Olivares' Thoughts on Ladybugs book PART 2

            Comprehension strategies like questioning schema making connections, sensory images, inferring, determining importance, and synthesis are all different strategies that I’ve dealt with in great detail during Peter Kittles’ English class. These are strategies that do work and I know because I have used them. By using these strategies it is possible to delve into deeper critical thinking and understanding. I already knew that read-alouds are important for kids from the fact that kids who are read to at home are better readers and generally like books more than kids that are not read to. For those kids who are not read to and especially ELL’s, it is important to have read-alouds in the classroom. It gives experience with the way that English is played with and used. You can be lectured about how adjectives and adverbs give flavor to a text, but to actually experience this in a vocal way is empowering.

            My group’s book, Nonfiction Matters, explained in great depth how to foster an interest and gather information for a nonfiction research paper. Chapter 5 reminds me a lot of our Wonderbook activity where we had them think of topics they were interested in, write down some stuff they already knew, asked questions about what they didn’t know, and looked up that information later. Writing and reading about something you are interested in is a lot easier than reading something that is boring. So it makes perfect sense that focusing on the kids’ interests is a much better way to get them to write rather than forcing everyone to write on the same topic, especially if that topic is confusing to them.

            Questioning has been a big part of my education in my class NSCI 321, Scientific Inquiry. The class is lead by the questions and experiments that we come up with. This is a class I definitely don’t have to study for because I am constantly and personally engaged in leading my own learning experience. I’ve seen personally that kids who are bored are more likely to act out and cause disturbances in class. So if this could be set up in an English class then the kids will be fully engaged and on task. They will be the leaders in their own knowledge and that knowledge will stick with them for much longer. I can guaranty that I will remember the knowledge I learned in my class for years to come.

            I’m always impressed with young students that use big words. I seem to always think “how do you know that word already?” It still surprises me even though I know how smart students can be excellent with new words, especially when they own those words. Such a weird concept, to own a word, but it’s a good way to think of vocabulary words. Students who don’t own their words may use them, but will use them incorrectly or put them in awkward places. Students who own the words they use know exactly what they mean when they say or write it. Helping students to own a word will make their writing that much richer and their ability to comprehend more complex text will increase.