Final Synthesis

Previous to this course, I would have never imagined myself as a future educator trying to incorporate reading into my math class, and or think it is part of my duty to educate my students on reading habits. I vividly remember on the first day of class, being asked to take our stance on teaching reading in our content area. I stood under the sign that represented "Content area teachers should not or cannot teach reading." I personally believed it was not my responsibility to teach reading since I was not in school to teach a student reading skills. Throughout the semester, I have come to learn and appreciate that it will be my responsibility to teach math concepts such as multiplying fractions, but it is also vital to teach my students important reading and literacy skills that can follow them throughout their education.

I started out the semester still struggling with the concept of how I could possibly teach my students reading skills through a math equation. Through Think-Alouds, I was challenged to use literacy skills in Math content. I didn't believe that Math teachers truly interacted with texts or used any literacy skills through solving math problems. Through this activity, I came to realize that this was exactly why taking a course such as this is vital to pre-service teachers. Teachers will have texts in their class material, and it is important as teachers to know how to teach our students how exactly to engage in these texts using vital reading skills. I learned the importance of modeling reading skills and applying those to reading a text, but also show my students that we all struggle with texts and that there are skills out there such as questioning, using prior knowledge and make connections that can help us through the more difficult texts (Subject Matters, Chapter 2). Overall, these Think-Alouds have shown me how vital it is for teachers to be an example for their students and their learning.

Another aspect of class that I thoroughly enjoyed and benefited from was learning and being a part of a book club. In chapter 9, our textbook, Subject Matters, discusses the importance of book clubs and how they can be used in different content areas. My first thought when reading this chapter was there is no way we could use a book club in a math class, and or any other class where students weren't being taught English-Language Arts. Through experiencing book clubs, we were able to gain insight and knowledge of how we could best equip our students in book clubs, but also how beneficial book clubs can truly be. In my book club, I read Prisoner B- 3087, each person in my group was given a certain role, and through this I appreciated the idea of book clubs more. These roles came from Chapter 9 in our text book and ranged from illustrator, to the connector, to the researcher, to the page master. These roles allowed us to understand how to keep all of our students engaged in the reading while also gaining information and knowledge from it instead of just reading something to read it. I would have never thought of giving my students a novel to read and have a book club because prior to this course I didn't understand how there were different ways to teach that were not exclusive to lecturing. Book clubs allow classes to step away from the norm of teaching and get students involved in class material in a different way. This reaches students who may have more of a reading and a literacy mindset, rather than a solving math equations mindset. As a teacher, it not only benefits the students in crossing content, but the students as well, as they are able to make more connections across curriculum.

Lastly, I thoroughly enjoyed this class and the knowledge of teaching reading I gained from it. Being a teacher is so much more than teaching our content areas day to day, but it is learning who our students are and how to best help them succeed. Teachers are often caught up in the curriculum and the test scores, and as a future educator this class has guided me to understand how to help my students learn more academically by meeting them where they are. Chapter 11 in Subject Matters, emphasizes on this idea by stating that "to help our students and learn from the tasks we assign them, we must work with their reading process." Teachers cannot stop learning from their students and getting them where they need to be by starting where we want to start, but rather where they can actually start. I strive to use what I have learned in this course in my classroom and not just teach math equations, but dive into reading skills that can help my students continue to succeed. By doing this, I hope to continue to learn something new every day along with my students.

Word Count: 832

"Teachers and Content Area Reading..." Individual Journal Club (Focal Area)

Summarize:

• This article goes into research done by content area teachers on their thoughts and beliefs of teaching reading in their specific subject areas. The main overall theme of this article is the importance of teaching reading in other content specific classes and the effect that has on students' learning and reading skills. Teachers play a vital role in their students lives and mainly their education; therefore if teachers are not taught the correct skills, then how will they be able to pass on the correct skills to their students. However, sometimes teachers' beliefs of what reading should look like in the classroom can skew what students are learning about reading and literacy skills. The article goes through benefits of teaching reading while showing research of how it is and is not being incorporated in the classroom. 

