Introduction
In Springfield, I had the opportunity to get experience in the field of reading instruction by working with Ms. Thompson’s third-grade class at Johnson Elementary School. Children from the surrounding area who are learning two languages for the first time, as well as those who struggle with reading and writing, receive assistance from the school community. There are 28 students of Ms. Thompson. Three are students who are learning English, and six are students who are beginning to read. I delivered a mini-lesson on guessing while reading during the two weeks that Ms. Thompson’s reading and language arts courses were in session. I also had a conversation with her about her new readers and had a brief conversation with two of them about their learning needs and experiences. Thanks to this field experience, I was able to apply theory and teach new reading skills to pupils from a variety of backgrounds.
Interviews with Teachers and Students
Ms. Thompson is an exceptionally gifted educator who cultivates a classroom environment that is abundant in literacy. Students may benefit by displaying their work, developing word lists, making use of anchor charts, and labeling vividly in order to improve their language skills. It was clear that she had a passion for assisting students who were having difficulty and that she was aware of what they required and what they were capable of doing. During our chat, Ms. Thompson shared with us information about her nine children, who were both emerging English Language Learners. During the conversation, she went over which students have made the most progress this year and which students still need help with reading and writing. There was a focus on Jose and Whitney, two students who have been struggling with literacy for a long time.
For the past two years, Jose has been living in the United States of America. Even though he has made progress in his English, he is still significantly below grade level in both reading and writing. According to the results of the tests, his processing abilities are comparable to those of late first-graders. It is difficult for him to read quickly and absorb what he is reading. Jose’s comprehension is improved by scaffolding and training in small groups, but he could be more active in the process. Since kindergarten, Whitney has been a student at the public schools in the area. We are aware of her trouble with reading. Despite the fact that she has made progress since beginning multisensory training, she is still two grade levels behind in reading and needs help to comprehend what she is reading. Although Whitney takes pleasure in attending school and working with her classmates, she utilizes diversions on occasion when she is feeling overwhelmed or upset. After obtaining their consent, I had a brief conversation with Jose and Whitney in order to gain a better understanding of their points of view. They were reserved at first, but they became more open as we continued our conversation. As Jose’s English improved, he was able to talk about concerns that were occurring at school.
Implementing the Mini-Lesson
Modeling, partner discussion, individual practice, and group review were the methods that I utilized in my mini-lesson on prediction to engage a wide range of pupils. I described the approach, as well as how well-thought-out forecasts may attract readers and provide them with information. Readers are better able to concentrate and comprehend what they are reading when they use predictive inference, often known as guessing while reading (Elleman & Oslund, 2019). After that, I did a think-aloud to show the children how to make meaningful predictions based on a brief passage from a book that they had read on their own the day before. My first conclusions about the location and the persons were based on the early signals that I received, and I modified those beliefs as additional textual information became available to me. As a result of his poor sense of direction, I was under the impression that the main character would become disoriented in the forest. I modified my hypothesis to take into account other factors after reading the text, which said that he was in possession of a map and compass.
By having conversations about this way of thinking, my children were able to observe what was going on in my head and gain an understanding of what it is that helps them become good readers without even realizing it. According to Duke and Cartwright’s research (2021), students who are just beginning to read can benefit from learning about the unconscious tactics used by expert readers. My think-aloud shed light on this line of thought, making it easier for younger people to replicate it. Following that, I paired each student with another individual and gave them a brief passage from a book to read in order to practice generating predictions. They took turns coming up with predictions and supporting them with evidence from the text as each couple read.
As a result of partners who were proficient in English making estimations, individuals who had difficulty reading became more involved. After that, a few pairs disclosed their most accurate estimates, which immediately garnered good feedback. Group learning is more effective than individual instruction in terms of both motivating and developing literacy skills (Sridharan et al., 2023). For the last activity, students worked independently to choose a page from a copy of a book and write predictions at certain locations on the page. I kept an eye on and provided assistance to students who were working alone, paying particular attention to my small group of ESL and emerging learners. I used a think-aloud modeling technique to ask them, “What made you think that?” in order to get a better understanding of how they arrived at their predictions. “Show me in the text where that idea came from.” This type of scaffolded questioning helps to develop metacognition of strategies.
Following their time spent working independently, the students discussed their group work and how guessing helped them comprehend the material. “It made me want to read more—I wanted to see if I was right!” A shout came from Jose. The example presented here demonstrates how education about strategy can inspire and enable new readers. They went on to say that asking pupils to guess prevented them from becoming bored while they were reading. Learning strategies that are both verbal and written, as well as auditory and visual, make it simple for students of all reading levels to get started. The classroom was filled with the loud voices of students who were working in groups and pairs.
Every child took part in the talks, which were especially helpful for those children who had difficulty communicating with their classmates. The children found it unique and thrilling to make knowledgeable predictions about the subject, which sparked their ambition to learn more. Studies have shown that teaching strategies are most effective when they are implemented in the context of genuine conversations and group work (Sanger, 2020). This is due to the fact that social interactions engage people. Non-writers could be able to make predictions with the use of speech-to-text technologies. It is also possible to write with sentence frames, “I believe that _____ because the text says _____.” Providing English language learners with additional time to wait after asking a question may assist them in providing an answer. Shore is comfortable sharing if they are given the opportunity to switch between large groups, triads, and one-on-one conversations.
