Determining and using students’ interests and reading abilities and backgrounds as foundations for the reading and writing program.
Students' interests, reading abilities, and backgrounds should be the cornerstones for educators when developing their reading and writing programs. Even if a particular program is required by the district, an effective educator knows that adjustments and modifications can be made to fit the needs of his/her students. When students are interested in and able to choose their reading materials, they are more likely to be motivated to read them. Even as a graduate student, I appreciated the opportunities to choose my reading material. When students are provided opportunities to select materials that they are able to read independently, it can promote confidence in their ability to read. When reading materials reflect student backgrounds and are shared by teacher and students, it creates a sense of community and acceptance where all readers feel welcome and respected.
My first artifact is the Burke Reading Interview. This tool is useful in determining student interests and feelings about reading. I have used this several times in the past as a starting point for designing reading and writing lessons. The second artifact is p. 68-73 in Allington's book, What Really Matters for Struggling Readers: Designing Research-Based Programs (3rd ed.) (2012). In this section, Allington discusses research studies that found a positive correlation between high-accuracy reading and reading achievement, including ELL students and struggling readers. The bottom line--give all students books they can read independently with high success rates. My third artifact is p. 18-19 in Miller & Moss's book, No More Independent Reading Without Support (2013). In this section, the authors discuss the importance of incorporating student interest into reading material choices. They state, "Kids who read self- rather than teacher-selected books read more [Reynolds and Symons 2001), and self-selected reading is twice as powerful as teacher-selected reading in developing motivation and comprehension [Buthrie and Humenick 2004; Lindsay 2010]." The fourth artifact is p. 13-14 in Dudley-Marling & Paugh's book, A Classroom Teacher's Guide to Struggling Readers (2004). This section describes book selection for classrooms. The authors state that giving struggling readers more time to read, particularly "easy" texts, is fundamental to their achievement. They also write, "However varied, classroom libraries must reflect students' interests and their cultural and linguistic backgrounds" (p. 14). These artifacts demonstrate my understanding of incorporating students' interests, abilities, and backgrounds into classroom literacy structures.
Students' interests, reading abilities, and backgrounds should be the cornerstones for educators when developing their reading and writing programs. Even if a particular program is required by the district, an effective educator knows that adjustments and modifications can be made to fit the needs of his/her students. When students are interested in and able to choose their reading materials, they are more likely to be motivated to read them. Even as a graduate student, I appreciated the opportunities to choose my reading material. When students are provided opportunities to select materials that they are able to read independently, it can promote confidence in their ability to read. When reading materials reflect student backgrounds and are shared by teacher and students, it creates a sense of community and acceptance where all readers feel welcome and respected.
My first artifact is the Burke Reading Interview. This tool is useful in determining student interests and feelings about reading. I have used this several times in the past as a starting point for designing reading and writing lessons. The second artifact is p. 68-73 in Allington's book, What Really Matters for Struggling Readers: Designing Research-Based Programs (3rd ed.) (2012). In this section, Allington discusses research studies that found a positive correlation between high-accuracy reading and reading achievement, including ELL students and struggling readers. The bottom line--give all students books they can read independently with high success rates. My third artifact is p. 18-19 in Miller & Moss's book, No More Independent Reading Without Support (2013). In this section, the authors discuss the importance of incorporating student interest into reading material choices. They state, "Kids who read self- rather than teacher-selected books read more [Reynolds and Symons 2001), and self-selected reading is twice as powerful as teacher-selected reading in developing motivation and comprehension [Buthrie and Humenick 2004; Lindsay 2010]." The fourth artifact is p. 13-14 in Dudley-Marling & Paugh's book, A Classroom Teacher's Guide to Struggling Readers (2004). This section describes book selection for classrooms. The authors state that giving struggling readers more time to read, particularly "easy" texts, is fundamental to their achievement. They also write, "However varied, classroom libraries must reflect students' interests and their cultural and linguistic backgrounds" (p. 14). These artifacts demonstrate my understanding of incorporating students' interests, abilities, and backgrounds into classroom literacy structures.