Reflective Essay 3
INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES FOR TEACHING READING AND WRITING
Reading and writing is an interactive process and a reader should be able to comprehend what the writer writes. (Durkin, 1989; Loban, 1963; Moffet & Wenger, 1983) as cited in Cooper, J.D., & Kiger, N.D.2006, found out that both reading and writing are constructive processes, sharing similar processes, which improves result, critical thinking and when taught together also fosters communication. Reading is a process of constructing meaning through the dynamic interaction among the readers existing knowledge, the information suggested by the written language and the context of the reading situation. I feel that the purpose of reading is information gathering, performing a task, experiencing and enjoying literature at large, and to form opinions about the text.
10
In order for a reader to decode what is written, they should be aware of reading strategies and reading techniques. The Bhutanese New English curriculum has a strong emphasis on reading and writing as a strand. Therefore, it is mandatory for the teachers to teach reading and writing skills in the classroom. As a part of continuous assessment, I use reading and writing portfolio, to assess children‟s reading and writing abilities. Reading portfolio includes, reading record for books read, critical responses, text talk or book talk, and book reviews by the students on the teacher‟s guidance. I have used Guided reading, paired/buddy reading, picture walk, reading aloud, shared reading, readers theatre, silent reading in the fourth grade English class last year. I took International English language testing system (IELTS) some times last year. I still remember how hard the reading passages were. May be I choose the wrong reading techniques just like Mircea.
For writing, I use best pieces of writing selected by the students, best pieces selected by the teacher, journal writing for the books read, a mix of genres are considered. However teachers in the initial phase will not expect children to write essays, short stories but will center around basics like writing about their family, school, pets, reading small story books, and reflecting on what they do every day by maintain journal. Teaching how to write is a difficult task especially to the beginners. Writing at primary level is like a work in progress. Hand writing, guided writing, vocabulary /phrase/sentence writing, letter writing, narrative writing, poetry, shared writing (parallel or model) writing, think aloud(s) and writing frames are some approaches I use while introducing the concept of writing in primary classes. Like Raimes(2002), I also feel that learner‟s first need to learn the language and only then can they learn to write. Writing is complex and it needs time and constant practice. In second language situation, we will not begin writing right away. The curriculum also stresses on the oral language as children before starting
11
to write in English, they will need vocabulary and structures, which we reinforce through oral language. Children need lots of practice before they embark on writing journey. Children should be made to do many pre-writing activities, writing in the air, on the sand, and do lots of tracing work in the class. This is will help learners facilitate their fine motor skills. And some early strategies a for looking at print such as directional movement, one-to-one matching, locating known words, and locating unknown words though not a pure process needs adjustments while starting the writing session, In the second language writing situation.
I believe that bottom up approach(s) is more feasible in the lower classes, as it builds from the basics to the advanced. As a teacher, we must remember that it is of absolute importance in the beginning that we give readers (learners) lots of time and practice in locating individual words after they have read a whole sentence. In this way, we can check to see whether children are able to do one-to-one matching and that they understand what a word is. As learners read we want them to be making use of the three-cueing systems meaning (does it make sense?), Structure (does it sound right?) and finally the visual information (does it look right?). For instance, in the sentence, this is my dog; the beginning reader may read, as this is my puppy. The child‟s reading makes sense and sounds right. As the child becomes aware of beginning consonant sounds, however, he will notice that the „p‟ sound at the beginning of puppy does not match the„d‟ at the beginning of dog so the word puppy does not look right. Here the reader can to employ the visual cues as well as meaning and structure cues when he reads. At this phase, as a teacher we can use strategies involving monitoring, searching, checking, self-correcting, analyzing, asking questions, visualization, reflecting, self assessment and peer assessment in order for a learner to be proficient in reading and be able to use their meta-cognitive skills as they read.
