Reading Reflection # 3
Reading Reflection # 4
Title and Author:
FLUENCY: THE BRIDGE FROM DECODING TO READING COMPREHENSION
BY: JOHN J. PIKULSKI & DAVID J. CHARD
Key Points/Quotes/Page Numbers:
-- "Reading fluency...the ability to read text quickly, accurately and with proper expression" pg.1
--"Reading fluency refers to rapid, efficienct, accurate word recognition skills that permit a reader to construct the meaning of text. Fluency is also manifested in accurate, rapid, expressive oral reading, and is applied during and makes possible, silent reading comprehension." pg.2
Summary of the Article:
Definitions of Reading Fluency and Constructs of Reading Fluency:
There are many different definitions of Reading Fluency, all with similarities though. All contribute Reading Fluency to be rapid, easy and efficient. The constructs of fluency should also be easy and efficient. The article divide fluency into two parts; word identification and comprehension of the meaning of the text.
Ehri's Stages of Reading Development as They Relate to Fluency:
"Being able to read words by sight automatically is the key to skilled reading of text. This allows readers to process words in text quicly, without attention directed to the word itself." pg. 3
1. Pre-Alphabetic Stage of Development:
Readers at the pre-alphabetic stage lack the understanding of the relationship between the limited sounds in the English language and the letters that correspond. Children will attempt to associate words with visuals, and try to accomodate reading with the oral development they already have. Example: (From the article) A child will remembered the word "monkey" in print, associating the shape of the last letter, Y, as the monkey's tail. This though does not lead to affective deconding, but to confusion since many other words end in the letter Y.
2. Partial Alphabetic Stage of Development:
Readers at the partial alphabetic stage have a slight understanding that there is a link between letters and their various sounds. Due to the difficulty of some words though, children may tend to only want to pick up the easiest parts of the words, meaning the beginning and ending sounds. Example: (From the article) A child may read the word go, and recognize the beginning sound as /g/ and ending sound as long /o/. From there, the child might also associate words based on the initial sounds such as, give, get, gone and gorilla on the same principles.
3. Fully Alphabetic Stage of Development:
"Most of the words are known by sight. Sight reading is a fast acting process. The term sight indicates that sight of the word activates that word in memory including information about its spelling, pronunciation, typical role in sentences and meaning." pg. 4
Readers at the fully alphabetic stage can now associate sounds with letters, they can blend together sounds to reach the pronunciation of the word. Though they can no blend sounds together to the form words, they still may not be able to decode what the word means. This leads to the comprehending of the word, but not necessarily the decoding. Example: (From the article) A child may confuse the words; were, where, wire and wore.
4. Consolidated Alphabetic Stage of Development:
Readers at the consolidated alphabetic stage will be able to connect their sounds and letters, as well as chunk words together to form words. After learning the individual parts of the words, readers will be able to look at words, and automatically chunk parts together. Example:(From the article) When a reader see the word chest, they will be able to chunk the word together; /ch/ and /est/. From their they will be able to change the beginning letters into different sounds to form new words. Nest, Pest, Rest, Test and Vest.
Questions for Discussion:
1. If a child lacks in any part of Alphabetic Development, is there any way that building Fluency alone, because of the accuracy and ease, will help in any, if not all of the stages?
2. If a child struggles to memorize words by sight, and or can memorize the word but not yet decode or comprehend, how as a classroom teacher would you work with the development of memorization skills?
Title:
The Importance of Background Knowledge by Robert Marzano
"Although it is true that the extent to which students will learn this new content is
dependent on factors such as the skill of the teacher, the interest of the student,
and the complexity of the content, the research literature supports one
compelling fact: what students already know about the content is one of
the strongest indicators of how well they will learn new information
relative to the content."
Briefly explain why building background knowledge is so important.
Building Background Knowledge is important to a childs education. The child needs some background knowledge into what is being taught, or several things will happen. First the student will have no interest in what is being taught, this will make it difficult. Second, the subject being taught will be hard for the student to comprehend. The more background knowledge a child has about a subject, the easier the comprehending of the subject matter will be. The amount of background knowledge that a child has results in a positive learning correltaiton. Students who develop background knowledge will be more inclined to want to learn. The more background knowledge the student has, usually means the student has had a decent amount of experience as well.
According to Marzano, what are two ways we build background knowledge?
Two ways that Marzano talked about for building back ground knowledge were; the number of experience a child has, and the childs ability to store and process the given information. The number of experiences a child has during their schooling will help develop their background knowledge. Lets say the students are learning about the civil war, some students may have had the opportunity to visit museums that have had civil war exhibits, or have had previous classes that have briedly covered the topic. These students will be able to better grasp the topic, then those who have never before been introduced to the subject before. Many times even if a child has these experiences though, if the child cannot retain well their storing of the information could become lost or jumbled.
Describe the connection between SES and background knowledge that Marzano discussed.
Depending on the level of academic success and the different levels of households income, different students can experience different levels of background knowledge. A students socioeconmic status can highly affect the students abilities to perform academically. In a research study two groups of children were examined. The first group born near poverty and the other not. They were all given the same academic test on reading, math and verbal intellegences. Those that were not born near poverty had a passing rate of 63%, and those born near poverty had a 37% passing rate. Students living in poverty are not able to to experience as much as those not in poverty, as well as have much help with academics at all. Their background knowledge will be very minimal.