Connections: 

• The first two paragraphs seem to be summary of the basis of this class, and why the class is required for future educators, because I remember looking over my schedule last semester and there being a Language Arts based class on there and confused what that had to do with my content area. 
• When the article began to list the choices of the beliefs about teaching reading in content areas that were given during the research, I thought about when at the beginning of the semester, we were asked the exact same beliefs as in the article and picked where we felt we stood and then discussed around the room our different view points. Then we were asked the same question again towards the end of the semester to see if our views had changed. 
• I vividly remember the first time I was told that lecturing is no longer an encouraged method of teaching in my social studies class and was given alternative options, which shocked me because I was expecting to teach a lot of class material in lecture style.
• This class is the exact course they are speaking of for pre-service teachers. It is a one-semester required course that helps pre-service teachers think about teaching reading in our content areas.

Critique: 

• I think the article was flowing very smoothly until it got into the actual procedure of the research and how the study was chosen, and the flow of information became interrupted. I would have rather had those details at the end of the article because they are good to know, but not necessary to making a solid point. The data is the most important part, not the procedures. 
• It honestly makes sense that most teachers never look to themselves to blame for students' poor reading skills, but rather blame it on everyone else from parents, to co-teachers to the students themselves. Teachers honestly do not want to change their ways and I think it makes sense that they feel that way; however when it comes to reading abilities I believe it's something that just needs to change. 
• I think it was interesting that teachers in-service are more prone to wanting to learn how to teach reading within their content area over pre-service because a majority of our class seemed very interested and passionate about learning how to teach reading and the importance it has on our future students. 
• I would have followed up with the pre-service and in-service teachers on whether they truly took what they learned about reading in their content areas into their classroom. 
• Would it be possible to have pre-service and in-service teachers have the opportunity to take more than one course to help teach ways of incorporating reading into content areas? 
• Why is there not more reading course work specified for math if students are still struggling with word problems? 
• The research also does a poor job of including reading into Math specific content area. 

Explain Importance:

• When teachers decide to make decisions about how to teach reading based off past experiences, incomplete/incorrect knowledge, or even how they have seen it observed then they are no longer teaching by pedagogical or subject matter, but rather from personal beliefs. 
• It is teachers responsibility to continue helping students learn how to use necessary reading skills and apply them to expository text. 
• Teachers' beliefs ultimately drives teachers' decisions in the classroom. 
• In-service teachers' attitudes have changed and grown more positive when they are given time and support to learn how to teach reading. 
• Attitudes can be changed and teachers can learn to incorporate reading instruction into their content area and their classrooms. 

Word Count: 745

"B-3087: More than a Tattoo" Podcast

Podcast Assignment for Prisoner B-3087 Book Club
Episode 1: "B-3087: More than a Tattoo"
Group Members: Katie G., Sarah Ellen, Corben, Shelby, Dennis

Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WS-UJYJqO2QpDM0N5Xlg6zQkvkeUY5g8/view?usp=gmail&ts=5dcd8a22

Tweet to Text Strategy Reflection

Overall I believe this strategy is a fun way to incorporate what students are interested in into the classroom. Most students either have a twitter or at least know how the twitter format works. This can allow students to become more invested in the assignment or lesson because they feel more connected to how they are learning their class material. I think it is important to note that this strategy could be more useful in classrooms that have reading material and can help the students summarize what they have read in a concise, short and simple way. It also could be used as a way to discuss silently. Students could tweet and/or like certain tweets they agree with and even comment on actual twitter or comment on the tweets posted around the room, as they would if they were to like or comment on any tweet on twitter.

During our lesson plan, our class thoroughly enjoyed the concept of text to tweet. However, we had some areas we could have grown in. In the beginning our lesson was seen as a little confusing and in part, it was because we had to make a math lesson into a text. Some students would rather us explain what is being asked of them rather than have them read what is being asked of them. We could have had a short mini lesson on how PEMDAS works and then have them take what they learned from lesson and tweet. However, in other subject areas you could easily give students a passage and then have them summarize what they read. There would be less activating prior knowledge this way, but also can ease them into how tweet to text works.

Lesson plan is a fun interactive way that keeps all students involved and connected to the lesson and class text. The students thoroughly enjoyed the format of the challenge of only using 140 characters and having the twitter format. The lesson also went well because students could see if they achieved the right answer because it was written on the back; however we didn't tell them until they had completed the PEMDAS equation. Overall, the lesson plan went over well and can be used in multiple different settings with different texts!!

Word Count: 377

Read Write Think.. ABOUT EVERYTHING!!!

