Chapter 13

Chapter 13 Summary:

"Daily reading aloud from enjoyable books has been the key to unlocked literacy growth." Tunnel and Jacobs (1999).

The first thought I had after reading this section was how great it would be for my classroom students to want to read out loud. These read alouds, or guided readings give the students a change to not only learn to listen, they eventually help students read in front of a class themselves. Reading out load really helps students to gain confidence.

Pg. 388 of the chapter lists a variety of ways reading a loud helps the students development of literacy and literacy knowledge. I have listed  the benefit that stands out to me most in the list. It is as follows:

Reading aloud does all of the following: ~Builds interest in language and provides models of language use. 
Wow! How wonderful is this. At Naples High, where I intern this semester, I have eight students in my classroom that are ELL's. Three of which have no ability to read or speak English. Reading aloud to the class not only helps the other members to succeed, but also provides this amazing model for ELL students. Hearing the language spoken and following along with a text is a great way to help build language for the student

The next section in this reading goes into detail about  the "Think Aloud." "Think alouds allow all students to hear how others sleuth out and make sense of all these text clues so they they can recognize and adopt these strategies as their own." Wilhelm (2001).


So why is all this important?

These reading techniques teach students to grow. Reading aloud and thinking aloud guides the students to develop further their abilities to read, and their abilities to think. Creating the language to share with others is a product of reading aloud. Making inferences that are in line with the text is a product of thinking aloud. 

All of the techniques in this chapter are important to implement whenever students show a need for it. "The decision of when or how often to meet with guided reading groups should be based on students' needs." Pg.406. The reading and writing out loud are effective strategies teachers can use to address many different needs of each of their students so that all kids can share in the joy of children's literature." P.407.

Chapter 13 Response:

As mentioned above, I think that read alouds' are a very important part of teaching in the classroom. I  myself, have benefited greatly from reading out loud to my fellow classmates. My confidence as a reader really soared once I was comfortable reading to my classmates. Reading out loud shows you that you are able to make mistakes and not be perfect as well. I never listened to a perfect reading out loud. Even if it was from the classroom teacher, we all  make mistakes and need to fix them as we read.

I feel the best time to read out loud would be in the beginning of a lesson or unit, and then in the middle and at the end. The reading out loud can serve as an opener to a lesson. It can also serve as a midpoint review, along with a conclusion or summary about the lesson/concept being taught. 

There are many ways to select what passage fits the lesson yo are teaching. I would select what to read out loud by following the guidance from the text."It is important to select an engaging, usually unfamiliar text, either nonfiction or fiction, that is at an appropriate level for your students to read with your support."

A write a loud is a conducted by the teacher and the students. The teacher acts as the facilitator helping guide the students in their writing passages. The writing that the students do, reflects the topic that the teacher explains. What is the most inspiring part about writing  a loud is the way that the students writing connects to their reading and also develops their language skills at the same time. Writing a loud expands the students minds. The teacher guides the students through this activity, and determines the complexity for the write a loud based on the students abilities.

What interests me the most about these write a louds, is that they really help various cultures along the way. It helps students whose first language is something other than English, and also helps students of different ability levels. Writing a loud, allows students with higher abilities to reflext, connect, and use critical thinking, yet at the same time allows the lower level students the ability to put their words on paper, select a topic, and helps them to understand the language.

I will use guided reading in my classroom very carefully. What makes guided reading ineffective, is grouping students of different ability levels.  As the text mentions, there is no one size fits all text. To make guided reading beneficial for the students, the students should be placed in groups of the same ability levels. However, it is very important to not make the groups feel different than, less than, or unable to. This is a type of small group instruction that should be used in the classroom as long as it is used correctly.

I plan to incorporate all of these types of lessons in my plans. I will select which types of text to share and make sure that the types of text vary. I will incorporate expository text such as: newspaper articles, magazines, and stories both fiction and nonfiction. I will work with my students to make sure these types of lessons are effective and appreciated by the students. I will tell if the lessons are productive, by the reflection on tests relating to the material.