I thought this lesson worked very well for both Nathan and Jesse. When I asked them to envision the images of the poems that they were reading, they evidently displayed their engagement and enthusiasm in reading poetry and finding lines that evoke their schema. This activity definitely motivates them because they were taken the ownership of writing their favorite lines; there was simply no right or wrong in sharing their own thoughts.
The next step is to allow them to use visual arts to illustrate the poems that they are reading. Miller (2002) suggested that this is a type of 'artistic response', it allows readers to create visual images to form their own personal interpretations. This strategy can further promote reading motivation and stamina, as Ediger (2003)said, it is important for teachers to give their students an explicit task in which they understand the purpose for reading. In this case, I am going to encourage Nathan and Jesse to use visual arts to illustrate their interpretation of the poems they read.
4.09.2008
4.08.2008
Creating Mental Images Through Envisioning
As Miller (2002) mentioned, one way to deepen students' understanding of texts or to get them more involved in reading is using the strategy of making mental images. This strategy is significantly important especially when children are studying poetry. Poetry is generally a more abstract piece of literature that requires readers to be imaginative and creative in making their own interpretation in which the poem is illustrating.
In one of Miller's lessons, she read aloud several poems to her students, and asking them to "listen carefully and think about which poem creates the most vivid mental images" (pp. 80). In this activity, Miller was offering an opportunity for her students to envision the images that were created by poets, and based on their personal interpretations, they took a copy of the poem that they chose and drew a picture that went along with the poem. The whole group debriefed afterwards, as they sat closely together on the rug and shared their images and talked about their interpretations. Notice that this activity was highly subjective; there was not right or wrong in what the students have chosen or said. This activity is valuable because it fostered students to envision and construct meaning while they listen or read.
Exhibit 21
In light of this, I conducted a similar activity for the whole class. We did a shared reading on the poem called Dog, by Valerie Worth. As I finished reading aloud to the students, they read aloud back. We then stopped and discussed our favorite parts of the poem (see exhibit 23). As most students raised their hands wanting to share their thoughts, I observed that Jesse was being quiet and perhaps actively thinking about his favorite part, while Nathan was again, being more passive in the situation. Jesse then raised his hands and said, 'yeah, I think the poet is right about dogs. That's what dogs are like, cuz I have a dog too, and he drools and sleeps and does all the tricks and all.' It is evident that Jesse is relating his personal experiences and knowledge as he listened to the poem and read it on chart paper.
To continue with this lesson, I modeled a new task that they had to complete. I shared with my students about this one line that I really liked a particular line in the poem, Rope Rhyme. I said, 'This line right here, Listen to that clappety-slappedy sound, I love it. When I read this line, and then I close my eyes, it's like I am seeing and hearing kids jumping rope in front of me. And the way she describes the sound of the rope, is just so real to me. I am hearing the clappety and slappedy sound as the rope touches the ground. This kind of work is called envisioning. I am making a mental movie in my mind by thinking about the words that the poet used. I am going to write this line that I really love on this strip of paper.' As I jot down the line on the strip paper, some students got excited about this task as they raised their hands, hoping to share what they liked about the poem. I continued, 'So when you are reading today, you can do the same thing. You can envision by making a mental movie in your mind. You can do that by closing your eyes and picture what you read in your mind.'
Ediger (2003) mentioned that teachers should raise salient questions that help arouse students' interest in reading, that these questions or discussions should lead to students in developing "their feeling and aesthetic dimension of learning", as well as "providing intrinsic motivation for students to do more reading of diverse kinds of poems" (pp. 165). In the aforementioned lesson that I taught, students were given an opportunity to talk about the poem that we have learned from shared reading, then they applied the strategy of making a mental movie in their minds by envisioning to their own practice during independent reading.
