My Literacy Thinking

Vocabulary plays a fundamental role in learning to read and understanding texts. Students must use the words they hear/read to make sense of the texts. In addition, vocabulary is key in comprehension.  Morphemes are the parts that make up an entire word. Morpheme include affixes, which are primary prefixes and suffixes. Prefixes  are those which is added to the beginning of words, which add meaning. Suffixes are those which is added to the ending of the words. A root word is the original word of that has been added to changed the meaning of the word.  So how do we teach vocabulary? Say the word is Hopeless - when we break this word into morphemes, it appears as hope/less. Hope acts as our prefix, desire. Less acts as our suffix, small amount. 

Note taking is a critical part of the learning process. In fact, note taking as multiple benefits including keeping students focused and connecting their ideas.  If I were to teach note taking skills with my students, I would;  - identify the importance of note taking skills  - evaluate the accuracy of various note taking strategies I believe that the best way to introduce note taking to children is with graphic organizers. One graphic organizer that works well for note taking is the KWL.  K- what I know W- what I want to know L- what I learned  I will show my students a variety of note taking strategies and help them develop a system that makes sense for each of them. They will use their system throughout their education and life. 

Text structure is an important part of reading comprehension. Understanding text structures is important if we want our students to understand and comprehend what they are reading. When students understand and comprehend what they're reading, it can significantly improve their comprehension.  Before I teach text structure to my students, I want to make sure that my students are aware of: - that texts have specific purposes - the topic can be related in different ways   - section of the text is the main idea I will choose a short text that contain the examples below. Then I will move onto working with my students on text structures. As I annotated the text, these styles included; sequential, descriptive and compare and contrast. In conclusion, these text structures strategies are very important because it helps students to understand that a text might present a main idea and/or details or compare and contrast. Teaching students to recognize text structures c...

The definition of literacy is always changing and will continue to change. There are numerous different perspectives on the topic. Every time the definition of literacy changes, someone's perspective can change as well. The reason why the definition of literacy is always changing is because of technology. Technology is changing everyday and we, as a society, have to adjust to these new changes. When education first started, literacy probably meant being able to read and write. Now is the definition is different than what it first was. Although the definition is always changing, we can have an idea of mean-making. 

F or so many years, I've always wondered why reading texts and understanding it was difficult for me.  I used to think that because I was struggling with reading it had something to do with the fact that I was not proficient in English. Yet, it had nothing to do with English, it was because I lacked the background knowledge to understand what I was asked to read. This research explained to me that I never had culturally relevant texts to connect or draw background knowledge. Reflecting back, I didn’t have any background knowledge or experiences with the texts that were given to me to read. This makes me question my teachers, were they not aware of the importance of culturally relevant texts? Did they have little experience using books that relate to their students' cultural background? Did they not know how to implement such texts in their lessons? There are no excuses for not implementing culturally relevant texts because there is numerous research that explains the importance...

Disciplinary Literacy: Why It Matters and What We Should Do About It   Three things I learned are; 1. Even mathematics has literacy components.  2. It's easier for children to be able to read and understand the readings when it's something that they're interested in. I could personally relate to this- when I understand the text that I am reading, I am able to understand and connect to it  3. Disciplinary literacies is developed and instructed overtime.  Two questions I have;  1. How do I know what texts are appropriate for my students to access? 2. How do I identify each of my students prior knowledge?  One thing that interested me;  1. Students will read and understand the text, if the reading is interesting and draws their attention. 

Have you ever bullied or been bullied? If you have been bullied or been bullied, then you should know what bullying feels like. Nothing will ever change about bullying being a cruel thing. I say cruel because you have no idea how much this impacts a child’s self-esteem. There are some children these days that are cruel, to the outfit you wear to the amount of toys you might have at home. Children are being bullied in school, at home and sometimes even online. Often children could be picked on for bullying for no reason at all, other than to make a bully feel superior. It’s unacceptable and it’s a terrible thing. When children are bullied, it makes them feel like no other human being will ever accept them for who they are. It forces children to hide behind a shadow. We, as a society, need to make it a priority to stop the bullying. Why? But how?

Millions of acres have burned.  Dangerous levels of air pollution.  Thousands of people are dead.  Thousands of animals are dead.  Unfortunately, I don't how or why the fires all started. But what I do know is that roughly thousands, if not, billions of animals and some species may not be able to recover from the fire. I've read that Koala populations have been hit harder than any other animals because they live in trees and cannot move quickly enough away from the flames. 

I never thought I would be blogging. But i'm so happy that I chose to blog. I love writing. I love being able to write about anything. It allows me to express my creativity. Blogging is very beneficial for numerous reasons. I know that blogging will help me with my writing. 

My literacy mantra is related to "understand what you're reading". I have read multiple research that links between background and understanding and how it can affect children's reading. Culturally relevant texts are those that children can connect to and draw back knowledge to make meaning. I agree with the fact that when children are reading they should be able to connect it with their background knowledge and experiences. Research has shown that our background and understanding of the world affects our reading. Therefore, children should be able to make connections through their readings; text to self, text to world and text to text. As a result, culturally relevant texts are the way for children to succeed in their progress towards and- reading comprehension is perhaps the key to literacy. Therefore, connecting children to culturally relevant texts facilitates that comprehension.  For so many years, I've always wondered why reading texts and understanding it w...

I don't consider myself a very good writer. Yet, I intend to progress my writing by setting more achievable goals, building on new ideas and developing new skills. I use the advice of my professors and peers and draw from previous writing experiences to better my future writing experiences. I took an English course in College and I really loved it. I feel that as a writer, I am able to give good detail when I feel strongly about a point. This is good because it gives my readers a real chance to envision what I am describing. Everything that was learned, taught and understood in my English course, has now become a vital part of my educational journey. The course gave me a new insight on reading and writing that I could not obtain in my past writing experiences. The more I write, I feel more confident in the writer in me. I will definitely cherish the life long lessons that I've been taught about writing. I, once abhorred reading and writing, but I have now learned to ...

All we have to do is look up! It really is amazing when you think about it, in any given day, we could see hundreds of thousands of clouds and stars. It is even more breathtaking when you realize that the sky we are looking at is the same sky our ancestors enjoyed when they looked up. I traveled to Nebraska last year around this time. On the airplane, I looked out my window and there was a cloud that was really close to the window. I thought to myself, "this is the closest I've been to a cloud". I realized that each cloud is different and has a different story to tell. The weather was perfect today- it wasn't too hot or too cold, it was just right. It was really sunny. I've realized that the weather affects my mood for the day. If the sun is out, I am happier and more productive. In contrast, when its cloudy and raining, I feel depressed and don't want to go outside. All I want to do on those days is stay in my PJ's and watch a show/movie.

C ream, bitter, milky O r anyway that you like F lavor is delicious- the smell is F antastic, and my body E ndless energy for every endeavor E ach sip makes you feel like you can take on the world  

I parked in front of Dunkin Donuts- I remember being so excited to buy an iced coffee. I got out of my car and dropped my phone onto the floor. I picked up my phone and touched the screen with my fingers. I felt the scratches on my phone. Luckily, I had a screensaver on my phone. I walked into Dunkin Donuts and breathed in the smell of deliciousness. As I waited in line, I could hear ice being put into cups, the coffee brewing and baristas mixing the drinks. Seconds later, it was my turn. I knew what I wanted to order, but then I saw donuts. I fell in love. I decided to buy an iced coffee and a strawberry frosted donut with SPRINKLES. Best decision of my life!!!! I remember the first sip of the iced coffee and the bite of donut, very vividly.