Monday, September 24, 2012

Fourth Week


The first article, IRA/NAEYC, talks about the processes of reading and writing and the child development of learning. It says that Kindergarten, when the child is really starting to learn how to read, that a teacher need to expose them to many forms and function of print because it serves as a foundation that is critical. From the article I understood the importance of reading out loud to children. The teacher can read the story to the students, and retell the story and break it down for the students to understand while she is reading. It is also a fun way for the students to learn how to read with the class. I look back at Kindergarten and the first thing I always remember is the colored benches that we sat at while Mrs. Swicegood read to us. We were learning to read, but we were also listening to a good story at the same time, which made it a lot more interesting for kindergartners.
The second article I read was Letting Go of Letter of the Week. The article mentions that students enter school at different levels of reading and writing. In kindergarten it is important to make them comfortable with each other and the process of reading so they can all build on the skill. I liked the examples of taking everyday things, like familiar logos, and showing the children that they already know how to read while also building their confidence. I think that is a great place to start because if a kid is the slightest bit discouraged about reading, it will show them that they have the capability to read.
The third article by Yopp and Yopp was about supporting phonemic awareness and development in the classroom. It broke down phonetics and provided great examples of games and activities to help children with phonological awareness. It teaches children to read in a fun manner, but all the activities have a direct purpose. One of the songs they suggested was Tikki Tikki Tembo, the songs purpose is to teach syllables to children. That stood out to me because I remember learning that song in first grade and till this day I can still sing the song. At the time I never realized exactly what I was learning with that song, but it is funny now because something I learned so long ago and loved, I can use to teach my future students.



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