This weeks reading is a little bit difficult for me to relate to. I have only observed 4th and 5th grade classrooms. It's funny that it worked out that way since I have been observing every semester that I've been at Carolina, but I have really connected with the older students. Reading about emergent literacy is interesting because it is very rare for me to encounter a student who is just beginning to read. I know that the literacy skills of my students before they enter school continue to influence their reading when they get to the upper grades, but I forget the importance of it. A lot of the strategies beginning readers use can still be used by the older students, too. I still see a lot of invented spelling. I do wonder what the best way to move my students from guessing how to spell words to knowing how to spell them correctly. At what point should we stop asking them to make up a spelling? In fourth grade, it doesn't seem unreasonable that a student should know how to spell clothes or which just from seeing them a lot. I have found that spelling is a weakness of most of my students, though. My CT has a spelling list and spelling test each week. She gives them a lot of time in class to work on the words, but there is never a lesson about what these words have in common or why they are important to know. I don't think it fosters understanding of meaning and I don't think it helps them learn the words. I've also noticed that there aren't any words on the walls in her room. If a student asks for help spelling a word, that is the end of the conversation on that word. I just always assumed that it was important to have a word wall. Is it helpful to use a word wall or are there more effective ways of teaching students lots of words?
One cute story this week. A student asked me how to spell "parrot." I asked him what it started with. He said "p." "Good," I responded, "now let me think if I can remember the rest of it. paaarrrrooottt (I sound it out)." "Oh! p-a-r-r-o-t." he decides, "It rhymes with carrot!" I was really excited to see him figure it out for himself and to spell it correctly.
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I also work with older students so emergent literacy isn't as prominant in my classroom either. I think we can reinforce this by making all different kinds of print available to them and by discussing authentic literacy like grocery lists and recipes, etc. Many of my students are ELLs so they are on the border of moving away from emergent literacy and switching to building upon it. This reading made me want to try younger grades!
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ReplyDeleteThat is really cool that you've gotten to work with lots of older students and have connected with them. I have never experienced or observed what takes place in a fourth or fifth grade classroom and I really wish I could! I think it is also interesting what you see with invented spelling. I remember in the fifth grade at the beginning of the year we took a test of "hard to spell" words like "skiing" and "weird". It really made us all think about how much we still have to learn with spelling. I never even thought about rhymes as a well to spell unknown words. Good Job!
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