PLE 10

Theories in educational psychology promote the idea that language plays a critical role in cognitive development. Examine Table 2.2 (p. 51), paying particular attention to the age range that you are interested in teaching. Consider how you might incorporate or adapt the strategies presented for use with your own students.

Although I found all of the strategies to be useful, some that stuck out to me for the K-2 age range were:

• Read age-appropriate storybooks as a way of enhancing vocabulary
• Ask follow-up questions to make sure students accurately understand important messages
• Ask students to construct narratives about recent events

      In my Reading Education 430 class we discussed how reading, read alouds specifically, is the single most important activity leading to literacy achievement. Read alouds can be used across content areas to help children gain new vocabulary. It can also help the teacher to model behavior that he/she expects from their students. Read alouds, using quality literature, can help engage the students and keep them motivated in the content being taught. New vocabulary stemmed from read alouds can also assist the students in gaining a deeper understanding and constructing more meaningful questions and conversations.

    Follow-up questions allow the teacher to asses whether or not their students are coming to a full understanding of the material being presented. Teachers will be able to see if they can move on or if they need to review material again. Follow-up questions can come after reading a book, after a whole group discussion, after modeling a problem and/or material, etc. Questioning keeps both the teacher and students engaged and give the students an opportunity to also ask questions. 

    I also like the idea of asking students to construct narratives about recent events because it makes it more personable and meaningful. Students will be able to learn from their peers as well as work on other skills, like sitting quietly and listening. As we have talked about many times, students learn so much more when they find it meaningful to their own lives. 

Here are examples of different classrooms http://www.readingrockets.org/article/40991/