Research Article #5

The article, “Children’s Choices for Recreational Reading: A Three Part Investigation of Selection Preferences, Rationales, and Processes” by Kathleen A.J. Mohr, researches the idea of children choosing their own books for recreational reading. It is an investigation that allowed experts to interview 122 students about their reading process. It also questions whether choosing their own books for independent reading helps their reading proficiency. The three step process selection preferences, rationales and processes.

 The students used for the study were primary students from a rural school district. In order to produce the study, permission was obtained from the school principal and district superintendent. The school district “serves a diverse population of students representing various ethnicities, languages, and socioeconomic levels.”            

The article continues to discuss how students who are able to choose their own reading material often become “more motivated and skilled readers who choose to read widely and who develop lifelong reading habits.” The study looks at first graders reading habits and “…preferences among various picture books and to update our understanding of their selection process.”

Some of the aspects discussed include text features, genre preferences, selection strategies, gender differences, developmental aspects, ability issues, and motivational factors.

Along with the aspects studied, interviewers decided on methods to gain information. For instance, experts decided to choose the picture books for the students to choose from. The criteria for the students included, high-quality picture books with full-color illustrations; representative of various genres, genders, ethnicities, and language (English and Spanish); appropriate for first graders in content; recently published and thus not likely to be well-known among students; and similarly priced.        

After having 90 minutes to choose books, students were instructed to select one book out of nine titles. Children were given unlimited amount of time to choose a book before they were interviewed about their selection process.

            The experts conclude that children are as complex as their choices as well as assessing that 25 percent of the children did not know whether or not they had a specific selection process. Although there were various results, some results displayed patterns among the first graders. For instance, the girls showed a majority when taking the time to look through pictures and the boys showed a majority when choosing a topic was the importance during their selection process. Additionally, the first graders “…the common denominator among the most selected texts for these first graders was animals, even though the books differed in size, genre, and format.” This is more of a preference, however it allows a platform to learn more about the selection process. It shows that the children enjoy reading about subjects that they are interested in.

Although this study provided many insights into children’s selection process, experts promote using studies like this as an ongoing process as we continue to teach new children and new generations.

Resource:

Children’s Choices for Recreational Reading: A Three Part Investigation of Selection Preferences, Rationales, and Processes.

Kathleen A.J. Mohr

Journal of Literacy Research. Vol. 38. Issue 1. Page 81. 2006

Research Article #4

In the article, “Words as Tools: Learning Academic Vocabulary as Language Acquisition” by William Nagy and Dianna Townsend, the focus is placed on exploring the need for language proficiency and how academic vocabulary needs to be explicitly taught to students to increase academic proficiency. Furthermore, the article discusses the instruction of academic vocabulary. With a purpose to provide recommendations on how to implement this practice effectively, the article goes into depth about what it means to be academically proficient readers.  

It is suggested that in order to teach this concept, teachers must first know the definitions of academic language and academic vocabulary. The article claims that academic language is “specialized because it needs to be able to convey abstract, technical, and nuanced ideas and phenomena that are not typically examined in settings that are characterized by social and/or casual conversation” Further, that academic language is “both oral and written” and that they are both important, although they may have some differences. More importantly, the article states, “Academic language, therefore, is a tool that promotes a kind of thinking different from that employed in social settings. Learning academic language is not learning new words to do the same thing that one could have done with other words; it is learning to do new things with language and acquiring new tools for these new purposes.”

The article continues to discuss the characteristics of academic language stating that it differs form conversational English in many ways. Some characteristics include academic language involving, Latin and Greek vocabulary, morphologically complex words, nouns, adjectives, prepositions, grammatical metaphor, informational density, and abstractness. As the article continues to explain these factors in depth, it states that all of these factors work holistically as a functional unit, not separately.

The article further states that there is a difference between academic vocabulary and conversational vocabulary. It claims that “Academic Vocabulary words are typically broken down into two categories: general and discipline-specific (Hiebert & Lubliner, 2008).” Conversational Vocabulary is used repeatedly and this oral practice helps students make meaning with those words in many authentic accounts. This article further states that “it is repeated exposures to these (academic vocabulary) words and opportunities to practice using them in authentic contexts that allow students to own these words and use them with facility in the contexts in which they both garner and support meaning of technical or theoretical ideas.”