Evaluation of Effectiveness
On the basis of our assessment tool, Ms. Thompson complimented my instructional strategies as well as the level of engagement and education displayed by her students during the mini-lesson. Students’ interest was demonstrated by their active participation and their ability to stay on track throughout the entire class. Students were able to gain a better understanding of my thought process by listening to me think out loud before I led them in a partner exercise focused on giving them more guessing responsibility. These scaffolds are compatible with the framework of the gradual release paradigm for strategy education.
Ms. Thompson concurred with me that the mini-lesson should be improved by providing more targeted assistance during independent work time for students who are learning English as a second language as well as struggling readers and writers. This would work better for our highly diverse classroom, which contains students with a wide range of reading skills and abilities. Throughout prior work in whole groups, partner groups, and small groups, students got a great deal of assistance. One-on-one support during independent practice could assist Jose, Whitney, and a few other English language learners in learning to forecast.
For students who are struggling with writing, we discussed the advantages and disadvantages of sentence starters, word banks that aid in vocabulary development for prediction, and potentially speech-to-text technology. In the future, it could be beneficial to incorporate tiered texts and reading materials into strategy sessions. This would ensure that all students had the opportunity to practice the skill with texts that are appropriate for them. These straightforward, differentiated aids make it possible for students of all reading levels to take part in the instruction. During the literacy sessions that she led, Ms. Thompson emphasized the need to begin the planning process with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles such as representation, action and expression, and engagement choices.
Ms. Thompson also expressed her dissatisfaction with the class, stating that it lacked both guided thought and lasting student conversation. The students could discuss their forecasts with their partners or in small groups; however, facilitating a reflective group discussion at the end of the semester could be beneficial in assisting them to comprehend their thought processes. Students are better able to understand and use this strategy when they are asked specific questions about the advantages and disadvantages of producing predictions. Think-pair-share, affinity mapping, and 3-2-1 exit slips that emphasize metacognition were some of the strategies that were explored in order to ensure that all students were able to take part in reflective evaluation. Because they have yet to develop metacognition fully, beginners have difficulty checking whether or not they have understood something.
According to Khellab et al. (2022), it is essential to build independent reading methods by carefully considering the application of skills. Some sluggish readers need to be made aware of the advantages of guessing on engagement and understanding without being provided this information. In order to bridge this common metacognitive gap, Ms. Thompson emphasized the significance of scaffolded modeling, guided practice, and structured group discussion and reflection when it comes to the instruction of reading skills. The direct think-aloud modeling that I did, as well as the gradual handoffs between whole-class, pair, and individual work, were very well received by teacher Thompson. Students are able to connect to comprehend through a variety of means, including demonstration, group practice, and individual application.
Conclusion
Teaching pupils in elementary school who were at different stages of developing their literacy abilities provided me with invaluable lessons that would be beneficial to me in my future career as a teacher. Using lessons that are developmentally appropriate and personalized to match the requirements and learning styles of each child, this real-life experience demonstrates that all children can learn to read and write. It is essential to engage readers and writers who need help need help. Assisting children in recognizing learning strategies that are individually motivated enables them to take responsibility for their reading, which is essential for their continued development. Additional supervision and scaffolding are necessary for students who are having difficulty learning English or who are studying English as a second language in order for them to acquire instructional content and improve their academic English abilities.
Recommendations
I am excited to continue my education as a teacher despite the fact that it is challenging to strike the ideal balance between high standards, developmental appropriateness, and cultural and language responsiveness. The training that teachers should receive to scaffold lessons for children with varied reading levels and English language learners should be provided. A further objective of mine is to broaden the scope of the school library by including works of literature from a variety of countries, languages, and skill levels. In addition, I would like to conduct reading interest surveys with students in order to gain an understanding of their life experiences and the factors that motivate them to read. In order to better meet the requirements of beginning readers across the continuum, I will study assistive literacy technologies and create a library of graded texts for use in teaching reading to small groups and developmental reading.
References
Duke, N. K., & Cartwright, K. B. (2021). The Science of Reading Progresses: Communicating Advances Beyond the Simple View of Reading. Reading Research Quarterly, 56(S1). https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.411
Elleman, A. M., & Oslund, E. L. (2019). Reading Comprehension Research: Implications for Practice and Policy. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 6(1), 3–11. https://doi.org/10.1177/2372732218816339
khellab, F., Demirel, Ö., & Mohammadzadeh, B. (2022). Effect of Teaching Metacognitive Reading Strategies on Reading Comprehension of Engineering Students. SAGE Open, 12(4), 215824402211380. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440221138069
Sanger, C. S. (2020). Inclusive Pedagogy and Universal Design Approaches for Diverse Learning Environments. Diversity and Inclusion in Global Higher Education, 1(1), 31–71. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1628-3_2
Sridharan, B., McKay, J., & Boud, D. (2023). The Four Pillars of Peer Assessment for Collaborative Teamwork in Higher Education. Social Interaction in Learning and Development, pp. 3–24. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29411-2_1
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