Since Jesse has been more competent in the poetry unit that he has been showing more initiative in participating in shared reading, I decided to work with Nathan in a one-on-one conference. In exhibit 24, it shows that as soon as Nathan sat down at his desk, he started flipping through pages trying to skim through each poem to look for 'beautiful lines' to write. I then stopped him and explained it to him that this was not a ‘smart’ way to read poetry, because often poets use special words, or structure to convey their messages; so skimming through was not the best way to assimilate the essence of poetic writing. As we read together, Nathan gradually accepted the pace that I wanted him to read. We paused between verses and I asked him open-ended questions like ‘why do you think the poet is describing Grandpa this way?’, ‘how does this sentence make you feel? Do you like it?’ In this process, he began to think more critically and at one point was debating whether the particular line was worth jotting or not. As we continued the reading, he grew more interest in reading the poems with a more critical lens. He wrote a few quotes on post-its:
"Don't roar like a lion, act lamb-ly."
"Tunneling up his ears."
At the end of the lesson, we did a whole class share; students raised their hands to share their favorite lines. Nathan and Jesse raised their hands and shared their favorite lines that they envisioned and created a mental movie.
In one of Miller's lessons, she read aloud several poems to her students, and asking them to "listen carefully and think about which poem creates the most vivid mental images" (pp. 80). In this activity, Miller was offering an opportunity for her students to envision the images that were created by poets, and based on their personal interpretations, they took a copy of the poem that they chose and drew a picture that went along with the poem. The whole group debriefed afterwards, as they sat closely together on the rug and shared their images and talked about their interpretations. Notice that this activity was highly subjective; there was not right or wrong in what the students have chosen or said. This activity is valuable because it fostered students to envision and construct meaning while they listen or read.
Exhibit 21In light of this, I conducted a similar activity for the whole class. We did a shared reading on the poem called Dog, by Valerie Worth. As I finished reading aloud to the students, they read aloud back. We then stopped and discussed our favorite parts of the poem (see exhibit 23). As most students raised their hands wanting to share their thoughts, I observed that Jesse was being quiet and perhaps actively thinking about his favorite part, while Nathan was again, being more passive in the situation. Jesse then raised his hands and said, 'yeah, I think the poet is right about dogs. That's what dogs are like, cuz I have a dog too, and he drools and sleeps and does all the tricks and all.' It is evident that Jesse is relating his personal experiences and knowledge as he listened to the poem and read it on chart paper.
To continue with this lesson, I modeled a new task that they had to complete. I shared with my students about this one line that I really liked a particular line in the poem, Rope Rhyme. I said, 'This line right here, Listen to that clappety-slappedy sound, I love it. When I read this line, and then I close my eyes, it's like I am seeing and hearing kids jumping rope in front of me. And the way she describes the sound of the rope, is just so real to me. I am hearing the clappety and slappedy sound as the rope touches the ground. This kind of work is called envisioning. I am making a mental movie in my mind by thinking about the words that the poet used. I am going to write this line that I really love on this strip of paper.' As I jot down the line on the strip paper, some students got excited about this task as they raised their hands, hoping to share what they liked about the poem. I continued, 'So when you are reading today, you can do the same thing. You can envision by making a mental movie in your mind. You can do that by closing your eyes and picture what you read in your mind.'
Ediger (2003) mentioned that teachers should raise salient questions that help arouse students' interest in reading, that these questions or discussions should lead to students in developing "their feeling and aesthetic dimension of learning", as well as "providing intrinsic motivation for students to do more reading of diverse kinds of poems" (pp. 165). In the aforementioned lesson that I taught, students were given an opportunity to talk about the poem that we have learned from shared reading, then they applied the strategy of making a mental movie in their minds by envisioning to their own practice during independent reading.
Since Jesse has been more competent in the poetry unit that he has been showing more initiative in participating in shared reading, I decided to work with Nathan in a one-on-one conference. In exhibit 24, it shows that as soon as Nathan sat down at his desk, he started flipping through pages trying to skim through each poem to look for 'beautiful lines' to write. I then stopped him and explained it to him that this was not a ‘smart’ way to read poetry, because often poets use special words, or structure to convey their messages; so skimming through was not the best way to assimilate the essence of poetic writing. As we read together, Nathan gradually accepted the pace that I wanted him to read. We paused between verses and I asked him open-ended questions like ‘why do you think the poet is describing Grandpa this way?’, ‘how does this sentence make you feel? Do you like it?’ In this process, he began to think more critically and at one point was debating whether the particular line was worth jotting or not. As we continued the reading, he grew more interest in reading the poems with a more critical lens. He wrote a few quotes on post-its:
"Don't roar like a lion, act lamb-ly."
