Reading Instruction

Regarding teaching Reading to all cultures, languages, disabilities, and exceptionalities in my class, I have the following evident:

• addressing cultures in my class within the curriculum
• meaningful activities when focusing on basic reading skills
• most components of Culturally Responsive Reading Instruction (having students make connections between school and their lives,helping students access prior knowledge, and high expectations)
• Literacy Instruction with Emphasis on Oral Language Development (oracy instruction)
• Intensive Reading Interventions (modified Guided Reading in small group)
• most components of Reading Comprehension Strategies within Content-Area Instruction (reciprocal teaching and collaborative strategic reading)

Strategies and theories I've learned about in this chapter that I'm not implementing are:

• transferring reading strategies already known in first language to second language
• practicing different ways to distinguish between a learning disability and a language acquisition
• learning as much as possible about all cultures of my students and celebrating similarities/differences more often
• recognizing literacy experiences at home
• giving students roles in cooperative learning groups

The following is on my "To-Do" list with Reading instruction:

• To transfer between languages, I'll make my students more aware of how they can transfer literacy skills and knowledge already acquired in first language and will demonstrate to further advance students in the process.
• I'll pull my Hispanic student I'm concerned with to help distinguish between LD and language acquisitionn by giving her oral directions in English to follow.
• I'll double check permanent records and ask parents to confirm all cultures and will research all holidays and traditions that can be integrated into lesson plans.  I can take books on diversity and separate them in labeled book baskets.
• I can send home an interview form for students and parents to fill out together on all literacy experiences at home.  Then, we can have a designated day where the parents come in and they present the form's info to the class, whether it's a poster they made, books they brought in, projects they created, movies made from books, and/or simply storytelling.
• When students are in cooperative learning groups, I can give them roles such as Leader, Clunk Expert, Questioner, Time Keeper, and Encourager.