Literacy Response Journal

Reading Essentials chapters 4, 7

Please consider these two prompts as you read. Choose one to write about but be ready to talk about both in class. You may stick closely to the topic or approach in in a more general manner.

1. Routman lists five things she does to ensure students become excellent readers (p. 43). Choose one of these five. Support it with examples from Routman chapters 1-4, the optimal learning model, Cambourne?s conditions of learning, and/or examples from your placement (or non-examples if applicable). In other words, make a case for this point?s importance.

2. Study the framework for an informal reading conference (p. 104-105) and the list of child-friendly reading goals (p. 106-107). Consider these in relation to chapter 7 as a whole, experiences in your placement, and the assignment sheets for Project 3: Reading Analysis and Lesson. What connections do you see? What questions do you have about informal reading conferences?

From Routman's list of five things she does to ensure that students become excellent readers, I recognize number three as the most practiced in the daily classroom. If we "let students choose books they want to read and give them time to read them,"(Routman, p.43) it will help students form positive connections to reading and most importantly, their love of learning. It is also important that students practice reading their "Just Right Books" because as Routman describes in chapter two, "success breeds more success". At the elementary school level where I have observed students reading, Routman's suggestions for providing students with the flexibility and time to read is vitally important to support the student as a social and emotional learner.

In the optimal learning model, the last phase of learning is independent practice (Routman, p.44). This phase of learning, is perhaps, one of the most important phases because without independent practice, how can the student apply the knowledge learned and gain the confidence necessary to master the skill and set new goals? In addition, as students are reading, "they are effectively using phonics, word analysis, comprehension strategies, and whatever else they bring to the text to understand it" (Routman, p.104). In my classroom, there are many scheduled times for independent reading or teacher read alouds to ensure students an enriching reading experience. I have observed that students do focus and enjoy reading during these times. With their "Just Right Books" the students are becoming better readers with practice and can demonstrate on their own how reading has been modeled to them. This concept is also represented in Cambourne's Model of Learning (Literacy Learning) where "optimal learning" of both oral and written forms of language can occur when the student has the time and opportunity to apply what has been learned in a realistic and meaningful context.