Dana Currin's Blog

Modeling Reading, sometimes called Shared Reading, is something that I recall learning a lot about in Block I, RE 3030.  However, I didn’t realize that this teaching technique could benefit students with so much impact.  By reading this article, I am convinced that having Shared Reading in my classroom will be worth the time and effort spent on it.  It seems as though it is something that most students not only enjoy, but that they can follow and understand. 

As for the more technical portion of Shared Reading, there are 4 components involved: Modeling Comprehension, Vocabulary, Text Structures, and Text Features.  By acknowledging these components when having Shared Reading in the classroom, the teacher helps to better ensure that students will gain as much as they can from their experience.  Obviously modeling comprehension and vocabulary is something that pre-service teachers are aware of, but as for text structures and features – this may be something new.  Recognizing that texts are usually written with a text structure in mind, it isn’t something that people usually stop and think about.  For me personally, I know that when I read something, I realize that it’s easy to follow by the way it’s set up; but I don’t necessarily think about it as being done purposely, just more of something that happens.  If you stop and think about it carefully, you realize that if a text isn’t written with a specific text structure in mind, it could cause chaos for the student reading it.  It would cause mass confusion and would be too difficult for young students to follow.  Therefore, these things are just aspects in a text, they are each very important and could make a Shared Reading activity very successful or not so successful.

This article really opened some doors for me.  Not only because I completely agree with the concepts behind it, but also because I can relate to it.  The entire concept of placing children into appropriate reading groups and having them read leveled text appropriate for them is a magnificent idea.  I simply cannot imagine a teacher not doing this for their students, in part because it is not difficult to do and also because it will benefit each student so much (which is why teachers are there in the first place, right?). 

In elementary school, staring in Kindergarten, I was a struggling reader.  I went through 2 years of elementary school (Kindergarten and First grade) lacking good reading ability.  When I reached the second grade, without being tested, I was placed into the highest reading level in the classroom – they had went off of the fact that I had made good grades in K and first grade.  From the first day of school, each day we would get into our reading groups and have “round robin” reading, just as Jon had to do in the article.  I can remember it like it was yesterday because it was a nightmare for me.  We were reading the chapter book, Charlotte’s Web (which I still can’t read to this day because it brings up horrible memories), and when it came time for me to read I wanted to crawl under the table.  I simply couldn’t read the words or pronounce what I was seeing on the page.  The teacher would help me along, but it was so embarassing for me to sit there with all of the other group members who were fluent readers.  I would read maybe one paragraph, while they usually read several pages at a time.  Eventually, I was taken out of this reading group and placed into a lower group, where I was much more successful.  I even got the Hooked on Phonics program which really seemed to help.

I understand that this article focuses on children reading Social Studies content books, but I felt this story was relevant for the idea of having several leveled reading groups within a classroom.  Doing this allows each student to gain much more from the text they are reading and to actually feel successful.  If they are constantly reading something that is over their head, they will gain nothing from it – instead they will get frustrated and eventually give up. 

This article is such a great resource to use for pre-service and in-service teachers, because it talks about such an important concept.  Because it provides several books that can be used during Social Studies’ lessons that can accomodate each student, there is no excuse for children to not be reading on their appropriate instructional level.

Upon reading this article, I relized myslef that one of my greatest fears about teaching is not being successful in helping my students learn to read.  It is very imporant that each student learn to read more efficiently at each grade level so they will be successful as they progress.  I worry that my methods for teaching and assiting students in reading will not “get through” to them and I will be left with a class full of struggling readers.  However, I do plan to use leveled reading groups in my classroom in an attept to better accomodate each and every student at their level – so hopefully this will help dissolve my fear. 

About the article, I found it very interesting to see someone on the “outside” (an actual practicing teacher) use the Qualitative Inventory of Word Knowledge assessment.  I was a student in Dr. Schlagel’s RE 3030 class last semester, and we were required to complete this.  I can definitely see and understand how this spelling instruction would help a teacher to identify which students are on which levels and how they should be divided, not only in spelling groups but also in reading groups (considering spelling levels and reading levels correlate strongly with one another).  I am very thankful that I had this experience and that I will have the necessary tools to do this assessment in my classroom, which should help me determine my different leveled reading and spelling groups. 

