I know that many of us are relieved to complete our ICT blogging assignment. The task seemed monumental but, I'm sure you will agree, turned out to be an excellent learning experience. I have learnt so much from reading your blogs. To those of you who suggested sites that could be of help, Thank you so much. To those who injected doses of much needed humour, loved it! Let us continue to blog and share ideas, resources, frustrations etc. This could be an excellent forum for the first batch of Reading Specialists, our mission- to make a difference in the lives of struggling young readers.
Keep on blogging!
Friday, August 6, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Reading in Rhythm
Fellow bloggers, I came upon a very interesting website which advocates teaching children to read using rhythm. Hmmm! West Indians are born with rhythm. We walk in rhythm, we talk in rhythm and we move in rhythm. Why not teach our children to read in rhythm? Their objective is to make learning interesting and exciting so they use raps and chants and song- like repetitions which they call rhythm and rhymes. The activities are age appropriate and learners seem to love it. You can read more about it by visiting the following link:
http://www.phonicsrhythmsrhymes.com/gradefour.html
http://www.phonicsrhythmsrhymes.com/gradefour.html
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
A Must Have Experience: Walking in a Struggling Reader's Shoes.
The Demonstration Way.
It’s sometimes difficult to imagine what struggling readers go through. Reading was never a problem for most of us. Words on a page never looked like Greek. I grew up reading; books were around me all of the time. My parents read, my siblings read, my teachers encouraged me to read . I’m sure most of you, my fellow Reading Specialists, have had the same experience. As a result we are able to read easily and consequently comprehension followed. It’s a no-brainer!
Unfortunately, for some of our students, the words on the page do look like Greek. Fluency and comprehension are out of the question. How can we, as teachers, fully understand the struggles our students go through on a daily basis? Well, I found a site that allows us to put ourselves in their shoes. It allows us to simulate their experience. It will blow you away!!!
You can share in this experience by clicking on the text pictured on the left. You can then click on the ‘Try It’ link and you will be well on your way to grasping the difficulties faced by our students. Hopefully understanding what they go through will lead to awareness and this will awareness will improve our instructional practices which in turn will improve our students’ learning.
Hope this has a profound effect on how you teach.
Please let me know how the exercises affected your thoughts about struggling readers.
Follow this link for an unforgettable experience:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/misunderstoodminds/attention.html
It’s sometimes difficult to imagine what struggling readers go through. Reading was never a problem for most of us. Words on a page never looked like Greek. I grew up reading; books were around me all of the time. My parents read, my siblings read, my teachers encouraged me to read . I’m sure most of you, my fellow Reading Specialists, have had the same experience. As a result we are able to read easily and consequently comprehension followed. It’s a no-brainer!
Unfortunately, for some of our students, the words on the page do look like Greek. Fluency and comprehension are out of the question. How can we, as teachers, fully understand the struggles our students go through on a daily basis? Well, I found a site that allows us to put ourselves in their shoes. It allows us to simulate their experience. It will blow you away!!!
You can share in this experience by clicking on the text pictured on the left. You can then click on the ‘Try It’ link and you will be well on your way to grasping the difficulties faced by our students. Hopefully understanding what they go through will lead to awareness and this will awareness will improve our instructional practices which in turn will improve our students’ learning.
Hope this has a profound effect on how you teach.
Please let me know how the exercises affected your thoughts about struggling readers.
Follow this link for an unforgettable experience:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/misunderstoodminds/attention.html
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