Literacy Workstations

I often feel like I have a hard time managing workstations.  I do not have an assistant in my room so I often feel overwhelmed trying to give my small group my full attention while also monitoring the rest of my class.  I think students benefit greatly from workstations, therefore, I want to keep doing them (and I really don't have a choice because we have to do them!).  Are there any suggestions anyone has for managing workstations and making sure that all students are on task/active that are not with me in my group? Also, I plan on redoing my workstations next year so if anyone has any suggestions for stations, that'd be greatly appreciated as well. I currently have guided reading (small group with me), poetry (which I'd really like to redo because students seem to run out of things to do or get bored), listening, computers/games, buddy reading, and word study (phonics). 

Addressing the Arts in my Classroom

I feel that incorporating the arts is very important in elementary classrooms.  I often use music and art in my classroom, and I try to use drama and dance when possible.  At my school, art classes are only held for third through fifth grade.  Since I teach second grade,  my students don't get the opportunity to go with the art teacher.  In an attempt to integrate the arts, I often get my students to illustrate their stories.  I also get them to use art to practice their spelling words.  I'll have the students write their words creatively using markers and draw pictures, if applicable.  Drawings are also used in Math, Social Studies, and Science to illustrate important concepts.  Our Reading series has a phonics chart for each week which includes a cd with all of the songs.  The children love singing along and dancing to the music.  I'll also often play classical music in my classroom while the children are working.  I feel that this eliminates extra talking and helps the children focus.  Last week our reading story was Stone Soup, a play.  I assigned parts to the students, and if their part required actions, they had to act it out.  For example, some kids had to act like they were handing another student an onion or carrot, etc.  Ultimately, the arts need to be integrated into classrooms.  The arts make learning more fun!

Reading as Thinking strategy

Chapter Two provides a great deal of information about reading as a thinking strategy.  I think the authors clearly state a valid point when they say, “reading is not an accumulation of subskills, but a complex and specialized form of thinking” (p. 33).  They further state, “Learning to read is a much deeper, broader, and more complex cognitive task” (p. 33).  It’s very important that children understand what they are reading.  They need to be able to make connections as they read.  I often get my students to stop and evaluate what they have read.  I’ll ask them questions about what’s going on, why it’s happening, and I'll get them to make predictions. By doing this, they are becoming active in their reading and practicing important reading and thinking strategies. 

We also discuss author’s purpose a lot.  (Author’s Purpose is “Easy as PIE” – Persuade, Inform, and Entertain.) This gives the students an opportunity to figure out why the author wrote the story for his/her audience.  Another strategy I use in my classroom is having the children connect things to their personal lives.  For example, one of our stories from our Reading textbook was about jellyfish.  I asked the class who had seen a jellyfish before and if they had, they shared the information about it with the class.  I recorded the information on a bubble map.  We watched a video on United Streaming about sea creatures after reading our story, and I made sure to emphasize the parts about jellyfish.  We also completed a fact/opinion chart on jellyfish.  All of these lessons allowed the children to form connections from their everyday lives to our reading story.  They became more involved and active in the text because of all of the teaching styles/strategies incorporated in the lesson.  I feel that students benefit from reading when they are using a thinking strategy.  It allows them to clearly comprehend what they are reading, and it sets a purpose for their reading.

Welcome to my blog!

Welcome to Crystal's blog.  I have created this blog for EDUC 520.