Differentiation

Two main aspects from the reading Embedded Supports to Differentiate Instruction for Struggling Students that I without a doubt will be implementing in my future classroom as I pursue my career as a special education teacher is differentiated instruction and technology. Differentiated instruction is so so so important. Students’ abilities have such a wide range so as a teacher I need to be able to reach all my students. Technology is another aspect that will definitely be present in my classroom. As I observe different classrooms and read about different scenarios technology is a huge part for students on a day to day basis. Not only is it an asset for learning purposes it is a key communication device for many students. “Students with disabilities may struggle with many of the components of writing, including: spelling, handwriting, planning, revising, and editing. Many technology tools are available that can support your students in these tasks: spelling and grammar checkers, word-prediction software, graphic organizer software, and voice-recognition software.”

Grade Level: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.
Above Grade Level: Use a piece of contextual evidence, within the opinion piece.
Below Grade Level: Give options for students to choose from for supporting a point of view.

Student K is in 10th grade and has cerebral palsy and is unable to write with a pencil, read at the same rate as their peers, and sometimes is unable to understand the directions. In order to make the student have an equal opportunity for success in the classroom we can provide: assistive technology, leveled reading materials, and modified directions.
Assistive technology gives access to computers, screen readers, audio textbooks, and voice recognition that can help many students with special needs use technology more effectively.
Leveled reading materials provides reading materials on a particular topic, but written at different levels will allow a student with a reading disability to learn about the same topic as the rest of the class.
Modified directions keeps the directions clear and concise.

https://sites.google.com/site/lrtsas/differentiation/differentiation-techniques-for-special-educationhttps://sites.google.com/site/lrtsas/differentiation/differentiation-techniques-for-special-education

Assessment

Some take away points I would take with me are: peer review and its ineffectiveness without positive guidance, rubric based assessments, self-evaluation importance, and allowing students to reflect on their own learning.

How do we measure knowledge growth in the literacies classroom? After reading the article Giving Feedback: Preparing Students for Peer Review and Self-Evaluation and with prior knowledge, benchmark progress monitoring, formative assessments, and summative assessments are used to measure growth. Using these measures are an important aspect for teachers to be able to have a clear understanding of where their students are and how to move forward.

Rubric for an academic blog post:

	3	2	1
Ideas and Topic Development	Communicates a sophisticated and original point of view using strong support.	Point of view is vague with little support.	Fails to communicate a point of view.
Evidence	Uses two or more pieces of evidence/ quotations to support topic.	Uses one piece of evidence/quotations to support topic.	No usage of evidence/ quotations to support topic.
Expression	Expresses opinions in a clear and concise manner in relation to topic.	Minimal expression of opinion or ideas.	Does not express opinion.
Organization	Clear organization. Each paragraph covers a distinct topic.	Some organization. Each paragraph attempts to cover a distinct topic.	Poorly organized. Difficult to identify topic/purpose of each paragraph.
Multimedia	Two or more pieces.	One piece.	Zero pieces.
Mechanics	0-1 grammatical errors. 0-1 spelling errors.	2- 4 grammatical errors. 2-4 spelling errors.	More than 5 grammatical errors. More than 5 spelling errors.

         Total: /18

Writing Instruction

Have a grown as a writer? Yes. I have improved as a writer by experimenting with different writing formats/structures. I have written a variety of pieces consisting of: opinion pieces, personal stories, lesson plans, and more. Practice, practice, and more practice.

Did blogging make me better or worse? Better. Writing every week for this class, as well as when I took 307, really helped shape me into a better writer.

I need to improve as a writer by being more confident in my work. For previous writing classes I was always shy to share my pieces or blogs, now I feel a little less ‘weirded out’ about having people read what I write; yet I still have a ways to go.

For a 3rd grade student, I would insist they write outside their comfort zone. If they are comfortable with writing opinion pieces and personal stories, I would suggest they try writing a few different poem types.

Comprehension II

Disciplinary literacy refers to the specifics of reading, writing, and communicating in a discipline. It focuses on the ways of thinking, the skills, and the tools that are used by experts in the disciplines (Shanahan & Shanahan, 2012). Each discipline like science, math, or history had a specialized vocabulary and components that are unique to that discipline. Content literacy strategies typically include ways to approach text in any discipline; they include predicting what the text might be about before reading, paraphrasing during reading, or summarizing after reading.

