Curriculum and Instruction Essay Example for Free

Curriculum and Instruction Essay Alvermann, D. E. Strickland, D. S. , (Eds. ); (2006): Bridging the literacy achievement gap, grades 4–12. New York: Teachers College Press. This focuses on literacy achievement gap in achievement of those who underperform especially adolescents. Literacy characteristics have been examined and the varied challenges groups of learners face. School wide and classroom practices have also been described in this book. Alvermann worked with instructors and hence was able to know the issues related to instruction. The shortcoming of this resource is that it uses very limited age bracket of adolescents and its main focus is the adolescents. It would be more resourceful for those below twelve years and not stretch too far to adolescents which it does not focus on. Anderson, T. H. Armbruster, B. B. , (1998): On selecting â€Å"considerate† content area Textbooks; Remedial and Special Education, 9(1), 47–52. The article discusses three features that relate to content-area textbooks which make them â€Å"considerate† for readers in terms of coherence, structure, and audience appropriateness. The authors discuss what the books those are in existence lack and offer suggestions to educators on how best they can improve the existing books to make them learner appropriate. The authors are seasoned educators thus giving what they advocate for credibility. Beers, K. (2005). When kids can’t read: A guide for teachers 6–12; Portsmouth, Heinemann Beers uses student oriented and classroom explanations in guiding teachers through the planning, assessing and implementing reading kinds of instructions for teachers and learners in middle and high schools. The components of an effective reading instruction which includes strategies and the resources that teachers may use in the classrooms to improve their reading. Beers himself is a knowledgeable author in issues relate with early childhood education and targets teachers of the young kids. The material is relevant to the kids only although some illustrations in it may be applicable to those who start reading late in life. Carlisle, F. J Rice, M. S. (2002): Improving reading comprehension. Baltimore: York Publishers. This text gives a comprehensive discussion on the theoretical basis of comprehension reading and how it is related to other components of reading. It aims at improving the reading comprehension through the author’s giving of the instructional principles that guide in selecting and using practices so as to teach reading comprehension and how it relates to other components of reading in depth. This book is vital for those learners who have problems in issues relating to comprehension. The book is an all-round one, drawing other components of reading into perspective. The learners will not therefore find in it a wholesome study of comprehension. Cibrowski, J. (1995): Using textbooks with students who cannot read them. Remedial and Special Education, 16(2), 90–100. Cibrowski summarizes the materials that have been written on effective instructions using textbooks. His article describes the strategies that a content-area or special teacher can use with his/ her students who have proved to be fast readers. The designed techniques help such learners widen their conceptual thinking. It further gives the levels of analysis, before instruction, during and after in addition to stating the criteria for effective strategies: a committed teacher, student belief and teacher’s ability to model strategic thinking. This material is superb for higher achievers. Coyne, M. D. et. al (2007): Effective teaching strategies that accommodate diverse learners. New York, Prentice Hall. This book outlines how learners with different physical cognitive, cultural and other diversities can be catered for in a classroom. The strategies expounded are vital for teachers in that in every classroom situation, there must be an element of diversity which they have to address for meaningful learning to take place. The material is thus gives a comprehensive to teaching-learning experience and therefore highly recommended. Davis, M. H. Guthrie, J. T. , (2005): Motivating struggling readers in middle school through an engagement model of classroom practice. Reading Writing Quarterly, 19, 60–85. The authors discuss six dimensions of change in disengagement and low motivation in elementary and middle school learners. The authors further suggest six classroom practices that can be used by middle school teachers in changing the learners’ attitudes resulting from changes in classroom. The authors, being educators themselves give ample information to other educators being challenged by low motivation and disengagement from their learners. Deshler, D. Swanson, H. L. , (2003). Instructing adolescents with learning disabilities: Converting a meta-analysis to practice. