Building Word Knowledge

The use of a word is more important than I initially thought. I never considered the importance of words, the ability to recognize words, the context in which the word is used in and the understanding of the word. Word Knowledge is very important in a child's life. They have to be able to recognize a word and understand its meaning when used in a certain context. In order to help a child do this one must think of creative but yet beneficial ways for children to catch on to. In the Ten Important words plus article they have mastered just that. The use of words in this context is interesting because it allows students to read, use and make connections to new words in a reading. I love this concept because it makes learning and studying vocabulary fun and beneficial. this would be an activity that I would utilize in my future classroom because it insures a  building
and enrichment of students’ understandings of words in any subject area, which in turn will support their comprehension of the content.

Questions to Consider:
1. What other ways can foster the study and understanding of vocabulary in your classroom?

Help children become readers at an Early Age by..

There are so many things parents and adults can do to help children become better readings at an early age They can read to their child, help them learn their alphabet, help them spell their names out, utilize phonemic awareness and use word recognition while reading. Phonemic awareness is more important than many adults know. It helps in recognizing and generate rhyming words,count syllables, separate the beginning of the word from the ending and to identify the phonemes in a word. These are all vital when reading and will help children become  fluent readers. They will be able to identify "leg" from "log" or "pack" and "pick" which is important to enhance their reading abilities. When helping children recognize words parents and adults have to be conscious that the child is not an expert reader and that they have to tailor and teach to the child's needs. One should make sure they are going at a good pace and helping the student learn not forcing he or she to comprehend the information. Be patient and allow the lesson learned to be fun and able to be related to their lives.

Questions to Consider:
1. How could you help children become better readers at an early age?

One Minute Fluency Measures & Creating Fluent Readers

Many children struggle with reading. By placing restrictions on them such as a time frame and accuracy level the pressure of reading for children increases. This is how I interpret a one minute fluency assessment. My brain would probably over think everything, I would become anxious and scared because I know that my placement in certain reading classes or programs is based off of this one minute I have reading. If the designers of the assessment or the test providers informed the students of what they were being tested on before hand the anxiety for many students would decrease. They may become more relax and confident in their ability to read and pass the assessment.

    By providing helpful modeling skills, partner work with reading, plays, read aloud and many other helpful reading activities students can become fluent readers. It is hard to say that a child is struggling with reading after assessing them for one minute. There are so many factors that could have interfered with the students ability to read, sickness, cant see, test and performance anxiety, etc. If we help our students engage in reading activities and practices we can help them overcome the fear of reading and foster fluent readers.


Questions to Consider:
1.  Did you ever have a  hard time passing a reading assessment knowing it was timed? (for instance during the ACT or SAT)

Reading & Writing is as Easy as 123...

          When I think about reading as a child and reading now my views on literacy have definitely changed. I enjoyed reading as a child; constantly going to the library and participating in reading challenges. However, this has changed toward my last year of college. I dislike reading and if I had a choice reading would be the last thing on my list of things that I would want to do. I believe this is due to that fact that reading as a child was fun, it was a new experience,and adventure. Reading now seems somewhat of a chore, a responsibility,a requirement and not as entertaining as when I was a child. To fix this mind frame teachers have to instill reading as an easy task that can be enjoyable to do for the rest of a child's life. Like the teachers displayed in the article, reading is easier than children know. Children are reading without even knowing it and teachers should show them that this is a vital tool they will use throughout their lives. Literacy should be interesting and this may be shown through teachers trying out new strategies and techniques that engage the students. Every strategy may not work, every activity may not be helpful, but teachers have to make it their priority to at least experiment. Look into different books, different ways to tie reading to students everyday lives, and ensure that literacy is not a chore but a privilege that every child should take advantage of.


Questions to Consider?
1. What has changed in literacy from when you were a child to now as an adult?
2. Do you reading is a simple (1..2..3..) as counting numbers?