Examples of essential literacy strategies:                                                          English/Language Arts: story elements- who, what, when, where, why                        Mathematics: importance of each word and symbol                                                            History/Social Studies: time period- contextualization                                                        Science: graphs, charts, formulas

“Technology is increasingly woven into the fabric of our lives. It must also be woven into the fabric of education to help students hone the skills they need to be truly literate in today’s society.”

Digital literacy encompasses a broader range of skills from reading on a kindle to sharing videos on youtube. The American Library Association’s digital-literacy task force says, “Digital literacy is the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills.” Aside from finding and “consuming” digital content, like reading, digital literacy also refers to content creation. Content creation includes writing in digital formats; such as email, blogs, and Tweets, as well as creating media, such as videos and podcasts.

Lesson:

Poem Photo Story
Your assignment is to create a Photo Story of a poem using Photo Story 3 for Windows. Here are the steps:
1) Select a famous literary poem by a published author and get the poem choice approved by your instructor OR you may write your own original lyrical poem of sonnet length.
2) Use the PhotoStory program to sync images and music with the poem.
3) Save your project and prepare to present it to the class.
4) See the rubric below for grading guidelines.

Photo Story Rubric:                                       Possible Points                           Points Awarded

 

Time length of presentation (2:00                          25
minimum, 3:00 maximum)

Use of poetic devices: Rhyme scheme,                                                                                            Rhythm Figurative language (i.e. simile,
metaphor, onomatopoeia, personification,         25                                                                    paradox, symbolism, etc.)
OR TPCASTT of a famous poem

Slide Show Quality: effective transitions                                                                                    between slides, clear images, thematically                                                                          appropriate images, readability of text                                                                                      (text does not interfere with images)                    25
Music is thematically appropriate and                                                                            compliments presentation without                                                                                  overpowering. Lyrics and volume from                                                                              musical choice do not interfere with the poetry

Conventions: Poem is edited                                                                                                  meaningfully for line breaks, separate                25                                                                stanzas, spelling, usage, and punctuation

Comments: ____________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Links:                                                                                                                                                Here is a website a found for digital literacies!                    https://www.literacyworldwide.org/blog/digital-literacies

http://ceedar.education.ufl.edu/cems/disciplinary-literacy/ https://catlintucker.com/2014/10/the-definition-of-literacy-is-changing/ https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/11/09/what-is-digital-literacy.html

Comprehension I

Making meaning of something is a step further than just comprehending something. It is more often than not where students can understand what is happening in a story but cannot make meaning or sense of it. Comprehension means understanding; whereas meaning-making is how people understand or make sense of something. A prime example of comprehension versus meaning-making would be understanding that what goes up must come down, but mean-making is why when something goes up, it comes down.

We can teach meaning making by making learning accessible through activities that remove learning barriers. Hands-on and visual experiences can provide all students access to more information. Encouraging learning from mistakes allows students to collaborate and give feedback to each other in order to unpack incorrect answers. Refraining from telling students what to do too quickly allows for students to persevere in problem-solving. Helping to build conceptual understanding through experiences where students can see how and why something works is also beneficial for students to learn why something is the way it is.
Comprehension strategies helps students become purposeful active readers. Students who are good at monitoring comprehension are aware of what they understand and are able to identify what they do not. A way to help students better understand the text is to give questions. Questions can be effective because they give a purpose for reading, focus students’ attention on what they are to learn, help students to think actively as they read, encourage students to monitor their comprehension, help students to review content and relate what they have learned to what they already know.
Comprehension Lesson:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.1
With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

I will tell my students that the theme of this unit is Shadows.  “Does anyone know what a shadow is?  Have you ever seen your shadow get really big?  Have you ever seen a shadow look funny or scary?” I give students time to think. Think time is so important because when children are given more time to think, the length and correctness of their answers increase and the number of “I don’t knows” decrease. “Turn and talk to your partner about shadows.  Share what you know.  You can also ask your partner a question about shadows to see if they know something you don’t know!” “Now lets watch a fun video on shadows!”

I really like this video because it is manageable and comprehensible for kindergarten students.  It weaves the rigor of the science behind shadows into an animated story that engages the kids.  It introduces both vocabulary and concepts in meaningful context to give the kids something to take with them into the first read of What Makes A Shadow?  What Makes A Shadow? is a nonfiction read  that builds on what is learned in the video.

I show students the cover of the book What Makes a Shadow?  I point to the title and remind kids that this is the name of the book.  “Does anyone remember what we call the name of the book?”(title). I then point to the name of the author and the photographer and we talk about their roles.

