and environmental influences on literacy skills (which was sprinkled throughout the entirety of the training) stood out most to me. Because research has shown this to be an important indicator of early success, it is important for us to meet our students where they are, make our lessons relevant to them and have as much data as possible. Data in terms of skill, but also data in terms of background and environment. My instruction often reflects my goal to make music learning relevant to my students, however, sometimes it is relevant in terms of what I think would be relevant and not what I KNOW to be relevant for them. I do think I can develop some tools to get data on this, look for some tools (as well as continue the open ended questioning I do), and combine with the literacy data to give me a better understanding of how to structure my teaching with the students in mind. Hoping that by doing so the students will be more engaged in learning and better able to transfer their musical learnings to their literacy skills.
ReplyDeleteI think the ways you are tying literacy and music together will continue to build greater connections and strengthen the literacy skills. I also thought your point about relevancy is also something we all need to consider.
DeleteI would say for my content area there are two courses that will inform my instruction moving forward.
ReplyDelete1. For early elementary grades it was the course on early literacy. I gained knowledge to be able to highlight letter awareness, phenoms, and syllables that can be used in my lessons. I now feel confident in giving instruction that will support their learning in the classroom.
2. For middle school grades it was the Vocabulary Instruction course. I gained helpful knowledge on best practices for word selection and tier 1-3 vocabulary.
I do not really have any concerns. I guess one might be the inability to give literacy instruction in small groups or differentiated for tier 1-3. During PE class I am focused on meeting the physical education standards while sprinkling in some literacy practice. As opposed to spending my instructional time assessing and drilling down for individual students.
I love how you have incorporated the early literacy skills in your PE classes. I observed you teaching my K & 1 students and saw how it was sprinkled in throughout your class.
DeleteThank you for the two points you made above, I agree totally within my music classroom. Given our subject areas, I think knowing what skill to focus on (even though it is just sprinkled in) is helpful!
DeleteI think two courses were the most meaningful for me - Systematic & Explicit Phonics and Vocabulary Instruction. These two courses were very beneficial to me not only as I planned activities and read alouds for my after school reading clubs, but as I worked with Tier 2 & 3 students across grade levels. In my current role, I want to continue to use what I learned in these courses to ensure that I provide meaningful instruction that meets the needs of the students I work with where they are and helps them grow. I especially want to continue to build background knowledge and to be mindful of Tier 2 and 3 vocabulary words when choosing and reading texts with students and creating activities that help students understand vocabulary they are learning and encountering.
ReplyDeleteThe two topics that have caused me to really think critically, about ELA instruction, were Reading Fluency and Teaching Writing. Reading is not flat, by that I mean that words are not just meant to be read, but are meant to convey meaning. The meaning comes from HOW we read words, sentences, and punctuation, not just WHAT we read. The integration of that last thought really fell into place for me and has changed my instruction the past month and will definitely guide my instruction next year as never before. This is also impactful for writing because as students "read fluently" they will begin to see the very real connection between reading and writing. Noticing text from the point of view of a reader and a writer will hopefully help students gain confidence with the writing piece. I have also used one of the strategies from the podcast that middle school listened to in which the emphasis was on student conferences in which the student shares the sentence or section that they are most proud of and the section that they feel they need to improve. Now when I conference, I am giving them feedback where it will matter most because it is what they have chosen to discuss. I have noticed a difference already and many students are asking me to check what they have written in real time (thank goodness for GG's Call feature) because they are starting to take note of what they are writing...and that reflection and conversation is inspiring.
ReplyDeleteWow! that is awesome that your students are more aware and wanting to improve their writing! I love that you have added student conferencing!
DeleteI think helping students identify the connection between reading and writing is an effective strategy. I often have students who write like they text, or they don't want to take the time to go back and rewrite information in their paragraphs. Student conferencing is a great way to connect writing across the curriculum in a positive way! Great Suggestion
DeleteLisa, I would love to talk to you more about student conferencing, it is something I have always wanted to integrate, and I think next year's schedule might make it something I could finally work in more!
DeleteI enjoyed all the lessons but in second grade I feel like the writing and vocabulary instruction were the most beneficial. My students are at a crucial point in acquisition of vocabulary and learning to write. I need to be mindful of remembering to provide multiple exposures and take the time for my students to truly understand. I would rather my students truly gain understanding of a smaller set of tier 2 and 3 vocabulary words than trying to cram in more words. In other words, I am diving deeper into the Wordly Wise vocabulary words and spending quality instruction time to build their background knowledge. I fell by improving their vocabulary then it will in turn increase their writing ability. My concerns in second grade is to ensure that I build their foundational reading and writing skills. I want to be able to provide my students with the most effective learning opportunities which they will be able to build upon. I am concerned about my students not being part of the statistics of not being able to read fluently in fourth grade. Therefore my focus until the end of school is the writing process. I want to ensure they feel comfortable writing and they are not afraid to try. As I instruct writing, I am working with building up their confidence as well. I will be encouraging reflection, conversation, and peer support as well.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE how you are focusing on building students’ confidence in their writing! Building that confidence in the lower grades will be so beneficial for them as they continue to develop their writing skills and the different types of writing they must do. I also love that you are incorporating peer support, since students love to share their thoughts and opinions with their classmates.