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 36(2), 125–135. The authors summarize the results obtained from meta-analysis of some educational interventions for disabled students. Some interventions were used in the instruction and it was found that a good deal of these components can be incorporated into the classroom instruction with impressive results. The authors are specialist in education of disabled persons. This material is important for those who wish to make instruction of disabled learners a success and a lot easier and interesting. Gersten, R et. al; (2001): Teaching reading Comprehension strategies to students with learning disabilities: A review of Research. Review of Educational Research, 71(2), 279–320. This review of research on effective instruction for reading comprehension for students with disabilities gives detailed study on the expository and narrative texts. The authors of this material give the summary of cumulative knowledge gained through research based knowledge. The authors work with a panel of analysts on educational matters. It is a good material if one wants to know the material in depth courtesy of the review provided. It can assist educators a great deal in their attempt to gain more knowledge in comprehension strategies that they can use on their learners. Hilden, K. Pressley, M. (2004): Toward more ambitious comprehension instruction . In E. R. Silliman L . C. Wilkinson (Eds. ), Language and literacy learning in schools (pp. 152-174). New York: Guilford. Pressley and Hilden, who are educators, bring forth in this resource the thinking of comprehensive instruction by critically analyzing sources which support ambitious comprehensive instruction. The resource thus reviews research history of comprehension and the evolution of knowledge base. The resource is a good one because it further discusses in its conclusion the relationship comprehension and other reading instruction elements. Jetton, J. T. Dole, A. J. (Eds. ); (2007): Adolescent literacy research and practice. New York: Guilford. This volume is a compilation of contributions from researchers in the important literacy areas of students in middle and high school. It centers on research and interventions for adolescents with problems in reading. Students, according to the researches, have issues that may affect their reading for instance motivation, assessment and cultural influence. The curriculum should be tailored to provide for the problems that these learners may have. The book states this in detail and thus a critical resource for Adolescent literacy. Meltzer, J. , et. al (2001): Adolescent literacy resources: Linking research and practice. Providence Education Alliance, Brown University Retrieved 20th March, 2006 from http://www. alliance. brown. edu/topics/literacy. shtml This is research for secondary school teachers who would wish to incorporate instruction across the content area. It is a review of literacy research materials from various fields and focuses them to the classroom situations. Important concepts that aid adolescent literacy have been discussed. This material is best for secondary school teachers and is vital for them since it gives the results of current researches and links them to classroom practice. The authors are practitioners in the education sector. McKeown, G. M. Beck L. I (2007): Improving comprehension with Questioning the Author: A fresh and expanded view of a powerful approach. New York: Scholastic In this book the authors explain why implementing the questioning technique is good and suggest its optimal implementation. It is aimed at supporting students to gain meaning from a given text. They have provided several classroom cases, of which they individually participated, which give realistic explanations and illustrations of the process. The book is good enough for teachers and learners in informing the use of Questioning of the author in order to guide the students’ comprehension reading. The authors have worked closely with educators meaning that their information is as they saw in the field. I highly recommend the book for both teachers and students who need to improve their/ their learners’ comprehension. Moje, E. B. (2006): Motivating texts, motivating contexts, motivating adolescents: An examination of the role of motivation in adolescent literacy practices and Development; Perspectives, 32(3), 10–14. This is a brief synopsis of research findings based on the role that different contexts and texts play in the motivation of adolescents to face the various challenges associated with literacy practices. It advocates for changes in texts used and the contexts in which they are used saying this is the essence of motivation since motivation is not static. Moje is a renowned educator who weaves a positive criticism on the existing instruction materials making his ideas worth putting in practice. National Association of Secondary School Principals ;( 2005): Creating a culture of Literacy: A guide for middle and high school principals. Reston, V. A This is a guide that provides Secondary School administrators with tools for creating Schoolwide literacy plans aimed at addressing the needs of learners whose reading is below the basic levels. It draws its premises from components that influence the ultimate achievement of the learners. The study gives a proposal on the reforms that can be done to minimize the problem for instance commitment of leaders in instruction, balancing assessment of formal and informal natures among others. The association encompasses head teachers from all schools in the country and who are administrators in their respective schools thus versed with many educational issues. The limitation of the resource is that it used the ideas from head teachers only and left out other stake holders who may have different views Nystrand, M. (2007): Research on the role of classroom discourse as it affects Reading comprehension; Research in the Teaching of English, 40(4), 392–412. Nystrand, in this article reviews 150 years of empirical research that target on classroom discourse. There are various research methodologies used and the research vouches for discussion within the classroom setting in improving reading and comprehension. The author is an English teacher of many years. The review is qualitative based on the number of varied reviews it has made and thus the reference to a variety of cases and researches thus highly recommended