The first page of the story has focus questions to read to the students.  “Today we are going to be reading about shadows.  While we are reading, I want you to think about and listen for information that tells us where shadows come from.  Where do shadows come from?  Also, at the end of the story let’s see if we can name some things that have shadows!” This story is fairly straightforward and the pictures support the text well.

Review the focus questions.  “Where do shadows come from?” (Shadows are made when the sun cannot shine through an object.)  “Can you name some things that have shadows?” (tree, house, animals, cars)

I like to show the students p. 8 and point to the girl standing behind the tree.  “Why can’t we see her shadow?”  Help them understand that the sunlight cannot pass through the tree. The girl isn’t blocking the sunlight, the tree is.

After we’ve read the book and examined the pictures, ask the kids to draw a picture and a shadow.  I model one for them.  “What should I draw?  Does anyone have a suggestion? (take a student suggestion)  I’m going to draw a tree.  I proceed to draw a very basic tree with color. Now I want to draw my tree’s shadow.  What color is a shadow? (black)  I am going to use black for my tree’s shadow because that is what color shadows usually are. Now, let’s think.  Where do we usually see shadows? (most students will say the ground) I am going to draw my tree’s shadow on the ground. Does it stand straight up like my real tree? (no) Watch how I draw my shadow on the ground.” I draw the black tree shadow horizontal at the bottom of my paper.  I train the kids to have the shadow touch their ‘real’ drawing on the bottom so that I know the shadow belongs to it.  It gives the kids a concrete starting point .

Hang the drawings in the room and they stay up throughout the unit of study!

Academic Vocabulary

While reading the article Jazzed Up for Vocabulary I immediately loved the idea of a graffiti wall. Just the idea and overall concept is different yet so beneficial for students. The graffiti wall gives students an opportunity to really explore their word of choice, and then learn about nine other words they don’t know in a cool, creative, way. It is different from just learning the definition in a uniform way, because students need to also come up with antonyms for the word, use it in a sentence, and draw a picture of what the word means. This is a great way for exploration though the use of vocabulary. I can definitely see myself being a teacher that will use this idea of a graffiti wall in my classroom. I could also incorporate independent reading into this graffiti wall because if the students come across a word or two they don’t know, they can relay the word/s to me and I can have a separate list for those reading words. When that list reaches ten or twelve words I can have students pair up again and add to the graffiti wall with these words. This graffiti wall reminded me of what I have normally seen in the classroom, a word wall. This was also mentioned in the text but, a word wall is usually premade by the teacher and allows for minimal student interaction which is beneficial but any way for student interaction is best. Vocabulary instruction is crucial for students so making it fun can engage the students more and have them feel more eager to learn the words.

How does what you read in the class differ from the way you remember learning vocabulary?

The way I remember vocabulary is “Here are 15 words, take them home and study them, the vocabulary test will be on Friday.” Every day in class we would touch on a few of the vocabulary words or go over the vocabulary homework if we had any, and that would be our in-class prep for the test on Friday. Nowadays, my younger sister comes home with 15 words every other week or so and has a week and a half to two weeks to study them for the upcoming vocab test.

 

Lesson Plan:

Materials: paper, markers, “Big Words for Little People”

Lesson: Before reading the book to the class, write each big word from the story on a sheet of paper. (Impossible, Intelligent, Appropriate, Stupendous, Superb, Considerate, Irate, Cooperate, Disgusting, etc). Pass out the papers so that pairs of children are assigned a different word. Tell students to listen carefully as you read, and when they hear their word to raise their paper in the air so that everyone can see the word. Read the book a second time and ask students to pay close attention to both the story and the illustrations as they try to figure out the meanings of their words. Then have each child illustrate his or her word’s meaning on the same sheet of paper on which the word is written. They will also write the antonym of the word and use the word in a sentence. Hang the words and accompanying illustrations around the classroom to show off your group’s new big words. “Graffiti wall”.

 

Spelling and Phonics

Spelling and reading go hand in hand, they are one and the same. Spelling connects to sounds and letters, phonics, language, etc. Both reading and spelling have similar traits that play an important role in language proficiency. One thing that stood out to me from the reading Fostering Lifelong Spellers Through Meaningful Experiences, was the first line…”Many elementary teachers and parents view spelling proficiency as a cornerstone of academic success because it links to advances in general literacy.” and I couldn’t agree more with that. Growing up, spelling was always one of my favorite subjects in school. My parents had me studying every day for my weekly spelling tests, but it wasn’t an issue because of my love for spelling. It just came naturally for me, I never really struggled with it. I agree that spelling proficiency does link to advances in general literacy because of my statement before, how they go hand in hand.

