Due April 19th
Share on the blog your thoughts on prompting.
When is it appropriate, are there some you are overusing and some that you will try to implement.
How does this relate to helping paraeducators and teachers develop self-monitoring for struggling readers?
Okay this is three times I have written my response and it says it is posting and then it is gone. THis is bad. what I am I doing.
ReplyDeleteOkay pages 57-63
1) I like the prompting and want to make a quick list for help to me and paras. I did do prompting and still do since I had RR.
2) Learn to do the wait time. I tell others to wait 10-15 seconds, count slowly.
3) Then start with refocus on "Where are you at? Then "What is the first step? " I have to admit that this has meant a 100 word book can take almost 30 minutes at times to get through, but does work to outwait a child and have them focus. It does do better over time. But it takes forever. Just finding out where the breakdown is is a step by step process.
4) Reflection time is the most important so the child starts the process of finding out what they know. Telling them doesn't accomplish much. Watching their discovery is a sight to behold.
I have a tendency at times to use the 'NO word. It is like a four letter word that makes students shut down. I try and listen for that in me. It means I am getting frustrated and that is not helpful. I keep working on that.
First of next year will give out the prompts as part of my training for paras and reminders for me and show how to use them when working with reading students. Fill those bag of tricks up!!
Dot I like your idea of using the prompts as part of your paras training next year that is a good idea. And I are the same as you when I start to get frustrated I to use the word no which does shut the student down. I have found that it may take us some time to get back on track but get up and "shake the bugs out" me included. That seems to help us sit down and continue in a good situation again.
ReplyDeleteNext I thought this whole chapter was a really good chapter. They pointed out on several things that my students are doing and ways to correct them.
I do think that prompting is good for some students (definitely not all). As teachers and paras prompt I think that they do over use this. We have a tendency to do it because it is simple and less involved, but we are not teaching the student independence that they need. On pg 63 they offer some advice "keep your prompts short, specific and to the point. Less teacher talk is better." I think this is a guide line to follow.
Dot & Tonya - I agree with you about using prompts. Training paras on how to use them is a great idea. I think we are all guilty of using the "no" word. This is also something to point out to paras and it opens up discussion on other ways to deal with frustration.
ReplyDeleteI think prompting is a wonderful tool when used correctly. When prompts are given they need to be clear and understandable. When used correctly they can be effective at any level.
ReplyDeleteI do think that sometimes prompts are overused and then they lose effectiveness. Students become reliant on the prompts and do not read independently unless someone is right there prompting them.
I use prompts often and feel that they are useful and beneficial to student learning. I really like the way the text gives specific examples. These will be great to share with paraeducators and also with our reading specialist. We have many paraeducators in our grade school that tutor students in both reading and math. Having this awareness about prompting will make everyone better tutors.
I work with many struggling readers. I feel that I overuse the prompt that asks students to go back and sound out words. I need to focus more often on asking them to read on and think and use context clues.
I do think that when students are taught how to prompt each other they learn some self-correcting skills. We have strategy cards for the students to use when they are reading. If they get stuck on a word they use the strategy card to decide how they will figure out the word. If they still struggle then they ask a partner or team member for help. This process allows them to figure the word out either independently or with help from peers.
I agree with everyone about the need to train our paras on how to use prompts. I wonder if we could work something into our all staff inservice in August.
ReplyDeleteI too will be making a list of these prompts for my paras but especially for me. I tend to prompt too much with the decoding of words. I have started using some of the other prompts with my kindergarten son at home. I was amazed at how he could figure out the word.
I have been state testing this week. Reading this chapter and listening to my students read the state test where I can't say a word has been some what eye opening. My students have become dependent upon an adult to prompt them through a text or passage. When that crutch is taken away they can read a lot more then either one of us expected. I can't wait to get back into our regular schedule to try these prompts out.
The chart on page 65 could also be a good tool to use. It runs through the steps to go through if a student is stuck. I think verbal prompts are a lot harder to remove than physical. If I had the chart up and a student was stuck I could just point to the chart and not say a word.
Teresa I like your idea about sharing the prompting tips to paras to help them become better. And Kim I will be glad to get back to a regular schedule just to start doing Spellread with my kids again. I am really tired of state testing. No offense to anyone.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this chapter about prompting and how to do it effectively. One of my biggest frustrations with kids is when they throw in a word that doesn't make any sense at all, like a really long word for something with 3 letters, or with sounds that aren't even part of the word. One of my 6th grade students has a bad habit of inserting and substituting words in the text. We've been really focused on that for the last month and as he becomes more aware of what he is doing, he is much better at self monitoring and correcting.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this type of thing needs to be part of para training. I think sometimes they hear it from me and think maybe I don't really know what I'm talking about. Either that or they just don't get it. If this were part of a formal training it would really help.
Teresa,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comment about having the student use context clues to figure out a word. It seems like a few if my kids are really reluctant at first to keep reading and then come back to figure it out. I'm not really sure why that it. It really does help them when we do it. I need to remember to do it more often.
I like all your comments and boy do I agree. Tonya agreed I am tired of state testing also!! Too much loss time for all students.
ReplyDeleteI give my paras a literal Bag Of Tricks. There is a list of prompts that we practice. I like the phrase, "What are the sounds of the letters?" for beginning readers. It makes them think a little more than, "Sound it out."
ReplyDeleteOn the idea of using words that don't make sense, I think that is where the predicting strategy turns into random guessing. When they do that, we have to guide them as to why that strategy wouldn't work and how to change to a new one.Then later, go back and refine or review how to successfully predict.
ReplyDeleteSUSAN I ALWAYS CALL IT MY BAG OF TRICKS. I LIKE THAT FOR THE LABEL FOR THE PARAS INSERVICE NEW YEAR. MAYBE THAT SHOULD BE PART OF AUGUST PARA INSERVICE?
ReplyDelete