12
For active reading to occur, teachers must create an atmosphere, which fosters inquiry. Students must be encouraged to use meta-cognition strategies such as questioning, to make predictions, and to organize ideas, which support value judgments. “These include creating mental images through grouping and associating, semantic mapping, using keywords, employing word associations, and placing new words into a context.” (Singhal, M. 2001). Critical reading skills include problem solving and learning to reason through reading. Flynn (1989) as cited in curriculum and professional support division (2006) describes an instructional model for problem solving which promotes “analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of ideas.” She states that, “When we ask students to analyze, we expect them to clarify information by examining the component parts. Synthesis involves combining relevant parts into a coherent whole, and evaluation includes setting up standards and then judging against them to verify the reasonableness of ideas.” Beck (1989) as cited in CAPSD (2006) adopts similar perspective, using the term “reasoning” to imply higher order thinking skills. Comprehension requires inference, which plays a central role in reasoning and problem solving.
Paris and Meyers (1981) as cited in Buggie (2007) found that “Poor readers were more concerned with the pronunciation of words rather than meanings.” As a language teacher, I have found and observed that most of the poor readers emphasized on correct pronunciation rather on the meaning, while reading a text. It is so because they may have difficulty with oral language, phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, motivation, or some other factor that prevents progress (Cooper, J.D., & Kiger, N.D.2006).
In conclusion, reading and writing is perceived as important and should be taught together. Meta-cognitive awareness, reading strategies, writing as a process can be taught to our children. However, children in the early primary classes perceive writing differently than adults
13
do. They start with a finished product in mind and teachers should accept what they write. This is our responsibility. In Bhutan, it is believed that children in the urban schools are better in English literacy compared to that of children in remote schools. The difference in the reading proficiency level in the learners will also depend on the type of environment and the background of the reader
References
Buggie. (2007). Train the trainer: A manual for introducing the revised English curriculum to teachers of classes PP-IV in Bhutan. University of New Brunswick. Canada
Cooper, J.D., & Kiger, N.D. (2006). Literacy; Helping children construct meaning. Houghton Mifflin Company; Boston, New York.
CAPSD. (2006). English reading and literature; class IV. Paro.
Singhal, M. (2001). Reading proficiency, reading strategies, meta-cognitive awareness and L2 readers. The Reading Matrix.1 (1). Retrieved from ELC 688 Blackboard course: http://blackboard.umbc.edu.
INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES FOR TEACHING READING AND WRITING
Reading and writing is an interactive process and a reader should be able to comprehend what the writer writes. (Durkin, 1989; Loban, 1963; Moffet & Wenger, 1983) as cited in Cooper, J.D., & Kiger, N.D.2006, found out that both reading and writing are constructive processes, sharing similar processes, which improves result, critical thinking and when taught together also fosters communication. Reading is a process of constructing meaning through the dynamic interaction among the readers existing knowledge, the information suggested by the written language and the context of the reading situation. I feel that the purpose of reading is information gathering, performing a task, experiencing and enjoying literature at large, and to form opinions about the text.
10
In order for a reader to decode what is written, they should be aware of reading strategies and reading techniques. The Bhutanese New English curriculum has a strong emphasis on reading and writing as a strand. Therefore, it is mandatory for the teachers to teach reading and writing skills in the classroom. As a part of continuous assessment, I use reading and writing portfolio, to assess children‟s reading and writing abilities. Reading portfolio includes, reading record for books read, critical responses, text talk or book talk, and book reviews by the students on the teacher‟s guidance. I have used Guided reading, paired/buddy reading, picture walk, reading aloud, shared reading, readers theatre, silent reading in the fourth grade English class last year. I took International English language testing system (IELTS) some times last year. I still remember how hard the reading passages were. May be I choose the wrong reading techniques just like Mircea.
For writing, I use best pieces of writing selected by the students, best pieces selected by the teacher, journal writing for the books read, a mix of genres are considered. However teachers in the initial phase will not expect children to write essays, short stories but will center around basics like writing about their family, school, pets, reading small story books, and reflecting on what they do every day by maintain journal. Teaching how to write is a difficult task especially to the beginners. Writing at primary level is like a work in progress. Hand writing, guided writing, vocabulary /phrase/sentence writing, letter writing, narrative writing, poetry, shared writing (parallel or model) writing, think aloud(s) and writing frames are some approaches I use while introducing the concept of writing in primary classes. Like Raimes(2002), I also feel that learner‟s first need to learn the language and only then can they learn to write. Writing is complex and it needs time and constant practice. In second language situation, we will not begin writing right away. The curriculum also stresses on the oral language as children before starting
11
to write in English, they will need vocabulary and structures, which we reinforce through oral language. Children need lots of practice before they embark on writing journey. Children should be made to do many pre-writing activities, writing in the air, on the sand, and do lots of tracing work in the class. This is will help learners facilitate their fine motor skills. And some early strategies a for looking at print such as directional movement, one-to-one matching, locating known words, and locating unknown words though not a pure process needs adjustments while starting the writing session, In the second language writing situation.