First of all, this website is full of different resources from teachers to parents to students. There are programs for students to practice vocabulary, reading and writing skills. The website is mainly focused around literacy content areas, however it has something for everyone! Most importantly, it has lesson plans already planned out with resources included such as worksheets, preparation, instructional plans, etc. The lesson plans also include the standards that are addressed in each lesson, so you can find out if you need to fulfill that standard or not. There are lesson plans ranging from all subject areas that specifically include literacy components. Also the website includes resources and activities for grade levels Kindergarten to 12th grade, so teachers of all levels can use this resource to their benefit.

My favorite part of the resource is that their is specific lesson plans that tie in literacy to math. Math classes tend to have the hardest time connecting math skills to literacy skills, however this lesson plan shows just how easy it really can be. It goes over how to connect literacy to math where students can see that math is all around them because just like reading and writing math uses some of the same comprehension skills. It also shows teachers fun ways to incorporate literacy skills in their lessons without strictly stating that it is a literacy skill.

Lastly, a cool factor of this resource is that there are seminars for teachers to watch that teach them how to use technology in their lessons, have evidence based discussion and/or differentiate instruction. No matter their content area, all teachers can benefit from learning general information that they can use in their classroom. Overall, I think this resource is full of helpful skills and information to all teachers and is worth checking out!!

Resource:http://www.readwritethink.org/
Word Count: 302

Can math class really have a book club?

The first thing I thought when I saw the title of this chapter before even reading a word was how can math class have a book club. Throughout Subject Matters, we have discussed different strategies than can be used to bring literacy to different content area classrooms. Book clubs are just another way to bring diversity to the class material, but also encourages literacy in classrooms such as math or science where it is not discussed as much. However, as strange as it sounds, math and science classes can have a book club and all subjects for that matter. In fact, these classes probably should have book clubs because of how much understanding they bring to students. Book clubs in content areas can show students different ways to interpret the information they are being lectured. In math, these book clubs, can give students real life situations and examples that better explain a certain concept in a context other than on a test in the classroom.  Students will be met where they are and given a chance to collaborate on discussions with peers that they may not have been able to prior to having a book club. Some students may struggle with this new concept in class and it is up to the teacher to demonstrate and explain their instructions to their students.

Book clubs are just one example of how easy it is to plan other content areas into your lesson plans. Cross curriculum gives the students a chance to make bigger connections and succeed in different contents since they are seeing those areas more often. Overall, teachers should learn to bring diversity and change into their classroom. Teachers often become burned out from teaching when their class becomes stagnant. They need to remember they are for their students and need to reach them on their level. By having a book club in a math class, you are allowing the students who love to read and learn best that way to succeed in your class because they are being able to use the materials that help them best. Overall, teachers are there for their students to succeed and should be okay with bringing change and new concepts into their classrooms.

Subject Matters: Chapter 9
Word Count: 370

Calling All Math Middle Grades Teachers!!!

This resource is one that I accidentally happened upon trying to find information for a different class. This resource is full of information for all math teachers no matter the grade level; however this resource benefits middle grades and elementary age learners the most. One of my favorite aspects of this website is that there is a section specific to English learners. I think math can be the most difficult for those whose first language is not English. Imagine learning about fractions in a foreign language. It would be close to impossible. Besides focusing on newer English learners, this website also full of curriculum that helps the student succeed. This resource is most helpful for teachers who may need extra help in bridging the gap for their students who are not understanding material given in class. It uses common core and state standards to align the activities they have for students, so that students are understanding what they need to. Overall, the activities adapt to each student giving them the best chance to succeed because they are being reached to on their own level and given material that will help them continue to grow from the level they are on.

Not only does this source want to help students who are struggling but also math teachers who are struggling. There is a whole section on this website that is devoted to resources for teachers including events, webinars and case studies. The best part is that these resources are typically offered in Spanish and English for those who have students with Spanish as their primary language. These resources are open to the public; however it is encouraged to get an account with Dreambox to be able to use some resources that are only offered to account members. Also included on the site is a link to a blog that is full of articles from mathematicians and math teachers all over that are full of advice and suggestions for teaching math to younger students. This website seems like a great resource for students and teachers alike with information and activities for improvement in learning and teaching math to middle grades!

Resource: https://www.dreambox.com/
Word Count: 358

"Historical Fiction in English and Social Studies Classrooms: Is it a Natural Marriage?"