I was use to the traditional Friday spelling test and still to this day I know teachers still drill spelling because my younger sister (7th grade) has had spelling tests on Fridays, about twice a month since elementary school. With that being said, I think along with these spelling tests, other assets should be included as well. The article states, “…Students should learn spelling through meaningful writing experiences . Using spelling words to write messages to others, make lists, develop plans, make signs, write letters to friends and family, make greeting cards, and write songs and poems helps children make meaning through writing.” I agree that students, along with spelling tests, need more ways of making meaning of their spelling knowledge, and the best way to do that is through writing.

Lesson Plan:

Objectives:

Students engage in Word Sort activities to compare, contrast, and classify words. Students can sort words into categories based on: Morphology – Word structure including roots, prefixes, and suffixes

Materials:

1. Teacher selected list of 20 vocabulary words from one or more of the subject lists or the lists for morphological patterns.
2. Word Sort Cards
3. Cognate chart(s) of the vocabulary words in English and the cognates listed in other dominant languages used in the classroom community.
4. Student reference materials such as student dictionaries, thesauruses, and other curricular resource materials that list words, their definitions, morphology, syllabication, synonyms, and antonyms.

Brief Description:

Students engage in Word Sort activities to review and draw connections between words from a specific Unit of Study.

Lesson:

1. The teacher selects a list of 10-20 relevant words from the Word Bank Lists, print out this list as a Word Sort Card, and make multiple copies for students to study.
2. Allow 15 to 20 minutes for the student teams (either pairs or small groups) to assign the words to the appropriate categories. Students must be prepared to defend their sorting of the words. They must know the common features of each category and how each word fits into the category.
3. Conduct a class discussion with each group presenting their word list for one of the categories. Require the students to defend their sorting of vocabulary words by asking about the common features of the categories and how each specific word meets these criteria.
4. Finally, make sure that each student copies the category titles and the Word Sort words onto the word sort graphic organizer.  Sometimes when there is a crossover between words such as in the example involving angles and triangles, a Venn diagram works well. In this case, offer students the word sort venn-diagram.

First, the teacher must decide between the two types of Word Sorts: closed or open.
a. Closed Word Sort – The teacher provides the categories (and the specific features of each) to the students. The students then match the words with the features of each category to create the word collections.
b. Open Word Sort – The teacher provides only the list of words. Students work together to decide upon the common features and describe the categories.

1. In a Closed Word Sort, the teacher would give students two or three morphological categories.
   For example: The teacher gives students the following morphological categories:
   Teacher: These are words from our geometry unit that end in the suffix  “-gon”  and “ular”. You will use this graphic organizer to make words that we are studying in our geometry unit.

gon	ular

Students have to sort the following list of root words into the correct category: poly, angle, rectangle, triangle, hexa, circle, penta

The word sort graphic organizer that students make will look something like this with only 2 of the columns used:

gon	ular
polygon hexagon	angular rectangular

3.  Sometimes, adding on a suffix requires students to memorize and apply a spelling rule. The teacher must be prepared to teach the rule. For example, the teacher must teach students the spelling rule for adding on the suffix “–ular”.  Students need to learn to drop the final “–le” (on words like rectangle or circle) in order to add on “–ular”.

4. It is important to either provide the definitions for the suffixes or have students research the meanings of the suffixes. Students can have a rich conversation about how:

“-gon” means “angle”

“-ular” means “relating to or resembling”

To increase students’ consciousness and awareness of words, it is important to talk about how suffixes and prefixes change the meanings of words.

Ask questions about the affixes. For example, in the example, questions to incorporate in a discussion include:

• What other words have these suffixes? (In the above example, examine words like dragon, wagon, octagon, spectacular, singular, cellular, and regular.)
• Do the suffixes hold the same meaning when added to the root word? Students might think that the word “dragon” has the suffix “-gon”. However, the word “dragon” actually comes from Latin “draconem” meaning “huge serpent”.
• If the suffix does not hold the same meaning, what does the word mean?
• When adding the “-ular” suffix, does the same spelling rule consistently apply to remove the “-le” and then add “-ular”? Or are there exceptions?

5.  In an Open Word Sort, the teacher can give students a list of words such as: base, formula, cubic, basic, toxic, formulaic, acid, cube, acidic, toxin

6.  Students work together in small groups to come up with the categories that fit these words. The can also describe the spelling rule (if any exists) that must be applied to add the suffix or prefix onto the word.

