Module 5 PowerPoints

High Frequency Words, and Fluency PowerPoint
      As a fourth grade teacher, I do not teach high frequency words out of context. However, I constantly remind my students when they are reading or when we are completing spelling activities, to remember their vowel sounds (I catch myself saying a short “a” sounds like apple or short “i” sounds like itch). We use “Words Their Way” for our weekly spelling words. They break up the students’ spelling words based on common patterns that we see. This helps the students learn those patterns and experiment which other words that fall into those categories. Once a week they will sort their weekly words just like the PowerPoint suggests, which I believe is a great additional reinforcement. Although I think it is important for students to know the high frequency words by sight, I also like steps 8 and 9 of word building where the students spell and write the words using the specific patterns. I love the idea of including the high frequency words on our word wall. However, I feel like my one word wall would have to turn into several word walls since I already post their curriculum terminology as well as some new vocabulary. I did like the idea of playing “secret word” where the student gets five clues to guess his/her high frequency words. I feel like there are endless games in which we can engage our students that would expand their high frequency words and in turn help their oral fluency.

Vocabulary Development PowerPoint

      I often see students struggle with using context clues to determine a word’s meaning and I focus on this type of strategy a lot. Although intermediate students are able to decode most words, they sometimes come across an unfamiliar word. I have noticed that some students are capable of deciphering the new word’s meaning because of the context clues that the author provides, yet other students cannot determine the meaning and have to refer to a dictionary. I frequently use teacher prompts like, “Does that sound right?” or “Do we know what that word really means?” or even “Do you see parts of this word that you are familiar with from another word?” while my students and I are reading texts. I use these prompts because I am trying to foster strategies based on the semantic, syntactic, and/or phonics of the sentences. I agree that self-correction is proof of reading for meaning but I also believe that some of my higher readers add miscues that enhance and make sense with the text. I never knew that approximately 50% of the words in a text are high frequency words. After viewing this PowerPoint, I am now wondering if using high frequency words with my students who participate in the ESOL program would benefit their fluency and overall comprehension. Those students currently read along with pre-recorded books online with RAZ Kids. My class is paired up with one my best friend’s second grade class, for book buddies. My fourth graders have prospered from these book buddy sessions because they feel that they are setting an example for those second graders. I have seen many of my students’ confidence levels increase. Both classes look forward to their time with their book buddies because they can see the books their partner is currently reading, talk about their books, or alternate reading. One of the last slides really validated my feelings that I have this year with reading, which is “Fluency can be fostered by the amount of reading students do” (slide 22). Several students tell me that they only read at school because they do not have time at home. This saddens me because a lot of my students need that extra practice outside of school with family members or even by themselves. I wish I could impress on parents how important constant reading (at home and school) is and how it can enhance their student’s fluency and comprehension levels.

 Assessing Vocabulary PowerPoint

      I never thought about words being broken into different tiers based on their usage in our language and everyday lives. However, this does make sense to me. I agree that vocabulary is one of the strongest contributors to comprehension because if a human has to stop and think “What does this word mean?” he/she might lose track of the entire picture in order to focus on the unfamiliar words. I have seen students in my class who have a lower vocabulary, struggle with reading comprehension because they are so worried about decoding and making sense of the new words. This is why I implemented read-alouds that use rich language and constantly hold discussions where all students can interact with the texts that we use in mini-lessons. I liked the idea of using the “everyone gets 5” quiz because I can differentiate the vocabulary words for my students and expand their vocabulary based on their individual needs. However, I have difficulty finding these vocabulary words other than in our curriculum. I have used the vocabulary rating scale in social studies, math, and science when I introduce new terminology and this is also helpful when I plan my lessons. I also liked the idea of the “meaningful uses” of vocabulary questions along with the quick vocabulary-checking activities to gauge a student’s overall understanding of new vocabulary.