Annotated Bibliography on Reading Comprehension

Anderson, Trela, and Ji Young Kim. "Strengthening College Students' Success Through The RAC." Journal Of College Reading And Learning42.1 (2011): 61-78. ERIC. Web. 7 June 2012. The Reading Across the Curriculum program at Fayetteville State University was designed to reduce aliteracy in at risk students and boost success and retention rates. Professors who volunteered for the program were asked to pre-test and post-test students as well as actively teach content specific reading strategies along with the curriculum for their course. Overall, the program was a success. Participants saw improvement in their students’ scores on the comprehension tests. Moreover, they saw more confidence in their students when it came to class discussion because their students had read and understood the material. The article cited a number of sources that showed a disparity between the amount of reading comprehension skills taught in high school and the necessary proficiency students need in college. The article cited a study that said “20% of first-year college students are placed in remedial reading classes or reading assistance labs.” What this means for me this summer is that I need to equip the students I am working with to read for any course. They need to be taught how to navigate a textbook and utilize the tools in it such as the index, glossary, etc. This is a very critical time in the lives of these students and a number of them can be taught the comprehension skills that will be necessary to take them through college. It’s all about the strategies that are implemented. Hsu, Hui-Yin, and Shiangkwei Wang. "The Impact Of Using Blogs On College Students' Reading Comprehension And Learning Motivation." Literacy Research And Instruction 50.1 (2011): 68-88. ERIC. Web. 7 June 2012. In this study, the use of blogs in a developmental reading program did not boost scores on reading comprehension exams. It did, however, create a significantly higher retention rate for students who used the blogs in their course sections versus those who did not. This is thought to be because students who were required to use the blog developed more of a learning community and were encouraged by their peers to stay in school despite hardships. This information correlates directly to my job this summer because I have been helping my supervisor and the instructors I work with research strategies to increase retention. We are planning a bridge program for the summer to bring in students and help them meet friends and try out our program before they come to school in the fall. Our goal is to help familiarize them with the university and our program, but also to help them develop a learning community before they come so that they will be more encouraged to stay in school. This study is really encouraging along those lines. Linderholm, Tracy, and Adam Wilde. "College Students' Beliefs About Comprehension When Reading For Different Purposes." Journal Of College Reading And Learning 40.2 (2010): 7-19. ERIC. Web. 7 June 2012. This study on student belief about reading performance found that actual comprehension of material didn’t change based on students’ belief about performance. Students were tested on reading for entertainment and reading to study—they were given similar texts and simply assigned at random whether they were reading to study or reading for pleasure. Interestingly, though scores between modes of reading were comparable, readers predicted that they would score much higher on material they read for study. This suggests that readers are more aware they change strategies for different reading purposes. The practical conclusion of the study is that students need to be taught more effective strategies for reading study material and more realistic methods of self-appraisal in comprehension. What I should take form this study in relation to my work this summer is that my students need to be taught more effective study strategies. The study showed that students attempt to memorize information when reading for study whereas when reading for pleasure, they are more likely to be analytical. There needs to be more of a happy marriage in these strategies if students want to be successful in comprehension of study materials.

Gagne's 9 Events of Instruction

I never really thought about it before today, but most every lesson plan I write follows this pattern or one very similar to it.

The reason why the Cycle of Instruction and Gagne's 9 Events work are because they take the student through the whole process of learning. When your parents taught you how to swim or how to ride a bike, they didn't just throw you in or stick you on the bike and force you to go (hopefully!) More than likely, there was a process. They introduced you to the concept. THey showed you how to do it by modeling. They helped you do it be gradually giving you more control and practice. Eventually, you developed the skill. This is how learning works in the classroom too, but so often educators neglect to think of it that way. They cover a grammatical concept o nthe board then hand the kids a worksheet and call it a day. Learning should be more applied than that if we expect students to retain the skill for life instead of until the next test. The old saying "it's like riding a bike" is based in the truth that you never forget. You never forget because you were trained properly in that skill. We should train our students in every skill as thoroughly.

MacBeth Glog

Why is STEM relevant to me?

Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) education is important to me as a future English teacher because if my students don't have proper reading comprehension and writing skills, they can't go on to pursue careers in any of those fields. I attended a conference recently at South Alabama about these subjects and the importance of emphasizing them in the curriculum. One of the speakers pointed out that in the United States we expect everyone to read, but when it comes to math, some people just "don't have the gift." It's completely inexcusable that we take this attitude towards this side of the curriculum in our schools. We should push our students hard so that our country can remain a world leader. The way to do this is to emphasize STEM learning in schools and it starts with giving students a passion for the subjects and the proper tools to succeed in them.

Respect: Demand or Give?

Some people say that you should demand respect from your students. I think that you should always start by giving them respect. When they see that you're willing to treat them like an adult (this is at a high school level) then they're more willing to cooperate with you in the classroom. Most of the time, that is the case.

However, when you are giving a student respect and they are choosing not to reciprocate, that is when you demand it, or rather, command it. You are the teacher. You are in control in that moment. You do not need to yell or shout in order to get them under control. You simply tell them what is expected of them and see it through.

The Best Teacher Ever

The best teacher I ever had was my mom. I was homeschooled for grades 2-5 & 9. She was so creative and she made learning fun. Her philosophies about education inspired me to become a teacher. She also homeschooled my brother and my sister. She always chose to put us in the best possible situation for our education and gave us the support we needed.

Every year, we had a theme for our classroom. One year we studied Native Americans and another year we studied the Great Lakes. We would do a full immersion into the subject. We learned geography and history and we learned about culture.

Every Friday was reading day. She would take us to the library and we would read all day. She set up a fort for each of us and would bring us snacks so we could read in comfort.

She was creative with our physical education too. She put us in sports and dance classes and hired physical trainers. She made us each learn to play the piano and at least one other instrument.

During the summer, she would enter us into reading contests at the library to challange us and keep our academic levels up during the summer. We were usually the kids who had read the most books.

I want to be a teacher more than anything because of my mom--the best teacher I ever had.

Worst Teacher Ever?

During this semester of student teaching, I want to respond to a series of questions that they handed us on orientation day. I feel that this will be a good exercise in self-discovery.

The first question is:
If a student said she thought you were the worst teacher she ever had, what would you say?

Actually, something similar to this happened during a lesson I taught once. I was trying to teach 10th graders summarizing skills. I thought I would make it fun by having them trace their hand and write the main idea on the palm and the supporting details on their fingers. I had the class reading magazine articles for this assignment. Most of the class was confused by the project and I had to repeat my directions several times. Finally, one girl said: "You're a bad teacher."

My heart fell. Those were words I never wanted to hear from a student. I had worked so hard to make an activity that wasn't boring or routine and she had thrown it up in my face like it was filth. I scowled at her and told her she was rude and to continue working.

I went home and thought about the lesson that afternoon. She was rude to say it. But I needed to have more classroom management and preparation in order to pull that lesson off.

Of course my response to a student calling me a bad teacher would vary on circumstance, but I think that my initial reaction would be to reflect on my behavior and the lessons I had planned and think about whether they were meeting the needs of my students.