Literacy Blog Week 3: Book Club Plus

Because I am placed in a fifth grade classroom, much of the work we’ve been doing is MEAP focused; and it will continue to be this way until mid October. Unfortunately, until MEAP is over, we are going to be focusing on less meaningful, more standardized test-based literacy instruction.

Despite our current focus on MEAP reading strategies, we have introduced our class to the beginning of a literacy program. Unlike math, there is no specific curriculum resource for ELA in our school. We do however collaborate with the other two fifth grade teachers to develop our own literacy curriculum based on a number of different resources (namely book clubs/literacy circles and writer’s workshop). After reading the first five chapters of Book Club Plus, it became obvious to me that many of the tactics mention in this text we also present in our own classroom materials.

Among other items, it is my opinion that explicit teaching of comprehension strategies is among the most important aspects of developing “good readers;” I was pleased to see a focus on this literacy component both in my placement as well as in the text. Although we haven’t gotten into too many details in my placement just yet, I am hoping to see my CT teach several comprehension strategies (QAR, SQP2RS, KWL, etc.). I have already observed my CT perform several “think alouds” (as described in Classroom Management) in other subject areas and I hope to be able to observe her using this same method of modeling when teaching literacy topics – specifically with comprehension and word consciousness.

Aspects of literacy teaching I have witnessed (though not necessarily within a structured literacy program) include developing vocabulary, text processing strategies, and writing into, through and out of units. Surprisingly, most of these observations came during mathematics instruction! For the past week or so we have been studying factors/multiples, rectangular arrays, long division, divisibility rules and now squaring/exponents. Before introducing each topic formally, my CT presents the students with a number/problem and asks them to consider what they know about how to solve it. When they present their problem-solving strategy (orally), my CT requires the students to provide written evidence explaining their process. Throughout the lesson, my CT models “think alouds” noting key vocabulary. Sometimes she defines the terms for the children and other times she “wonders where she could find the meaning for this term” – which prompts the children to flip to the glossary, table of contents, subheadings within the unit section in a race to come up with the answer first. At the end of each lesson problem set the children “self-evaluate” their understanding by giving a check plus (I understand this fully), check (I still need some help with this), or check minus (I still need a lot of help with this). In addition to the self-evaluation, each child fills out an “exit survey” at the conclusion of each quiz or test. In this exit survey students are asks to write a total of five statements reflecting on the unit, what they learned and what they hope to learn more about. So, in a lot of ways, literacy is practiced pretty heavily in our math program – especially in terms of writing in, through and out of units.

In terms of text processing strategies, students are working on effective note-taking strategies to “get the main points” of articles, textbook units and fiction texts. They then in turn practice writing five sentence summaries on their reading logs (5 paragraphs of summary per week). In addition to reading, we also introduced the PAW program which stands for “paragraph a week”. In this exercise, students are working on using the six characteristics of good writing “conventions, voice, organization, ideas, sentence fluency, and word choice” as they respond to a given prompt. This week, the students are asked to recall a “snapshot” of a “fall memory” and retell it using figurative language (we are focusing heavily on creativity in word choice). Today, the students worked hard to “craft” their “topic sentences” for their PAW; they worked hard to find a balance between telling the reader about their topic in the first sentence and finding an engaging opening.

In sum, I have already observed a lot of literacy teaching – just not necessarily within a structured literacy program just yet. I am however confident that my CT will employ many of the techniques mentioned in the Book Club Plus program when a literacy program is further developed post-MEAP.

Week 3-Book Club Plus Post

I feel like the book club model is definitely represented in parts of the literacy instruction in my classroom context, however many parts are omitted. I am not sure if the literacy instruction leaves out a lot of the aspects of the book club model because I have yet to see those parts during instruction, or if this is just the way my collaborating teacher models his instruction. My teacher definitely utilizes literacy block, independent reading and writer’s workshop often. But I have barely seen Teacher Read aloud and shared reading. He does incorporate these types of instruction, however not very often. Even though they are in sixth grade- I still think it is necessary to have teacher read aloud and shared reading- I hope that with time this part of book club model will be represented more in my classroom, and if it is not by my CT, then it is something I can utilize to my benefit and include in my instruction of my guided lead teaching as long as my CT is cooperative and supportive in that idea.

