Literacy in the classroom

Hocked gems financing him, our hero defied the scornful laughter. T hink of it as an egg, not a table, he said. Then three sturdy sisters sought proof, forging over vast calmness, and sometimes over turbulent peaks and valleys, until at last welcome winged creatures appeared, signifying monumental success. Answer these questions about the passage: 1. What are the hocked gems? I found that hocked can mean to pawn something for money, so this leads me to believe that the hocked gems are a significant object that someone had to pawn or give away for something like money in return. 2. What should we think of as an egg and not a table? We should think of it as an egg and not a table, because an egg is fragile and if it is broken it’s a big deal, but a table is sturdy and strong. So the situation should be handled with concern and care. 3. Who are the three sturdy sisters? The three sturdy sisters are three people or maybe groups that are looking for proof for w...

Teaching reading is a significant part of being a teacher. As a pre-kindergarten teacher I have the vast responsibility of introducing and preparing my students for the world of reading. I begin the school year by teaching the basics. I continually build upon each step until my students have the beginning knowledge they need to sound out words and read. While introducing the steps to reading I continually focus on vocabulary. The students may not be able to read the vocabulary words, but they are gaining the pre-knowledge they need to use and understand words they will be reading one day. Phonological and phonemic awareness are the main focus of being prepared to read. I begin each year with the goal of my students having an understanding that words are made up of individual sounds and if sounds are learned,   then we are able to put the sounds together to understand and read words. This will ultimately lead to being able to read and understand what was read. With the basics of...

There are major differences between the skills approach to literacy and the comprehensive/sociopsycholinguistic approach. Skills approach is simply looking at how well a child identifies words by identifying letter sounds and decoding. This approach puts a major push on phonics and fluency. Can the child identify the phonemes? Can the child read a text rapidly and correctly?   By using the skills approach the student’s prior knowledge/schema is not taken into consideration. Therefore, there is no understanding or comprehension of the text read. The comprehensive or sociopsycholinguistic approach looks at reading as a combination of schema, letter sounds, visual aspects, context, and meaning. The comprehensive approach takes the reader into consideration, such as, what their background knowledge/schema is. Are they reading the text the way they are because of a previous experience?   This approach shows that reading is not just phonics and fluency. Reading is a pieces the...

About Me Hi my name is Shawnee. I graduated from Kennesaw State University in 2010. I am currently a prekindergarten teacher for the Cartersville City School System. I have taught prek for three years. I have been married to my husband for three years and we have an amazing one year old son. I love spending time with my family and make a point each day to have one-on-one time with my son. I love being a teacher. I have dreamed of being a teacher since day one in kindergarten and was happy to finally achieve that dream in 2010. I love each and everyday of my job and enjoy how everyday is different! You never know what might happen when you're in prek, but that's what makes being a teacher so much fun! I enjoy seeing my students grow througout the year and see that light bulb light up when they have mastered something new!