What do you think?

Eddie seems to be exhibiting signs of ADHD, much like Marcus in today’s reading. He may benefit from having a more clearly defined schedule that accommodates for his active behavior. By incorporating activities for kinesthetic learners may benefit Eddie, since he always seems to be on the move/ focused on moving things. Much like the Breitfelder article discussed, having a visual schedule displayed in the room, complete with built in time for moving around, for him to see exactly what is expected and anticipated may help him to stay focused through learning times as he looks forward to break times. Establishing a reward system might also benefit Eddie. If, for example, he can complete his schoolwork with good behavior throughout the day, you can give him an extra reward on top of his scheduled “active” time.

            It may also be helpful to tap into his imagination by allowing him to write creative stories and then share them in front of the other students at the end of the day. This could be one of his rewards for paying attention during class. With regards to his failure to listen during science, it might be good to hold off on bringing in visual aids until after the explanation is done so Eddie cannot get distracted prior to learning important information.

            There could be several reasons for Jonathan’s struggles with reading. He may not being at the same reading level as the other students because he has trouble with processing language, especially the written kind. According to the Breitfelder article, researchers found that using visual supports, such as “photographs, hand-drawn pictures, graphics, or computer-generated icons actually benefit all students especially those who have difficulty reading”. As Jonathan’s teacher, it might be a good idea to take a step back from trying to leave him on his own to process written directions or reading assignments; he is obviously struggling with reading and until he has further instruction with a specialist if possible, it would be a good idea to incorporate more visual cues during lessons. Having directions enhanced with pictures will give Jonathan the extra help he needs in order to complete the given assignment. Also, allowing Jonathan the ability to utilize more picture books for reading time will also help him in making the tradition toward reading on his own without illustrations.

            With regards to his inability to ask for help, Jonathan may not feel comfortable asking the teacher because he feels embarrassed or because he was never told how to ask for help. As could be the case of Jonathan, some students might need extra scaffolding in how to ask for help. Since he has not been asking for help, it might be good to instruct the entire class about the benefits of asking friends for help first before asking the teacher. This way, Jonathan is not being singled out for failing to ask questions; instead, the teacher is encouraging everyone to use their peers to enhance their own learning. The teacher could also go out of her way to make sure Jonathan feels comfortable in asking her questions. Building positive student-teacher relationships could work wonders for his confidence in asking for help when he is confused.

            Lupita sounds like a typical ELL student who might be slipping through the cracks because of her reserved nature and the lack of direct teacher involvement in her learning. With Lupita, as well as the previous students mentioned, this might be a good case for having an interview with her parents/grandmother; this would be a good way to find out what her interests are and how she performed in her school in Mexico. Obviously she is a bright student since she was able to pick up how to solve a puzzle when she had no prior experience working with such games before this occasion. For Lupita, this is her first time being thrust into an English-speaking classroom; in these instances, it is important to remember she is not in the process of learning both conversational and academic English so she might not feel very comfortable in conversing in either. As her teacher, she can provide as much scaffolding and support as possible. Explicitly giving directions in several different ways- written, verbally, and visually- and enriching that classroom with as much literacy as possible will help give Lupita a chance to succeed in learning all different forms in English. 

Literature to teach literacy

While sitting in my 4^th grade classroom today, I was able to reflect on how the two MT’s that I have use literature in their literacy curriculum. What I realized was how in many occasions literature is used to teach literacy throughout the day in various subjects- not just English language arts.

While most of the literature that my students contact during English is from their reading textbook (Houghton Mifflin Grade 4), they also are allowed to choose their own book for “read and log” time. By allowing children to pick their own book, they are encouraging students to become aesthetic readers while building their fluency and increasing their exposure to books. The students are actually currently working on a great assignment right now in English that utilizes literature. They are working in pairs and researching a famous black American in celebration of Black History Month. While looking at encyclopedias, non-fiction children’s books, and other texts, the students are finding details about important events in the life of their selected hero. After they have completed the research, the pair will then use their findings to compose a poem that they will perform before the class. In this way they are integrating literature into the research part of the project that will be needed to write the poem. I think this is such a fun way for students to use literature for a research assignment and also complete an unusual final representation of their hard work.

After reading the texts, I realized how incredibly lucky I was to be in a 4^th grade environment in which literature is used frequently throughout the day. Like the Langer discussed, the teacher presents open-ended questions during reading time to encourage the critical thinking of each student. She does this through scaffolding so the students can see exactly how to model their thinking throughout reading each story. She also encourages her students to actively read each text by posing an “assignment” to do while reading, such as giving the students sticky notes and jotting down when they notice something they can relate to in the story. For example, when they had a similar experience as the main character or if they remember a concept from a different story. While I have not seen is the use of “controversial” topics during reading time; this is something I hope to do with my future students. As 4^th graders, they like to talk and want to participate in class discussion by adding in what they can to the topic. This is a perfect age to introduce hard topics to encourage the growth of critical literacy, especially if they have not been exposed to readings like this in previous grades. While my classes now do not have much time to be on the Internet, I would like my future class to be able to utilize computers more, especially during research time for various individual and group research projects. There are so many new literacies out there that I want to expose my children to as many as possible in hopes that they become educated people and lifelong learners.