Chapter 4

Chapter 4 is about increasing student’s vocabulary and fluency using web resources. There were two big IRT lessons that were introduced: Read Aloud, one for younger children and one for older children. In the lesson for the younger children, new vocabulary is introduced by selecting a picture book, selecting words that are important to emphasize and then showing a video to help students understand the word better. Instead of just reading a story and doing an activity, this includes videos to help show the students what the word means. I personally thought this was a great idea, as visuals often help many students, especially as children growing up around technology. The part that interested me though was the Read Aloud lesson for older children. In this lesson, teachers select a learning resource to read aloud, rather than a picture book, and highlights important vocabulary. Next, teachers choose and model a multimedia resource for students to use to help learn the vocabulary words. Reading this section took me back to learning vocabulary when I was in elementary school, which lead me to focus on two different aspects.

First, this section discussed choosing online resources to introduce to the class, and made a point that children aren’t typically involved in reading about news. When I was in elementary school we used to get TIME for kids magazines, and I remember it was what I dreaded most about Fridays. This was always boring and just not interesting to me, or anybody else in the class. Looking back, I understand why these were important, but they were just not given to us in a way that made us interested in what they had to say. This section in chapter 4 listed all sorts of online news sites directed at children. This is one of those times where I feel technology really is beneficial in the classroom. Children are interested in using technology, and by reading news online there are other links and videos that are probably more interesting to children than just reading from a magazine. This is a great way to get children on board with reading about the news, and also about learning new vocabulary.

The next part that had me thinking was about how incorporating multimedia into learning these dreaded vocabulary terms really helps get them into your memory. Another thing I could not stand was learning vocabulary words. I remember the small, orange vocab books we used to get that listed 20 words a week that we had to plug into sentences and memorize for the quiz on Friday..just to forget the definition minutes after the test went away. If there was some more interaction with the words, and more visuals to help better understand the words, I think I would have taken A LOT more away from vocabulary classes. Fortunately, for children today they have this opportunity. This chapter changed a way to integrate two of my least favorite parts about school, into a much more fun, interactive and interesting way to learn vocabulary and keep up on the latest news. Technology just keeps looking better and better to me!