TIP Chapters 5, 6 & 7

In Chapter 5 Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development is discussed, this theory was not new to me because it has been discussed in quite a few of my classes. The next theory was maturation, I can see how they came up with it and then I wanted to totally disregard it, until I remembered one of my own experiences while helping to toilet train a student. When we tried to force it on him he had no interest at all and it became a daily struggle where the mention of the bathroom brought on a tantrum, once we stopped and waited a few months until we thought he might be ready, it was so easy we were stunned. Thinking of this made it clear to me that when differentiated instruction is needed we should be open to all theories. The Theory of Literacy Development and Family Literacy Theory are two that I completely agree with, just thinking of my own reading experiences, I would say my love of reading stems from watching my mother read either to herself or to us and then mimicking what she did until I had taught myself to read and then as I got older my mother encouraged me by sharing all of her books with me. I then did the same with my daughter and she now shares our love of reading. Stage Models of Reading and Emergent Literacy Theory are two theories that as a lower grade teacher of student’s of special needs I am sure I will refer to for guidance.

In Chapter 6 we discuss the key concept of social interaction; it is the focal point of all the theories discussed. I have observed a friend’s 1st grade reading class and loved the way she made reading a social activity. She first had each child pick two books; they then read them and discussed them with a partner. She then had them relate the book to their real life experiences and asked other s to share. She had all of the students interacting, this lesson allowed them to bring their own social circle into the classroom whether it was a family experience or something that was going on in their community. It allowed them to relate to what they knew.

Chapter 7 was a lot to grasp, I reread it twice and still do not know if I’ve truly comprehended everything I was supposed too, but the chapter summary did help. The one problem I do have with this book is that when you try to comprehend the theories and the technical aspects of them, and then read at the end of the chapter that they are outdated and you only need to know the central components for the new methods that are used. I do not know about everyone else but this tends to make me lose interest in what I’m reading and that is why I’ve come to rely on the summary for this chapter. This explains the stages and the models in a compact way, that I did not have trouble relating too.