DeleteI really agree that mastery of a few is better than exposure (and lack of mastery) to many. Once they have a strong foundation coupled with the confidence these early successes have provided them with, they'll be much more prepared and engaged in their continued literacy journey.
DeleteHeather South
ReplyDeleteThe two sections that resonated with me most were the vocabulary and writing lessons. The vocabulary instruction lesson emphasized the importance of being intentional and systematic when teaching new words. While I believe we all naturally incorporate some of these steps, the lesson provided a comprehensive framework for structuring a vocabulary lesson. I think applying this more structured approach will help me be more deliberate and effective when teaching vocabulary.
The writing section also reinforced several key strategies that we've likely all heard before, but can be easy to overlook in practice. One key point was the value of modeling the writing process for students. When we verbalize our own thought processes through "think alouds," it creates a supportive environment where students feel empowered to take risks and learn from their mistakes.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Cox Campus training and thought all of the topics were valuable. As a Kindergarten and first grade teacher the Meaningful Read Alouds topic was my favorite. I always love reading with my students but the Cox lessons help me develop a deeper understanding of the best way to use read alouds with my students. After going through the Cox Campus courses and analyzing my teaching and the students' progress with learning I made adjustments to my lesson plans and schedule as needed. At this time, I believe that I am reaching my at risk students effectively and do not have any concerns.
ReplyDeleteHonestly! I enjoyed and learned A LOT from all of the lessons. They really took me down "memory lane" of how I used to teach, and how I need to teach!! Based on my current grade level, I can find a connection for all of the lessons, but the three that I reflected on most was vocabulary, reading fluency, and reading comprehension. Vocabulary helps students understand what they are reading, and what the sentences or instruction is about, while reading fluency uses that vocabulary to help the reader (read) without stomping over their words, and once all of those components are accomplished, then the student should understand elements of what the story is about and how to comprehend the text.
ReplyDeleteI agree that vocabulary is the key for better reading comprehension. If they do not know the meanings of the majority of words they are reading, then comprehension will suffer tremendously.
DeleteThe lesson that has stuck with me the most as a middle school math teacher is the need for explicit vocabulary instruction. Although I do typically discuss and define content-specific vocabulary, I feel that I need to improve upon my teaching to include a systematic approach to teaching math vocabulary. Next year, I plan to incorporate some sort of math vocabulary journal. My hope is that this will not only help students in math but also other content areas and the real world. There are SO many words in math that we also see daily i n our lives and knowing these words will help our students to have better social outcomes as mentioned in the article. My concerns in this area are that there is just not enough time in our days to teach all of the standards in addition to remediating the gaps our students have, but I am hoping that by chipping away little by little, we can lessen gaps!
ReplyDeleteExplicit vocabulary instruction is so often forgotten! This is an area of reading that can be incorporated at any grade level and any subject. It's a great literacy support!
DeleteI can relate. I found several ways that I can improve my instruction through content specific vocabulary instruction.
DeleteThe most meaningful courses to me were the vocabulary instruction and the read alouds. I have found that incorporating our content standards into the read alouds is a great way to get the students interested and participating. Stopping throughout to discuss vocabulary that comes up while reading is a good way for them to make those connections. The read alouds also provide a good model for prosidy, which my students need practice with.
ReplyDeleteI have always been very interested in Vocabulary instruction specifically with the integration of morphemes to build on vocabulary in a systematic way. So, the vocabulary instruction piece immediately appealed to me. I felt it was easily transferrable to my content and grade level, so that made it much easier for me to wrap my head around. Additionally, I learned a number of new strategies that I have successfully integrated into my course. I knew that one would resonate with me, the one that more surprised me was read alouds. Some of my absolute fondest childhood school memories are of read alouds, I'll never forget how excited I was for James and the Giant Peach time. But as specific, numerous standards spanning centuries compose my curriculum, I rarely find I have the time to do read alouds. Yes, we read alot, and aloud in my class, usually a paragraph or two, but it is rarely something I would consider most feel is reading for pleasure. I would love to find a way to incorporate more read alouds in my class, even if I am in 7th and 8th grade, and read alouds that students would remember fondly.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed all of the courses. I feel like the two that helped me the most at my grade level and subjects might be the Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary, but I also liked the Background Knowledge section, too! And the Read Alouds! There's just so much! Quite honestly, one of my biggest strides is to get students to love reading. When they enjoy reading, or see what they can gain from it, they do it. The more the do it, the better they get!
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