Post #7
I Just Want to Read Frog and Toad
This reading discusses that certain types of books that they read in schools are generic. Some of stories were not coherent and full stories, but were just a push to teach and emphasize specific vocabulary words. This discouraged children, because they were not reading stories. Author suggests that children should read real books with real stories.
Tuning into Violence
This reading focused on the violence on tv. This teacher has children watch certain television shows and has children record the amount of aggressive behavior and aggressive statements used. The results showed that there was significantly more violence in the shows. The children are watching the same shows, but the instances of violence increased a lot. The children were aware of the amount of violence and they compared the violence on tv and the violence in the war that was going on during the second time they did the research. We are interested as to if that the class type has any influence- spanish immersion class.
Testing Tots
They did standardized testing on head start. They felt they needed a new way to test the academic abilities of the children. Their research shows that the impact of head start does not last. They don’t want the Headstart teachers to make kids memorize the alphabet and different types of information, but to see if they can learn and experience through books and play, because that would be longer lasting. They feel that they should have policy makers to improve the accountability system.
Testing Lang
There was a student named Lang and he was really creative and excelled in class, but was not good at writing. Once standardized testing took place, Lang became anxious and did not score as well as he could. He was not even proficient according to the test, he scored as “basic.” The testing didn’t compare with his actual abilities.
Think Less Benchmarks
These schools are adopting these benchmark assessments for schools that are not making yearly progress. They found many flaws in the benchmark tests and how they did not accurately reflect the students’ abilities. The type of assessment they were using was formative that uses a scientifically research based continuous improvement model that maps diagnostic assessment to state high stakes tests…. expensive assessment program.
From Critique to Possibility
In New Zealand, they created a new approach to assessment- learning stories. Categories: belonging, well-being, exploration, communication and contribution. The exam is through a narrative approach. This assessment is made for each individual with their capabilities in mind. It gives you an idea what the child is developmentally capable of instead of assessing them through comparison.
Reading for next week
pg 123-138
Social Justice in Education 
I teach A LOT of decoding and encoding to students with reading disabilities, and the decodeable texts that we have for students are just awful. Many times, I laugh at the stories because they are just so bad. A huge trend right now is making sure kids have “right fit books” which is some ways makes a lot of sense. You don’t want kids touting chapter books that they can’t ever begin to read on their own, but we also have to be careful about giving low readers silly books just because they are on their level. That will discourage reading. We have to really look at why we, as adults, read. We usually aren’t reading to consciously improve our vocabularies. We do so because we want to. We need to be giving students these same opportunities.
There are some really easy ways to try and make reading fun and accessible for all readers. For one, I do read alouds. Every 10 days I have to progress monitor my students, and that doesn’t take the entire group time. I spend the second half reading fun, interesting books aloud to students. Most of my students don’t get bed time stories, so this is an important interaction for many reasons. Second, I stock my classroom library with GOOD books! I pick out graphic novels, comic books, series, scary stories, and just about anything that is humorous. Mo Willems does some great decodeable books that are also funny and intelligent. I also let my students check out my books. They don’t become available until I read them to my groups, and the kids LOVE getting a hold of them after I do. False scarcity does wonders!
Frog and Toad are great and all, but there are lots of other things out there to get kids engaged in stories. We have to keep in mind their interests if we really want them to authentically pick up a book.
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