Let me just start off by saying that, when I realized this collection of poems was written by Walter Dean Meyers, I was over joyed.  I had just finished reading Love That Dog, in which Walter Dean Meyers played a huge part.  I loved his poem “Love that Boy”, and I love the way it inspired “Love that Dog”. 

On the other hand, this was a much different book.  It included unbelievable pictures of young African American children that were nothing like I had ever seen before.  These pictures were incredible depictions of just how much it meant to these families to have their child’s picture taken in a formal way.  Even with their difficult, labor intensive lives, they still managed to have the time and put in the effort to have their children displayed in such a beautiful way.  Most of the pictures were very simple, but spoke many loud words.  The verses that were included on each page didn’t seem to go directly with the pictures located with it, but somehow they seemed to have a relationship.  For example, beside the “Love that Boy” poem, a picture of a young African American child with a rooster was shown.  Even though the poem wasn’t written directly about this young child, it related to him because he was a boy that was loved dearly. 

This book would not have been nearly as affective with only pictures or only words, but together they worked wonders.  They complimented each other so well and made the book complete.  I found myself studying each picture, reading the poem, then studying the picture even more.  Walter Meyers did an incredible job incorporating these astonishing pictures with such beautiful words.

This list of activities was compiled by Heather Ensley, Dana Currin, and Jocelyn Jackson.

 Love That Dog, a novel, written by Sharon Creech was an amazing book!  I enjoyed every second I spent reading it.  It’s written in such a simple, yet thrilling way, and it actually made me think that this young boy named Jack was talking to me.  Sharon Creech wrote the entire book as in poetry format making everything that Jack said and did become a poem.  He was portryed as such a fun-spirited, amusing boy, who had so much to say. 

At the beginning of the novel he started off expressing himself with just a few words that were strictly to the point.  As the novel progressed, he began to use more and more words.  I found it so ironic that the book began with him saying “I don’t want to because boys don’t write poetry. Girls do. I tried. Can’t do it. Brain’s empty.” and by the end of the book he had written so many peoms with so much meaning behind each.  He had also taken into account the poems that his teacher had read, and that he had originally questioned the purpose and meaning of, and was using them in his own written work and language; for example the “tiger tiger” poem that included repitition of the same words or phrases over and over. 

Jack’s first poem, about the blue car covered with mud that went speeding down the road, seemed so simplistic and meaningless, but in reality it had lots of meaning behind it.  It seemed as if Jack didn’t realize why he had written this in a poem and didn’t want to explain to the teacher why he had chosen to write this.  It seemed as though he was just mocking the poems he had heard or read, not that he was making a conscious effort to come up with a splendid poem.

Even though I loved the entire book, several of my favorite parts included Jack continuously telling his teacher that she could display his work, but not to put his name on it and the letter that he wrote to Walter Dean Meyers.  In the beginning Jack didn’t want to write poetry, claimed he couldn’t write poetry, began writing simple poems, and by the end of the book he had developed into a great writer who loved poetry and poets.  He had also reached the point where he was very proud of his works and wanted them to be displayed for others to see.  When reading the letter Jack wrote to Walter Dean Meyers, I couldn’t help but laugh.  I adored the way he wrote it, even though it was very choppy and on-going, he got his point across and expressed himself in a way that reflected his personality and style. 

Once I got to the end of the book, I realized just how Jack got started with writing poetry, the poem about the “blue car covered with mud speeding down the road had opened his eyes.  I couldn’t help but think back to the first few pages when he wrote this poem, where I thought it was just something random that he had came up with.  In reality, Jack was writing from a tragic experience he had been through with his dog named sky that was hit by a blue car covered with mud speeding down the road.  So afterall, it was a poem that came from Jack’s heart and that was very special to him.

It was fascinating to me to see this young boy, Jack, progress from a non-writer of poetry to a lover of poetry.  I was amazed at how he progressed from page to page, and by the end of the book he was so proud to show his work to the world.  The most touching moment of the book came on the very last page, when Jack wrote a poem about Sky, that was inspired by his favorite poet, Walter Dean Meyers.

Growing up, I was never too fond of my name, Dana Leigh Currin.  It always seemed somewhat plain and boring compared to others, who had awesome names like Natalie or Meredith (those being two of my best friends througout elementary school).  I frequently wondered why my parents decided on such an average, ordinary, everyday name.  Come to find out, my dad had the pleasure of naming me when I was born.  My mom had her heart set on naming me Mary Catherine Currin, which my dad strongly disliked, so she decided to let him choose what my name would be (with her approval, of course).  In the end, he decided on Dana Leigh, which my mom happened to really like, so that is how I got my name.  Over time, I began to enjoy my name because it wasn’t as plain as I thought it was, at least Dana wasn’t anyways. 

