WGU C 909(Assessment Study Guide)With Complete Solutions

Constructivist Theory A philosophy based on the premise that people construct their own understanding of the world they live in through reflection on experiences. Constructivist Theory in Practice For example: Groups of students in a science class are discussing a problem in physics. Though the teacher knows the "answer" to the problem, she focuses on helping students restate their questions in useful ways. She prompts each student to reflect on and examine his or her current knowledge. When one of the students comes up with the relevant concept, the teacher seizes upon it, and indicates to the group that this might be a fruitful avenue for them to explore. They design and perform relevant experiments. Afterward, the students and teacher talk about what they have learned, and how their observations and experiments helped (or did not help) them to better understand the concept. Cognitive-constructivist view of reading Aim to assist students in assimilating new information to existing knowledge, as well as enabling them to make the appropriate accommodations to their existing intellectual framework to accommodate that information. Ex. Because of Winn-Dixie; from her inference, and active knowledge of the text says that people who have things in common often become friends. Socio-cultural theory/Ex. Extends the influence on the cognitive-constructivist view out from the reader and the text into the larger social realm. Learning is viewed as social rather than individual. -Lev Vygotsky Ex. Understanding the zone of proximal development can be helpful for teachers. In classroom settings, teachers may first assess students to determine their current skill level. Educators can then offer instruction that stretches the limits of each child's capabilities. At first, the student may need assistance from an adult or a more knowledgeable peer, but eventually, their zone of proximal development will expand. Teachers can help promote this expansion by: Planning and organizing their instruction and lessons: For example, the teacher might organize the class into groups where less skilled children are paired with students who have a higher skill level. Using hints, prompts, and direct instruction to help kids improve their ability levels. Scaffolding, where the teacher provides specific prompts to move the child progressively forward toward a goal. Reader Response Theory The main argument of reader-response theory is that readers, as much as the text, play an active role in a reading experience (Rosenblatt, 1994). This theory rejects the structuralist view that meaning resides solely in the text. Words in a text evoke images in readers' minds and readers bring their experiences to this encounter. Experiential Learning As the name suggests, experiential learning involves learning from experience. The theory was proposed by psychologist David Kolb who was influenced by the work of other theorists including John Dewey, Kurt Lewin, and Jean Piaget Oral Language Development The complex system that relates sounds to meanings, is made of three components: phonological, (rules for combining sounds) semantic, (the smallest units of meaning that may be combined to make up words) and syntactic (the rules that combine morphemes into sentences). Reading and talking with children plays an important role in developing their vocabulary. The more you talk to children, the larger their vocabulary will develop. Note: Pragmatic is also the rules that allow us to speak appropriately in different settings What are the stages of writing development? Scribbling/drawing Letter like forms and shapes Letters Letters and spaces Conventional writing and spelling (children in this stage spell most words correctly with a reliance on knowledge of phonics to spell longer words, they can punctuate, can properly use capital and lower case letters. Writing different purposes is important, handwriting and spelling becomes easier. What are stages of reading development Early Emergent Emergent (understands alphabet, phonological awareness and knows phonics, have command of high frequency words, developing comprehension and word attack skills, recognize types of texts, non-fiction and fiction, and that reading has a variety of purposes). Early Fluent Fluent What are the stages of the alphabetic phase The written forms of spoken, alphabetic language languages which use letters (graphemes) in a code to represent the sounds of speech (phonemes) specific sequences of letters form words, this is the alphabetic principle. If we obeyed this principle we wouldn't have words like to, too, and two. Gradual release of responsibility Teaching approach that incorporates scaffolding (building on what the student already knows) so that the responsibility for the content is shifted from teacher to student. Strategies for vocabulary/literacy development Integration: connecting new vocabulary to prior knowledge Repetition: encountering/using the word concept many times Meaningful use: multiple opportunities to use new words in reading, writing, and soon discussion Reading Workshop (Balanced Literacy Framework) Shared: (teacher provides explicit comprehensive instruction, everyone in the class reads a projected book, as teacher moves pointer along screen) Guided: (teacher with small groups who read at similar levels, use benchmark books to determine student's level of reading, includes of a variety of genres including fiction and non-fiction) Independent: (Students read from class library or leveled books, these are of personal interest and include a wide variety, with Raz-Plus, you can read ebooks.)