Chapter 1 Blog:

While all students differ in character and intelligence levels, there are still characteristics that determine how students are able to learn or process information. The first step is referred to as rehearsal, which is simply repeating the information over and over. A great example of this is found in children's books such as Dr.Seuss. Second is predicting. This is where the students are able to anticipate or guess what will happen. The best example I can think of for this is a hypothesis in a science project. Next is organizing and this allows the students to group information into categories. Elaborating is the fourth step and this is where the student expands on information that has been presented to them. This step may call for the student to make connections and to give specifics and details. Lastly is monitoring, which is regulating or keeping track of progress.

The six components of language arts are listening, talking, reading, writing, viewing and visual representing. I think teaching language arts sets the foundation for how children learn and will succeed in any subject area. All of the components of language arts are required for a student to comprehend any new material presented to them. For example, if a student is unable to listen or to read they will have no way of comprehending a new assignment or task that has been given to them in the school or home setting nor will they be able to rehearse or predict any story or material presented to them. Teaching language arts sets up how a child is able to process information and it is truly vital that this is done correctly as it will have a lasting effect on the student in either a positive or negative manner.