for all instructors; not just those teaching English. O’Brian, D. G et al. (1999): Why content literacy is difficult to infuse into the secondary school: Complexities of curriculum pedagogy, and school culture. Reading Research Quarterly, 30, 440–460 The authors of this material discuss the inadequacy and of the traditional model of professional development in building the proficiency of students in the instruction of content literacy. It recommends a change in curriculum via looking at the social and cultural contexts in which the schools are set. The society, the resource says, has values, beliefs and practices embedded in it that the teachers, learners and the school community identify with. O’Brian is a sociologist thus understands the influence of the environment in learning. I find the book very important because it highlights the importance of the environment in the learning processes Pressley, M. and Block, D. (Eds. ): (2007). Comprehension Instruction: Research-based Best practices. New York: Guilford. This material resulted from contributions from thirty nine scholars who contributed their understanding in reading exercise related to comprehension. It has varied but harmonized experiences and thus can be used as the best resource for the understanding of the nature of comprehension instruction. The research also charts a way forward for researchers in consolidating research knowledge and further expounds on the nature of comprehension in different levels of schooling. The material targets all instructors in the field of comprehension learning. I recommend the material for instructors because of extensive research that brought it forth hence making it qualitative. Rosenshine, B. , et. al (1996). Teaching students to generate questions: A review of the intervention studies. Review of Educational Research, 66, 182–220 This intervention studies review is aimed at teaching students on how they can generate questions so as to improve their reading comprehension using prompts. It analyzed 26 research studies which showed that the use of signal and generic question stems provided the best positive effects of comprehension standardization. The research cannot be qualified as having weaknesses because it gives the learner a center stage in learning how to comprehend better. The authors have teaching experiences in various schools and levels. Swanson, H. L. (2004): Research on interventions for adolescents with learning disabilities: A meta-analysis of outcomes related to higher-order processing. The Elementary School Journal, 101(3), 331–348. The analysis here was carried out on 58 studies related to problem solving interventions meant for those students with disabilities. Several factors that increase student performance were identified and categorized into short term. Swanson is a researcher and educator giving credibility to his work. The focus of this material is on adolescents with disability Sweet, A. P. , Snow, C. E. (Eds. ): (2003). Rethinking reading comprehension; New York: Guilford. The authors inform of effective teaching by building on comprehension reading research that was developed by a research group, RAND. Key issues in comprehension reading and research findings related to adolescents and the strategies used to address student needs are highlighted. The material is helpful especially due to it being tied to the researches conducted. It makes the issues real because they were stumbled on during the research. The author himself is a researcher in various fields. I highly recommend this material for teachers and learners targeted by the research (Adolescents) Tanner, D. , Tanner, L. (2007) Curriculum development: Theory into practice. Pearson. Tanner and Tanner purpose to highlight what a comprehensive curriculum should entail so as to bring forth an all rounded learner after instruction has taken place. It gives the principles to be followed in curriculum and how the theoretical perspectives advocated for in the texts are put into practice. Learners should be orientated so as to internalize that which they learn easily. Trabasso, T. , Bouchard, E. (2004): Teaching readers how to comprehend text strategically. (In C. Block and M. Pressley) (Eds. ), Comprehension instruction: Research-based best practices p. 170– 194. New York: Guilford. The authors explain the findings of 205 investigations on the impact that cognitive strategy of instruction on reading comprehension. The authors are researchers in psychologists and researchers in the field. Strategy instruction, the research postulated, was more effective than the traditional mode of instruction. Further, the authors discuss twelve types of comprehension strategies and two instructional strategies identified as effective in improving the comprehension of students. Teachers will find this book useful in improving comprehension in their students. Meyer, BF. Walker, CH. (1980): Integrating different types of information in Text; Journal of Verbal behavior and Learning, 19:263–275. This is a discussion on the knowledge integration theory which provides a contextual field for exploration on learners’ formation of relationships between background and new information. The authors give a summary of the research which investigates this theory. Walker and Meyer are regular contributors to psychology related journals. The material is a good one because it gives some practical examples for educators on how to integrate new and old information for learners so as to enable them participate in tasks which require sophisticated comprehension Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent Education. Retrieved on 2nd April, 2009 available