Summarize:

• There are several overall themes discussed between these Social Studies and ELA teacher that they found throughout their studies. This includes habits of the mind around teaching historical fiction. These habits all were generally about building historical background and knowledge, nurturing historical empathy, and pairing both non-fiction and fiction sources. All of these components promote historical understanding in both ELA and Social Studies classrooms.

Connections:

• When they discuss 9th Grade Literature and Social Studies and "the Book Thief", I can vividly remember studying for the test and studying quotes from the novel. 
• Specifically, I can remember reviewing World War II and Nazi Germany prior to reading it. 
• The importance of context is a general idea that has been given by all my teacher no matter the subject area and it overall leads to success of students. 
• I can remember reviewing the American Revolution in the 4th grade and acting out the Boston Tea Party to be able to relate more to the people of the time it occurred and this was exactly what I thought when I thought of historical empathy. 
• I can also remember reading about time periods in Lit class in high school prior to starting a unit to know what was going in that time period and why authors would be writing how they wrote or what they wrote. 

Critique: 

• The 3 habits around teaching historical fiction make sense because it all helps the student be more successful with the text all of these is because contextualization, historical empathy and fiction v. non-fiction. 
• It was helpful to see that Social Studies teachers understand the importance of their job to better ELA and see that ELA teachers respect the importance history/social studies onto ELA. I think it showed how no content area is independent, but rather they al connect and in the end better each other. 
• I am wondering why contextualization and historical empathy are not combined because you can't have one without the other because empathy depends on having context. 
• I think it would make more sense had they laid out where contextualization was an umbrella and historical empathy and non-fiction/fiction sources fall under it.
• Historical empathy seems to benefit ELA more than Social Studies classes at times.

Explain Importance:

• Students will be able to succeed more in not only one content area if they are able to understand historical context, so they are then able to make sense of the past in the texts in their literature classes. 
• Historical empathy not only brings history to life, but brings literature to life allowing students to appreciate both more. 
• Empathy and non-fiction/fiction sources are related because without non-fiction, then students wouldn't be able to empathize and overall they both are because we have context to the history.  
• Collaboration of the two subjects needs to be happening in schools despite the challenges than can arise. 
• Teachers need to know that ELA does not have to remain in only ELA classes as goes the same for any content area. 

Word Count: 502

AMLE is for you!!!

Not only is this resource full of articles that help teachers of all content areas expand their curriculum and teaching materials, but it is also allows teachers to get involved in supporting one another in the work field. Association for Middle Level Education is a membership organization specifically specializing in helping grow Middle School teachers into teachers who are there for their students and their schools. I specifically found an article written by one of the members that wrote about connecting math and literacy. It states an approach to doing this would be the AP Five-Step Process that involves using prior knowledge, explanatory texts,  range of writing, text types and purposes connecting math lessons to an english lessons. It goes through how a teacher would use this process to teach a basic math lesson, but getting down onto a students' level of understanding.

I discovered through the article that this association is more than resourceful tips and strategies for teachers, but also a membership level association. By becoming a member, you are able to write articles full of your own ideas for the association, just be a regular member, and/or serve on one of the various committees they offer. The best part is the membership is free. I believe this can be a great resource for all middle school teachers because the association focuses solely on Middle School teachers and those students. Another great resource to joining this organization is that they have a conference once a year just for Middle School educators where there are over 300 sessions that are geared straight to middle school teachers full of opportunities and information that can then be taken back into the classroom! Overall, AMLE is full of resources for all middle school teachers specifically, so check it out!!

Word Count: 297
Resource: https://www.amle.org/BrowsebyTopic/WhatsNew/WNDet/TabId/270/ArtMID/888/ArticleID/472/Weaving-Math-and-Language-Arts-Literacy.aspx
Main Website: https://www.amle.org/Home/tabid/401/Default.aspx

Textbooks Are Not the End All Be All!

I believe this chapter was something that all teachers of all subject areas need to read before teaching. As a student, I never truly read a textbook. My teachers would give us reading assignments of 20-page chapters to then just go over the material in class the next day. Because of this, I have always had a negative attitude toward textbooks and their purposes. There is so much more to learning in a class than strictly reading from a textbook and being tested on it. Not only is a textbook overwhelming to a student it is also overwhelming to teachers. Some teachers require their students to read the textbook cover to cover because they are unsure if they can teach absolutely everything that is said in the textbook and want to make sure nothing is forgotten. Teachers can’t even teach because they have too much information to teach on and leave the rest to the students to deal with. However, this does not have to be the case in the classroom.  This chapter gives helpful suggestions to teachers such as picking out specific topics to read from the text or small sections that allow students to dig deep and evaluate the text rather than skim through 20 pages and not remember anything in class the next day. It shows teachers how to choose these topics and pick the best information to teach on, which leaves their students feeling more prepared. If a teacher doesn’t know the best way to use the textbook than a student most definitely won’t. Therefore it is important to allow our students to understand the importance of the textbook as ultimately being the best resource to them, but not the end all be all of the class. 