The format for literacy instruction in my classroom revolves around a lot of independent work. Everyday, the students have 30 minutes of individual reading time and time to write about what they have read. At the beginning of each trimester they set a goal of how many ‘Accelerated Reader’ books they will read and pass the tests of by the end of the trimester, and if they achieve specific goals there are prizes available. My CT uses making meaning- and uses the teacher read aloud part of the book club model to read the book aloud, but I have only seen this twice and think it should be incorporated into literacy instruction on a weekly, regular schedule. Another focus of literacy instruction is their word studies. Students receive fifteen vocabulary words in a packet with worksheets and exercises for them to complete by Friday and turn in before their word study tests. Lucy Caukins is the writing instruction curriculum used, so writer’s workshop is used often in my class. I feel like my CT has been using the same resources for a number of years, and almost does not utilize new materials in literacy instruction as much as I think is necessary. Even though, he may not verbalize new materials or use different kinds of literacy he does have a great selection of books in the classroom. The selection has a wide range of different genres- including all different kinds of fiction, novels and picture books, informational texts and multicultural texts.

Blog Post week 3 prompt

I would like to preface this post saying that my classroom instruction is currently focused around preparing for the MEAP, so we haven’t started our normal literacy instruction yet.  I haven’t really been able to get a clear grasp on what our language arts routines are yet.  My CT has however told me a lot about what our curriculum and literacy instruction will look like after the MEAP, so I do have some idea of what kinds of things we will do and what kind of framework we will use.

I see a lot of similarities between our classroom practices and the Book Club Plus framework.  Although I am in an upper elementary classroom, we still utilize teacher read aloud everyday.  We have a wide variety of reading levels in our fifth grade classroom, but they are all able to have the commonality of the chapter book that the teacher reads everyday.  The book we are reading right now is a chapter book that is above the level of several of my students, so it allows them to engage and be excited about text they would not normally be able to encounter. 

My teacher has a wide library with many culturally diverse and meaningful themes, which is largely due to our multicultural and multilingual school wide community.  Students are able to choose books that have topics that are meaningful or important to them, or select books that contain themes relevant to their daily lives.  They are assigned a reading log every week where they focus on one of the aspects of literacy.  This is similar to the ideas presented in the Book Club Plus framework of constructing meanings and concepts of aspects of literacy.  I also see a lot of the comprehension principles mirrored in the way my CT encourages effective comprehension strategies.

My teacher has told me about the literature circles that she has developed and implemented for the past few years.  This involves students forming Book Clubs, which start out being based off of reading level.  The group all reads a text, and assigns roles to each of these members.  I am unsure of exactly the titles of these roles, but I know that my teacher said the students are required to present their books in a variety of different fashions, allowing for all different learners with multiple intelligences to use their abilities.  The book unit involves various types of writing exercises, cross-curricular connections, as well as speaking and listening in a group context.  This seemed to me to be comparable to the Book Club Plus model.

The reading and writing I have seen up til now however doesn’t really look like the book club plus model.  Other than the library selection and teacher read aloud, our literacy instruction has been using worksheets and teacher based instruction on things like authors purpose, editing and scoring a piece of writing, comprehension strategies and the six traits of writing; all things that students will need to know for the MEAP.  I am very excited for after the MEAP, when it sounds like all of my subjects will get a lot more fun and meaningful.

Task Four- Online Module 1

When we did our exploration of the community-the thing that struck my interest the most was the involvement and support of Novi School district. I knew prior to doing the actual tour that the community is highly involved in their school district and I knew that the school had money and resources. However, prior to the school year beginning numerous teachers in my school were given pink slips, teachers who had been there for almost ten years. So initially I envisioned that the schools were lacking money and resources, in comparison to how it had been in the past. Because so many schools and districts surrounding the area are struggling- I was curious to see if it seemed like Novi was or not. After visiting the library and high school, it was evident to me that there was an abundance of amazing resources and it did not seem like the district or community was struggling. I was surprised to read an article that was posted in the library, that school funding was lowered a significant amount. I was not surprised that the funding was being lowered, but I was surprised because from what I was viewing and had experienced in my school and classroom- it did not seem like this was the case at all. To me, it seemed like the students have endless opportunities as diverse learners in numerous ways.

The community visit, specifically to the public library helped me to be able to see and understand better the resources available to the Novi Community. From the parents I spoke to at open house combined with conversations about the community with my collaborating teachers and principle- I was under the impression that the parents and community were extremely supportive of the school system and the success of their children in the education system. To get a grasp on the different types of literacy represented throughout the community- I wanted to look at the library. Not only did I find the various books of all kind- there is so much technology at the library. And this technology is used in a way for the visitors of the library to be able to achieve new literacy through so many available resources. Aside from technology, the library also has different sections that cater to different types of people. It offers special rooms that have a certain type of layout that goes along with the type of books, for example there was a special graphic novel and science fiction section that incorporates an interactive video game- in an educational format, style and setting. The ways that the technology is incorporated with reading, writing and studying throughout the library was very interesting to see.