7. Many prefixes need to be thought about before teaching them to students. For example, if you are teaching the prefix dis-, consider the following list of words:

display
dispatch
disrespect
disagree
dislike
disable
distrust
disappear
disobey
discovery
disturb
disease

Dis- means “not” or “the opposite of”

In the words, when does the prefix mean “not” and when does the word mean something different such as in the word “display”? “Display” does not mean “not play” unlike “disagree” which does mean “not to agree.”

This can be quite confusing to students. Therefore, teachers need to be prepared to have rich discussions about these words.

Students can be very interested in the reasons for the exceptions. The teacher can guide students to explore the origins of these exceptional words. For example, “display” comes from Latin “displicare” which means “to unfold”.  It is not a derivation of the word “play”.

8. If sorting words based on morphology, do not use more than 2-3 prefixes or suffixes at one time or it could confuse students. However, it is possible to mix one prefix and one suffix.

Graphic Organizer:

Name:                                         Date:                    

Topic: _______________________________

Directions: Sort the list of vocabulary words into different categories. Give each category a title. You might have 2 categories or you might have 6. The sorting is up to you!

Vocabulary Words	1) ______________	2) _______________
	3) _______________	4) ________________
	5) ________________	6) _______________

Venn-Diagram:

Name:                                         Date:                           

Topic: _______________________________

Directions: Sort the list of vocabulary words into 3 different categories. Give each category a title.

* Remember that in a Venn Diagram, you will have two categories and one category in the middle that shows how the words share similar attributes.

Category name	Overlapping category	Category name

 

Instructional Routine II

I really enjoyed the article on How Knowledge Powers Reading because of the Red Sox reference and the main point of using prior knowledge. “…when the article describes Rick Porcello as the “anchor of the Red Sox rotation,” your knowledge of the baseball term rotation enabled you to understand that he was an excellent starting pitcher (rather than a relief pitcher or a closer). When it says “he was perfect through 11 outs,” you knew this didn’t mean that he was flawless in the generic sense, but that he had not allowed a base runner until he faced the third batter, Machado, in the fourth inning.” This snip-it of the article was exactly what was going through my mind when reading the article originally. I knew that no player is ever perfect but when saying he was perfect for a certain number of outs, it was evident to me that he didn’t allow any base hits. Also in this article I liked the section “Ask Knowledge-Based Questions”, specifically the part “…kindergarteners might be sent home with a book about ants or frogs they’d read in class. Instead of asking them to read it to their parents for homework and practice their decoding, as many schools would, this school would ask them to explain to their parents everything they’d learned about ants or frogs from the book. This practice emphasized knowledge development (retelling the facts) over skill development (practicing decoding).” It’s putting the ball in the child’s court and allowing them to tell you the facts of the book and their take-away from it, versus repetitive decoding of the text. I aim to achieve this type of education system when I have my own classroom. I want to work in a way that best suits and benefits my students.

What is Guided Reading? was a very informative text that I thoroughly enjoyed. I believe that guided reading is an important aspect to include in the classroom. “Teachers may often interpret this as making sure students comprehend what they are reading. However, checking for comprehension by asking endless questions during reading can turn into an interrogation that interferes with the reading process.” These few lines from the text made me think about how asking too many text-based comprehension questions during the reading can really steer the children away from the concept of the book.

Instructional Routine 1

The Interactive Read-Alouds was very informational and I had a great take away from it. What I noticed (and something that I related to another class I’m currently taking) is about using the backward planning strategy. Planning an interactive read-aloud has teachers focusing mainly on this concept of “backward planning”. This strategy has the teacher first decide what she wants the students to learn and take away from the lesson, prior to choosing the source and activity for the lesson. Aside from backward planning, “modeling” was an important part of the article to me. Modeling is important in an elementary school classroom because it shows your students what you expect from them. It is a more effective way to get the students to perform in the correct outcome that you are looking for.

“…most of the teacher participants stated that they frequently used e-mail, YouTube videos, and the SMART Exchange website to find free SMART Board–compatible lesson plans and activities to use in their classroom instruction.” This section of the article “Implementing a Digital Reading and Writing Workshop…” got me thinking about all the SMART boards that are now used in elementary schools, middle, high, and even colleges. Although they are more prominently used in elementary schools to get the students really involved and engaged in the activities. Whereas in the older grades, they are just used to show the teachers presentation for the lesson and are used more for notes and less for student interaction.