Response

Teaching academic vocabulary should go hand in hand with learning the academic language. With this instruction differing from everyday conversation, it is important that students learn the differences early on and discover opportunities to use these tools to help them with their ongoing educational process. Furthermore, if students understand the background of their instruction, they can use it as a foundation as they continue to build other tools that can aid with their academics in the future. Understanding that there is a functional and holistic nature to their instruction can also help expand their vocabulary. This could imply that students who read well are making meaning and connections while they read and that in fact, is what makes them a proficient reader.

            In our world, technology is reigning supreme and each day our students are faced with learning this new technology and how its function in their lives serves them. As with technology, there are many aspects in society that require students to be able to read proficiently and have a vast knowledge of vocabulary. Everything around the students further promotes that interventions mentioned in the article such as, providing multiple encounters of words, can foster vocabulary growth and life connections.

Words as Tools: Learning Academic Vocabulary as Language Acquisition.

Nagy, William, Townsend, Dianna.

Reading Research Quarterly. Vol. 47. Issue 1. Pages 91-108. January-March 2012

Research Article #3

Assumptions Surrounding School Reform

School reform seems to be a hot topic everywhere these days. Form homes, to classrooms, to the state capitol; everyone wants to know: what is it and what are we doing about it? In a country where there are many different ideologies about life in general, can we ever come to consensus about our education system that really benefits the students?

In the article, “School Reform in the United States: Frames and Representations” in Reading Research Quarterly, the author wrote about several people at the forefront of this issue and gave their books an in depth review. One book in particular was “The Death and Life” by Diane Ravitch and focused on her reflections on school reform and her changing ideas about No Child Left Behind. Ravitch is a former Assistant Secretary of Education and former supporter of No Child Left Behind. She soon realized that it was not working for many of our students. The article goes on to discuss how Ravitch elegantly claimed that, “No Child Left Behind was a punitive Law based on erroneous assumptions about how to improve schools.” Furthermore, Ravitch listed the assumptions that were made about school improvement which include the false assumption that high test scores equates to a great educational background.

One of the questions that arise is, “What are we trying to prove?” and, “Whom are we trying to prove it to?” Additionally, “How do we get the focus back to the students needs?” Policy makers have the right idea; we want our students to perform well, and become formidable citizens, but focusing on test scores alone can hinder our students.

Students that have to rely soley on test scores learn very early that all they need to do is make the grade. This can hinder our students because they see the end of the journey, yet they may not recall the lessons it took to get there. Helping students gain a love for learning while they reach their goals is just as important. For example, Students who are in classrooms where they are prompted to think for themselves and learn problem solving skills, will be able to recall those lessons in many aspects of life beyond the classroom. For this reason, it is imperative that teachers find a way to prepare students for the journey of learning as well as tests.

School Reform in the United States: Frames and Representations.

Shannon Patrick

Reading Research Quarterly. Vol.47. Issue 1. Pages 109-118. January-March 2012

Playshop Creations!

As a part of my playshop activity, I asked my student if she liked movies. She said that she did, but she liked reading more. I let her know that many of the books that she likes have been turned into movies as well. For instance, she likes to read Harry Potter. I asked her if she would like to make a movie about some of the toys that we used in class? She thought that was a great idea. She said that she had seen a similar toy in a claw machine.  She said that she likes the claw machine. Immediately, I thought that this was a great discovery because there are always popular toys in the claw machine. I asked her why she liked it so much and we discussed how we both wondered if the toys knew where the claw was taking each toy as it grabbed the toys. This is how our idea was born.

At the time we only had one toy, Sherman, from Mr. Peabody and Sherman and no time to prepare or make the film. I asked my student about ideas so that I could finish the project at home. She wanted a claw machine and I told her I would add more toys. We did not get around to discussing what would culminate in the film, so I had to make that decision myself. I hope my partner approves!

Additionally, there were some challenges creating the film. The director and the producer could not meet regularly. And some stars were also cut from the film. It was a lot more difficult to make because I wanted it to be perfect for my student. Overall, this project was fun and served as a great way to connect literacy to film making.