Activity 4

Much of what I noticed in revisiting my exploration of Southfield was community-based. In other words, the cultural, linguistic, religious, and racial diversity present in my classroom resonates in the greater community - our school is a snapshot of Southfield. A simple drive through the streets of the surrounding neighborhood makes this diversity obvious – children of all cultures play together and are genuinely interested in each other’s differences. This is one of the few communities I’ve had the opportunity to observe that genuinely celebrates diversity in a unified context. It seems challenging, but the children within the community seem to embrace it; they’re proud to be students at Vandenberg World Cultures Academy. Similarly, the children at Vandenberg seem to be proud of the relationships they have with the children who might typically be alienated at other schools: the students with special needs and the English Language Learners. When students speaking little or no English at all struggle to negotiate for meaning, their multilingual peers are quick to step in and help them translate. When a new CI student was introduced into our classroom during math time, the general ed. students were quick to offer their support and helped to make that student feel welcome and a part of their class. Every day teaching at Vandenberg surprises me, because until now I did not know a classroom without at least one bully to say mean things and hurt other feelings. Certainly, we have our share of chatty students, but not a single one is mean-spirited; I cannot say how much I am impressed by this. I have to credit the Principal and Staff for the stability and attitude of this environment.

That said, in terms of exploring the surrounding community, I was not surprised to see a great deal of multicultural references, especially at the Southfield Public Library who advertised events like “Multicultural Night” in the greater community. Like the greater Southfield community, Vandenberg celebrates its own school-wide “Multicultural Night” in the spring where families are invited to dress in the traditional dress of their culture, bring traditional foods, music, art, etc. This is the biggest and most looked forward to event during the school year. I also noticed this ongoing theme of multiculturalism in the local grocery stores – Hiller’s and Kroger both featuring a full section of kosher, vegetarian, and other traditional holiday food items from other cultures. Much of the packaging for these items was written in the appropriate native language (Hebrew, Arabic, etc.), but noted in English on the shelf tags. Seeing this reminded me of the teacher name plates listed on the outside of each Vandenberg classroom where our names are written first in English and then translated into Arabic, French, and Spanish below.

Of course there were examples of technological and print literacy at the library and numeracy (numerical literacy) on menus and in the grocery store, but for my literacy teaching this year I would like to focus more on the theme of multiculturalism in literacy teaching. In our classrooms, each child receives informational texts like the Oakland Press and the Constitution News (formatted for elementary age students) each Friday. These texts are grounded in the community and the stories of the people that make up the community surrounding our school. Why not use these literary resources to encourage our students to learn even more about the lives of those in their community and to take even more pride in the community they are a part of? My goal for literacy teaching this year is to help children further explore the learning environment that their community has made possible for them. I hope to expand literary learning outside of the four classroom walls this year!

Task 4 of online module...

When exploring our community, we observed many different literacy elements located all throughout our area.  Driving around, there were several different churches, community centers, and businesses.  In these we saw our diverse school population reflected.  Within one mile of our school, we saw three different types of churches or centers for people from different backgrounds, for example an arabic community center down the street.  We also noticed literacy in neighborhood grocery stores, the library, and in newspapers and public announcements.      What really suprised me was how evident the diversity really was in the community.  One who is not familiar with the area would be able to identify easily that there is a diverse population represented by the buildings and services offered. Another thing that really surprised me was the Southfield Public Library.  I was not expecting such a beautiful facility, perhaps because of my previous knowledge of the socioeconomic classes of our school.  However, the library is an incredibly stunning building, full of multiple different resources for people of all ages in the community.
    Through this exploration, I was really able to see the resources available to our students and families.  The amazing library in and of itself is one of the biggest literacy resources the community has to offer.  It has several floors of books, computers, magazines and newspapers available for those who are able to obtain a library card.  Also, the library offers a wide variety of acitivities and programs to help the people of the community.  These include things such as computer classes, language learner help, and  science camps for younger kids.  During this exploration, we also compared the communities we grew up in to the city we are teaching in.  This really opened my eyes to how different the environment of my students lives is to the one I grew up in.  Also looking at our schools statistics (highest rate of free and reduced lunch) demonstrated the poverty level of my students, something I hadn’t really realized before.
    During my teaching, I will take into account the socioeconomic status of my students and their families, as well as integrate and embrace the diversity that was shown in the community and mirrored in my classroom to be able to create meaningful learning activities that relate to my students lives.