Dana, being my first name, is the name that I go by.  It seems to be such a simple, common name, but throughout my life I have met very few Dana’s.  It’s a different name that isn’t seen very often, which is always nice.  After spending some time researching, I found out that the name Dana has several different origins.  These include Czech, Romanian, German, English, and Bulgarian – so turns out it’s a pretty interesting name.  Dana was originally given in honor of American lawyer Richard Henry Dana (1815-1882), the author of Two Years Before the Mast.  It can be used as a female or male name, but is most commonly thought of as a female name.  The male versions of the name Dana is typically seen as Dan or Daniel.  There are 251,983 people in the United States who share the first name of Dana and it is considered to be the 263rd most popular name, which I found to be very intriguing.

My middle name, Leigh, which was also chosen by my dad is a very common name.  It is typically used as a middle name for people, both male and female.  However, the spelling of it, being L-e-i-g-h is considered to the female version, while the male version is Lee.  It is not ironic for me to meet someone with this middle name very often.  I don’t know this for certain, but I think it must have been a common name around the time I was born, 1987, because most people that I meet with this same name are around my same age.  It is of the American origin, which didn’t surprise me when I found out.  I’m not in love with this middle name, but because my middle name is rarely used in situations, I don’t necessarily have a problem with it.

As for my last name, Currin, it is the 10,191st most popular last name in the United States.  There are 3,309 people who have this name, which was pretty surprising to me.  In the county that I grew up in and have spent all of my life in, Currin is one of, if not the most, popular last names.  Everyone knows the last name Currin, and believe me, there are tons of us.  When moving to Boone, I found that Currin wan’t such a common last name because no one had ever heard of it.  So many people have had to ask how to pronounce it and have even told me that they had never heard of or met anyone with this last name.  I guess it was just such a shock because I had been used to it being such a popular name.  It is of the Irish origin, and has several meanings.  Included in these meanings are hero, champion, and knight.  After discovering this, it makes me proud to have such a strong, powerful last night, which I had never known before.

One of the most compelling things that I found was that there are actually 3 people in the United States who share the same name as me (first and last name, middle name excluded).  I find it fascinating that out of so many possible name choices and combinations, there are people with the same name. 

Being able to learn so much about my name, which I had never really thought to do before, was such a great experience for me.  I was able to get a great understanding of my full name, including where it came from, what it means, and how popular it is. 

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I am often called Doodle by my mom and Dana Bug by the remainder of my family, both of which always make me smile! :-)

*I found this information at:

http://www.howmanyofme.com

http://www.behindthename.com

http://www.searchforancestors.com

http://www.babynamesworld.com

The article, “HOT Blogging: A Framework for Blogging to Promote Higher Order Thinking, was extremely interesting to me.  I have to admit, before reading the article, I thought the title was referring to blogging being the new “hot” thing or a new fad, but quickly realized it was referring to using blogging as a way to introduce higher order thinking into the classroom.  I enjoyed reading the article, partly because of the way it was set up.  It began with a lady sitting by her computer drinking tea on a Sunday evening, and fed into the whole idea/concept of classroom blogs.  The article was easy to follow, being that it was laid out into distinct categories, including what a blog is, why blogging is a helpful classroom tool, the four common types of blogs that can be found in elementary classrooms,  and the process to take in order to begin a blog. 

Once realizing what the word “HOT” in the title was referring to, I soon began to understand how blogging can lead to higher order thinking inside of a classroom.  Students are expected to think critically about what has been posted and to respond with well thought-out responses.  It is a way for students to express themselves without having to do so orally in the classroom.  For example, growing up and still to this day, I tend to be “shy in the classroom”.  I usually have thoughts and opinions about what is being discussed, but just don’t feel comfortable enough to speak up, but having a blog allows me to introduce all of my feels and ideas without being put on the spot during class time.  I have a feeling that many children experience this same problem, and without blogging they typically have no chance to share their concerns with the teacher and class members.  Creating a classroom blog, whether individual blogs or one for the whole class is a brilliant way for thinking to be taken to the next level for students, thus producing Higher Order Thinking.

