Chapter 3 Blog:

The reading and writing processes can be viewed as the fundamentals that allow students to become successful in their reading and writing habits. The reading process has five different stages that can be used as stepping stones for growth in a student’s reading abilities. The first step is pre reading. Within this step the student is to set a purpose for reading and to preview the text. This in my opinion seems particularly important because if the student is not sparked or interested in the book from the start then they will generally have a negative approach to the remainder of the book. The second stage is reading. This can be completed with a one on one, one to many, or one person basis. The students can choose to partake in buddy reading, guided reading, or even independent reading. The third stage is responding. Here the children are to take action in what they have read. They can do this through group activities about the book or also by writing in reading logs or journals. Fourth is the Exploring stage. This is where the students can take a look back at what they read and examine the authors style or craft. The students can also explore new vocabulary words that may not be spoken in their current time frame. (Such as the example we discussed in class in regards to a book on Rosa Parks and using the ‘N’ word). Lastly, the fifth step is applying. The students will continue to deepen their interpretations and value found in the reading experience through further research or even tests.
The writing process also has stages just as the reading process does. The first stage in the writing process is prewriting. This can involve brainstorming, discussions, or outlining and this is done to simply organize your thoughts. The next step is drafting and this can include several copies of your paper however each one is revised in further depth. The third step is revising and this is where you can add further elaboration and the main purpose of this is to change sentence structure and wording. For example, some specifics and details can be added to basic points in your paper. The fourth step is editing which includes spelling and grammar check and the main purpose for this step is to insure that any grammatical errors have been corrected. Lastly is the publishing step and this is when students can share and display a finished paper.
I personally can remember the writing steps and processes that were carried out when I attended elementary school all the way through high school, and it was as if you couldn’t move on to step two unless step one had been accomplished. The writing process in particular was what helped me most. I especially appreciated when a teacher would provide us with a rubric or check off list as it always seemed to make things a whole lot easier. With a rubric you were still able to express what you wanted to express but you would have the ability to see what was expected from you in your paper. In a sense it was like grading your own paper once you had finished and it indeed called for a greater sense of accountability. In regards to the reading process, I would say that I can’t really remember the reading stages nor do I remember it help in understanding the material in the books. In my elementary school years we had the Accelerated Reader Program. This was where you had to reach a certain amount of points based on the books that you read. Unfortunately, reading simply to earn points left me hating reading. I didn’t really have much of a chance to appreciate the book or take time to write about it…it was simply read the book, take a multiple choice test about it online and then move on to book number two to accumulate more points. I definitely know I would not want to have the Accelerated Reader Program practiced within my school.

Chapter 4 Blog:

The current approach to how children receive language arts instruction in kindergarten through second grade is called emergent literacy. The amazing fact about emergent literacy is that it incorporates both reading and writing for the child, and it also broadens their concepts of cultural and social aspects of literacy as well. In order for children to learn and attain the information presented to them in the literary aspect, they tend to move from simply recognizing environmental print, such as signs, symbols, etc, to actually being able to read the text in a book. In order for children to progress into other levels, they must also become aware of the phonemes, phonics, vowels, consonants, and so much more. The question is how to apply all of this to a classroom in order to help the student attain and simply understand the information. First it would be important to recognize how the child is capable of progressing. One of the main focuses in the chapter was regarding how both reading and writing have three stages as children progress. The three stages include emergent, beginning, and fluent.
Within the emergent stage of reading, the child is able to understand the purpose of books and the fact that books allow communication to occur. Children pick up on predictable books and then move on to the beginning reading stage. I can remember reading to my younger niece when she was about two years old. It was one of her favorite picture books. Immediately when I was finished she asked for me to read it again. Not only that but she was also able to tell me or show me parts of the book that she liked best before we had even turned to the next page. She had not only picked up on the book because it was predictable but also because of the repetition. Also during this stage is where children begin their phonemes and also how to make sense of words. Lastly in the fluent reading, children have learned how to read in that they are able to recognize most words and can understand them particularly well. A great way to help children with this process in the classroom can be through shared reading. Shared reading not only allows the children to read the book to the class, but is also calls for rereading, discussing and responding to the book, and to have the children read it themselves independently.
As previously mentioned, writing also has a similar approach. In the first stage, the children make scribbles to represent writing. Progress can be shown as children begin to line up their scribbles rather than having them in random places on the paper. Next is where children begin writing. A key issue to this stage is that children are able to recall the alphabetic principles and they also reflect on their phoneme and vowels to allow them to create their own invented spellings. Lastly is fluent writing when children begin to write paragraphs and are able to vary their writing according to genre. A great tool that can be used in the classroom in regards to writing is called interactive writing which allows each child to write their own views on the writing activity that has been assigned and also allows them to present this to the class as well.