at http://www. all4ed. org/publications/AdolescentsAndLiteracy. pdf The discussion here centers on the crisis facing the literacy adolescents. It examines four reviews that deal with reading research and presents students with measures to improve their reading. There are factors that teachers should also consider for instance motivation, although this is also aimed at the learners themselves. Students will find this material very useful in improving their reading. Evaluative summary of the Bibliographies This selected bibliography of the items on adolescents’ literacy resources is a result of broad review of research carried out by professionals mostly in the educational sector. The students mostly addressed are those of 4-12 years of age. The contents of the various resources have been summarized and therefore whoever wants to have a quick overview of what there is to adolescents’ curriculum and instruction will surely get something worthwhile. The issues addressed in the bibliography can be summed up as follows: Some researches done for instance Nystrand’s, article which reviews 150 years of empirical research that target on classroom discourse show a great deal of traverse on time that the researchers have done to bring the best for Adolescents. There are various research methodologies used and the research vouches for discussion within the classroom setting in improving reading and comprehension. The review is qualitative based on the number of varied reviews it has made and thus the reference to a variety of cases and researches thus highly recommended for all instructors; not just those teaching English. Other reviews too give a lot of excellent information from educationists who give their own experiences. An example is Pressley’s whose material resulted from contributions from thirty nine scholars who contributed their understanding in reading exercise related to comprehension. It gives varied but harmonized experiences and thus can be used as the best resource for the understanding of the nature of comprehension instruction. The research also charts a way forward for researchers in consolidating research knowledge and further expounds on the nature of comprehension in different levels of schooling. The material targets all instructors in the field of comprehension learning thus highly recommended for them. Beers uses student oriented and classroom explanations in guiding teachers through the planning, assessing and implementing reading kinds of instructions for teachers and learners in middle and high schools. This is a critical material since it combines the basic factors that need to be considered in teaching: student oriented and classroom explanations. It makes the learner be the focus of the teaching- learning process. The components of an effective reading instruction which includes strategies and the resources that teachers may use in the classrooms to improve their reading. Beers himself is a knowledgeable author in issues relate with early childhood education and targets teachers of the young kids. The material is relevant to the kids only although some illustrations in it may be applicable to those who start reading late in life. The reviews in some of the researches focus on effective instruction for reading comprehension for students with disabilities, giving detailed study on the expository and narrative texts. The authors of these materials, for instance Gersten (2001) give the summary of cumulative knowledge gained through research- based knowledge. The material gives in depth information due to the detailed research conducted in writing it. Davies and Guthrie discuss six dimensions of change in disengagement and low motivation in elementary and middle school learners. They authors further suggest six classroom practices that can be used by middle school teachers in changing the learners’ attitudes resulting from classroom changes. The authors, who are educators, give vital information to other educators facing challenges from low motivation and disengagement from their learners. Cibrowski, in his work summarizes the materials that have been written on effective instructions using textbooks. His article describes the strategies that a content-area or special teacher can use with his/ her students who have proved to be fast readers. The designed techniques help such learners widen their conceptual thinking. It further gives the levels of analysis, before instruction, during and after in addition to stating the criteria for effective strategies: a committed teacher, student belief and teacher’s ability to model strategic thinking. Fast students therefore are also catered for in this bibliography in terms of how they can be taught without affecting their enthusiasm. This bibliography also has materials that show the impact of cognitive instruction strategy, which is shown as the most effective mode of instruction as opposed to the traditional mode. Authors in this issue also discuss types of comprehension strategies that educators can refer to in their teaching. In conclusion, the materials chosen in this bibliography will go a long way in assisting educators know how to manage better the issues related to instruction and at the same time give them an opportunity to expand their scope. The learners also have a reason to have a look at this bibliography. There are materials summarized whose focus is the learner. The influence of the environment on the learning process has also been given in one of the resource materials in this bibliography. It is, in short, a detailed bibliography but other sources can still be sought for the purposes expounding or adding to what has been given.