Teaching Reading
Throughout my time at Western Illinois University, teaching reading was always something that I found interesting and fun to do. I realize that not every student in my class will be at the same reading level as the student next to him or her. I also know that not every student will be at the reading level that is expected of them at that point in time (i.e. an 11th grade student is at an 8th grade reading level, etc.) and that there are many factors that play into this. Students who are ELL students may not be at the same reading level as their non-ELL peers and this might frustrate or embarrass them. I would offer to come early or stay after school and work with these students on their reading and comprehension skills. If they see that their teacher cares about them and their success in school, they will feel more confident in their reading abilities and they will enjoy learning how to read. If my students enjoy learning how to read, then my job is done.
I have done many reading projects while in school and during my block teaching experiences. I had a hard time getting my students interested in the stories we were reading in class, let alone reading books outside of class. I found that it was difficult for them to read because the text was a bit too difficult for their reading level, so I adjusted all of my lessons and the text so that they had a better chance of understanding. My block teacher had my students taking notes on the text as they read for homework, but this didn't seem to do much for them. Some wouldn't do the notes even though it was assigned as homework because they didn't see a point. Those who did do the notes didn't like it and they weren't really reading the story because they were too focused on taking good notes for the homework grade. When it was my turn to teach, I didn't have the students take notes on a different sheet of paper or on their Evernote, instead, I passed out post-it notes and asked them to bullet short notes on their post-its as they read. I didn't want really in-depth notes, just enough to jog their memories so that they can discuss the reading or ask questions in class the next day. They loved this and it worked so well that my block teacher continued to use it even after I left my block experience. I created a simple day-by-day lesson plan for my Reading class for teaching a unit on Hamlet and segueing into Forgotten Fire. There are activities included as well as how many chapters or acts should be read each night and homework assigned to my students throughout the weeks. This is just one of many of my lesson plans I have created throughout my time at Western Illinois University. I chose to show this one because it is a unit lesson plan that can be easily visualized each day. If you would like to see this day-by-day lesson plan, please click here. To view a during reading activity I created called "Somebody, Wanted, But, So" for Hamlet, please click here. If you would like to see an after reading activity, please check out my mandala activity by clicking here. |