Blog for October:  Miller book Chapter 1:  Not This

Elda Hymas

            Kids need to read to be better readers; Kids need instruction to be better readers.  Knowing your students as readers requires you to find the time during the school day.  Teachers need to allow time to read and time to monitor that reading by providing helpful opportunities support through instructional frameworks to stay engaged and motivated and grow as readers.  For ESOL students understanding what they read is one of the most important parts of reading.  Just because a student can read does not mean they comprehend.  This requires a whole new set of guided learning.  The process of making sense of what is read needs and understanding of language and thought.  I find that SOL students are not talked to much.  Their background information is limited.  The help that they receive only occurs here at school.  This puts and even greater teaching on teachers.  I am limited to Science teaching in my classes except for first and second grades.  Even as a native speaker, many English speaking students struggle with understanding science.   However, I take this as a good way to get students involved in speaking, talking and thinking.  I find it a good way to structure comprehension through speaking, talking, and and thinking.