Module 1 - Learning Summary

One of my favorite parts of this module was the video of strategies for struggling readers.  I like that the video was geared towards parents.  Many parents want to help their children, but they don’t know how.  This video is interesting and a perfect guide for parents that need assistance developing strategies to help their child succeed in reading.  I also like that it provided examples of students completing the activities so parents would have an example of what they could say to help their child and what is expected of their child during the activity. 

            I also really like the powerpoint on understanding organization in expository texts.  The charts throughout the powerpoint that list the text structure, its description, and examples of signal words is an awesome guide.  When talking about text structure with my students, I would love to show those slides from the powerpoint to aid our discussions about their textbooks.  I can see each of the charts being extremely helpful as the students continue to read in their textbooks to gain meaning both now and as they move on to middle and high school.  I think the examples of graphic organizers that could be used for different text structures are also very helpful when teaching about organization in textbooks.  

            The final video of the module titled Presenting Ideas gave me so many ideas for my classroom!  I love the idea of having students make a video to explain something.  What I particularly liked about this video, though, was its use of pictures and graphics.  I think this adds an additional piece to a project since all materials need to be made by the students.  I hope to have my students complete a project similar to this one at some point this semester.  

            I found Chapter 14 of the Vacca text to be very relevant.  While reading the text, I was thinking of the science book my students use.  Vacca mentions that the text should be interesting; the pictures should be appealing, the design should be up-to-date, the type of the text should be varied and interesting, and the page should come alive for the students.  The science textbook my students use is about 8 years old, and the pictures are dated.  The students find very little joy in exploring their science textbook, while they do actually enjoy flipping through their math textbook, for example, which is new this year.  Additionally, the text is often difficult for the students to read.  I enjoyed reading the strategies before reading presented in the text, particularly previewing and skimming.  I think that simple step could be beneficial for students as they read their textbook.  Vacca also focused on the benefit of graphic organizers, which I very much agree with.  I use graphic organizers with my students at least once a week.  I think it’s an excellent way for students to organize their knowledge in one place, and a place that they can refer back to when they need to study.