Learning Blog 2

 

I found chapter three to be informative in understanding the importance of the preparation phase of the PAR lesson plan framework. In the beginning of the chapter, the author sets the stage by giving the reader facts from research conducted on literacy skills. I found it interesting, though not surprising, to read that, according to NAEP scores, 33% of 4^th graders and 25% of 8^th graders were reading below the basic level. I didn’t find this surprising because at my school there has been a huge push to increase literacy skills beginning in the lower grades. The upper-level elementary teachers have been finding that the students they are receiving lack the basic comprehension skills to read a text successfully.

It was also surprising to read on page 53 that “African American and Afro/Indo-Trini adolescents valued reading more than whites or adolescents of other ethnic groups.” On Wednesday I had spoken to our old reading specialist about the epidemic of boys and literacy. She said that it’s even worse among African American boys because of the lack of interest and the lack of books being published to their interest areas. I would be interested in reading more on how the authors gained this research.

The analogy between the basketball game and the preparation phase was helpful for me to understand the importance of the preparation phase in the PAR lesson plan. It was said that the actual playing of the game takes up the least amount of time; it’s the preparation that takes up the greatest amount of time. This will be helpful for me in my own classroom when preparing lessons. Now that I know this, I will spend more time in the prep phase of plan rather than on the assessment or the independent practice phases.

As a teacher, I tend to put a lot of emphasis on the fluency of my readers and how well they can comprehend a given text. The book, on page 58, said that “No matter how well-written a material is; if readers do not possess background knowledge or interest in the reading material, they will find it hard to read.” Unfortunately I haven’t given this idea a whole lot of thought previously. I assumed that if they can read the text, they can understand it. I’ve learned that their schema plays a very important role in how well they truly comprehend the material.

I was relieved to see that the authors addressed the issues that arise when dealing with prior knowledge. If a student has incorrect prior knowledge or limited prior knowledge, this can lead to gaps in their understanding. By directing the prior knowledge and using all of the ideas listed in the book, this will aid the students in correcting those two problem areas.

The 10 preparation activities presented in the book were helpful for me to see what I can use in my classroom and the ones that I am already using. The ones I am already using, I’ve found the reading helpful in allowing me to see ways that I can tweak my instruction. Two that I would like to use more of in my room is the anticipation guide and the prelearning concept check. These are two that I feel would be easy for my 6 & 7 year olds to understand and benefit from. Some that I use quite frequently is the graphic organizers and KWL charts. One that I am still unsure about and have questions for is the factstorming activity. I would like to learn more about this strategy.

I appreciated this chapter because it gave many real classroom examples and helped me to learn new ways to incorporate preparation activities in my room.