Activity 2 for online module...

Activity Two: Considering the Community

1. We are going to be going around the city of Southfield. We plan on visiting the Library, Civic Center, Music Store, Restaurants, Grocery Stores and homes/apartments. We chose these places because they are all big parts of a city and are places that our students and their families frequent often.
2. We expect to see many different diverse people, families and people working and shopping in these areas. We expect to see students and people using the library and civic center as well. We expect to hear conversation and learning taking place. We expect to learn everything that we can about the school, the students and their families and the community.
3. Our visits confirm our expectations through learning about new places and ideas and seeing our students and their families in their “natural community” doing what they normally do, being people. Our visits, in my opinion do not disconfirm my expectations. I feel that there were not any expectations that I placed on this inquiry because I wanted to go into it with an opened mind. So for this question I say N/A. 
4. Each of the three questions above relate to literacy in many ways. In all locations that we are going to view and have viewed there is literacy everywhere. On signs, people talking, asking questions if you are not sure about something. Reading menus or books in the library. Listening to music and comprehending what you are hearing. Seeing, hearing and learning about all the different aspects of our community involve literacy in every way possible. Like stated earlier in order to understand what you are seeing, hearing and learning you need to be literate and able to comprehend the world that is going on around you. Students develop this as they grow but in order to develop this, they need to learn how to read, write and speak. 

-The types of interactions that we are likely to see while we are investigating are people communicating and having conversations, people writing down information for example if a waitress is writing down an order in a restaurant, people talking and giving directions orally, different types of languages being spoken as the city is very diverse, etc. 

Sample Questions: 

1. We expect to see lots of new literacies within the community including- churches, shops and restaurants owned by those of a different culture than American.
2. We expect to see traditional literacies in neighborhood communities and within churches. Possible a Jewish Church or an Arabic Church with different language written.
3. Oral texts that are shared in the community include all signs on the streets and within stores and shops and restaurants, churches, civic centers, the library and schools. 
4. There will be writing all over the community and we are expected to see many different writing of different languages (in some areas of high volume of a certain culture.)
5. Expectations, surprises and questions are all different from each person within the group and we each took something different away from the activity. There are many things in the community that allowed us to look at our students in a deeper light and learn about their culture and community from which they come. 
6. A question that we have is this, there are so many stores, shops, restaurants, etc. for people to work at and live but our school has the highest poverty rate in all of Southfield, how do these things correlate? 

Jenny Gross- What I expect to find in the Novi Community...

Response to ONLINE MODULE-WEEK TWO

I plan on visiting the Novi Community Public Library. I chose to visit the library because it was recently renovated- and from what I have learned about the Novi school district and community is that the parents and community are very supportive of education. Since I have heard such positive things about the support of the community, it drives me to want to see the learning facilities that the library has to offer, and to get an idea of the facility itself and what it offers to the residents of Novi, especially since it was recently renovated. Another reason I chose to visit the Library is because the actual building and surrounding is intriguing. Every time I drive to my field placement school I pass the library and Novi’s huge high school. Surrounding the library and in between the two buildings is a park that looks like it was recently built. I also plan on visiting the outdoor park to see what it is, from what I can see when I drive by it seems like there is a path and some artwork to look at- but I feel like when I am on foot I will get to see a lot more than I have already.

I feel that within the community, different types of literacy will be all over. Just from doing some of the exploration of the community for math- it was obvious that mathematics can be found in virtually anything. So for sure, mathematical and numeric literacy will be found in the library and the surrounding community. I think it is obvious that a visit to the library, especially equates many traditional literacy to be found. Within the library, all sorts of books in different genres can be found which elicits opportunity to achieve literacy in many different topics of interest. For community members to have the resources and ability to understand, interpret and use materials of different contexts- encourages traditional literacy. I expect to see that because the library has been newly renovated—that the number of new resources and new literacy will be very large. A great deal of new literacy incorporates concepts based on technology, global, media and visual understanding. I expect to see resources that encourage this type of learning and understanding all over the library. From computers, new software, databases, etc.

From what I already have learned through my field placement and prior knowledge of the Novi community, I can imagine seeing literacy in many aspects of the community- since the support of education is extremely high among Novi residents. I feel that I will see many examples of people in the community trying to educate others and encourage learning. When thinking about visiting the library and the connections I could explore between reading, writing and oral language- I envision that the library will have specific resources with an addition to cater to the interactions of these different contexts. I think because it is a community with a lot of support and resources, the library will be equipped with different types of computer software, programs and areas to learn and access different kinds of equipment and resources that cover a wide range of new and old types of literacy.