Module 3 Response and case study

Sue Ann Mayberry
Dr. Swanson
Read 5572
Module #3

Reading chapter 7 made me more aware that children growing up in poverty have a limited amount of vocabulary, which influences their reading and comprehension. The book also talks about the “lack of vocabulary can be crucial factor underlining the school failure of disadvantage students” (p. 141). With this knowledge, I will have students write new words down, that they come across during their readings in the back of their journals, so that when they write they can use these new words in their daily writings. Doing this activity will build vocabulary as well as reading and comprehension skills.

Chapter 7 also talks about the use of sensory webs to enhance children’s writing, speaking, and comprehending skills. “The lines leading from the word outward provide places for students to fill in what the word smells like, taste like, looks like, sounds like, and feels like” (p. 147).
The example given in the text is “anger smells like hot burning coals, tastes like dry sand burning in the desert, looks like shattered glass on the pavement, sounds like fingernails screeching on the blackboard, and feels like a cold wind” (p. 147).

In chapter 7, I also liked the way it made me think about the words I use everyday. An activity they suggest using with middle school students is to have them analyze the adjectives used by cartoon charters to build vocabulary skills. More advanced learners could work with smaller children and record their vocabulary in a natural setting for ten minutes to draw conclusions about the wide range of word usage in the child’s speech.

Some of the changes that I made because of my readings from chapter 7, were that some of the questions that I down loaded from the think clouds. Some of the questions are” I thought_________ was important because….,” “ I made a connection when________, “I wondered_____________,” “ This was mostly about___________.”
Using think clouds in a classroom gave students a chance to think about the material they were reading. It also gave them a helpful tool to keep their mind focused on their readings.

Vocabulary and word recognition was taught through the use of the Frayer Model, which includes a list of characteristics or attributes of the concept. For example, “if the concept is reptile, the essential characteristics would include animal, cold-blooded, and vertebrate. If the concept is vegetable essential characteristics would include nutritious foods, found in non-woody plants, and contains vitamins and minerals” ( p. 56).

I used the Frayer Model, as well as think clouds and Venn diagrams in my classroom to give visual aids to my students. These helpful tools also keep the students’ minds focused on their readings. Students are making connection to the text as they read. Students are also building vocabulary skills as they are reading. The changes I made in my classroom because of these new strategies gave me and my students more ways to build their vocabulary, reading, motivation, and comprehensions skills.

Another during strategy I used was the Verbatim Split Page Procedure (VSPP). This system was designed to help students learn how to take notes. I had students divide their paper into a 60/40 fold. The left side of the paper represents 40% and the right side has 60% of the page. My students took notes from the board on the left side of their paper. Taking lecture notes on the left side of the paper gave students more of an opportunity to listen to the lesson that was being taught. Students were instructed to expand their notes on the 60% side of their paper so that they could fully understand them for later instruction. I helped students learn how to put them in an outlined format. Students learned how to put the notes in their own words so that they could understand what they needed to know. I gave more information during this time when students did not know how what material was important for them to know. This helpful tool will build the note taking skills that my students will use in my classroom as well as in future classrooms and in college.


 
Module Case Study 3
Amy could use the Read the TEXT Backwards, RTB strategy during her tutoring session. She could also use the Verbatim Split Page Procedure during this time. As her student is reading the summary of the book, Amy could have him/her write words down on the left side of his/her paper whose meaning was unclear so that he/she could look them up later. Later on the student could look up the meaning and write a sentence on the right side of the paper to build comprehension skills as well as vocabulary skills.

The strength of teaching the RTB is that Amy’s student will read the summary first. During his/her reading the student will have some clues what the story is going to be about. It will also help Amy to explain words that her student comes across that he/she did not know. Using the Verbatim Split Page Procedure during reading will help Amy as well as the student, to see if words that he/she looked up and wrote the dictionary meaning down go along with the story he/she is reading.

The weakness of this plan would be read the story with no idea on how to help her student gain comprehension and vocabulary skills. Another weakness would be having stories that are not on the independent level or motivational level the student needs. Students need to have stories that they like as well as a level they can read.

One of the strategy programs I would use is to have the student fill out the Garfield Interest survey. I would then go to the library and pick books out that are on the students’ independent and motivational level. The rationale is that I want my student to feel confident as well as motivated to want to read. I would also incorporate the Marzano’s approach, “which includes a nonlinguistic representation to build vocabulary, and clarifies meaning through the usage of metaphors” (p.73). I also learned this strategy through the readings on the case study. “He stresses subject-specified terms are the best target for direct vocabulary instruction” (p. 88). He also provides a list of 7,923 subject-specific terms in his book that could be used to help build vocabulary skills. A way I would use his program is to have the student pick a few of the words from his list and we would work together creating metaphors and writing a short story. My goal as well as Amy’s would be through this process the student will gain vocabulary, comprehension, and a love for reading.