Assignment 2:

1. How can you ensure that your struggling readers have access to texts they can easily read?

When teachers know at which level of reading their students are, they can provide appropriate reading materials. All levels of books should be available for students, so students can choose what is just right for them. If students are below grade level in reading, then the teacher should have below grade level texts in the classroom library. The books should also be ones that students are interested in and have background knowledge and experience in.

2. How can you foster a learning environment in which students have many opportunities to practice reading?

When students have high success reading material available (books that they can read by themselves with a high fluency rate), they will probably practice reading more. Teachers should have a “rich supply of reading material that is tied to key content standard” and a big collection of books. Allowing students to go to the classroom library after they completed their work will provide more opportunities too.

3. Describe ways in which you can model fluent reading in your classroom throughout the day.

During read aloud time, students can listen to the teacher model fluent reading. The teacher should comment on her use of inflection and use of intonation because students may not pick up on it on their own.

Assignment 3:

1. Explain the three levels of words and how you can use word levels to decide which words to teach.

Familiar words are words that probably don't need to be taught because students usually know them already. The next group of words are words that we do need to teach because they are used often, yet students may not know what it means. The focus of teacher instruction should be on these words. The last level of words are unique words that can be taught under the subject to which the words apply.

2. How do you teach your students to "chunk" words as a strategy for decoding unfamiliar words? When do you provide this instruction?

Students can learn new words by pronouncing just a chunk of the word at a time. Teachers can demonstrate how to read the new word by tearing the words apart either at the beginning and end or somewhere in the middle. Then students can use their thumbs to break up the word. After enough practice, students can do the strategy in their heads, without their fingers. Teachers should use explicit instruction and strategy teaching to help their students gain a vocabulary,

3. Based on Professor Allington's comments and the classroom examples, what are some ways you might foster word study in your classroom?

I would try to teach these strategies to the students and ask students what strategies they will use when a problem comes up. I would teach vocabulary by asking students what a word means according to context. Teaching new words doesn't need to take a lot of time. Using them in a quick lesson and reading texts that have the new words will be very beneficial.