Elizabeth Meyer-Chapman
Reflection # 4
Subjects Matter Every Teacher’s Guide to Contend-Area Reading by: Harvey Daniels and Steven Zemelman
Chapters 10-11
Chapter 10 focused on how to planning inquiry based units where students were able to explore big ideas. I have used similar ideas when assisting students in other content areas as I am a learning specialist. I am hoping to have some co-planning time with the science and math teacher and would like to work on planning a unit that could go across the two classes. Math and Science lend themselves to similar vocabulary and we could deepen the students’ understandings. Planning a unit on Acceleration which could be taught in both math and science would be a beautiful thing. My role as the learning specialist would be multifaceted. I could work with the group of students who generally struggle with new content and front load and/or pre-teach the new vocabulary and concepts. Second, I would take on a small portion of the primary teaching duties while the math and science teacher and I both took turns teaching and assisting kids who may be falling behind. During formative assessments I would help identify the students who would need a re-teach and either the content area teacher or I could follow through. Whatever we deem most helpful to students. The Science teacher and I were in our infancy stage with this process last year and now with one year experience together coupled with the new knowledge from this class I feel better prepared to take it on again.
Chapter 11 was about how to help struggling readers. Well it was a rehash of previous chapters and also recommended that teachers ask their Special Education teacher for ideas and/or help. They also referred the reader to a book by Kylene Beers: When Kids Can’t Read. Well, as providence would have it I had come across this book when I bought my professional studies book and got a wild hair and bought it! I looked through it this weekend and it sure looks like something I’d benefit from reading. It had a few more strategies and extensions which appear useful.
Today our group used Written Conversation as our protocol. As pairs we wrote notes back and forth from a prompt and responded to each other written answer. Both pairs wrote similar statements and findings from the readings. I liked this protocol and will use it. I found it to be fun and low stress, which is how I hope my students come to appreciate it after some practice with it.
My reading strategies remain and probably will until the end of my time annotation, questioning and rereading. I also always benefit from partner and small group discussion for deepening my understanding of what I just read.
