These two articles seem to go hand in hand. Clark discusses different ways of coaching students to use the knowledge sources that they have already learned in order to construct meaning in a text and to be able to recognize words that they might have never seen before. These knowledge sources include phonemic awareness, which is what Yopp and Yopp focus on in their article. The theme I got out of both articles was to start big and work your way down. With phonemic awareness, it is important to start with the bigger parts of speech, like rhyme and syllables, and then work your way down to the smallest parts of speech, the phenomes. The same theme is true for coaching in that a teacher would want to start with general questions to get the child thinking, and from there give more detailed cues until the child figures out the word.
The thing I found most interesting was when Clark discussed the idea of students coaching other students by helping to give cues to their other classmates that are struggling. This seems like it would be very helpful and beneficial to all of the children in the classroom!
I really liked the idea of children coaching their classmates as well. I think it is a good way to have a student centered classroom instead of a teacher centered class. Sometimes children get more out of listening to their peers than they do from the teacher.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up some great points in your blog post. I think it is important for teachers to look at the broad picture before digging into the details! It will be easier for the children to grasp and less overwhelming for them.
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ReplyDeleteYou said, "The theme I got out of both articles was to start big and work your way down." This is also what I took from the articles. I think that starting with a more broad question can give the child some time to really think about it. Then if the child/children are still stuck, then start moving towards more detailed cues.
ReplyDeleteI think peer coaching is a fabulous idea. Sometimes children can explain things so much better than adults.
ReplyDeleteA student centered classroom is a very important aspect of my class in the future. The teacher has so much authority that I want the students to feel empowered in many ways. Children learn a large amount from adults and teachers, but learn in new ways with their peers.
ReplyDeleteI agree that using peer coaching in the classroom is a great idea. Sometimes it is easier for students to understand instruction from one another simply because another student may have a simpler way of explaining and breaking things apart in a way that their peer can better understand.
ReplyDeleteLike others have said, I think peer coaching is a great tool in any classroom. I know that when I help a peer learn a new concept, it not only helps them but it also helps reinforce the idea for myself. Students can always benefit from one another.
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