I believe that bottom up approach(s) is more feasible in the lower classes, as it builds from the basics to the advanced. As a teacher, we must remember that it is of absolute importance in the beginning that we give readers (learners) lots of time and practice in locating individual words after they have read a whole sentence. In this way, we can check to see whether children are able to do one-to-one matching and that they understand what a word is. As learners read we want them to be making use of the three-cueing systems meaning (does it make sense?), Structure (does it sound right?) and finally the visual information (does it look right?). For instance, in the sentence, this is my dog; the beginning reader may read, as this is my puppy. The child‟s reading makes sense and sounds right. As the child becomes aware of beginning consonant sounds, however, he will notice that the „p‟ sound at the beginning of puppy does not match the„d‟ at the beginning of dog so the word puppy does not look right. Here the reader can to employ the visual cues as well as meaning and structure cues when he reads. At this phase, as a teacher we can use strategies involving monitoring, searching, checking, self-correcting, analyzing, asking questions, visualization, reflecting, self assessment and peer assessment in order for a learner to be proficient in reading and be able to use their meta-cognitive skills as they read.
12
For active reading to occur, teachers must create an atmosphere, which fosters inquiry. Students must be encouraged to use meta-cognition strategies such as questioning, to make predictions, and to organize ideas, which support value judgments. “These include creating mental images through grouping and associating, semantic mapping, using keywords, employing word associations, and placing new words into a context.” (Singhal, M. 2001). Critical reading skills include problem solving and learning to reason through reading. Flynn (1989) as cited in curriculum and professional support division (2006) describes an instructional model for problem solving which promotes “analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of ideas.” She states that, “When we ask students to analyze, we expect them to clarify information by examining the component parts. Synthesis involves combining relevant parts into a coherent whole, and evaluation includes setting up standards and then judging against them to verify the reasonableness of ideas.” Beck (1989) as cited in CAPSD (2006) adopts similar perspective, using the term “reasoning” to imply higher order thinking skills. Comprehension requires inference, which plays a central role in reasoning and problem solving.
Paris and Meyers (1981) as cited in Buggie (2007) found that “Poor readers were more concerned with the pronunciation of words rather than meanings.” As a language teacher, I have found and observed that most of the poor readers emphasized on correct pronunciation rather on the meaning, while reading a text. It is so because they may have difficulty with oral language, phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, motivation, or some other factor that prevents progress (Cooper, J.D., & Kiger, N.D.2006).
In conclusion, reading and writing is perceived as important and should be taught together. Meta-cognitive awareness, reading strategies, writing as a process can be taught to our children. However, children in the early primary classes perceive writing differently than adults
13
do. They start with a finished product in mind and teachers should accept what they write. This is our responsibility. In Bhutan, it is believed that children in the urban schools are better in English literacy compared to that of children in remote schools. The difference in the reading proficiency level in the learners will also depend on the type of environment and the background of the reader
References
Buggie. (2007). Train the trainer: A manual for introducing the revised English curriculum to teachers of classes PP-IV in Bhutan. University of New Brunswick. Canada
Cooper, J.D., & Kiger, N.D. (2006). Literacy; Helping children construct meaning. Houghton Mifflin Company; Boston, New York.
CAPSD. (2006). English reading and literature; class IV. Paro.
Singhal, M. (2001). Reading proficiency, reading strategies, meta-cognitive awareness and L2 readers. The Reading Matrix.1 (1). Retrieved from ELC 688 Blackboard course: http://blackboard.umbc.edu.
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