This semester we have discussed and demonstrated a variety of reading strategies ranging

from Noticing and Exploring Thinking, to The More We Learn, the More We Wonder. Reading

is thinking, so when we read our knowledge is expanding with every page. We are aware that

we are learning because of metacognition. Metacognition is best explained as thinking about

ones thinking. This sounds like a difficult concept to comprehend but when put into context is

easily understood. An example of metacognition is having awareness that you have difficulty

remembering individuals names in a social setting. This is such an important skill because

metacognition is the foundation for other reading comprehension strategies. Proficient readers

are constantly monitoring and are aware of their own thoughts in order to ensure they are

enhancing their understanding while they read and do not get distracted. In action, this looks like

a student being aware of what distracts them from reading and using reading strategies and

making themselves stay focused in order to truly comprehend what it is they are reading. After

completing the Literacy Toolkit Pillars, which includes comprehension, vocabulary,

phonological and phonemic awareness, fluency, and phonics, I completely understand how

important each of the pillars is to a childs success in reading.

One activity that helps students with vocabulary is called Action ABCs: Learning

Vocabulary with Verbs. This activity involved student coming up with his or her own personal

dictionary of verbs for each letter of the alphabet. This will help them expand their vocabulary

and comprehend the word when it comes up in something they read. It is important for the

students to come up with the definitions of the words themselves because it helps may expand

their vocabulary in the process. In order to help students phonemic awareness an activity

involving Elkonin Boxes will greatly benefit them. As you read a word to the students they

move their manipulable up the box for every phoneme they hear. For example, with the word
let, students more the manipulable up onto the box for each letter said. So they would move it

up for /l/ /e/ /t/. Making the word let have three phonemes. This is a fantastic activity for

blending and segmenting phonemes (Taberski 2011). As the students gain the concept more

begin going onto harder phonemes such as sh. It will be difficult for the students at first to

understand that two letters make up one sound but it is crucial they understand this idea.

Fluency is often misinterpreted as the ability to read quickly, but it is so much more. If a

child cannot understand what they are reading, regardless of reading speed, then they are not

being fluency because they do not comprehend what they just read. One activity to help students

with their fluency is to read aloud to the students. Exemplifying fluency and expressive reading

is as simple as doing a read aloud in class. No matter the type of book, expressive reading is

crucial for students. Eventually, students will follow in the teacher's footsteps and become

expressive readers on their own, especially the teacher reading with expression is a constant

occurrence for the student. Another way to help students fluency is by doing an Echo Reading.

This involves the teacher reading something and the students repeating what the teacher just said.

Echo reading is a fantastic way to model expressive oral reading to students because they will

repeat back exactly what the teacher says and how they say it, teaching them to read with

expression.

Kinesthetic activities are some of the best activities for helping students learn a concept.

This is why for phonics I chose an activity that involves full body movement. The teacher sets up

the game by drawing eight different letter blends on eight different pieces of paper (ch, th, sh,

wh, ing, etc.). Then, the papers get taped to large pieces of cardboard. The idea of the game is

for students to land a beanbag on the blend the teacher tells them. This works best if there are

multiple games and blends available on different cardboard pieces to allow for more students to
practice a larger amount of blends. Turning it into a game helps the students find learning fun or

not even realize they are learning at all.

One thing that has guided my learning this semester is the Five Child-Centered Principles

to Guide Teaching from Sharon Taberski in Comprehension from the Ground Up. The first

principle states it is better to do fewer things that are more elaborate than a larger number of

superficial things. Slowing down and doing fewer activities gives us more time to elaborate and

be explicit in our teaching. It gives us the opportunity to explain why we have chose a specific

piece of literature and it also gives us time to be more student responsive in our lessons because

we are not worried about moving on to the next thing we have to check off our to-do list in class.

Another one of the five principles that have stuck with me this semester is balanced

literacy is a menu, not a checklist. Balancing the time between read aloud, guided reading,

shared reading, interactive writing, shared writing, Reading Workshop, Writing Workshop and

Word study can be difficult for teachers to discover, but when it happens the childs education

and attitude toward reading and writing will shift. This is another area where it is crucial to be

student responsive. If students need time to just write down what is on their mind that day then

allow them that time. Or if students are having an off day give them the opportunity to choose

between continuing to edit their personal narrative or writing in their Writers Notebook. This

allows the student to feel as if they have choices and are not being told exactly what they must

do. Now, this does not mean the student can always choose to read silently and never work on

their draft. It simply means sometimes children need a break from a specific activity in order to

not get burned out on it. Overall, being a student responsive teacher is crucial to students

learning. If students are not understanding a concept then it need to be retaught in a way they do

understand through multiple exposures. It is impossible for students to learn new material if they
do not have a surface level understanding of the basics. Students will become disinterested in

learning if the teacher refuses to plan lessons around the students learning.

The National Reading Panel (NRP) created created the five pillars of reading. These

pillars include: vocabulary, phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, and comprehension. While

these are all very important aspects of reading, there are some things that were left out. Sharon

Taberski took the pillars from the NRP and modified them to include crucial parts of reading that

were left out. Sharons five pillars include accurate fluent reading, oral language and

vocabulary, reading-writing connections, repertoire of strategies, and background knowledge.

Furthermore, she added a base to the pillars which was not there before. She made the base time

to talk, time to write, and time to read. The final, and in my opinion most significant thing she

did, was make comprehension above all the pillars as the roof, making comprehension the

overarching goal of reading. This is because reading is nothing without comprehension and

comprehension is the most important and overall goal of reading. Taberski took the NRPs

pillars and make them more realistic and true to what reading should truly be about. Recently,

there has been discussion that phonemic awareness should be a pillar. Others believe phonics or

phonological awareness should be the pillar instead because they are some of the building blocks

of reading and word recognition.

It is important to consider these aspects because without them the 5 pillars are vague and

difficult to determine what exactly falls under each category. Taberskis pillars leaves no room

for interpretation, which in return, ensures the student is being taught the correct things they need

and deserve in order to be successful in reading.