Kayleigh Scannell
EDU572
Professor Warham
Readings from Diagnostic Teaching of Reading, by Barbra J. Walker
Learning Log # 2 Chapters 3

“Realizing that learning is a social activity, the diagnostic teacher creates a classroom that invites all cultures, all types of learners, and all types of disabilities to engage in literate activities as she honors their personal histories.”

In my student teaching placement, I was teaching a 7th grade diverse English classroom with multiple special education students. I had the students form a big circle with their desks to give a more comfortable feel. We were working on reading stories from around the world, one of which was about Native Americans. In the class was a Native American student who volunteered to teach the class about some of his native cultures and traditions. This appealed to the students and hooked their interest to the story and reading.


“Increasing the wait time from 1 second to 3 seconds positively affects the number of student responses as well as the organization of the response”

I remember doing this specifically. I would tell the students not to raise their hands right away. I would tell them I was going to ask questions and to think of an answer. Then, I would tell the students when they could raise their hands to answer. Some students preferred to write down there answers so they would not forget.


“As she continues to demonstrate this active meaning search, the teacher illustrates the self-questioning process that goes through the mind of an active reader.”

My 7th graders were working on finding context-clues. I would have worksheets that helped explain how to find them and also provide them with examples of their own to do. I would show the students by modeling and using the self-questioning process however, I would ask the students for their ideas and connection. Together as a class we would do a few, then they would independently do a few, and lastly we would join together and not only review the answers but we would review the process of how we got the answers.


“Using the unique strengths of the individual learners in her classroom, she reduces stress for each learner”

Some students are extremely sensitive with their reading levels especially when we do read-aloud. In fact, some students love it because they can show of how well they read while other dread being called on. When I call on a student I usually give the smaller or easier paragraph to the weaker students, this helps them gain some confidence and feel comfortable reading out loud. By having good teacher-student relationships I am sensitive to the individual’s differences.


“The diagnostic teacher engages students by personally responding to literature, discussing her own personal change as a result of reading and writing experiences”

I feel this quote is extremely important to the students because then need to hear and see that literacy is a hard process and that reading to some people does not come easy. I would tell my classes that it took me a while to read (and purposely leave out the grade because I wouldn’t want any student to become frustrated). I make a personal connection to the students and try to relate to them and that together we can become better readers. I also tell them that every day they read the get better.

Learning Log #1

Kayleigh Scannell
EDU572
Professor Warham
Readings from Diagnostic Teaching of Reading, by Barbra J. Walker
Learning Log # 1 Chapters 1 and 2

The active readers use strategies like revising predictions, self-questioning, and clarifying as they monitor their understanding.

When I was student teaching, I taught a seventh grade special education English class that had very weak readers. I remember I would have the students read aloud a short story by going around the room. After the story I would ask the student’s questions to assess their comprehension. After that I would show the students how I read stories by dissect the material. I would then read the story out loud to the students and stop to ask questions and summarize what I had read. This helped the students comprehend and understand what was occurring in the story. The students seemed to really like it because they would understand the full story and not bits and pieces of it.


Diagnostic teaching means that assessment occurs during the lesson. Thus, the assessment information derived is both practical and valid because it is gained through authentic literacy activities.

Every day in English class the students would be expected to pick up a worksheet when they entered the classroom and begin working on it. This “BellWork” or worksheet was focused on capitalization and the student’s were to correct the mistakes but changing them. As the students performed this task I circulated the room to assess them. I noticed many of the students struggled, so I told the students to flip their paper over and look up at the board. I then explained the rules to capitalization and provided many examples of the proper usage. I then had the students try again by flipping over their paper and fixing the mistakes. The students seemed to have a better understanding.


Students’ knowledge of the world and the words they use to describe their experiences influences comprehension and word identification.

I taught a student that spoke Spanish at home and both of his parents have dropped out of high school. He had also told me that he has never been out of Western NY. He was a wonderful boy who happened to struggle with reading, writing, and spelling. I assigned a writing assignment for homework and he nervously turned in a paper that was very difficult to read. I pulled him aside and asked him to read it to me as I wrote it down. I showed him the difference between the two and explained the corrections. Needless to say, I graded the content and met with him during lunch to help him.


The students’ engagement is based on the reasons and expectations that they have for participating in a reading event.

When I was tutoring during Learn and Serve at Gaskill Middle School I was faced with many struggling readers one in particular. He was not excited about reading at all so I began talking to him and allowed him to choose any book from the bookcase. He chose Stuart Little which was way below his reading level however, I asked him why his said that he liked the little mouse on the cover. I instantly acted excited and happy he chose that particular book, I made it seem special. This was my way of getting the student excited to read. I then told him that I would read some then he had to read some that way we were reading together.

Sometimes when conferencing, the diagnostic teacher conducts a mini assessment to identify problem areas.

When I was observing a second grade classroom, the teacher assigned a writing response based on a reading. The class was independently working on this while the teacher in the back had mini conferences with a few of the students. She was able to assess the students reading and writing levels in addition to make corrections of the students work. It was interesting because she asked the students what they thought of the difficulty level of the passage. The students were honest and told the teacher their trouble areas.

kscannell

Hello Everyone,
My name is Kayleigh Scannell and I just recently graduated in December and have decided to earn my master's degree in literacy. I graduated with a Social Studies and Special Education degree in grades 7-12. I am also on the Niagara Women's Basketball team here at Niagara and I am from Boston, MA. I enjoy playing basketball and reading on my free time. I am excited about this class and interested in meeting all of you.
Thanks,
Kayleigh