My mini lesson that I would also use in my classroom:

• Grade Level: First Grade
• Topic: Rhyming Words
• Objective: Students will use recognition skills to recognize common word families.
• Materials: Silly Sally by Audrey Wood, chart paper, markers, paper, pencil
• Lesson:
  • Introduction – Before reading: Prior to reading have a class discussion on previously taught word families. Remind students that words that have the same ending sounds are called “rhyming words”. Have students pair up and list five sets of words that rhyme. Have students volunteer to read a pair of words off of their list. When finished sharing rhyming words, introduce the book Silly Sally by discussing the title, author, and illustrator. Have students make predictions about the book. Discuss what it means to be “silly” and have students give examples of things that are silly. Take a picture walk through the book and have students point out silly things. Before beginning to read, instruct students to listen for rhyming words in the book. When they hear rhyming words, they are to give a silent “high 5”.
  • During reading: Teacher will make frequent stopping points to engage the students in the reading.
    • Page 2 – (Students should’ve given a silent “high 5” after hearing the rhyming words town and) Ask the students if they can think of other words that come from the –own family.
    • Page 4 – Point out the rhyming words pig and Does anyone know what a jig is? When would we use a jig (fishing lure) or do a jig (dance)?
    • Page 6 – Has anyone ever played leapfrog? Where did you play it?  How many people played?
    • Page 11 and 12 – What is a loon? Why do you think a loon would sing a tune?  What is another name for a tune?
    • Page 16 – What does a sheep’s coat feel like? Would you like to snuggle with a sheep?
    • Page 18 – How do you think Sally is going to get to town?
    • Page 20 – What is the difference between Neddy Buttercup and Silly Sally?
    • Page 29 – What are all the townspeople doing in the picture when Sally and Neddy are finally in town?
  • Closing – After reading: Teacher will ask students questions about the story. (Who are the main character? Who does Silly Sally meet on her way to town? What are some things Sally did on her way to town?)
  • Wrap-Up: Teacher will explain how the story contained multiple rhyming words. The teacher will put multiple word families on the chart paper with the rhyming words that were in the story. The teacher will pair off students and distribute chart paper to each group along with a rhyming word pair from the story and ask students to think of other words that would fall into the word family.

Theories of Meaning Making

I really liked the way that the article, Lessons from Sociocultural Writing Research for Implementing the Common Core State Standards, addressed the three different points What the Standards Say, If You Dig Deeper, and What the Standards Do Not Address. This article really touched on these three points that I felt most informative articles will not, especially the category of What the Standards Do Not Address. Writing has never been one of my strong points but after reading this article it sparked my attention that over the years there has always been more of an emphasis on writing argumentative essays. I feel like I started off writing persuasive essays, trying to get the reader to agree with me to then writing argumentative essays, agreeing or disagreeing with the statement given. Argumentative essays then turned into research papers in high school and college. After discussing how much argumentative essays are involved in a child’s education, this article points out how these types of essays can be difficult for english language learners who don’t know the proper material and linguistics needed for writing a correct essay of this type. Persuasive essays or even personal narratives would be a better basis for students that are not ELL to begin with, before starting them with argumentative essays.

The article, Thinking Globally in Literacy Instruction: Making a Difference in the World mentioned topics that are less frequently discussed. Children all over the world are in schools that lack important resources to benefit their education. This is something that is so very real but so little discussed or thought about. These students have no books, no electricity, lack of teachers, etc. “Did you know that less than half of the children attending school in Kenya can read a single word at the end of third grade? Did you know that average class size in many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa is more than 100 students? Did you know that most of children in the primary grades in Sub-Saharan Africa are being taught in a language that they do not speak?” This part of the article was difficult to read, in the sense that it is so unfortunate and disheartening that kids ending third grade cannot read ONE single word… that one single classroom can consist of 100 plus students… that students are trying to learn and understand a school topic that is in a totally different language that they are used to… Things like this make you realize how good some school systems in America really are (but also our not so good ones still seem a little bit better than the rest).

I really enjoyed watching the Critical Race Theory because it was raw and unfiltered information from people over the world. It is important for teachers to know and be involved with different students’ cultures, race, backgrounds, etc. Teachers need to aim away from thinking that all students think, behave, and learn in the same way. There needs to be more initiative and willingness to grow in a sense where these classrooms develop to have a more open, diverse, and equal learning experience.

My literacy mantra stands where Common Core State Standards are important to touch on and teach on the basis of, but us as teachers need to incorporate the information to be taught in a way that reaches all types of learners. Teachers need to be flexible when it comes to teaching outside one’s first language, one’s background, or one’s individual needs. With that being said, that is a lot of individual needs that need to be met within one classroom.