Week 8

• Discuss the components of an effective writing program and why they are important. 
• 1. The three main components of an effective writing program include personal connections, conventions, and inventions. Personal connections get the students interested in their writing assignments. Conventions give students an opportunity to go back to their writing and use editing skills. Finally inventions also get students interested and allows them  to portray their writing in unconventional ways. 
• How might you rearrange your schedule to create more time for students to write in general and, in particular, for students to write about their personal experiences? 
• 2. I would allow students to write about their personal experiences in relation to the topics being covered in the different topic areas. When the students are given time to work independently and have finished their assignments they will either be required to read or write about the topic area they were previously working on. This will not only reinforce knowledge, but expand their knowledge and give them opportunities to share what they already know about a topic and experiences they have had with these topics.  
• How can you create ways for students to make personal connections in different subject areas through writing? 
• 3. Let students get creative all you need to do is ask the simple question what connections can you make to the text students will find something no matter how far fetched. Allow time for students to share and discuss as well as write their connections to the reading. 
• How can student work help you decide which conventions to teach?
• 4. Through reading students writing samples a teacher can keep a running record of the different conventions that their students are struggling with. 
• When can you promote student inventions and experimentation with different formats in writing
• 5. After students are familiar with the content and have made connections and know how to go back and use the conventions while writing students can invent. While invention is not a conventional way of portraying your writing the conventions used should always be consistent (except on the rare occasion there are different rules applied to the inventive writing for example different forms of poetry). 

Analysis on student profile

This student is currently in the third grade and is an ESL student. I have no prior knowledge of the students reading capabilities.She was first asked to start reading aloud word lists starting on the first grade level. She became discouraged quickly but with a little encouragement she was able to completed the first and second word list. However the results from the word lists were not compatible with the scores she received for her oral reading. On her level one oral reading she was placed at an instructional level  an on level two she reached her frustration level. I feel it would be beneficial for this student to work closely with her ESL teacher on her English reading and comprehension skills. This will take time to develop but with persistence and reinforcement she will reach the current desired level.     

COCA

This informal reading assessment has some similarities to the QRI-5 but also many differences. The main difference is that students will not be reading the passages where as in the QRI-5 the students are reading aloud to the teacher or in some cases silently to themselves. Despite that the teacher is reading the text this assessment was developed to test the five dimensions of informational text comprehension. While the QRI-5 has this element we can also learn more information than just the students comprehension. How ever the procedure for administering the assessment is very similar in that there is a script, questions, prompts and a scoring sheet/guide. The main drawback of this informal reading assessment is that it only tests one dimension of the students reading, comprehension. Also there has not been research done in the way of interpretations and comparisons of scores. This is also limited in grade level and reading choice.Doesn't it seem more like a listening comprehension test?

Christopher Myers, A Writer's Story

I felt this video sent out a good message. Everyone has a story to tell
and everyone is different. We should recognize our students as individuals and
give them a chance to tell the class their story about what makes them
different. This is mainly reminding us to teach our students to embrace their
differences and if they possess a difference that they don't enjoy that they
can overcome  that. Mainly the struggle in reading which can be overcome
with time and practice. Do you think that you might run into a problem where your students might not
be as understanding of another students difference as you would have liked them to be?

Understanding the Big Picture

This is what we take away from a reading. We need to encourage students to focus on these big ideas to help them work through text. This will help them work through the harder texts that they will be faced with in the future. Fiction, Nonfiction and poetry should be made available to students and teachers should model reading and focusing on the big picture in the stories read together as a class or even in small group instruction. Ask about their knowledge of the big ides found in a story. Point out to the students how you knew what the big idea was by asking yourself questions and connecting the text to yourself, your experiences and to other texts. Teach students to ask these questions to themselves as they read. After reading a selection on their own have class or group discussions, follow ups, question sessions to really get an understanding if students are capable of discovering the big picture on their own. By the  end of 1st grade students should have the ability to do this with age appropriate texts. Reinforce that big pictures all around them in every subject that they are learning.