Creative Synthesis Project
Introductionare put into place that appear to set our students up for failure and it is our job to assist them in learning how to overcome that.
Once such hurdle I found was with mCLASS testing. In the Text Reading and Comprehension (TRC) section, first graders who are on grade level begin the year with only oral comprehension quickly moving to both oral and written comprehension as their reading levels increased. The written comprehension time and again is what holds my struggling students back in their reading growth. Often, they can read on a second or third grade level and can orally answer the comprehension questions correctly, but struggle with the written portion. I wanted to discover the most effective ways I could help my students in overcoming this challenge. It was this desire that led me to my compelling question, "How can I better help my first graders grow in demonstrating their understanding of text when answering written comprehension questions?" I wanted to investigate and identify ways I could assist and support my students with their reading and writing. |
Teaching became a later-in-life profession for me. My own children were mostly raised and on their own when I chose this career. Raising them and enjoying the teaching and nurturing I was doing with them led me to this path. What a ride it has been since I began this journey.
Since beginning teaching in the classroom, I have always taught first grade. The first year of teaching I discovered how many of my students struggled in their reading. I wrote in my personal statement, "I am dismayed at the low reading level in our school and many other districts in North Carolina. Since working in Durham and speaking with teachers throughout the United States, I have discovered that teaching students to read needs to become a high priority in our country." Knowing that reading is the basis of education, I wanted to find a way that I could help my students become better readers. Over the few years I have been teaching, I have found that often times things |
AbstractThe information I gained from the NLGL.Program has provided me with instructional tools for our 21st century learners in the area of global literacy. Incorporating reciprocal teaching in to literacy instruction has assist my students in the reading and writing comprehension. It can be difficult for students to primary students to put the thoughts in their heads down on paper. Using sticky notes when prediction and summarizing attached the practice of writing to instruction. The importance of writing and how it can help to improve reading was not on my radar until the program. We now constantly write in my classroom. I learned about integrating technology into instruction enhancing the motivation, engagement and creativity of students. It has been supported that digital tools in the classroom are an asset. Using digital tools to gain understanding of writing has helped my students. The incorporation of a classroom blog has my students excited about reading and writing. I read that "Blogs promote self–expression, a place where the author can develop highly personalized content. Yet blogs connect with an online community — bloggers can comment and give feedback to other bloggers, and they can link to fellow bloggers, creating an interwoven, dynamic organization. In the classroom, students can have a personal space to read and write alongside a communal one, where ideas are shared, questions are asked and answered, and social cohesion is developed." (Huffaker, 2004)
Through my research, I have been able to share my newly obtained knowledge and ideas with colleagues.and administration. I have taken on a leadership roll in my school and life. Knowing the struggles I have gone through as a "young" teacher, I have a vision of providing assistance, knowledge and support to all my colleagues. . |