As for the technology aspect, blogging can do nothing but increase the student’s awareness of the world around them.  Due to constantly increasing and changing technology in the world, it is important for students to learn as much as they can about it.  Blogging not only assists students with their reading, writing, vocabulary, and thinking skills, it allows them to experience using the internet.  They get the chance to “play” around with things and gradually become educated on a whole new level using computers as the primary source.  It also provides them with a little variation in their schoolwork, meaning it allows them to get away from the paper and pencil for awhile.  They can explore learning through a whole new concept. 

In the future, when I have a classroom of my own, I am planning to incorporate blogging into my curriculum.  I strongly feel that it will be a great way for my students to express what they are thinking or how they are feeling regarding what is going on within the classroom, which is something that I had difficulty doing.  I can only hope that my students will enjoy blogging as much as the class in the article did.

August 28, 2009

All the small poems and fourteen more written by Valerie Worth seems to be such an enjoyable and fun book for children to read.  I opened the book with intentions of just reading a few poems, and ending up reading over 40 of them.  They are presented in a very simplistic fashion with a single picture to go along with each poem, which makes it a very easy read.  I found the poems to be addicting, after reading one or two, it was very difficult to put the book down. 

This book was written in a very entertaining way, with each poem being about a particular object or animal.  Out of the poems that I read, many of them were actually related to things you could find on a farm or in the countryside, for example cows, flowers, pigs, and tractors.  They are each a great length for children who are just beginning to read and understand poems.  This particular book could be a great tool for teachers to introduce poetry in the classroom, and it would provide an affective way for children to become fascinated in poetry.

September 3, 2009

After discussing several poems from all the small poems and fourteen more, today during class, I feel as though I better understand what these poems are really about.  They aren’t simply about the object they are referring to, there is much more to them.  I finished reading this book, but with the new mentality that each poem had something special about it.  For example, just as we discussed in class today, a safety pin isn’t just a safety pin, it is many different things.  Reading each poem and really thinking about what the words were saying helped me to get into the mindset that there is much more depth in the poems than it may seem. 

My favorite poem was “flamingo”, which basically talked about a flamingo standing on one leg for awhile, and then switching to the other.  I have always had a fascination with flamingos and seeing this poem delighted me.  It made think about how artistic flamingos really are.  They aren’t just standing on one leg, they are displaying a huge part of their life and their character.  I actually have a picture of a pink flamingo in my room from the NC Zoo, and it was standing on one leg.  It helped make the poem much more real by seeing a picture I personally took of a flamingo.  It was as if it gave life to the poem.

This was such a great collection of simplistic, but charming poems put together to symbolize everyday things in a new light.  This will be a great resource for the future when I do a poetry unit in my classroom.  It’s a fantastic way to get children interested in poetry, and helping them realize that it doesn’t have to be perfect – only a reflection of your thoughts and feelings.

When watching the video, “Are We Engaging our 21st Century Learners?”, I was a little shocked at the amount of technology such young children are aware of.  I remember when I was in Elementary School, it was very rare for us to use a computer at school or at home, more or less, have cell phones, laptops, ipods, etc.  It is amazing to me that children in today’s world would much rather learn something from listening to it on tape or through an ipod than picking up a book and actually reading it. 

Communication is another issue that came to mind when I was watching this video.  Face to face conversations have become very limited in today’s world and in today’s schools.  Many children, as well as adults, contact each other through email, text messages, instant messages, etc., therefore being in a classroom which involves great communication is very important for them.  Children can learn so much through being socialized with many different types of people, including but not limited to different ages, races, genders, disabilities, and social classes/status which can only be attained through socialization. 

Don’t get me wrong, I think that incorporating technology into today’s classrooms is extremely important, but it should only be taken to a certain limit.  Some things are best left for technology, and some things are best left to simply using your own mind and coming up with your own thoughts.  It is essential for children to get a feel for the technology in the world, because they will be faced with it on a day to day basis, but the classroom should remain a place where creativity, individuality, and thinking should take place, not a place where a computer does all the “hard work” for you. 

It is very possible for a child to be engaged in classroom activities without having very much technology involved, which is the teachers, administrators, and schools job to develop.  Keeping children engaged, while learning and having fun can be a difficult thing to do, but it can be done.