Reflection on Chapter 5 & 10 of "Catching Readers Before They Fall"

Chapter five talks all about a comprehensive literacy framework. The framework is interesting and I like the way they describe the title that they give to it. It is comprehensive because it is "complete and broad" allowing in the become beneficial for all types of learners through its "various needs in multiple instructional ways".

The comprehensive literacy framework has seven components that have to so with reading and writing to, with and by the children, they include...
-read aloud
-share reading and interactive read-aloud
-guided reading
-independent reading
-morning message
-community writing
-independent writing

Learning reading and writing interchangeably helps advance both subjects... "writing can foster reading competence and vise versa if the learner becomes aware of the reciprocal nature of these acts" (pg.90). Which could be a reason why I'm writing this blog. I just read a chapter and now I am writing about it, which allows me to practice both skills and become more familiar with the content being discussed.


Chapter ten talks about assessment. Assessment and instruction go hand and hand. Instruction is ongoing, authentic, and informative. That is exactly what assessment should be too. Assessments allows the teacher to understand the student's processing system. There are many ways to assess, but Katie goes through the process she uses that allows her to stay organized and focused. She uses a binder full of class grids, monthly meetings, guided reading sheets, and a section for each student that consists of notes, reading records, and other material. I appreciate Katie's assessment process and how organized it is. I would like to try this once I get into the classroom, but I am also willing to try other assessment systems until I find what works best for me.

Reflection on Chapter 4 "Catching Readers Before They Fall"

      Stop with the "sound it out". 

It is super interesting to me how commonly used this method is, but it is not very beneficial. 

Within my field experience this past Thursday I was attempting to guide a kindergarten student in reading a sentence on her homework paper. Admittedly, I tried the "sound it out" method and did feel like it was not beneficial. Now I know what is....

M- Meaning (semantic) 

S- Structure

V- Visual

These are the key methods of beginning readers. 

It depends on which one to use, it is determined on how the student is reading. But it is not just visual anymore, "meaning and structure push us swiftly across a line of text, we are in a constant state of application" (pg. 57). Students should constantly self-monioring themselves by asking themselves... 

M- Does is make sense?

S- Does is sound right?

V- Does it look right?

Teachers need to model this? How make mistakes! Make mistakes in your teaching of meaning, structure, and look. Show your thought process to the class and the way you fix your mistakes. Mistakes need to be recognized and teaching students to always be listening to themselves read and write will help notice them. 

Stop the "sound it out" and start the "MSV". 

Reflection of Chapters 1-3 "Catching Readers Before They Fall"

        These chapters brought up some very key ideas that can help teach reading. The biggest idea to stick out to me in chapter two was the fact that struggling readers and indeed struggling and they are not to blame. "If struggling readers are not learning how to read, then we need to look at ourselves and our teacher" (pg. 11). Thats me, I'm the teacher. It is my responsibility to form the struggling student into a successful student. So how?

     Teachers have to realize that struggling readers do not have the same thinking skills as successful readers. They need to reconstruct what goes on in their head when reading and form their processing system. Once a student has a successful processing system that does things such as predicting, making connections, inferring, synthesizing, visualizing, and self-monitoring all at the same time, then they will start thinking like successful readers. The earlier a child learns how to use their processing system, the better. That is my job to have each child learn the processing system as soon as possible.

     Vygotsky is a genius. I am thankful to have been learning about Vygotsky and his theories since my high school education. The process of using the zone of proximal development through scaffolding and gradual release of responsibility to lead students to move information from the out of reach to the zone of actual development is key to learning. Not just reading, but every subject in and outside of school can be best learned by using Vygotsky theory, I know this from person learning experiences and personal teaching experiences. The simple idea of assisting a person in something that they can only achieve with help can produce remarkable learning. Another advantage is "when teachers understand the zone of proximal development, they strive to know their students better and try harder to vary their supports, questions, or instruction for different students" (pg. 35) which advances the classrooms community.

     Vygotsky's theories call for a specific style classroom, that being sociocultural, meaning "setting up a classroom environment that fosters talk, having students working collaboratively, developing projects based on student interests, and encouraging students to support each other as learners" (pg. 48). Personally, I strive to have my classroom be sociocultural. I understand that I will not serve as the only teacher in the classroom, that the students will be capable of teaching each other and I want to allow teaching and learning to flow between every person in my classroom easily, which will be made possible through sociocultural.

Richard Allington Reading-Chapter Two and Three Reflection

      It is obvious to pull from these chapter two main ideas. The first is the idea of the volume of reading provided to a students. The more a student reads the better they will be at reading. So, Allington gives the idea of having ninety minutes in the classroom be dedicated to actual reading, not instruction, getting reading, finding a book, but actual reading. While another thirty to forty minuted be reserved for actual writing. This seems great to me, but the idea of how to reserve this time is where I struggle.

     Allington talks about how school schedules are unorganized and too much time is being waisted doing other things besides teaching and learning. Which I also agree, but I do no agree on taking away special area classes in order to make more room for reading and writing. I do believe special area classes are very important and moving them to be an option to take after school can produce many missed opportunities for students.

     Many students may not be able to stay after school for a numerous amount of reason, which leaves them to not being able to participate at all. Yes, reading and writing are crucial and should be given much uninterrupted teaching and learning time, but there should also be designated school time for special are classes as well. Ways that Allington mentioned that can possibly help this situation is setting standards within the school for volume of reading per week, reading more in depth, and reading and writing in all subjects.

     The other main idea talked about in the reading is the types reading that are being read. If the reading is too hard or too easy for a student, then they are not learning. Many classrooms use reading analogies that do not contain enough reading material in them to be helpful for a student. Yes, the more you read, the better, but the quality of the reading matters before the quantity.

     The two ways that Allington mentions to find "just right" books for each student is the three finger rule and the process of observing. I personally love the three finger rule. I believe that every grade level is capable of obeying this rule on their own, which allows the teacher to be observing other students. The running records observation is also a very easy and useful tool for teachers to have and keep record of.

     Finally, the idea of reading the right books more can not happen without having books. Sadly this is an issue in and outside the school. Classrooms need books within the classroom and have access to the classroom. Allington talked about appreciating magazines and chapter books. I do appreciated them, I actually appreciate any book, as long as I am able to have books. Not only do I hope to have easy access to a plentiful amount of books within my classroom and my library, I also hope that each and everyone of my students has access to books at home. If I come to a situation in my career where my students do not have access to books at home, I hope that I will be able to change that. Whether it be through a fundraiser, program, or my own pocket, every child should have the opportunity to read within school and without.