OL 880: Building Successful Readers in All Content Areas

Module 1 Assignments

Tricia Becker
1. Tell us about yourself!

My name is Tricia Becker and I am a Spanish and English as a

Second Language teacher to grades 9-12.

2. Intention and Awareness Statement

Reading and literacy skills are the foundation for success in all content
areas. My motivation in taking this course is to gain insight into recognizing
skill gaps and targeting those areas with interventions in order to help
students be successful in Spanish and English class. My previous
knowledge about the course includes 5 years of teaching in the public
school system as well as 2 Masters Degrees, one in Curriculum and
Instruction and the other in English Language Learning. Both of these
degrees provided me with instructional strategies to help students succeed
in multiple content areas. I will build on these skills with what I learn and
apply them to my current and future students.

In my first year of teaching, my role was a reading specialist in an

elementary school. This position gave me the opportunity to receive Orton
Gillingham literacy training and help early readers that were struggling with
acquiring the skills necessary to read. In my second year teaching, I moved
to an ESL position also in an elementary school, helping young students
with similar skills, but with the added struggles that come from learning
English as a second language. Now that I work with high-school students
teaching Spanish and ESL students, we focus on reading as a skill on a
daily basis. Two measurable learning goals for the course that I have for
myself are to learn 3 new reading strategies that I am not familiar with and
to start a book club for students based on their individual interests and
likes.

3. Investigation: Read and Respond

A. The two stories used in Chapter 1 show a stark contrast that a

student can experience from classroom to classroom based on
the teacher’s philosophy and the school district's strategic plans. I
can relate to both scenarios, as I have experienced pressure to
conform to Mr. Cosgrove’s science class as well as being
motivated to transform into the Fast Food Nation style of
teaching. I believe that “real reading” is possible within my school
as we are currently implementing a personalized learning plan
that allows us to use student driven learning to engage students
and personalize the content to their needs and wants. According
to Daniels, “More-Successful Content-Area Reading
Activities...The teacher selects some, but not all, of the readings;
students are also responsible for locating and choosing some
selections on their own” (Daniels, 23)

B. As a Spanish and ESL (English as a Second Language)

teacher, I am using many of the Common Core techniques listed
in the English Language Arts Category. I am able to apply the
skills to students who are learning to read and write in a 2nd
language and transfer some of their L1 skills to L2. Summarizing
and analyzing are important skills that we work on throughout the
year by reading short texts in the Scholastic magazine and
answering comprehension questions as well as writing reflection
pieces. Students in ESL class are also taught about the
appropriate academic vocabulary using BICS and CALP methods
and practicing these skills in creating presentations and class
discussions. According to the Common Core Standards for
English Language Arts, students should be able to, “Determine
the meaning of words and paraphrase as they are used in a text,
including figurative, connotative and technical meanings.” (CCSS,
2010). This is an overarching goal of the reading experience in
my classroom.

C. Understanding and activating prior knowledge is key, not only

when starting a new unit or lesson, but on a daily basis so that
students can tie the learning together and be reminded of what
they already learned or know as they move forward. Prior
knowledge can include life experiences as well that impact a
student’s experience in the classroom. It is my job as an educator
to guide students through the learning process as, “approaching
any given reading, they may actually have some good prior
knowledge to build on, a usable schema to attach information to,
but they don’t activate it-with the result that they do not
understand or remember the knowledge.” (Daniels, 33). Many of
the early literacy skills that are taught when students are learning
to read in younger grades in English can be applied and
transferred to their learning to read in Spanish, so this has a
strong impact on their comprehension. If they have a solid
foundation of reading skills such as deciphering vocabulary, using
context clues, and fluency, they are able to use these skills in any
language.

D. Textbooks are slowly being phased out at my school or

transitioned to digital resources that look and feel much less like a
book. I can see the benefits and disadvantages to this change. I
agree with the author that textbooks provide less choice to the
student and more imposition (Daniels, 46). At the same, the
structure of the thematic units used when teaching SPanish that
are provided by the textbook are useful and provide structure for
the course amongst various teachers of the same level. In
addition, the textbook provides reading and listening resources
that are designed for language learners and I find them to be very
useful. Overall, I think there is a place for a textbook in the school
district, but it should not be the main focus of the daily experience
in the classroom.

