Reading Comprehension

For my reading, I was assigned chapter 2 from the Tompkins text. In this chapter Tompkins discusses reading as a process, much like we were taught the writing process growing up. The first stage of this five stage reading process is Prereading. Prereading is where students set purposes (ex. are they reading for information or for pleasure?); students also connect to prior personal and literary experiences, connect the book to thematic units, make predictions, and preview the text. Once this has been completed, Tompkins suggest students move on to the next stage, which is the reading itself. In this stage students practice reading skills (ex. individual, group, shared, guided or listening), continue to make predictions, read the illustrations, charts and diagrams, read the entire text from beginning to end, read one or more of the sections of the text to gain a better understanding. The third stage, is the Responding stage. Here students are writing in a log, and participating in grand conversation or instructional conversation. Next, Tompkins writes about the Exploring stage. In this stage, students are rereading and thinking more deeply about the text. The Exploring stage also includes students making text to self connections, text to text connections, students will be examining the author's craft, identifying memorable quotes, learning new vocabulary words, and participating in minilessons on reading procedures, concepts, strategies, and skills. Finally, the students enter the Applying phase, where they construct projects, use information in thematic units, reflect on their interpretation, and value the reading experience. The use of the five stages in the reading process is key for students to comprehend what they are reading. I hope that I will be able to effectively use this process, as my CT does, so that my students will be able to get the most out of their reading.

Reading Comprehension

I had the opportunity to read the Carlisle article. The article was about how to help students who have a learning disability. I found this article very informative because as a teacher you will have students in your classroom that have learning disabilities. Carlisle says that 50 percent of shildren with LD spend an entire day in the general classroom. The first step Carlisle says is to identify children who appear to have special needs. The next step is to participate in the development of the child's education program. Then as a teacher you should collaborate with the special educators to develop an integrated approach for meeting a child's learning needs. You should not only be monitoring children with LD in your classroom regularly, but all students. You should alter lesson plans to ensure progress and help the child share responsibility for their learning. Closely, the last step according to Carlisle is working closely with the parents to support the child's learning. Something that I found important to consider when working with students that have LD is to work with specialists that work with those students because then the children will have an integrated education. It is important to give positive feedback and to encourage students because when they receive that positive feedback they are more likely to have positive attitudes towards their learning abilities. An important thing to consider is that "over 75 percent of children with LD have reading and spelling disabilities" (Carlisle 2). This is important to consider and to know that when creating lessons that most time should be spent in these areas. These areas can be incorporated throughout the curriculum. Some of the most beneficial things to all children are lessons and activities that foster the development of phonological awareness and group work. One of the last things that Carlisle says that I think is of great importance in creating a classroom is "It is important to build a classroom climate that fosters acceptance of individual differences within the class-including appreciation of the fact that children have different academic strengths and needs."
After reading Thompkins I learned that "The comprehension process begins during prereading as students activate their background knowledge and preview the text, and it continues to develop as students read, respond, explore, and apply their reading" (223). I never knew that comprehension depends on the reader and the text that is being read. There is a lot that goes into comprehension from the student and the teacher. It is up to the student to comprehend it, but it is up to the teacher to make sure the student's know how to do that. Chapter 7 gave me great insight on howcomprehension works and all that is involved. How to get students to the point where they can do it on their own. It is a great chapter.

Reading Comprehension

After reading the Applegate article, I found that I am a cross between a literalist and an author. When I was younger, I would definitely say that I was more of an author. I was always coming up with more details that what were given, or giving way elaborate responses to questions, when a simple comment would have probably sufficed. I think that being younger, I got away with more, and it helped me in the creative process as well. Today, I do think that I am still a bit of an author. I sometimes take away more than what was given to me, and I know that I can even get redundant or add too much dialogue to my papers. Being older now, I do believe that I am also a literalist, espically since high school and college, where much of my homework has been based on facts and to find these facts or bits of information, I had to look to my texts. I'm not quite sure if these traits have proven to be a detrement to me and my writing, and I think that by being both an author and literalist, I can absorb the facts, while also being a bit creative (I need to not take it too far though, where I create my own details). These readings definitely opened me up to my reading comprehansion, and I can now see myself being aware of my own reading and writing styles. It will be interesting to see how my future students display their own traits to reading comprehension.

Reading Comprehension Processes

I was assigned to read the Applegate article where they identified reader profiles by observing discussion and students’ answers to inference and critical response items. I was eager to learn what profile I would fall into, but became bothered when I began reading the descriptions of each profile. I thought that each profile description painted a negative picture of the student’s method of comprehension. I actually found myself becoming defensive and not wanting to place myself in any category. Who wants to be labeled as a dodger, fuzzy thinker, or minimalists? This is not to say, however, that the article did not bring up some good points. In fact, after reading it through carefully, I did begin to make some connections to my own reading comprehension process. In early and even later elementary, I think I would have classified myself as a literalist reader, meaning I believed “all answers to all questions could ultimately be found in the text”. I gave the author complete control of my thought and rarely questioned the underlying motives for the story and the characters. Like most young children, I liked when there was a cut and dry answer, and often didn’t put much reflective thought into the characters’ actions and emotions. I believe this is why I would always struggle with the comprehension section on standardized tests. I never knew why I had such a hard time with this section since I considered myself a strong reader. Applegate’s article explained this was since standardized tests focused less and less on literal reading when it came to asking questions.
After some practice, I got used to reflective reading to gain a better understanding of the text. As I have grown older, I believe that I read in a much different manner than when I was young. I now read deeper into the text and force myself to come up with my own inferential questions as I read along. I am also big on making predictions as to what will happen next. These comprehension strategies have helped me come a long way since elementary school. Since I am an elementary education major with a focus in language arts, I have been fortunate enough to take some really fascinating English courses in college. Although not every book I have read in these courses has been life changing, my professors have gotten me in the habit of making text-to-world connections. Not only has this become another one of my comprehension strategies, but it has also forced me to think beyond the text and place myself, rather than the author, in control of my reading.