"Tunneling up his ears."
At the end of the lesson, we did a whole class share; students raised their hands to share their favorite lines. Nathan and Jesse raised their hands and shared their favorite lines that they envisioned and created a mental movie.
4.06.2008
Shared Reading Poems
These three poems are the ones that are most frequently read in shared reading. What I have been doing with these shared reading is that I read aloud them to the students twice, and then I allow them to read aloud as a class. We then looked at the features of the text more carefully. For example, in Rope Rhyme, we looked at how the poet used rhyming words to make the poem more fun to read. We also worked on envisioning it by making a mental movie in our minds - thinking about what it is like to jump rope. In Good Night Juma, we examined the poet's use of line breaks, and punctuations, which creates a dialogue between the father and the son. In City Child, we discussed what life is like living in a city and made comparison and connections between their lives and the poet's interpretation.
Exhibit 20
By analyzing the observation notes (exhibit 20), one will notice that Jesse was consistently repeating the lines on his own, and tapping the desk to follow the rhythmic pattern of the poem. Throughout the shared reading, Jesse continued to mouth words quietly on his own without disturbing others. On the other hand, Nathan seemed somewhat unmotivated. He was looking at the chart paper with concentration, however, he did not seem to be in the 'flow' of it like Jesse. I am implicating that shared reading may be more of an abstract task for Nathan because the structure of shared reading seems to be more of a 'free flow' and that it is not like a read aloud where he is being read to. In this learning process, Nathan appears to be a more passive learner; as he was not sure when and how to get involved in this type of reading/learning process. My next step with Nathan is to provide him with more frequent one-on-one coaching during readers' workshop, thus allow both of us to read to each other in order to get him more comfortable in reading aloud and understanding the structure of shared reading.
Rope Rhyme – Eloise Greenfield
Get set, ready now, jump right in
Bounce and kick and giggle and spin
Listen to the rope when it hits the ground
Listen to that clappety-slappedy sound
Jump right up when it tells you to
Come back down, whatever you do
Count to a hundred, count by ten
Start to count all over again
That’s what jumping is all about
Get set, ready now jump right out!
Good Night, Juma – Eloise Greenfield
Go to bed Juma
Just one more game?
Go to bed Juma
Just one more show?
Go to bed Juma
Just one more minute?
Juma, go to bed
I said.
Just –
No.
– a hug?
Oh. You bet
Good night, Daddy?
Good night, Juma.
City Child – Louis Lensko
The sidewalk is my yard
The lamppost is my tree,
Up three long flights of stairs,
My home is 4C.
The fire escape is my porch
Where my clothes hang out to dry
All day the noise and rush,
All night the trains go by.
Tall buildings all around
Reach up and shadow me,
Sometimes the great big sun,
Comes peeping round to see.
All day the people pass
They hurry as they go
But when they are my friends,
They stop and say hello.
Exhibit 20
By analyzing the observation notes (exhibit 20), one will notice that Jesse was consistently repeating the lines on his own, and tapping the desk to follow the rhythmic pattern of the poem. Throughout the shared reading, Jesse continued to mouth words quietly on his own without disturbing others. On the other hand, Nathan seemed somewhat unmotivated. He was looking at the chart paper with concentration, however, he did not seem to be in the 'flow' of it like Jesse. I am implicating that shared reading may be more of an abstract task for Nathan because the structure of shared reading seems to be more of a 'free flow' and that it is not like a read aloud where he is being read to. In this learning process, Nathan appears to be a more passive learner; as he was not sure when and how to get involved in this type of reading/learning process. My next step with Nathan is to provide him with more frequent one-on-one coaching during readers' workshop, thus allow both of us to read to each other in order to get him more comfortable in reading aloud and understanding the structure of shared reading.
Rope Rhyme – Eloise Greenfield
Get set, ready now, jump right in
Bounce and kick and giggle and spin
Listen to the rope when it hits the ground
Listen to that clappety-slappedy sound
Jump right up when it tells you to
Come back down, whatever you do
Count to a hundred, count by ten
Start to count all over again
That’s what jumping is all about
Get set, ready now jump right out!