E. The gradual release of responsibility is a strategy used in the

classroom to model and transfer the skills we want students to
obtain. This isn’t done by force or lecture, but rather by a set of
processes that are repeatedly done throughout the year. It begins
with the teacher modeling a reading strategy while students
watch. Next, the students and teacher work together on the
strategy where the teacher is still scaffolding strongly what the
students are doing. The next step is for students to practice the
strategy with minimal support from the teacher. Peers can
practice amongst themselves, while the teacher observes and
provides feedback. Finally, students apply the skill on their own.
This process is repeated throughout the year as students acquire
and apply new skills.

F. This text has given me information that will help me evaluate

how I will modify textbook usage in my classroom. Some of the
points given in Chapter 6 are already in practice in my classroom,
such as not assigning the whole textbook (Daniels, 177), but
others can certainly be put into practice as I grow and develop my
practices from the learning in this course. One new strategy that I
want to implement is Vocabulary Word sorts. As acquiring new
vocabulary is crucial in learning a new language, this would be a
very useful strategy. If we were studying food vocabulary for
example, students could sort by food group, color, temperature
served, cost, etc. As many interactions with the words as possible
would be my goal, so that students are likely to retain the words.
From Chapters 7-12 in the course text:

G. Having become an ISTE (International Society for Technology

in Education) certified teacher has helped me to evaluate and use
technology in purposeful ways in the classroom. From the
section, “Use Web Tools for Sharing and Publishing When
Possible” I learned of a few new tools, but several I am already
using in my classroom. One that is used frequently is Padlet.
Students use Padlet to create a collaborative project that
highlights the culture of Spain. This project is then presented to
the class. One that I would like to use is Glogster. I would love to
see students express themselves creatively through writing and
arts in a digital format. Students could respond to a question
prompt and improve their writing skills on Glogster.

H. Currently, book clubs are not a part of my classroom, but

English teachers in my school do use this strategy successfully. I
have worked with ESL students in choosing their books and this
does seem to get them more excited about reading. As I have not
used this strategy, I was able to learn many advantages to using
it. Three advantages of using Book Clubs include increased
engagement from the element of choice, learning and building
from other’s perspectives during group discussions, and
differentiating instruction based on leveled books offered to meet
student needs and learning styles.

I. Inquiry is such a natural human process that sometimes we

tend to shut down in young children as they ask us “why?”
repeatedly, but if we can learn to embrace and encourage this
curiosity it can help our children and students become lifelong
learners and in turn, be more engaged at the high-school level.
Exploring big ideas and inquiry is related to my content area,
Spanish in several ways. There is so much for students to
 discover when it comes to culture as there are over 20 countries
that speak Spanish and each of them has their own culture
differences and use of the language. Allowing students to
immerse themselves in the discovery process and break down
some common stereotypes of the hispanic culture, they can use
inquiry to meet the language standards in the classroom. Another
specific way inquiry will be used would be to have students
research different ways to say the same word in Spanish. THis
would allow them to learn that language is alive and constantly
evolving and changing and there is not one right or wrong way to
say something in Spanish.

J. As much as everything in this book will help me in the

classroom, it is idealistic to think that there won’t be disengaged
struggling learners that need special attention and support to help
succeed. There are many colleagues in my school who are willing
to collaborate to help students. Intervention specialists have been
willing to give input on strategies they have found successful with
IEP students. I have found that collaborating with other content
teachers has helped students who have a passion for art or
history for example and weaving that into Spanish class has
drawn their attention and helped them to succeed. Professional
Learning Networks such as ISTE, Twitter, and Facebook groups
have been phenomenal resources for me to learn from others
who have experienced similar struggles as well as resource
sharing.

Discussion Forum:Responded to the following prompts:

1. DISCUSSION TOPIC #2: Blogs, Online Articles and Wikis - OH MY!

2. DISCUSSION TOPIC #4: Cross-Curricular Reading
3. DISCUSSION TOPIC #5: Resources
 Sources

National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council

of Chief State School Officers. (2010). Common core state
standards. Washington D.C.: Author.
[Link]

Daniels, H. (2014). Subjects matter: exceeding standards through

powerful content-area reading. Heinemann.