Lisa Littleton Blog Post #4 Chapter 4 Teach with a Sense of Urgency Reggie Routman

This chapter was not what I expected.  I think that most teachers do teach with a sense of urgency wanting every minute to count.  I have high expectations for my children because I want my children to become independent learners. 

I like the Optimal Learning model because it helps us understand and determine what our children need to learn new skills.  The table on page 44 makes the model easy to understand.  I think that we have been following this model with our Readers Workshop and didn’t realize it.  We have been modeling how-to with our students, we practice with them and then we have them use what they have learned to practice on their own.  

I agree with Routman’s statement on page 51 that learning stalls or regresses in students who do not have adequate and rich language to scaffold their reading and writing.  We as teachers need to read, read, and read to promote talk about stories that will expand language development.  Kindergarten students who know nursery rhymes will most likely read earlier than those who do not know nursery rhymes. We know that through nursery rhymes, children develop phonemic awareness.  Invented spelling is one of the best ways for children to acquire phonemic awareness.  We love stretching out the sounds in kindergarten.  (I love the expressions parent’s when they see their child’s writing for the first time.  They have a hard time getting passed the spelling issue.  We call it reading kindergartnese.  A language of our own.) 

I also agree with Routman that if we expect our children to achieve, we must model carefully, provide demonstrations and guided practice where they can try out what they have been taught.  Through this model, I believe children will be successful.  Our students are smart, willing and eager.  We must teach them with a sense of urgency to challenge them in appropriate and meaningful ways.