More handpicked essays just for you.
Theory and Practice in Early Childhood Education
7 pillars of effective reading instruction
Theory and Practice in Early Childhood Education
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Header: Literacy Instruction
Literacy Instruction
Maria Butler
Walden University
Judith Orth, Ph.D.
EDUC 6705R-1
Foundations of Reading and Literacy
January 19, 2014
2
Literacy Based Instruction
This assignment has been a great research project. So often, in courses, the research that is required is not beneficial. With this project, I have learned so much. I decided to research Principle 8. This principle discusses how important parents are in their child’s learning (Tomkins, 2010). I feel that teaching can only benefit from parents being involved in the classroom. At the school where I work, we have a very big problem with parents being involved in their children’s learning. I chose this topic to hopefully help me learn how to incorporate parents in my classroom every day.
I read the article, ”The Effects of Parental Involvement, Trust in Parents,
Trust In Students and Pupil Control Ideology on Conflict Management Strategies of Early
Childhood Teachers”. This article started out by discussing three different types of parental involvement: behavior, cognitive, and personal. The first point was about the parent’s behavior and whether they attended different school functions. The second was whether the parents asked about their students’ school day and questioned their child about what they had learned and the third was about whether the parents kept informed about their child at school.
The article goes on to discuss each point in detail and how important the parents are in their children’s school lives. One point that I had never heard before was the fact that a teacher must trust their students enough to have a better relationship. This development of a trusting relationship by the teacher, the...
... middle of paper ...
...some easier books (English and Spanish) and then some type of review questions or graphic organizers to review the story that was read. I think that with the bucket already planned out, the parents can come in and take the bucket and go into the hall and work. That will relieve me of having to explain to the parent each time what they need to do. I will have directions in the bucket for the parent (these will be in English and Spanish). Once I have the parents coming into my classroom,
4
this may even help them feel more comfortable helping out in other parts of the school (library, gym, music room, office, etc.).
This research project was great. I learned so much and also had some ideas confirmed. The article not only informed me but also inspired me to try and get my parents into my classroom! I cannot wait to get started and see my students soar!
As a child, I have always been fond of reading books. My mother would read to me every single night before I went to bed and sometimes throughout the day. It was the most exciting time of the day when she would open the cabinet, with what seemed to be hundreds of feet tall, of endless books to choose from. When she read to me, I wanted nothing more than to read just like her. Together, we worked on reading every chance we had. Eventually I got better at reading alone and could not put a book down. Instead of playing outside with my brothers during the Summer, I would stay inside in complete silence and just read. I remember going to the library with my mom on Saturdays, and staying the entire day. I looked forward to it each and every week.
My literacy journey commenced at a young age. My story begins with the typical bed time stories and slowly progresses into complex novels. Some points in my literacy journey have made me admire the written word but other times literacy frustrated me. These ups and downs within my story have made me the person I am today. My parents noticed that my reading was not up to par with other children in kindergarten and I was diagnosed with mild dyslexia at the age of five. My parents provided me a reading mentor named Mrs. Mandeville who has shaped my literacy journey in many ways. Events in my childhood have shaped my literacy in various ways.
Literacy embraces reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Integrating all of these into a literacy program is key. Teachers must provide endless and ongoing opportunities for their student to read, write, listen, and speak.
The seven pillars of effective reading instruction are an important base to an effective and engaging classroom. Teachers, who are able to apply each of these pillars to everyday learning in the classroom, reach their students and provide instruction in meaningful and approachable ways. Each of these pillars provides important ideas and information that work together to create an effective learning environment in the literacy classroom. By accessing and including each of these pillars in my classroom environment, curriculum and instructions, students benefit from the more effective reading instruction possible.
My ongoing journey of literacy began in 1993. I was four years old. The memories I have of my first few years of school is very blurred, as they happened over twenty years ago. However, these early years of my life is where I believe my literacy journey began to take form.
My relationship with literacy began when I started elementary school and that was the first starting point of my positive relationship with literacy. I really started to grow as a reader and writer throughout my middle school and high school years. Throughout my years of going to school I had many positive experiences that shaped my view of literacy today. My literacy skills have also enhanced throughout my educational years.
