The impact of fluency on content

Fluency impacts content in a very significant way because without a thorough understanding of the vocabulary terms that exist within the details of the content area, the student will have no way to completely understand what is being taught. The terms within the content lesson are the thread that hold the ideas of the lesson together; without understanding the words and having fluency in the content, the lesson will not stay together for the student. For my content area, art, having fluency is very important as many terms actually describe something a student will have to do. If I were to assign the students a pointillism project, they would have to understand what it is to actually do pointillism. It I were to ask them to use complimentary or split-complimentary colors, they would need knowledge of the color wheel and the position of the colors, as well as what the terms mean. The assignment is meaningless if I haven't explained vocabulary terms thoroughly, to the point where they completely understand how to execute the project assigned. I liked the ideas that the short video we watched illustrated for increasing vocabulary word understanding and fluency. The video talked about having students write the definition in their own terms, which encourages them to first think of what the word means and put their own spin on it. It also asked that the students draw or create a visual illustration to coordinate with the words, and play games with the new words. Creating visuals will be key in art, especially for the words that requrie action and are visual techniques for creating art. Using different strategies for teaching the words will assist all types of learners to get a grasp on the meanings.

"During" Reading Strategies

When I read, I find myself re-reading often to make sure that I have understood and retained what I have read. This is the strategy I use most often while I am reading. There are often times too, that I think about what I have read and try to predict what will happen next or what will be discussed in the later chapters.
My main problem is that my mind often wonders off and I can't remember anything I just read. This is especially a problem when I am reading a text book. If I am supposed to be reading a few chapters, in the back of my mind is the giant to-do list that I have waiting for me when I finish reading. If I read more slowly and go back and re-read parts where I was absent, that helps me remember what I read better. If I also think actively about what is in the text and try to make predictions, it is more difficult for me to think about how many loads of laundry I need to fold and that the dishes are are piled to the ceiling.
I think talking to my future students about these strategies will also help them, because I am sure they too will have problems keeping their focus. The "say something" strategy we learned about in class could help students get used to having a discussion with themselves by practicing in groups on each other. This will help them keep from thinking about things like, what they are going to do this weekend, the paper they have to write in a class, or whether or not they are going to win the game on Friday night. They need to be present in their reading and focus, while re-reading sections they felt they were less than committed to reading.

Making Inferences-The Bag

This strategy was probably used to help us better understand making inferences in reading by giving us a visual example. When one is reading, it is important to think about what is being read, and to connect it with knowledge that one already knows. Making predictions is also an important part of reading and was what the exercise was trying to get us to do. We were trying to come up with an overall guess about who the bag belonged to based on many pieces to the puzzle.

We were looking at all the items that were in this person's purse, in order to make a guess about who it might belong to. If I found that type of bag in the school parking lot, I would guess that it belonged to a science/geology teacher possibly because of the geode, shell, and the journal full of nature-type entries. I would assume it belonged to a woman, unless I could think of a male teacher who would carry a man purse! :) She also likes to drink coffee and is a pretty stylish gal with her bright colored glasses. That would lead me to begin my search for the owner of the bag in the school's science pod.

This strategy would work well for me in art class, by having students examine works of art and try to guess who the artist was that created it, what they were feeling when they created it, and what might have made them choose that subject matter. This would also work well when discussing different time periods and art movements. Students could try to guess which movement the piece of artwork came from based on what they already knew about that era and it's artists. If students were reading about art, I would encourage them to try make connections about what they already know with what they were reading to try to make a better connection with the material.

What do good readers do?

Good readers do a number of things before, during and after they read to help them understand and retain the information they have just read.

Before they read they might:

-Think about what they already know about the subject matter
-Make predictions about what they are going to read
-Look over the text they are about to read
-Make Predictions
-Think about what they want to gain from reading

During they might:

-Think about what they are reading
-Re-read confusing parts of the text
-Look for context clues of words they don't know
-Check their predictions
-Visualize what they are reading
-Ask themselves questions about what they are reading

After they read they might:
-Review what they have read
-Analyze their predictions with what actually happen
-Paraphrase in their minds what the reading says in their own words
-Think about what was most important about what they read

When thinking about what is important to do while reading, as a teacher, I will be sure to stress the importance of reading as a three step process (before, during, and after) that is very much active in one's mind as they do it. To truly understand what has been read, the reader's mind needs to be working the entire time they are taking in the information. They need to also limit outside distractions and be sure to focus on what they are reading while they read. I will also discuss with my students the need to continue to practice this process repeatedly, as it will only make them a stronger reader.