Reader's Workshop

I can see many types of reading workshops depending on what grade level is being taught. This can also change with the grade level as well. Mini lessons are a must in reader's workshops. They have been proven that they work and do it well. I would start with a mini lesson that would focus on one goal in reading such as recognizing context clues that show foreshadowing. This can be shown in most children's books. Even though the book might not be at the students reading level but most simple "big" books are great examples of things in a book that you might want your students to focus on. Once that students can see what they need to look out for in the big book they can go to books on their reading level and looks for the clues. While students read their books the teacher can work one on one with their students while the other are reading. Students that aren't doing that well can be paired up with more advanced children so if one has trouble with words or has a question the teacher doesn't need to take away from him or her while they are teaching another student.
Mini lessons are a great way to teach skills to children. When these skills are simplified into things like big books children can easily identify them. Now that they understand the basic skills or concepts they can apply their information to their own level. Mini lessons are the first steps on the students road to literacy.

How can you support all learners in a literacy classroom?

We have been talking a lot about centers lately and how they can help you teach effectively. In today's education settings many schools are working on budgets for classrooms that aren't cuttting it. Teachers often buy their own supplies and teachers are lucky if they have an aide for an hour each day. Teachers are also spread thin. In some towns teachers are teaching two shifts of kindergarten and have classes with twenty-five to thirty students. How does this have anything to do with how you can support children in literecy classrooms? Centers can be a good way to have children learn and help the teacher teach without the pressure of not having help in the classroom and spreading themselves out in an over crowded class. Having students work in social centers that promote both areas of literacy and communication all students learn from each other. Making up the groups that go from center to center with each other is very important. It should involve children of all levels. No group should be composed of students all from one level. The higher reading/writing level students will learn more as they help their less advanced counterparts. When the lower level students struggle they can learn from their peers. They see their friends doing it and they will want to do it too. The more advanced children will be re-enforced with their subject as they go over what they have learned with the teacher in the class previous to the center time.
If a school can afford computers or I-Pads they can also be used in the classroom. I know that I had mentioned earlier about classes being cash poor but when a class does have money it does help. It was my neighbor's fifth birthday last week and I brought in cupcakes for her class. When I came into the class the kids were using I-Pads. The neat thing about the program that they were using was made to keep up with the pace of the student alone and not the whole class. Slower students got more time in the areas that they needed help in and the other students could progress further. If schools can afford it technology can help a lot in the reading, writing, and phonics areas.

The Ideal Classroom

 There are many things that create an ideal classroom. This "idea" is different for every teacher because everyone has a different teaching method and has a variety of students. This classroom would be made for teaching all subjects but with a strong focus on reading, writing, and math. If I could choose a grade it would be kindergarten. I have done some of my observations in that level and the kids are ready and willing to learn.  It is also the place that lays the ground work for reading, writing, and math for the rest of their lives. My class would have a group area that would serve as an area where kids could learn things about their day such as the weather, date, season, time, and other basic facts that people need to know in life. There would also be a large bookcase in the class filled with books on every subject available. Even though the kindergarteners are just beginning to learn letters and small words they can under stand with pictures and adult help. I believe that if a student can find a topic that they are interested in then they will enjoy reading about it. A variety of books that one student might like another would hate and not read just because the subject does not appeal to them.
 As for the lay out of the classroom my desk would be in the back of the classroom and would only be used for correcting papers and lesson planning. In kindergarten students are rarely having any down time. Maybe in the upper grades teachers have time when students are doing work or testing but from what I have seen in kindergarten this is not the case. The students would be at round tables four to a table and be facing a black or white board with lines made for teaching students letters and numbers. Student  artwork is also all over the place showing creativity and creating pride in their work. Not only does it make student feel good about themselves and make the room look cheerful. Music would also be a part so there would be boxes of percussion instruments. Music in the class is fun and is proven to help students remember facts. There are probably many more things I could use or do without in a class but for now this is an ideal class.

Language Arts

My first experience in language arts began in sixth grade. Of course I had experiences with it before that point but the first time my teacher started using that term was in that grade. Prior to sixth grade “language arts” were referred to as reading and writing. Before sixth grade we had time spaces for only reading and only writing. It was also integrated into other subjects but every day we had specially allotted time for both reading and writing.

                Language arts in the sixth grade included many aspects. My school had three teachers and each of them was responsible for one subject. One taught history, one math, and one language arts. This situation was set up to prepare us for junior high school where we would be having one teacher for each subject. The teacher who taught language arts taught us many aspects of the English language. One was spelling. I was horrible at spelling and hated it. If it weren’t for spell check this entire entry would have many spelling errors. Even the simplest words were wrong. The other two aspects were reading and writing. We were given workbooks that had many chapters. Every week we would complete a chapter. These included reading a story (about three pages long) and write out answers to questions that were given. I was good at this aspect of language arts because I loved reading and I was fairly good at analyzing what I had read. I was also above my reading level having read chapter books in second grade.

                This indicial experience with language arts have stayed with me throughout my education until this very day. It never goes away and constantly comes up in everything including this class. I’m not taking spelling tests anymore but what I have learned will stick with me for the rest of my education and into my teaching career.