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Discussion Question 1

How can you apply the Teacher Influential Insights to your Reading Strategies? Please give one example to justify your opinion.

(From Stephan Andrews, Barbara Beall & Millie Maho)

Online access to textbook

http://books.google.com/

If you go to this site, you can search for the course textbook, "Distinguished Educators on Reading: Contributions that have shaped effective literacy instruction". You can read the text online if you would like to.

Position Statement- IRA Excellent Reading Teachers

Position Statement from the International Reading Association

Excellent Reading Teachers

Every child deserves excellent reading teachers because teachers make a difference in children’s reading achievement and motivation to read.

This position statement provides a research-based description of the distinguishing qualities of excellent classroom reading teachers. Excellent reading teachers share several critical qualities of knowledge and practice:

1. They understand reading and writing development, and believe all children can learn to read and write.

2. They continually assess children’s individual progress and relate reading instruction to children’s previous experiences.

3. They know a variety of ways to teach reading, when to use each method, and how to combine the methods into an effective instructional program.

4. They offer a variety of materials and texts for children to read.

5. They use flexible grouping strategies to tailor instruction to individual students.

6. They are good reading “coaches” (that is, they provide help strategically).

In addition, excellent reading teachers share many of the characteristics of good teachers in general. They have strong content and pedagogical knowledge, manage classrooms so that there is a high rate of engagement, use strong motivation strategies that encourage independent learning, have high expectations for children’s achievement, and help children who are having difficulty.

Note from Amy: These are the qualities you'll be asked to analyze for the Excellent Reading Teacher chart. I'll hand out the rest of the article in our Feb. 8 meeting for those who can't print it from the pdf.

Amy's Comments: Week one (Au)

Kathryn Au (p. 119-132)

Dr. Au did influential research with Hawaiian children. As a teacher, she found the students did not seem to benefit from phonics instruction (word identification). She did research showing that an analytic (decoding by analogy) approach was better than a synthetic approach (letter by letter sounding out), but that children showed little interest in either approach.

Her method of instruction focused more on strategies for promoting comprehension and “talk story” discussions.

In her article, Au gives 10 steps to help you improve literacy instruction in your school. These suggestions came from beginning teachers in low-income schools.

Amy's comments: Week One (Ruddell

Robert Ruddell (pgs. 105-118).

What is an Influential Teacher?
Dr. Ruddell talks about two theories:

· Sociocognitive theory
o prior knowledge and beliefs influence the teacher, the teacher uses strategies

o prior knowledge and beliefs of students also influence the student

· Constructivist theory

o Reader Response- the teacher focuses on motivation to help the student

Ruddell & his colleagues studied Influential Teachers from Kindergarten through university. P. 108-109 shows an overview of their findings.

On pg. 110, he goes more in depth into what exactly they found and how it relates to the theories he talked about in the very beginning of the article.

P. 114 shows a diagram he created to help you visualize the interaction between the text being read, the teacher, the student (reader) and the classroom community.

P. 116 is a list of insights gained from this research. These 10 items came from the interviews Ruddell & his colleges did with teachers. He lists them here as a recommendation of what all teachers should be striving for.

Excellent Teacher of Reading Chart- DUE 5/5

Here is an example of the template for the Excellent Teacher of Reading Chart. You don't have to use this, but be sure your chart has TWO EXAMPLES for each quality. Include references (books, articles, websites) that show you have taken time to research possible sources of information

This chart is due May 5th. I encourage you to work on it throughout the course.

What I am doing	In the Future
Understand reading and writing development, and believe all children can learn to read and write.
1.
2.
Can assess children’s individual progress and relate reading instruction to children’s previous experiences
1.
2.
Know a variety of ways to teach reading, when to use each method, and how to combine the methods into an effective instructional program.
1.
2.
Can offer a variety of materials and texts for children to read.
1.
2.
Use flexible grouping strategies to tailor instruction to individual students.
1.
2.
Am a good reading “coach” (that is, I provide help strategically).
1.
2.