Reading fluency

Recently, I started thinking about prior work I have done with students in building their reading fluency. I wanted to work that component of language into my ESL classes. In the library, I found a very basic Scholastic text, Building Fluency: Lessons and Strategies for Reading Success, by Wiley Blevins. My previous work in reading fluency was at the middle school level; this book taught me much about building reading fluency with elementary students. One of the ways to give the students a formative assessment involves timing how long students take to read a list of simple, high frequency words, like “was.” Other sections of the book reinforced teaching strategies I was already familiar with. Unfortunately, the resources I most longed for were not included in the book. In order to teach reading fluency regularly, you need a stack of grade-level texts that may be written on. Compiling this prose from library books would be quite tedious. Then, I found a website maintained by the University of Oregon. This site provides educators with free access to grade-level appropriate texts and assessments.

My second grade students have begun to practice their fluency skills. I am excited to see how they progress. The Scholastic text encouraged giving students texts that were premarked with phrasing cues. I thought my students were ready to do this during guided instruction time with me. The first lesson proved they can do it with help, and I think it allows them a more analytic approach to text, asking them to look at grammatical structures and punctuation.

Science Fair

Yesterday, the school held its annual science fair. Elementary, middle, and high school students all participated. In the elementary classes, students explored various scientific principles, under the guidance of their teachers. Some students discussed states of matter and turned sugar water into rock candy. Others explored the basics of simple machines and made a model of piano keys using Legos. High school students conducted group projects focused on environmentalism. One group made their own environmentally friendly cleaning solution that I am excited to try out in my apartment!

Arguably, the most fascinating work was done by middle school students. Their projects focused on outer space. The sixth graders researched space shuttle missions. Based on that research, they wrote a play about a space mission, complete with dialogue between the astronauts and mission control. Their work did not end here, however. The students built a model space ship using paper, PVC pipe, tape, and plastic sheeting. The model was so large that the students were able to walk inside of it. This model served as the set for their play! The 7th and 8th graders teamed in groups of four and built and programmed their own Lego space rovers. These rovers were asked to complete a series of four “missions” on a simulated Martian landscape. Some involved retrieving objects, others required the rovers to disable levers. These missions were competitions for points. Students did phenomenally well in the competition and the professional manner of the event was impressive.

Total lunar eclipse

This past Saturday evening, I had the treat of viewing a lunar eclipse. Instead of spending the evening in town, amid all of the light pollution, I drove out to the far western end of the island. This was the first time I'd been so far west in Curacao, and the scenery was stunning. At one point, the trees formed an arch over the road! I walked through a path to a small secluded beach, admiring the cactus along the way.

Willemstaad, the capital city, is located on the eastern end of Curacao. The majority of the population lives and works on this end of this island. The western side of Curacao is much more rural and contains a national park. I was so thrilled by the countryside there that I am eagerly anticipating my next trip out and planning which little beaches I'd like to explore!

Sun ring

While I was on recess duty this afternoon, one of the students approached me with squinted eyes. She complained that they were hurting her. After a little more discussion, she revealed that her eyes were sore from looking directly at the sun.

“Why on earth would you DO that?” I asked. “Don’t you know that staring at the sun can severely damage your vision?”

“Yes,” she replied, “but Miss! There’s a ring around the sun!” I stared at her in amused disbelief. “Just look for yourself!” she declared.

I wasn’t about to stare directly at the sun, so I let this comment pass. However, I ran into a high school science teacher after school and asked her about the sun ring. She got very excited and told me to put my hand over the sun, then look up at it. Sure enough, there was a clear rainbow colored ring. The science teacher explained that every once in a while, ice crystals form in the upper atmosphere and reflect and refract light, causing this halo-like phenomenon.

I look forward to apologizing to my student tomorrow!

Reading, reading, and reading some more...

Since the beginning of the school year, I've been encouraging my middle school students to read independently. They are required to do 1/2 hour of silent reading daily as homework.

There are several ways in which I keep them rolling with their reading. Each student has a log on which they record the author, book title, page number ended on, and amount of time spent reading. I check these logs every class period to keep track of how consistently the students work.
My students also use "thinkmarks," bookmarks designed to enhance engagement with text. In the boxes, the kids write summaries of the section they just finished with. That way, when they return to the book, they can read their bookmarks to remember where they left off. The final method in which I encourage students to read is by reading myself and recommending books to them. The last two books I finished were fabulous and I am already telling the students about them! You Don't Know Me, by David Klass, tells the story of a teenage boy with an abusive stepfather. Afterlife, by Gary Soto chronicles the memories and adventures of a Latino boy's ghost.