Name & Summarize (a few sentences) about the chapters you read.
Chapter 13: Fluency and Automaticity
This chapter reminded me of the importance of reading fluently. Students may be able to decode words, but if they can't read fluently, they are missing one of the 5 building blocks of a good reader. There are, again, specific IF...THEN strategies to monitor fluency rates, as well as strategies for improving these skills.
Chapter 15: Phonics
This chapter was one that I wanted to skip because I know so much about the importance of Phonics instruction already, however I teach 5th and 6th grades, so very few students need this instruction. This chapter expands the view of phonics and includes instruction that matches the hierarchy of skills up into the higher grades.
Chapter 17: The Interdependent Relationship of Skill and Will
This chapter discusses the outward "self-protective behaviors people turn to when failure is ongoing:" This happens as students cannot meet grade level expectations. Their self worth often decreases and their anxiety decreases. They may then start exhibiting negative behaviors.
- How will these impact your teaching?
I will increase both my direct instruction and spiral through more intense fluency instruction. I have already mapped out some areas in my curriculum to include this skill.
I will also work to more clearly identify if/where phonics is breaking down in my weaker students. This will help me give precise instruction in small groups.
-What strategies did you take away and how will you implement them into your teaching?
The fluency and phonics strategies really can go well together in the upper grades, especially if incorporated into small group work or stations for practice. I am going to focus on common syllables, prefixes, and suffixes, as well as directly teaching phrasing and intonation.