Good Night, Juma – Eloise Greenfield
Go to bed Juma
Just one more game?
Go to bed Juma
Just one more show?
Go to bed Juma
Just one more minute?
Juma, go to bed
I said.
Just –
No.
– a hug?
Oh. You bet
Good night, Daddy?
Good night, Juma.
City Child – Louis Lensko
The sidewalk is my yard
The lamppost is my tree,
Up three long flights of stairs,
My home is 4C.
The fire escape is my porch
Where my clothes hang out to dry
All day the noise and rush,
All night the trains go by.
Tall buildings all around
Reach up and shadow me,
Sometimes the great big sun,
Comes peeping round to see.
All day the people pass
They hurry as they go
But when they are my friends,
They stop and say hello.
4.05.2008
A Series of Shared Reading
The poetry unit that Ms. Jane and I are teacher has been moving smoothly. We have been taking turns to do shared reading with the whole class, and we also work with students in one-on-one conferring, and coaching on a daily basis. As I continue to work alongside with Jesse and Nathan, I noticed that both of them have been growing immense interest in reading poetry. From time to time, I have been re-visiting the poem, Things, by Eloise Greenfield, as a morning 'warm up'. Since this is a familiar poem that all of them know, whenever we read it together on the rug, it serves as an invitation for every single student to become readers. Here is a list of other poems that I have been reading in shared reading:
1. Things by Eloise Greenfield
2. City Child by Louis Lensko
3. Good night Juma By Eloise Greenfield
4. Rope Rhyme by Eloise Greenfield
5. Rhino by Anonymous
1. Things by Eloise Greenfield
2. City Child by Louis Lensko
3. Good night Juma By Eloise Greenfield
4. Rope Rhyme by Eloise Greenfield
5. Rhino by Anonymous
3.31.2008
Reflection - Shared Reading and Reading Aloud
Thinking and reflecting on Jesse's read aloud to the whole class makes me realize that even students who are normally resistant to reading do find joy in reading fun, and witty poetry that has a strong sense of rhythm. In this particular case, both Jesse and Nathan were into the process of listening to the read aloud, and were eager to be involved in reading the poem aloud. Poetry is definitely a type of reading material that is less intimidating to readers. The reason why I advocate in this can be supported by Westby (2005). When reading a narrative story, for instance, The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch, it requires readers to be active thinkers by doing the envisioning, inferring, predicting, and retelling work because the story itself consists of goals and intentions of the main characters, Elizabeth, Ronald and the Dragon. As students read this story, we push them to think and be aware of the characters' desires, emotions, and actions in an ongoing process as the story unfolds itself. As they read longer stories, students are required to be even more committed to using their narrative content schemata and text grammar schemata to develop understanding. Therefore, thinking back to the last two cycles, this may be one of the possible reasons why the two boys were not completely engaged in reading picture books even though they were their choice, since they were constantly being pushed to read critically.
Miller (2002) asked herself a question, 'in addition to picture books, what type of text is best when children begin to become more adept at making mental images on their own? What type of text bridges whole-group work and independence? The answer is poetry" (pp. 80). After assimilating what Miller said, I began to strongly believe that poetry does have the quality to engage readers to read in a less intense manner. Miller also said that poetry is appealing because they are short and 'thought-provoking'; they allow readers to envision images. The most important point she advocated is that through her personal experiences and observations, she has learned that 'best decoders aren't necessarily the most thoughtful readers, nor are the most thoughtful readers necessarily the best decoders' (pp. 80). Miller has definitely advocated me that poetry has a powerful magic that allow readers to create images to provoke personal interpretations that is an enjoyable process. As this part of the cycle continues, I am going to implement and encourage the use of shared reading and visual arts to enhance motivation and reading stamina.
