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It is really important to focus our attention on increasing the vocabulary that we use daily in our classroom. As a first grade teacher, I see that we tend to focus our attention a lot in decoding but we tend to forget the content. We need to bring rich and multicultural vocabulary to our students. I completely agree on providing harder text to expose them to more difficult vocabulary. It is something that we do in Spanish immersion when we are teaching them to learn the language, we tend to provide a more difficult text so that the kids are expose to more vocabulary.
How can we help ESL students to improve their vocabulary?

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I was surprised to see that the article didn't discuss test anxiety and how teaching to a test not only causes pressure for the students but the teacher as well.

I have seen other subjects such as history and science get put on the back burner in schools. I don't think not teaching these subjects until the later grades will benefit the students in the long run.

Question:
Was there a time restraint on these tests?

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Lexi -
"Among the likely culprits for the stalled progress in math scores: a misalignment between what the NAEP tests and what state standards require teachers to cover at specific grade levels. But what’s the reason for the utter lack of progress in reading scores?" This quote from the text made me think, I wonder what the lack of progress could be from or maybe it is due to multiple things at once? It makes sense that due to standards and standardized testing students are not improving since the article also states "what gets tested is taught and what doesn't - isn't. I also agree with the idea that educators should teach how to use tools rather than just what the tools are. It really shocked me though to see how long scores have been flatlined.

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Hannah
2 Reactions:

-       I was shocked to find that students struggle with reading improvement based on the content changing with each reading. I guess I never realized that changing topics might affect a student’s ability to advance in reading level. I mean it makes sense that reading novels can increase a student’s vocabulary and level because they are focused on one subject for an extended time. But standardized tests with their short texts about random things can be disorienting from my own time taking those tests.

Question:

-       Can we expect a child as young as kindergarteners to be able to make sense of subjects like war?

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Elizabeth:
- It surprised me that Math scores have been flat since 2009 and Reading scores have been flat since 1998. Reading just really surprised me.
- Students are reading to get the reading skills but according to cognitive studies because the passages students are reading aren't specific to a content or consistent its harder for students to understand to make connections.

Why would No Child Left Behind put more of an emphasis on testing instead of an emphasis on how the content is taught and strategies used? It seems very backwards to just jump straight to testing and performance when students have been flat in reading since 1998.

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Reactions:
- "You get what you measure" seems to be as true here as in most things
- Integrated education seems more effective than specialized

Question:
- In the example of progressing through history at different grade levels, how do you address earlier education being less sophisticated? I.e., how do you go back over things in a way that deepens understanding?

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Luke
- simply mastering comprehension skills doesn’t ensure that the student will apply them to whatever texts they’re faced with
- educators should teach how tools are used, not just the tool itself (how to use/when to use it)

Why is it that many educators refuse to heed advice from studies? Incorporating interests will always take the student farther than pushing a book they refuse to read.

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Mandi- I think it is interesting that they are not recommending giving easier texts to weaker readers. We do this often at my school through programs like Exact Path and Readworks, which is supposed to show differentiation. I definitely would prefer to challenge my students with grade-level reading, although I question how to accommodate that when I have a mixture of IEP, Honors, and ESL students?

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Ally- it is no surprise that children are not improving due to teaching to a test instead of making reading and writing skills like second nature. I agree with the format that is suggested by incorporating and putting greater emphasis on science, social studies, art etc. But with the pressure that comes with NCLB and ESSA, how can subjects like mine (theatre) get incorporated into a school day when math and reading determines funding?

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2 Reactions
1 Question

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Mary-  Willingham explains that successful readers understand any topic in text more accurately if their schema includes the vocabulary of the content more than on how much they've practiced their comprehension skills.  - How much do you focus on vocabulary everyday? 

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Mary-  Willingham explains that successful readers understand any topic in text more accurately if their schema includes the vocabulary of the content more than on how much they've practiced their comprehension skills.  - How much do you focus on vocabulary everyday? 