I’ve noticed that literacy in my classroom is very subtle. My CT does a wonderful job finding ways to throw in reading and writing throughout the day without the students realizing that they are learning about reading and writing. She has a bookshelf full of short picture books that she can pull out at a moments notice to fill extra time. I think that this is a wonderful idea because the kids are never without something to do, and they are being exposed to many fun texts. The problem with this, however, is that the books aren’t being used to their full potential. Since she is reading them on the spot, she doesn’t have a lesson to go with them, so she asks some questions but doesn’t always focus on some of the great literary devices the story has to offer. An example of this would be a story she read the other day called Chickens and Salsa which is full of examples of alliteration and consonance. I think she could have used this as a mini lesson on the use of repetition of sounds. I think what I might do in my own classroom would be to have all of these books, but as I use them, I would jot down all the things I could use it to teach so that when I pulled it out on the spot, I would already know what I should use it to teach.
My CT doesn't emphasize writing as much as reading I have noticed also. She doesn't expect the kids to write for the other subjects, and if there is writing involved in another assignment, it is not the focal point. I haven't been able to observe much of the writing time because they have just started it within the last week, so I am curious to see how this develops and how it stretches to encompass more of the other core subjects.
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As teacher's, we should take every opportunity to enhance the knowledge of our students, and I think that it is a shame that your teacher doesn't make sure that she plans for her lessons in order to optimize their learning experience. Just like we learn, there is never a time that you shouldn't have a plan. Whenever I go shopping and am trying to choose books for my classroom I always think of all the ways I can use the book as a teaching tool or I think of the types of things that the books is exposing the children to. I think it's great that you noticed all of this and plan to do the same. You will be a better teacher for it. It seems like your teacher isn't integrating her lessons and taking advantage of linking the subjects together. I hope she does later, but it is so hard to tell what is going to happen in the classrooms we are in based on the first few weeks.
ReplyDeleteAnna,
ReplyDeleteWhat grade is your student teaching placement in? I think it's great that your CT even has the opportunity to read to students at random moments throughout the day. I'm in third grade and it just seems that since this is the first year that students take the EOG that there is no time for anything besides the standard course of study.
Even though your CT may not have time to fully develop the concepts of a book, simply reading to the children and exposing them to a variety of texts is a small step toward building their understanding of literacy and its many purposes. Some students may only have the opportunity to interact with literature at school.
Also, sometimes it's nice to just read a book and forget about all the technical and literary elements of the story. This is how we model a love for learning and foster a love for books in our students. Students can get burnt out on reading if we constantly push them to dissect books. Taking time out of the day to get wrapped up in a book just for the entertainment aspect of it is how we keep our students' interest in reading alive beyond fifth grade. Many of us indicated in our literacy autobiographies that by the time we'd reached middle school, reading wasn't fun anymore. This doesn't have to happen to our students. Taking time just to read for the sake of reading could possibly prevent this phenomenon.