Say Something - Even If It's a Rap!

     This week in my practicum has been all about one-on-one reading with students.  It is often difficult to choose between focusing on vocabulary and comprehension.  I have been navigating this tight rope all week and have no idea exactly how well I am staying upright.  While it's difficult not to check for vocabulary knowledge often because of the students I'm working with and their lack of background knowledge when it comes to words and the culture we live in, it seems important to also make sure that they are understanding what they are reading.  One strategy to check for comprehension that I have been using is called Say Something (more information about this strategy can be found in When Kids Can't Read by Kylene Beers on page 105).  The strategy suggests that the teacher, or students in a group interrupt the reading of the text and pause to "say something" about what they have read.  THis could be a prediction, to ask a question or even to simply comment on what is going on in the text.  Something I have found wiht ELL studnets is that they often read to get done with the book.  I sometimes wonder fi they even stop to take a breath once and a while.  I have taken to stopping them and asking a specific question about the reading to "check in" with them and see how much they are comprehending.  This often leads to questions about plot or characters but also vocabulary has been addressed through these "think alouds".  This is also an excellent chance for students to connect with the text in some way and try to find how what they are reading can fit into their lives. 
     As a teacher, I believe it is my job to spark these conversations.  While I would love to let students do this in small groups some day, I am beginning to learn how important it is to adapt lessons to the students that are in front of you.  No matter how cool an activity might seem when first reading through it - the students are the most important piece of the classroom.
    BONUS!  While this week I focused on reading comprehension strategies, I saw an awesome teaching tool used by a student teacher in my ELL classroom and I had to share it with you all.  The students have been learning about prefixes, suffixes and root words for a long time now - way before I was placed in this classroom.  The student teacher today introduced a song called "Prefixes, Suffixes, & Roots"  This rap song literally brought the class out of their stupor and got them moving in their seats!  This is a class that constantly complains about how bored they are - and while a few attempted to deny how much they liked this - I even heard some talking about attempting to recreate this song for the talent show in the spring.  The rap is very well done and is an excellent tool for the music learners in your classroom.  Also it is just plain fun!  I challenge you to look it up.  IT was created by a website called Educational Rap but can be found on Youtube or streamed right into your classroom on their website.  It's been stuck in my head all day!!!