Day #4

I am so grateful that I have an elementary teacher who is allowing me to incorporate the Listening to Literacy Grow program into her curriculum. Today I realized while scheduling my mornings with the students that their schedules change often and for good reasons. With school testing and assemblies, I have to be flexible with my timing. I wanted to share this with you because the teacher does not express for me to not visit, but is including me and my program even with her schedule changes.  Its nice having her support and enthusiasm.

The boys and girls are so eager to get in the library and begin reading its uplifting! They have the steps memorized in proper use and care and are encouraging to one another about what books they have read and would recommend. Once they are seated, there are minor technicalities on finding the book titles on the iPods and how I have some categorized. These are all items that with time and experience will become known.

In our discussions today I noticed that they were relying on my prompts more than last week. I am going to make an effort to not be too involved with the discussions. Perhaps I will label myself the note taker or recorder so that they are not anticipating my involvement. Once they have had the opportunity to answer 1 prompt card, they begin to allow for more in-depth explanations and multi student conversations. For example, on the card the student was to "Compare the Characters" in the book he/she was reading today. All of the students recognized that the previous student had the Contrast the Characters prompt card and made clear statements differentiating the two as having similarities and differences. Then two students went on to discuss more than one comparison while the other students were thinking about more and interjecting. It is great when you give them time and an open forum setting to share and communicate their knowledge. Very powerful and obvious how important transactions are in gaining meaning collectively. In discussing with their teacher after we have agreed that having more time together was important and not a problem to accommodate.

I have discovered how I want to share the students experiences and reactions to the Listening to Literacy Grow program. I am going to have each of the students interview with me periodically throughout the next few weeks. Each student has their own individual experience with text and interactions with the program. It is very important that I understand and address their likes and dislikes in order to make it more successful.

I have added several Roald Dahl books to the audio selections. I am eager to hear the students reactions to this author!