A child’s first teacher is his or her mother and father. As a parent, involvement in the education process in the early years includes engaging the child through age appropriate games, regular reading, and simply interacting on a daily basis. A child that is engaged in this way are set up to develop into students who succeed academically. Once that child attends school, parental involvement shows that the parent places value on education. Furthermore, “staying connected to the classroom gives you ideas of how to expand what she learns at school,” (Driscoll & Nagel, 2010) thus providing parents with additional tools to implement in the home to continue the teaching process even after the school day has ended.
All students deserve the opportunity to reach their full potential. However, research shows that the numerous challenges faced by today’s urban schools prevent many students from achieving this goal. Therefore, preparing teachers to effectively teach literacy in diverse urban populations in ways that students find engaging and relevant must be a top priority of teacher education programs. This paper will seek to explore how the decline of literacy in urban schools can be improved.
There are some theoreticians who view literacy in a form of social practice. In their view, social issues are also important components, as well as linguistic competence and understanding cognitive processes in language studies. Freire (1974) views literacy not only as a process of knowledge transformation, but also as a relationship of learners to the world. Vygotsky (1978) suggests two stages of development at social and individual level. In his view, literacy is a phenomenon that is created, shared, and changed by the members of a society. Gee (1996) similarly argues that becoming literate means apprenticeship with texts and apprenticeships in particular ways of being. In summary, literacy practices are not just about language, but about their interrelation with social practices.
We spoke about the important people in the classroom which includes the child’s family, the child, and the teacher. The family is not physically present in the classroom each day. However, the children are products of their home environment, and the relationships
Parent involvement is one of the most influential aspects of student motivation. The parents are the initial teachers of the child before the child goes to school and encounters education through a teacher. If a parent is completely engaged in the learning process with a child, there can be growth between the child and the parent simultaneously. The parents set an example for the child, so that the child understands that help is in the classroom and at home. Alma Wright, a first and second grade teacher, believes that parents in the classroom are a good way to stimulate children. She says, “Their active participation is a positive influence. The school is open for parents to share their talents and motivate their children” (Drew, Olds, and Olds, 1974, p. 71).
A lot of children have two main educators in their life; their parents and their teachers. Parents are their first educators, the majority of what a child learns in the first few years of their life is taught by their parents. It is only when the child starts to attend an early years setting that they start to learn from another educator. Both parents and teachers continue being a major influence on their children's learning all throughout school and for the rest of their lives. The parents and the child's school both have important roles to play in the child's education and should therefore work together as a team. Parents can get involved in many different ways such as; getting involved with the school itself by helping in the classroom or supervising lunch and break times, or for those parents who work in the day and cannot find the time to help at the school they can get involved by; reading to their child at home, assisting with homework and other learning activities, teaching them songs or nursery rhymes and letting them help with everyday tasks like cooking, baking and chores. This can be categorised as: Involvement of parents in the school life or involvement of parents in supporting the individual child at home.
The ability to write well is not a naturally acquired skill; it is usually learned or culturally transmitted as a set of practices in formal instructional settings or other environments. Writing skills must be practiced and learned through experience. Writing also involves composing, which implies the ability either to tell or retell pieces of information in the form of narratives or description, or to transform information into new texts, as in expository or argumentative writing. Perhaps it is best viewed as a continuum of activities that range from the more mechanical or formal aspects of “writing down” on the one end, to the more complex act of composing on the other end (Omaggio Hadley, 1993). It is undoubtedly the act of
The support of a parent is the single most important factor in predicting success in school for young children (Bourquin). Parents who make it a point to get involved with the child’s education are communicating the importance of education to their child (Heffer). There are a variety of ways in which a parent can get involved. This can range from at home help and encouragement with homework, attending athletic ...
In the reading it brings up how most parents are only contacted by the school when it is something bad. This is not how it should be. Teachers should be sending home good news notes to the parents praising the students for their hard work in the class. Schools also need to be welcoming to the families and provide workshops to assist in the parent’s knowledge to allow them to help their children with their schoolwork. Having the parents involved and aware of the things that are going on in the classroom and the school are great ways to build that relationship and to enhance the student’s academic achievement and