Subject Matters: Chapter 6
Word Count: 290

Resources For ALL Teachers!!

Literacy is all around the classroom and can be incorporated into every subject. I believe literacy as reading, writing and developing thoughts and ideas. Sometimes, I think, we make literacy into this impossible task when in reality we can incorporate literacy into our content areas with no fuss. I do believe that resources will help us, as future teachers, with this concept and I have found one that all teachers of all ages need to know about for their classrooms and lesson plans. There are grade levels from K-12 with subjects ranging from Math to Language Arts. This resource has everything from lesson plans, to interactive work for students to videos. All of these things help teachers ultimately help their students understand what they are learning better. The best part of this resource is it is free!

I started to explore the site more and found several things I loved about the site. The videos are fascinating and would be a great tool to use in class when trying to better explain a text or class material without it coming from your voice. Another incredible resource included in this site is the lesson plans. The interactive content is also an incredible resource to use within your classroom. These could be used as homework assignments or in class group work. They are fun and easy, but allow your students to continue reviewing new or old material and texts from class.

Literacy is used throughout all of classes through the different type of texts used. This may look like a math equation or a social studies paragraph about the Mayflower. Either way, those are both examples of texts and literacy used in the classroom and there are multiple ways to exemplify those and this resource is just one helpful way to do so.
Resource: https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/grades/middle-school/
Word Count: 301

It is more than a Reading Level

I remember reading materials and constantly asking the person next to me in class to explain what we just read, or just sitting there waiting for the teacher to review what we read. Part of time I was just being lazy, but other times I truly didn't understand the text before me. In this chapter, we learn that that is the norm for a large number of students. I think it is important to understand that we shouldn't water down all the material that students are reading because then they aren't learning anything new and are not growing in their academic learning rather they are just mastering one specific reading level. We need to push our students, but the level we push them needs to be different for every single student. It is so vital as a teacher to know that you can not just teach at one level and expect every student to understand. Teachers have one of the hardest jobs in that they must get to know all of their students and create a learning field in which every student can succeed. As a future teacher, I want to meet my students where they are and at the time it may be more work on myself to find 15 different texts that are at different reading levels, but in the long run I am allowing my students to be successful and feel accomplished which affects their overall academic life. I don't want to have students that look back and say they hated my class because they never understood the reading. I can't expect to separate reading from my content area because I wouldn't be able to teach it without reading. Ultimately, if I don't want my students to be lazy learners than I cannot be a lazy teacher.

Subject Matters: Chapter 11
Word Count: 301

Resources... I got them!!

I have found the most amazing resource for teachers, especially those using social studies curriculum, but also for ELA teachers to help incorporate social studies into their curriculum and readings as well. I believe teachers should constantly be trying to connect all subjects with each other, but especially reading because without reading and literacy there would be no other subjects. However, just because this resource is heavily history/ social studies based does not mean other content area teachers can't find this resource helpful. It provides ways to break down primary sources, but also how to summarize and paraphrase that could be helpful for maybe science emphasis teachers to look at. These resources help show teachers how to teach their students basic literacy components, but adding a twist by putting their content area in the mix. Mixing subjects may sound confusing, but ultimately when connections are made in all content areas, that makes it easier for the students to remember and use over and over again.

Overall, this resource has great information for all social studies teachers. There are lesson plans, teaching materials on certain historical circumstances that could be difficult to explain to younger ages, how to break down history textbook terminology, etc. It also includes national resources for all teachers such as access to the Smithsonian Museum. These materials are very helpful in creating lesson plans, but also when there are topics that sometimes don't even make sense to us, teachers. Relating social studies to literacy topics is very important as students are often asked to write papers and short answers explaining and analyzing historical events. Being able to teach students useful ways to write and explain ensures that they will become better readers and writers overall increasing their literacy.

Resource: https://teachinghistory.org/history-content
Word Count: 291