Miller (2002) asked herself a question, 'in addition to picture books, what type of text is best when children begin to become more adept at making mental images on their own? What type of text bridges whole-group work and independence? The answer is poetry" (pp. 80). After assimilating what Miller said, I began to strongly believe that poetry does have the quality to engage readers to read in a less intense manner. Miller also said that poetry is appealing because they are short and 'thought-provoking'; they allow readers to envision images. The most important point she advocated is that through her personal experiences and observations, she has learned that 'best decoders aren't necessarily the most thoughtful readers, nor are the most thoughtful readers necessarily the best decoders' (pp. 80). Miller has definitely advocated me that poetry has a powerful magic that allow readers to create images to provoke personal interpretations that is an enjoyable process. As this part of the cycle continues, I am going to implement and encourage the use of shared reading and visual arts to enhance motivation and reading stamina.
3.27.2008
Poetry Reading - Jesse
The poem that Ms. Jane introduced today is called Things, written by Eloise Greenfield. The class did a shared reading today on the rug. Ms. Jane read the poem aloud to her students with expression while she tapped a beat on her thigh. The students began bobbing their heads and went along with the poem. During the read aloud, I noticed that Jesse and Nathan were really into the poem. Jesse even tapped along with Ms. Jane and mouthed the words to himself. After the whole class had read aloud the poem a few times, Ms. Jane invited couple students to go up to the front and read the poem to the whole class. Jesse raised his hand high up in the air, waving, hoping to be picked, and he did. Jesse and another student, Joanne, read the poem together. Please click on the media player on the top left corner of this page titled 'Exhibit 19 Reading Poem' to listen to Jesse and Johnise read aloud to the class.
3.24.2008
The Rationale of Cycle #3
After cycle #2, I have had a much deeper understanding of the two boys, in respect to their learning habits, behavior, preferences, and abilities. In cycle #2, I had an opportunity to introduce a variety of texts, which included a number of picture books that contained characters and plots that they were able to relate and connect to. Aside from reading aloud to them, I also provided them opportunities for them to identity themselves as readers by knowing their personal preference and choosing just-right books. This has definitely improved their motivation and increased their stamina in reading, especially for Nathan.
Having this large piece of observation and data in front of me, I began to think about what other types of texts that could motivate them. After discussing with Ms. Jane (host teacher), I found out that the next unit of study is poetry, then I began to think: 'Alright, so poetry! What kind of interesting work could I introduce to these kids?' Almost immediately, I thought of ENVISIONING.
From various articles that I have been reading for my research, there are some assumptions that have been made by educators. For example, Moloney (2002) advocates that the types of books that boys like to read are: action fiction, books in series, science fiction, or fantasy, and non-fiction materials. So I began to ask myself, how can I break away from these assumptions that boys only enjoy reading materials that are aforementioned. Could boys also enjoy poetry, and be creative poets and write about things that matter to them and that they can relate to? Knowing that Ms. Jane is going to introduce poetry, I decided to go along with her plan and think of some interesting ways to capture these boys into reading. In this cycle, I am going to let the students to assimilate the art of poetry by doing shared reading, and a lot of work on envisioning using art form to display and express their thinking about texts.
As Calkins (2001) describes, shared reading consists of multiple re-readings that involves both parties: teachers/adults and children. This kind of accountability allows both adults and children to experience more social interaction during reading time, hence helps develop children's identity as a reader.
Having this large piece of observation and data in front of me, I began to think about what other types of texts that could motivate them. After discussing with Ms. Jane (host teacher), I found out that the next unit of study is poetry, then I began to think: 'Alright, so poetry! What kind of interesting work could I introduce to these kids?' Almost immediately, I thought of ENVISIONING.
From various articles that I have been reading for my research, there are some assumptions that have been made by educators. For example, Moloney (2002) advocates that the types of books that boys like to read are: action fiction, books in series, science fiction, or fantasy, and non-fiction materials. So I began to ask myself, how can I break away from these assumptions that boys only enjoy reading materials that are aforementioned. Could boys also enjoy poetry, and be creative poets and write about things that matter to them and that they can relate to? Knowing that Ms. Jane is going to introduce poetry, I decided to go along with her plan and think of some interesting ways to capture these boys into reading. In this cycle, I am going to let the students to assimilate the art of poetry by doing shared reading, and a lot of work on envisioning using art form to display and express their thinking about texts.
As Calkins (2001) describes, shared reading consists of multiple re-readings that involves both parties: teachers/adults and children. This kind of accountability allows both adults and children to experience more social interaction during reading time, hence helps develop children's identity as a reader.
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