Digital Native or Immigrant?

I have never really thought of myself as someone who was technologically advanced. It wasn’t until I read the online article and completed the digital natives quiz that I began realizing how much I rely on technology to do just about everything. It has become a helpful and supportive tool that has made life easier. Although I wouldn’t say that I am a pure digital native, I would have to agree that I lean more towards native than immigrant. I was stumped on a few of the quiz terms, but for the most part, I was able to recognize and explain most of them. Prensky identifies some ways he believes digital natives think differently than native immigrants. I was able relate to several of his claims, including the one that stated that natives have become more active learners in the classroom and the workplace. I use technology to read, study, and communicate with teachers and peers. The classroom is no longer just a place for lecture. Instead, students are actively participating and becoming more engaged than ever.
Having grown up in a generation that was exposed to computers at a very young age, I have not only taken an interest in technology, but I have become skillful at using it. At moments, I would even consider myself fluent because I am confident that I could teach others how to utilize technology to benefit their own lives. However, since new technology is constantly being introduced, I would have to say that, in a sense, I will always remain an “emergent” learner. Tompkins mentions in her text that during the emergent stage of literacy, students “notice environmental print in the world around them and in the classroom” (91). Even today, I am still noticing the different digital tools that can help make my life easier. For example, this is my first experience as a blogger and just weeks ago, I watched as a peer modeled for me how to post a blog. Just as “emergent” literacy learners are being exposed to literacy, I am constantly being exposed to new technology.

Digital natives quiz

It seems that after taking the quiz, that I am also a mix between a digital native, and a digital immigrant. Some terms such as instant messenger and wiki I was familiar with, so in this case I believe I am a digital native. But when I saw terms like modding and smart mobs, I felt lost, I had no idea these terms even existed. Because of this, I would have to say that my digital literacy is emergent. However, I think that for all of us in the upcoming generation are emergent in terms of our digital literacy. This being said, I also feel that I possess the ability to quickly adapt to new technologies that may arise, since I have pretty much done this all of my life. As for the connections that I am making between emergent digital literacy, and emergent literacy as discussed by Thompkins, I think that there are similarities with regards to understanding. As Thompkins discusses, in emergent literacy, students are slowly understing what they are reading, and develop a sense of directionality with their writings. In terms of my emergent digital literacy, as new technologies are developed, I gradually understand what is going on, and develop a sense of how to incorporate this new technology into my daily life. Also, Thompkins talks about emergent literacy as the stage where children show an interest for reading and writing. I feel that my emergent digital literacy stage mirrors this, I see myself finding an interest in new and developing digital technologies. I am glad I took this quiz though, because it showed me I have much to learn with regards to emergent digital technologies.

Digital Native or Digital Immigrant (2/4/2008)

After taking the quiz, I would have to agree with Catherine that I am a mix between the two. I knew some of the words, but the other ones I had no clue. The article talks about "Digital Natives perceive technology as their friend and rely on it to study, work, play, relax, and communicate" and that is exactly what I use technology for. The article says that Digital Immigrants are people "who struggle to understand and master these new technologies." I have no problem in understanding and mastering new technologies once I have the knowledge. With all of that said I would say I am a mix. It is hard not to use technology especially in college and in schools because it is everywhere now. I do not believe that I am emergent when it comes to technology. Thompkins explains emergent is "you children gain an understanding of the communicative purpose of print, and they move from pretend reading to reading repetitive books..." (89). I have been using technology for some time so I believe I am past the emergent stage. I am not learning technology like students are learning to read and write in this stage. I was once at the emergent stage when it came to technology, such as learning how to use word and the internet. Emergent literacy and emergent digital literacy are a like because everything has to start somewhere. With emergent literacy students begin to read by first pretending and then building upon knowledge with some guidance. The same goes for writing, children tend to do scribbles or a few letters, but as they gain the knowledge and guidance they begin to write patterned sentences. With emergent digital literacy the same goes, to build skills there needs to be knowledge and guidance. Everything involves time and practice. Children even use technology at the emergent stage with reading tapes and following along. Teachnology is apart of our society now and it is finding its way into the classroom more and more.

Digital Native or Immigrant?

After taking that quiz, I determined that I'm a mix between a digital native and a digital immigrant (if thats possible!). A few of the words given to me, I knew nothing about...I haven't even heard them before. So in this case, I was an immigrant. But a little over half the words I did know. Also, the article explains that "Digital Natives percieve technology as their friend and rely on it to study, work, play, relax, and communicate". When it comes to these things, I definitely rely on technology. When the term "emergent" is considered, I do not think that I am emergent, but more so between beginning and fluent. Tompkins explains emergent literacy as children who at an early age, begin observing the contexts as to when reading and writing is used, and applying it to their own use of reading and writing, which at this point is very basic. I have been using technology for quite some time, so I believe that my emergent stage was in elementary school, through using video games, computers, the TV, and so on. I can see how Tompkin's explanations of emergent literacy can be applied to emergent digital literacy. When I was first beginning to use compters or play video games, I watched the user first, then used it myself, gaining practice and picking up new skills towards using technology. In this sense, when it comes to technology and the digital age, emergent users find ways to use technology in their daily lives to better their understanding of this topic, and gain new understandings and more advanced techniques in the process, just as how emergent readers and writers use such topics in the context of their own lives to better grasp literacy. I think this quiz was very interesting and helpful in gaining a better understanding of emergent literacy.